Going to a Short Range Match will certainly clear up a lot of the mystery concerning how we do things, and most of all, why we do things.
Bart is correct about records. I have been at Matches, even National Events, where the conditions were so light that competitors were shooting “teen Aggs” clear into the 25th place. Two days later, the bad stuff blew in and you could win an Agg with a “mid Two”.
once you get down past that magic ”sub .200” agging range, all of the planets have to be lined up in order to see huge improvements. Occasionally, a good shooter will score a phenomenal barrel, some great bullets. He‘s the guy that will suddenly shoot an Agg that has all of the rest of us shaking our heads.
I have been involved in this game for close to 30 years, and to this day, the most phenomenal job of combining a great shooter with championship caliber opponents was Dave Coots shooting Unlimited at the NBRSA Nationals several years ago. The conditions were far from ideal. Dave had a combination working so well that the vast majority of us were simply relegated to spectator status. Keep in mind, this was shooting eight 10 shot groups to complete each yardage Agg. I do not know how many “ones” he shot in that Agg, but it considering the conditions, it wa omething to witness.
Maybe Dave will chime in and say if he was throwing charges, weighing charges on a little pocket scale, using a ChargeMaster, or perhaps something much higher on the food chain.
In Benchrest, we tend to get hooked on the “latest and greatest” gizmo. It is a lot like back years ago in the Hot Rod scene where every little trinket advertised on Hot Rod or Car Craft magazines would “add 15 Hp”. If you fell for every one, sooner or later you would have your lowly 283 small block making 800 HP.
It seems like every month someone come out with something better. And how do you know it is better?
Heck, that’s easy. Just read their advertisements.
I find that the CAD/CNC revolution has produced untold numbers of equipment vendors. Some geared toward the actual rifle, some toward the ammunition, some toward bench equipment, etc.
Many of the new products simply present a different way to arrive at the same destination.
One good example is reloading dies. If you think about it, a die set has a specific function. First is to size your brass properly. The next is to seat the bullets with as close to zero runout as possible. The third is to insure that the each bullet is seated To an exact dimension, one after another. These are things that can be easily checked.
Regardless of whether you are using some “antiquated“ pieces that have people scratching their heads, or the latest offering by the new kid on the block, the great equalizer is still the target.
My Grandpa moved from Missouri to Iowa in the 30's in a boxcar with his mules and farming equipment.....SO...................
