Rifle Matches -- What Are the Key Reasons We Compete?

[600yards]

The 1st match I ever competed in was when I was a little boy growing up on the farm with 4 brothers. We all had BB guns and the match was I bet you can’t hit that can. I remember when I finally hit the can I thought I was a hero. So I’m in my middle 50s now competing in F Class still trying to hit that darn can.

 

[std7mag]

Hell I seen a flyer at one range talking about a 600 yard match at another range then one thing leads to another etc. next thing I know I’m surrounded by thousands of dollars in equipment

I know that feeling!
First match of the year, everyones got their rifles lined up on the bench at the clubhouse.
I start counting Nightforce scopes.
More money on the counter by far than i paid for my used BMW!!
And that wasn't counting the cost of all the custom actions, stocks, barrels, triggers, etc..

I'm proud of my $259 rifle that i did some horse trading & walked out with it for only $50 out of my pocket.
Add $169 scope, $80 front/rear rest combo.

Yeahhhh....
I've made some poor carreer choices..

 

[JEFFPPC]

This is my game of choice. Anyone else?

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I competed for quite a few years in both rifle and handgun silhoutte attending multiple National Championships. They both went away in my area. We had a strong groups who shot 100 yd offhand and running deer matches for many years. They went away . Then I was looking for a place to shoo near my hunting camp and found Anderson Creek Sportsmen. At the time they only shot benchrest matches in the winter months, starting at 8pm. I often left those matches around 1 am or so the next morning with temps around 5 below. That is when I got started in benchrest.As they say, the rest is history. I joined ACS and talked them into staring a groundhog match in the summer and know we have a 100 200 300 400 yd ground hog match, a 100 200 300 yd paper match, and a 400 I'd deer shoot from May thru October. Lot of good guys, relaxed atmosphere, we have a great time.

 

[PRR1957]

To be King of the mountain.

Or to show off.

 

[thejamesd]

To improve, you don't get better by not shooting!

 

[JEFFPPC]

I do it to keep my mind active and sharp. I always want to win but am happy if I did my very best. Currently primarily shoot in F/TR mid range and occasionally long range. Soon plan to compete in mid and longe range bench rest.

Dub I agree. I like to win but if I lose and shoot well I am ok.......I been unhappy a lot lately.

 

[1K6BRA]

I look at it this way, anytime I can have my eyeball quartered up by a crosshair in a rifle scope it is a good day!

 

[Sundown]

Retired when I was 62 years young. Enjoyed shooting and reloading my own ammo. When I retired we moved to an area that had 3 ranges that held IBS tournaments. I was interested in the local range that had bunkers out to 600 yards. I soon discovered that to shoot and be competitive I had to invest in a quality shooter that would let me compete with the rest of the guys. I went custom action, barrel and stock. Soon found out my reloading skills were not exactly what was needed to achieve the accuracy needed. Reloading competitive ammo took awhile but through this site and a little reading I did improve my skills. The last time I competed was in 2013 where I did shoot a 1.215" group but the score was something like 44 (Wind). I was happy because I steadily improved and more or less competed against myself. I still shoot but no longer in IBS tournaments. I quit when they raised the price to shoot from $35 to $40. I understand the cost is up to $75 now. I've got the funds to shoot these tournament, just choose not to. I can't see charging that much if you want to get young people to get involved and participate. I know of 9 shooters that have also quit shooting because of the cost. I do miss the fellowship and conversations with the people I shot with. Good luck all and shoot straight!

 

[R.Morehouse]

I try mostly to do better than I did. It's nice to win a relay, but it is forgotten by the next one. I think I can drive myself a bit nuts now & then "competing" with myself chasing load development. With shooting a few sighters & another handful for record, most of my barrel & components are spent somewhere off the record target.....BSing with other shooters about the sport at the range or over dinner afterward is always a high point in my day no matter how I am shooting....

Regards
Rick

 

[spaniel]

When I was in my 20s and early 30s I was a competitive runner. Regionally elite, did some national competitions. Top 40 in the Boston Marathon. My philosophy was that I didn't want to win. If I was winning I was not seeking out the kind of competition that would make me better. And that philosophy allowed me to get more out of myself than I ever thought possible.

Work and family put an end to competitive running, as did age later on (LOL early 40s is a has-been). But I take the same philosophy with shooting. I learn more shooting against and talking to the best shooters than I do a less competitive environment. At the end of the day I like when I get a medal or a plaque but really all I care about is did I shoot better scores this year than last year.

 

[mike a]

I compete to measure myself. I thought I was the best shot in the world until my first match. That was at Camp Pendleton in 1970. Mike

 

[TC260]

This is my game of choice. Anyone else?

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I shoot handgun silhouette mostly and occasionally SB rifle. It's too long of a drive to regularly attend both during the month. Since I deer hunt with a handgun and am good friends with the IHMSA shooters those are a better fit.

Although I heard recently there's going to be some HP rifle matches closer to home in the near future so I'll probably jump on that. Knowing the range I'm guessing they're going to be shooting reduced distances unless there's been some changes recently.

 

[Steve Donlon]

After reading all this it almost sounds like some of you need to make an excuse why you choose to use shooting a rifle as a form of expressing your competitive nature. No other form of competing could save your life, except one of the martial arts, maybe. Let's face it, being a good shot is part of our culture and something of value. What ever it takes to get you out there and shoot, is a good thing for you and our country.

 

[swadiver]

i compete in F Class for the huge prize money and the national publicity on the tv.

 

[outasite`08]

I hope this isn't rambling. I wrote it in pieces between items on the honey-do list.

Maybe for me the question would be “What Are the Key Reasons I Don't Compete?”

Not that I haven't tried. My first forays into competitive shooting was the Small Arms Firing School at Perry in 2018 and then the National Matches in 2019, Service Rifle (I tell people half of the shooters shot better than I). Of course this year, no matches. I joined a local range/club that was holding monthly 300 yard matches, but they've been canceled for this year. And for some reason I seem to be unable to find matches within driving distance for me.

I started shooting with my dad, and then boy scouts, and as an adult I was a varmint shooter. Due to a number of factors my hunting and varmint days are pretty much behind me. I have an intense interest in, a passion I would say, both shooting and gunsmithing (metal working in general, machining etc.) and again these are all solitary things for me. People I know just don't “get it,” the same way I don't “get” watching football or basketball or TV. I have very little in common with the folks around me!

While I have a number of friends, none of them are into any kind of competitive shooting. A couple of friends do occasionally shoot but it's just a very informal and casual thing. So in other words this interest is a solitary thing for me, I have no mentors. I learn and find out things as I go.

Like several of the respondents here I was into many things in my younger days, primarily off road motorcycle racing but also bicycling, hiking/backpacking, skiing, a little skydiving. But a broken body (not surprising, eh?) has taken most of those away. I do have a couple of close friends that I kayak with and hike with. As I write this I realize my closest friends are all at least ten years younger than me!

I was in the store the other day and I was in line behind a man and woman who were maybe about 70 years old I would guess. Not to be judgmental (who really knows what he has been through) but rather to be aware of how I might end up; the man looked soft, weak. He was pudgy, pale, somewhat disheveled. His gaze was always downward. He never once that I saw looked the young man at the register in the eye or even spoke to him. As he left, his gate was a shuffle. The woman, his wife I assume, left him behind. Again, who knows what challenges this man has faced in the past or is dealing with now. It's just that I hope, for me, as I grow older I have something that challenges me, keeps me sharp...I mean as they say, if you don't use it you lose it. Am I making sense here?

So I am starting a new rifle project and I'm about to go to the competition forum and ask advice. I am wanting to try out F-Class. I just hope I don't get “Ever since that movie came out everybody wants to be a sniper” replies like I've gotten in other venues

Hey R8, I get it. Good luck with what you want to do. It`s all up to you. Jeff

 

[outasite`08]

i compete in F Class for the huge prize money and the national publicity on the tv.

Cheez, I don`t have a face for TV. But I could do radio stuff. Good shooting to you,I`ll watch TV when you make the big time. Jeff

 

[dthomas]

i compete in F Class for the huge prize money and the national publicity on the tv.

Me too i just won $3.00 today at a match

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

"If you ain't first, you're last"

 

[js2013]

It's a no BS sport. In a world full of BS, no amount of BS can turn an 8 into a 10.

 

[mikegaiz]

FUN !!!!!