Match options

C

[cerberus]

Joined
Jan 17, 2007
Messages
1,963
Likes
324
Location
Southern Maine
Feedback: 29 / 0 / 0
I am not new to rifle competition, I was the captain of my college rifle team for 3 years, and I am looking to change into centerfire competition. Is there anything that is popular that doesn't involve rapid fire? The reason I ask is at this time i do not have any semi rifle to get started with, and working a bolt with an internal box mag isn't going to work out well.

I have looked at F-class but feel it is cheating to much and I am not sure if silhouette is popular in the northeast. Is there anything structured like olympic 3-pos? I eventualy want to bet a target AR but right now it isn't in the budget. I have a beginer target bolt action and would like to start there.

I plan on starting some training to get ready, I just need a course of fire.
 
You can shoot 300 meter which is just like smallbore but with center fire rifles at 300m. Only problem is that the target is challenging and there are not a lot of people/any that shoot it locally.

The other option is longrange. It is all slowfire prone and there are a fair number of people that just shoot prone matches. Although the closest 1000yd range that they shoot matches at is in Albany NY, there are a good number of 600yd ranges in New England and Canada has some great places to shoot that are within a reasonable driving distance. There are also a lot of ranges that are shorter that hold prone matches.

What kind of rifle do you have?

Unfortunately silhouette is not very popular here in the northeast.

B
 
highpower

There are 2 clubs in northern Mass. who have an indoor/outdoor 200 yard offhand matches on Sunday mornings. The fee is $5.oo and open to all. All thats needed to compete is iron sights or scope if you are 60 or over. A very good way to start highpower, good friendly crowd, and gets you prepped for other matches when it gets warmer.
 
Let's hear about the rifle you have now. An internal mag, bolt-action is no hinderence whatsoever. There are a lot of people who use them very successfully in NRA Highpower. What you would need is a stripper-clip slot, like those that the M1903, M1917, Mausers, etc. have.
 
I have a savage 112BVSS in 30-06 with the lamenated stock. I have worked the trigger a little and plan on adding a front Anchutz rail so I can use all my smallbore accesories. I also need to machine up some mounts so I can mount my front and rear target sights to it. I have a private 200yard range i made on my property and have been shooting it at that range informaly for the last couple of months.


this but before the accutrigger came out:
http://www.gunshopfinder.com/savage/12bvss_sala.jpg
 
Last edited:
That would make a good prone rifle and you could even shoot it over the course like PatMcD said if you added a clip slot. The 30-06 will be fine at all the longer ranges.

What kind of sights do you have? Are they smallbore sights?

B
 
Ya they are walther apature sights, very similar to anschutz and just as precise. I have seen anschutz models being used on highpower, so I am not to worried about recoil effecting them much.

Are there any rules on how you mount your sling? do i need to use a sling swivel, cause what I planed on using was a peice of rail stock to hook in with my sling that way. ( http://champchoice.com/detail.php?item=180723 )
 
Last edited:
Recoil shouldn't be an issue, but there are other potential problems you might run into.

It's funny, We were just talking about this on another thread except it was Anschutz sights.

B
 
You can try and adapt what you have as the others have mentioned, you might also inquire about club rifles that you might borrow. Just start showing up. Sooner or later somebody will hook you up with loaned equipment. It happens.
 
[cerberus];202750 said:
I have a savage 112BVSS in 30-06 with the lamenated stock. I have worked the trigger a little and plan on adding a front Anchutz rail so I can use all my smallbore accesories. I also need to machine up some mounts so I can mount my front and rear target sights to it. I have a private 200yard range i made on my property and have been shooting it at that range informaly for the last couple of months.


this but before the accutrigger came out:
http://www.gunshopfinder.com/savage/12bvss_sala.jpg
Click to expand...
Send it to Larry Racine in New Hampshire and he will turn it into a Highpower ready match rifle.

It won't be cheap, but this sport never is.
 
[cerberus];202825 said:
Are there any rules on how you mount your sling? do i need to use a sling swivel, cause what I planed on using was a peice of rail stock to hook in with my sling that way. ( http://champchoice.com/detail.php?item=180723 )
Click to expand...
Since your rifle would fall under the NRA Match Rifle part of the Highpwer rules, you can use any sling and any sling mounting method you want.

Again, contact Larry Racine ASAP. He will steer you right. You can blow a big wad of $$$ when setting up a bolt gun if you do not understand what to do.
 
I had actualy visited his site a few days ago looking at palma rifles. I was pleasently surprised that he is so close.

I don't have that kinda money to spend, and as it is now I feel I could be competitive if i can work out some good reloads.

With most of the upgrades I want to do to this rifle, I feel more then confident in doing, if I had a lathe and a milling machine I could take it further.
 
I think what Jose is trying to say is that it is sometimes easier to have someone familiar with the type of shooting set it up. One on the major differences in prone shooting in high power and smallbore is that you change yard lines a lot.

You will want it set up so that you can go from 300yds all the way out to 1000yds. The problem that you run into with the Anschutz style sights is that you most likely won't be able to get enough elevation to make it all the way there, even with a step front sight base. You would need like 40 minutes to go from 300 to 1000 with an 06 shooting a 190 Sierra at 2700 fps. They also can't get low enough to the receiver (because the mount is in the way) to be able to keep your cheek on the gun at the longer ranges. You would need to install an adjustable cheek piece.

That is the reason that most highpower shooter have sights that mount on the side of the receiver. No mount to get in the way of getting close to the receiver and keeping the sight line close to the bore.

Don't get me wrong, you can certainly rig something up and make it work, but once you get to use it a lot, you may have wished you did some things a little different. Best thing to do is to go to some of the shoots and look at the way some of the guns are set up and then decide on how to proceed.

B
 
Going in another direction, many of the area clubs have Garands for use by competitors for use in the JC Garand matches. Usually the entry fee includes the ammo so you can't beat the price.
 
I undertand about the Lack of elevation for longer ranges, right now that is a little outside of my ability. If i can compete at medium ranges effectivly till i get my feet wet I will be satisfied. By then I should have steady income to do a rifle up the right way, and have the ability to use it effectivly.

What ranges host prone matches? do people just shoot the prone segments of a regular High power match?

Thank you for the information about the garands, I shot a CMP match with a garand in Braintree where my old coach belongs to. It was fun, but didn't really capture my interests I preferd the AR to the garand.
 
[cerberus];203188 said:
What ranges host prone matches? do people just shoot the prone segments of a regular High power match?
Click to expand...

Hampden ME, Nashua, Ethan Allen in Vermont and Reading all have 600 yard ranges and matches.

There are lots of other places around with shorter ranges.

B
 
I have looked at the range scedule, and there are a lot of off hand matches, and OTC matches. What is OTC?

Does reading rifle and revolver have a website with litereture on how their matches are run, with rules and such? I was waiting to e-mail the contact person, incase it is online some place.
 
[cerberus];203125 said:
I don't have that kinda money to spend, and as it is now I feel I could be competitive if i can work out some good reloads.
Click to expand...

Excuse me for saying this, but you don't know what you don't know.

If you want to shoot Highpower across the course, you will need a repeater that holds five rounds in the magazine and can be reloaded quickly. If you have a limited budget, CALL Larry, tell him what you have, what you need done, and your budget. He will advise you honestly.

I've been there, done that, literally.

You will save money if you heed my advice on this.

Also, listen to Brian regarding the use of smallbore sights on long range rifles. Elevation is an issue. They work fine for ISSF 300 meter, but I doubt they have much more elevation left over.

Also, if you think that bolt guns are not competitive in Highpower, think again. The 200 yard rapid fire record is held by Dennis DeMille shooting a TUBB 2000 bolt gun. David Tubb himself owns several across the course records achieved with Winchester Model 70s.

I have no trouble matching my AR rapid fire scores with my other HP rifle:
aEhdexMswJ3NNG0whDuaHmzt6m+enPCZ0300.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
sights

I Found that Williams now has a tall rear apature sight they sell new at a reasonable cost. They are made of aluminum, and have an extra tensioning adjusting screw, but I would have opted for one if I had found it first. They also sell a front globe sight and all the bases you need to install both. Your receiver will have to be drilled to mount the bases. You can buy a barrel band to avoid drilling for the front site, but I've found it cheaper to pay a smith to drill for both front and rear mounts.
The trick will be to modify a rear scope mounting base to accept a stripper clip so you can do fast reloads in the rapids, but I have seen them made. There is a book called the Highpower Shooting Primer it has many good sections all about the sport. I bought a copy for our club library. It's just the book you're looking for. Some stuff on starting out on a tight budget.
I don't know what your existing barrel is, but if it isn't a heavy varmint I would suggest rebarreling now before all the drilling, and changing caliber to possibly 308 or even 260. You can expect greater accuracy and also cut you expenses by practicing with surplus ammo and then reloading it for an accurate match load.
 
Unless Williams has bought out another company and sells their sight or has totally redesigned theirs, I would probably pass on buying one. I don't think I've seen the one you are talking about, but wouldn't expect much. Williams makes a fine, cheap, hunting peep sight, but has never made a sight meant to be cranked on.
 
PatMcD said:
Unless Williams has bought out another company and sells their sight or has totally redesigned theirs, I would probably pass on buying one. I don't think I've seen the one you are talking about, but wouldn't expect much. Williams makes a fine, cheap, hunting peep sight, but has never made a sight meant to be cranked on.
Click to expand...

+1

There is a GOOD reason why true match-quality sights start at $300 just for the rear.
 
PatMcD said:
Unless Williams has bought out another company and sells their sight or has totally redesigned theirs, I would probably pass on buying one. I don't think I've seen the one you are talking about, but wouldn't expect much. Williams makes a fine, cheap, hunting peep sight, but has never made a sight meant to be cranked on.
Click to expand...

I had williams sights on my marlin 2000, they didn't last very long. they would wobble horribly when you had to change elevation.


I expect those sights to go pretty high when it comes down to a day or less left.
 
Last edited:
Ya, Wentworth Institute of Technology, it is right next to Northeastern. We were in the mid atlantic coast conference shooting against: Navy, coastguard, Norwhich, MIT, Mass Maritime, and VMI. There were a few more, but those were the big ones.
 
Oh yeah, I know it well. You shouldn't have any trouble with highpower if you apply the fundamentals like you learned in smallbore. The target is much easier. Most of the smallbore gear you have should work fine.

B
 

Similar threads

Vintage Military - Commemorative Korean War Memorial Match - Scarborough, ME 20 April 2024 0900
Replies
0
Views
95
WaltT
W
GRANBY PRS Club Match March 9th 2024
Replies
11
Views
505
lukewarm_fuzz
lukewarm_fuzz
2024 Lee Sportsmans NRL22 match schedule - next May 26th
Replies
1
Views
181
KMM696
KMM696
RGNB PRS22 Match 3/10/24 N. Dartmouth, MA
Replies
11
Views
398
Chilichonga
Chilichonga
battle of the bulge rifle match
Replies
0
Views
252
hunter thompson
H
Back
Top Bottom