What Was Your First Competitive Shooting Event?

[209jones]

Can't remember which came first, a fall turkey shoot at a local range w/ my Rem 700 7-08, or a service rifle shoot with a 6.5x55 96 Mauser, be probably 1985/86 or so. 1989, I saw an ad that said Coors Schuetzenfest shoot was on in Montana, drove down to look at that, met a bunch of guys from Edmonton there. One of them had a rifle, under the table out of sight, with all the goodies I'd need, at the 1990 Easter Gun show in Calgary, just in time for me to practice up for the 1st Coors sponsored shoot in Edm on July 4th weekend.

 

[Appalachian]

ARA Factory class in 2022 at Big Chiefs Rimfire Range. It was a well attended match and I shot a 2500 on my first card using a CZ 452 with 6-24 FFP scope. I remember my heart beating fast and trying to stop shaking when taking the last shot. If I’m not mistaken it was the only 2500 of the match. Someone yelled out “Who the hell is (my name)” when the first scores went up. It went downhill from there. I refused to believe that I needed to clean a 22 after only 50-100 rounds. I didn’t bring any cleaning equipment with me anyway. My scores for the next five cards had a linear decline. Now I clean after every card.

 

[RCE1]

Black Powder Cartridge Rifle Silhouette in the late 80s.

The learning curve was pretty steep on that one. I hardly even did any handloading, but that was soon to change. Among other things, I had to learn to cast match grade 525gr bullets.

 

[ShtrRdy]

My first shooting match was a local IDPA in 1999. I did a lot of pistol matches for the next 10 years. Then it tapered off.

 

[Will Henry]

I guess my Army qualifying in 1969 was kind of a competition. Apart from that, my first competitions were informal turkey shoots held at various small towns each fall, in the early 70's. Most were a single shot for center thing, fired from the bench or off-hand. When I say from the bench, I mean a picnic table, in most cases. Everyone shot from the same sandbag. Some places required that you shoot from your elbows. Most places handicapped winners 1/4 inch. This meant you might win two but were unlikely to win three. Usually, after I won two, I would only shoot in the off-hand match where the handicap didn't matter so much. The rifle I usually shot was a Ruger Number One, in 6mm Rem. Another rifle I used was, believe it or not, a Marlin 1895, 45/70. This was easily one of the most accurate real hunting rifles I ever owned. Unfortunately, 400 grain bullets at 1800 kicked a bit, and my shooting would deteriorate after three or four shots.
It was at one of these turkey shoots that I learned there was a range which actually held real BR matches. I started shooting that in the mid-seventies. WH

 

[Steve h]

Club match at Como, Mississippi with a borrowed rifle. I was hooked after that.

 

[FNSafari]

NSSA skeet shoot at the now closed Island View Sportel in Bowdoinham ME 1971

 

[Longtrain]

John Brown Memorial Skeet Tournament, Ilion Fish and Game Club, Ilion, NY, 1986.

 

[Shooter13]

I started in 2019 shooting UBR, had no clue of what I was doing! Ended the year at the Nationals placing 3rd at 200 yards. I think about it now and how unbelievable that is! This sport is sort if like diarrhea, once it starts it doesn't end!! I always can't wait for the next week and then when season is over I'm looking forward to "next year", at age 71 not sure how many "next years" there will be for me.

Now, 5 years later I've learned a lot with a lot more to go! We had the Mike Niblett Memorial last week and I finished tied for 1st at 100 (finished 2nd via Creedmoor) and 5th at 200 with a 2nd in the grand agg. Almost weekly, I learn something new, this isn't a sport for the faint hearted but an adventure that has no end to the learning curve.

 

[WAMBO]

In June of 2003 I shot my first NBRSA 1K BR match, was totally hooked!
I joined this forum 2 years later.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Can't even really remember. Are we talking shooting with buds on the farm, 4H camp or registered comps? I shot for accuracy pretty much always but spent a few years shooting run and gun IPSC, USPSA, IDPA stuff too before shooting registered BR matches and even our little informal rifle matches got serious. Started shooting registered BR in 2007 and won my first piece of wood at the last match of my first sean that year. The crowd was tough and still is though. That or the previous year, 7 of the top 11 in IBS points were regulars at that club...Buck Creek in Somerset, Ky. Getting a piece of wood was a big deal back then to this rookie! Was leading the State Championship at a IBS score match through the first 3 or 4 targets shooting a 6BR in score. I got the big head and ended that on the next target though! Lol!

Been shooting SR BR mostly score shooting ever since. Great people, great game and just wish I had more time and money to do it. Mostly UBR now and it's really my favorite of all.