Reflections on the Eastern Canadian F Class Championship

[1000yardstare]

The July First 3 day weekend saw 35 F Classers in Ottawa for the Eastern Canadians, 19 F/TR, 16 F(O). I would like to congratulate the organizers in the NCRRA for an excellent shoot and in particular the commercial contributors of the numerous prizes, more than enough for every shooter. A local gunsmith donated 2 custom builds. Yours truly snagged a Sightron SIIISS 8-32x56 side focus which is an indication of the quality of the prizes. I feel very fortunate.

I will leave it to the organizers to report on the scoring results. Two young Quebecers saw through the crazy switching winds and took F(O) and F/TR. Three days of blistering heat after a cold Winter and a cool wet Spring was a shock to some Canadian systems. Two shooters never reported the third day.

Target at all ranges was the International ICFRA 5 ring Long Range target, one minute 5 ring, 1/2 minute V ring. Metric Palma (700, 800, 900, 900) the first two days and 900, 900 the third morning, course of fire 2 and 15 at each range, sometimes 2 and 10 if running late.

What follows is a personal reflection on the shoot tempered by 50 years of competitive shooting.

The top F/TR shooters were mighty close to the top F(O) but not quite. The big difference is at the bottom of the two lists with the bottom F/TR scores far below the bottom F(O).

Most F/TR shooters were using custom builds so the statement that shooters are migrating to F/TR to get away from the F(O) money race is not totally accurate.

In F(O) sheer horsepower is the order of the day in difficult wind conditions - .284 Win, .284 Shehane, 6.5-284, 7mm BooBoo. Even then ones and twos were had by the best shooters, tough winds. Shooting had to stop after a relay so a pair of ear muffs could be driven down to the butts. A target puller complained that the sonic boom of the BooBoo was destroying his hearing.

The slower F(O) cartridges were at the bottom of the list. A chap shooting 6BR was struggling. He is an excellent shooter with much experience but the wind switches were getting him. I was seeing the switches with my 6.5 AI but at times had difficulty staying inside the 2 minute 4 ring. Not quite enough oomph.

I made a plan beforehand to shoot 142 SMK the first day and 139 Scenar the second day to compare results. Also 142 first 900 metres third day and 139 second 900. All rifles are different but in my Shilen barrel the 142 was scoring 10 points higher than the 139.

Anyway, thanks for reading this. I enjoyed the shoot immensely.

Bill

 

[wolfman]

It was indeed a very good shoot. Well organized, stiff competition, and some very challenging conditions. It was great to see a couple of very recent newcomers show up and win- I guarentee they're hooked!

While I can hardly contest your point about some of the F/Tr guns being on the expensive side, one of the reasons I choose F/TR over Open IS cost- While my rifle is built using top compenents, the barrel lasts twice as long as most of the open guns, and I only burn 45 grns of powder each time I pull the trigger, compared with 65ish gr charge of the WSM's.

on a side note- I've been trying to put a face to your handle here for quite some time- I've got you now! nice snag on the Sightron, by the way!

 

[1000yardstare]

Wolfman.........great shooting with you. Loved the salmon you brought from Down East. The BBQd beef Friday night was incredible. Almost as good as the beer.

Some recent conversations concerning the Easterns have generated a few more reflections.

After some soul searching 3 or 4 years ago about barrel life, Canadian F(O) shooters are going back to the big, high velocity cartridges. To the F(O) list in my first posting I could add .300 WSM. If this requires a new barrel every year, so be it.

I shot a relay with a chap at 900 metres using a 6.5x55 and he was having more difficulty in the switchy winds than my 6.5AI. The half minute inner ring is just too tough at Long Range on a windy day for medium sized cartridges.

One reason for going to the half minute inner ring was to cut down on the number of tie-break shoots when the inner ring was one minute. This appears to have succeeded. There were no tie breakers in F(O) or F(TR) at this shoot.

The 142 SMK was scoring higher than the 139 Scenar out of my Shilen barrel because I was centered on the target with the 142 on the first scoring shot and with any luck could convert the second sighter. Sometimes it took 5 scoring shots with the 139 to find center which made a total hash of the target. Another shooter with a different rifle may have had a different result but that was my experience.

A reloading shop set up a truck on the range and I bought a box of 140 gr Berger BT Long Range Target. He did $3000 worth of business in half a day. Put my new Sightron on the 6.5AI yesterday and shot two 1.5 inch 5 shot groups at 300 metres with the Bergers in a shifty mirage on my local range. Will mail order two more boxes of the Bergers.

We move on now to prep for the Ontario Provincial Championships second weekend in August. Will be trying the Bergers there.

Bill