Rimfire prs style gun/arca rail b14

[ttfreestyle]

So I shot my first rimfire outlaw prs style match Saturday. I have a factory Bergara b14 trainer in the factory stock and used a Harris bipod with the sling stud and/or a sandbag depending on what the stage called for. Had a blast but my question is about arca rails, is this a big improvement and necessary addition. Did adding arca to your gun improve your hits? Thanks

 

[Krogen]

This doesn't exactly address your question, but it may help anyway. I didn't care for a Harris attached to the sling swivel stud on my B14. First, the stud didn't secure the bipod very well. Next for me a Harris is a springing PITA. I put a pic rail on the B14 by substituting two machine screws for the swivel studs and mounted an Atlas bipod. Far better and it shows in my hits. Of course Arca and Picatinny aren't the same, but similar enough that my experience should transfer to your situation. One note, with the pic rail and maybe the Arca, low profile cap screws are needed or they protrude beyond the rail profile.

 

[linebaugh]

Ive been shooting PRS CF and now RF for the last 10+ years and have never graduated past the harris swivel, in fact I have several now. Will it help with an arca? Realistically I doubt it but if you go full length rail it may help widen your stock profile on a bag and could help balance. I see more people fumbling with ATLAS on the clock than I care to acknowledge and some are seasoned shooters. The guys that run them well dont have issues however.

I would spend my money on an armageddon schmedium heavy fill bag and ammo to practice with before making any more purchases.

Not knowing your kit or your guns accuracy there are probably way bigger fish to fry than a bipod, especially when 75% of a match is typically positional off of props.

First thing I would do is balance your gun so that it sits dead on a bag just in front of the bag stop or mag in your case. This will gain more points than about anything.

Get a better trigger if you dont have one and adjust it down to under a pound as you become more comfortable with the sport. Also high on points
potential.

Buy good glass with a tree style reticle with an upper range in the 20s if not 30x. I run in the 30 range on single targets with less movement and on KYL racks. 21x is my norm for positional. It takes time to learn to aquire targets at higher power so shoot often and practice.

Buy good ammo and find some that your gun likes. You need to be in the 1.25" range or better at 100 in good conditions off a bench for 10 shot groups. 1" or less if you are shooting consecutive 5 shot group averages. Dont bother shooting 3 shot groups... its not realistic on what the gun is capable of and only impresses you.

Enjoy your new hobby and the people in it. They are great everywhere I have shot.

Dont spend money on gadgets and things until you shoot several matches and ask fellow shooters to use or play with their stuff. I have not seen a match yet where people wont help.

 

[ttfreestyle]

My setup is Bergara b14 trainer with trigger tech diamond trigger. Schmedium heavy fill with just a tad fill taken out. It shoots pretty good with the ammo it likes, not as good as my custom 2500x or Annie but it’s doing well. I actually shot better than I expected in my first match(63 hits of 80 possible) being a Benchrest guy that had never shot off so many different props. I need to work on gun balance, my balance and a stable stance for sure. Coming off a bench for the last 30 years I felt like a fish out of water on some of the positions. Definitely gonna burn some ammo practicing. This is my first mil scope and I used holdovers on most stages only dialing when it was one distance like the kyl rack. Ran on 14 power most stages unless it was a steady position like prone then I turned up to 24. I think I like the mil scope and holdovers. Now did I shoot dead center dot when it was a 1 mil holdover, guilty .... and I timed out once also but all in all I had a blast.

 

[linebaugh]

My setup is Bergara b14 trainer with trigger tech diamond trigger. Schmedium heavy fill with just a tad fill taken out. It shoots pretty good with the ammo it likes, not as good as my custom 2500x or Annie but it’s doing well. I actually shot better than I expected in my first match(63 hits of 80 possible) being a Benchrest guy that had never shot off so many different props. I need to work on gun balance, my balance and a stable stance for sure. Coming off a bench for the last 30 years I felt like a fish out of water on some of the positions. Definitely gonna burn some ammo practicing. This is my first mil scope and I used holdovers on most stages only dialing when it was one distance like the kyl rack. Ran on 14 power most stages unless it was a steady position like prone then I turned up to 24. I think I like the mil scope and holdovers. Now did I shoot dead center dot when it was a 1 mil holdover, guilty .... and I timed out once also but all in all I had a blast.

Sounds like you did awesome! Everything you said so far is as good as it gets for a first match. Its very hard not to want to buy everything you think will gain a point or help but try to resist. (We all did this by the way, im just trying to save you money.) It will all come together after a year or two of shooting and you will know what you need vs what you think you need.
Nationals, I believe is in your area this year. Even if you dont make it I would encourage you to go and if you have some matches under your belt please offer to help. Its at K&M this year as far as I know. You will see the top cpl hundred shooters from around the country and a very few from beyond.
I use hold overs 75% of the time now because I am older and slowing down. I cant dial and finish stages especially if 90 sec. You can be very precise with a good reticle shooting holdovers and save time for dialing a cpl targets or spending more time making a position when needed if you get comfy with hold overs.
Im old school and shot moa one season. Its all math and it works the same but miks is far less thinking and quicker. Let your ballistics solver do the math and concern yoursef with doing the hard work.
BTW make sure you add a temp offset for velocity in your solver or you will suffer. Just shoot cold and record velocity, shoot hot and same. Add these to your solver and let it tell you where to be. Addditionally do same for wind direction as it will change POI both horizontal and vertical. Those two things will hold you back in rimfire... ask me how I know.