SHOT Show and F Class?

[J.d. Popkes]

Maybe if F-class goes to shit it’ll be easier to find 180 hybrids.

 

[dgeesaman]

I don’t have experience with FClass folks talking crap about PRS or other disciplines other than here since I don’t shoot it. However I do have experience with Highpower/Service Rifle shooters constantly complaining about FClass (belly benchrest as they call it) and PRS. Why, I have no clue. I don’t hear PRS folks talking crap about other sports other than the meme accounts and to be fair, those accounts roast everyone. Lol I shoot Service Rifle on the team as a means to be on the Department of the Air Force Team, not cause I really am passionate about it. I love PRS. At some point PRS will be a way to be on the team because Service Rifle is on borrowed time if the community does not fix the participation issue. I’m the only member on any DAF team that has gone to the PRS Finale. By comparison SR is boring and not practical compared to PRS, not saying PRS is 100% practical.
Here’s what I will say again:

There is value in shooting multiple sports and learning from others in different sports.

…

So I said all that to say again, there is value in knowing more than one discipline even if you don’t shoot it. We have a lot of value together in the shooting community, not segregated and degrading each other.

It’s human nature to overvalue what we have worked for and undervalue things that we haven’t. I’ve mingled with a variety of competitive shooters and while they’ve all been helpful and open, if you get them talking in the right context you’ll often find that they view their chosen disciplines as a little better or more relevant or more important than the others. So if I’m shooting a hair trigger benchrest gun, a pistol shooter might bemoan my lack of follow through. Or any offhand shooters comparing to supported shooters. Or wind reading: with flags, without flags. Etc, etc. it happens.

 

[jthor]

That is a very well reasoned position. I wholeheartedly agree. Each discipline has its strengths and all would benefit from helping each other. I appreciate F class more because, it has taught me a lot about perfecting my ammo. there is something about producing a tiny group at 1000 yards. To me that is the ultimate challenge. I love the sound of banging steel at a distance also, and I admire the energy needed for PRS, but I chose fclass because it suits my character more,

Thank you!
And there’s nothing wrong with that fitting your character more.

 

[Sandstorm]

Im gonna load some more ammo.

 

[xswanted]

For me a key difference between PRS and, say, cross the course, is the time spent shooting vs waiting.

My understanding is in PRS there's one shooter on the range at a time. Everyone else is waiting.

That said, the PRS course of fire is much more 'practical'. There's very few real life events where people engage targets in a heavy coat, sling and shooting glove.

You have however many guys shooting as stages that you have

So if you have a 12 stage match there’s 12 guys shooting at the same time. At least a well run match is like this.

 

[Fclassfool]

I'd rather shoot with older guys than with PRS people. I don't care if an average Joe knows what F-class is. It does not bother me.

Let me guess you are a benchrest shooter....

 

[VA_XTC_Shooter]

If there were matches anywhere close to me I'd like to try them also. If nothing else, it would mean I had to build a new rifle.

I thought you were near New Holland?

 

[jelenko]

I thought you were near New Holland?

Actually, we live just northeast of Poughkeepsie, NY.

 

[jelenko]

You have however many guys shooting as stages that you have

So if you have a 12 stage match there’s 12 guys shooting at the same time. At least a well run match is like this.

How interesting.
I had picked up my understanding from a post from someone.
Are all the stages fired from the same firing line? And, a 'stage' is just a set of targets?

 

[Spoonbill]

Anytime a person gets to shoot a gun (any gun) its a blast, especially in competition.

 

[r bose]

Ask them what PALMA shooting is and watch the blank stares!!!!!

 

[Will Henry]

I have not shot in an "F" class match for a few years, but I was one of the earlier competitors in Western Canada, where "F" class started. I strongly suspect that a good portion of today's "F" class shooters don't even know what the "F" stands for.
I personally think "F" class evolved in the wrong direction when it went in the direction of "Benchrest without the bench". I think it was George's hope that it would serve as a gateway to TR or TR-O (sling and irons and sling and scope respectively). Indeed, the last time I was up, there were a few of us shooting any rifle, with a sling. Essentially, I think the closer a shooting sport comes to being "all encompassing", the better it is. Having said this, I have watched many sports thrive, evolve, and decline, and I can't honestly pinpoint a reason for it; except for the competitors just ceasing to have fun.
Today, I'm enjoying silhouette quite a bit, just because the equipment race is overshadowed by the challenge of shooting off-hand. Still, this discipline's attraction waxes and wanes as well. In the end, one can philosophize all he wants, but it's the desire to shoot and compete that keeps shooters interested. WH

 

[xswanted]

How interesting.
I had picked up my understanding from a post from someone.
Are all the stages fired from the same firing line? And, a 'stage' is just a set of targets?

Correct. Typically a “stage” will be shot from some kind of prop, prone or modified prone at a set of given targets.

Typically a match will have anywhere from 8-12 stages. Two day matches can have up to 24-25

 

[ern.santos]

I have not shot in an "F" class match for a few years, but I was one of the earlier competitors in Western Canada, where "F" class started. I strongly suspect that a good portion of today's "F" class shooters don't even know what the "F" stands for.

Farquharson

I was in deep with XTC service rifle shooting when f-class started to come up hard and fast during the early aughts. I originally got into that style of shooting since it was practically the only way to shoot past 100 yards on a regular basis. Things narrowed down for me in terms of what floated my boat, namely the longer range game since I regularly got my butt handed to me past 300 yards. So, I eventually dabbled in f-class and enjoy that to keep me occupied and not plugged into a game console on the weekends.

I get it, the old school shooting games of slinging up in the coat with irons. Hell, I even met and scored for Tierney during a 3x600 when he was fleshing out his .284 Winchester back in '05 (?) that kicked off the 7mm craze. Nothing but respect for those that excel and do well for the sling and iron sight shooters.

PRS is just sexier when watching clips of it on YouTube. I liken it to action pistol, but with bolt guns. I get that too.

 

[jnm300ultra]

I’m not surprised by the outcome of the poll. Prs shooters out number all the F Open, bench rest and sling shooters put together. Most new shooters want to have a rifle that resembles some type of military weapon, anything that looks like a sniper rifle or AR.
They don’t want to spend $5000. on a rifle and another $2000 on a scope and have it look like something that has a wooden stock, McMillan colored injection red. The masses want something bad ass. If they are spending this type of money it has to look cool.
I shoot F Open and I see our target sport dying on the vine. Without the youth it will be dead. I’m 44 and have been shooting at my local club for 11 years, and one of the younger guys. I have tried to bring a bunch of friends into the game and it never works out. It’s a huge expense for a newer shooter. I had one friend spend $10000.00 for a complete competition F Open rig and he waited so long for the rifle that he lost interest and started shooing 3 gun. Now I take my 13 year old daughter and she is shooting my 6.5x47 Lapua and we are having a blast. I don’t have any suggestions for new blood into any of these old man shooting disciplines. Social media would help but the real sex appeal is in anything that has a magazine, pistol grip, attachments and can wear any type of operator clothing. I have not shot PRS and saying anything bad about that sport. ALL THE SHOOTING SPORTS NEED TO STICK TOGETHER. They are just doing it right and all of the other High Power and prone shooters better figure it out. The reason for nothing being said about F Class at shot show is the money. Only Savage makes a rifle for F open or TR, and Palma, and they still don’t have a 6.5 Creedmore in F class. It seems to be a no brainer, that caliber you can get match ammo and reasonable.I’m not saying this is the best choice but the easy button for a beginner. We as a group spend a ton of money buy not enough for the advertising. They know that we are going to come back because we just bought 3 rifle barrels and enough components for 2 season's. I’m sure we all have heard the same thing on the line.
My 2 cents are done.
Watch out the wind is tricky today.
Jason

 

[Dgd6mm]

I think a another question to the shot show workers could have been something like this, which disciplines do you shoot? They probably would have asked back, what's a discipline?

 

[David Milisock]

John, that was an entertaining poll. So here’s the zinger, if you were to explain what we do to each one of those guys in two concise sentences, their expressions would not change, assuming they were even still listening after the first sentence.

You could show them a picture of our guns on the line, but that would just draw smirks. Are we old, - well, our guns do look like, to the uninitiated, a catalog of contrived ADA accommodations, made for a rifle. F-Class was actually created for the aged. But young guys were drawn to it, lazy ones I guess , because we all know sling is a real thing, you know, that one we all love to avoid.

F-Open rifles propped up with their rests with long handles terminating in a ball (for our safety?) are a little analogous to the purpose of those folding walkers old folks whip out, you know, those contraptions we don’t like to make eye contact with. Words never uttered on this planet, “hey that’s a really good looking walker, can I try it?”

Do little kids run around the neighborhood saying to each other, let’s go play F-Class now. If the climax of an old western is the stare down and a blink of the eye holster draw with an instinctively placed hip shot, then F-Class resides at the exact opposite end of the spectrum; we are the credits rolling, but in slow motion, without the music.

On a list of all sports and activities that can be watched, shooting has been ranked by women as the least sexy, and I believe board games were included on the list. We will get an Olympic event right after Spelling Bee’s do. So other shooters want to say we in f-Class don’t rate. Hilarious, we are all from the same barrel of cane pole pond fishing.

I’m good with that; I don’t care, I love our tempest in a teapot.

Fads come and go! Shoot what you like, I do. As long as I can aquire, fire and hit a ground hog or what ever target in 3 seconds in the field at 300 yards I'm happy. I can go to a range and practice field shooting at my leisure.

I don't compete because of the time commitment, I don't participate in team sports like bowling or softball for the same reason. I also do not berate any competition or competitors, although I admit to being bored and a chuckle. Keeping shooting alive is far more important, the unfortunate aspect of that sometimes is marketing fads.

I watch YouTube videos about rifles and handguns and I wonder if these people have an unnatural sexual relationship with their firearm.

 

[Shooter13]

Just WOW!

 

[urbanrifleman]

One of my oldest friends owns Tactical Girls. That seems more Shot Show than F class.

 

[Tesoro]

PRS looks like great fun. If they had an over 60 division for non-exercise freaks who prefer to drive over walk, and where each station has a bench and stool, then I would be all in! ( ps I live in mountains not on prairie)