Getting ready for first competition...

Sean Galt

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Hi all! I'm looking for a bit of advice on how to prep for my first competition (this weekend!!)

I've just finished assembling the very last pieces I'll be using, so I'm going to assume that even my zero will be off for now (FINALLY got the suppressor out of suppressor-jail).

I'll be going to Woody's probably 3 days this week (it goes up to 550 yds) but the competition is up to 1000 yds.

Here are my plans:
  • Re-zero it. Should be close since the can allegedly doesn't affect it... but still.
  • Use ammo charts and "Shooter" android app to try to stretch it out 100 -> 200 -> 300 -> 400 -> 550 and record dope for that. I don't know anything special about making dope charts.. is there some magic or do I just record it with all of the variables (pray for similar temperature since I likely won't have time to get too many different temps/pressures before the match) & do mathematical projections for the distances?
  • After getting confident at the adjustments for those distances, practice shooting in a few positions & using my new sling.
  • Try to get familiar with my new range-finder

I realize it's sub-optimal to only be able to do 3 range sessions all the week before the match, but that's how my schedule worked out. Lots of people will likely say "just have fun with it!" and I'm very confident I will :) I just also have a lot of fun trying to go in as prepared as possible. My work/life schedule will likely not let me do another competition like this for at least a year (I have little kiddos: worth it), so I gotta make it count! :)

Thanks for any tips that you all might have!



[for the curious: I'm shooting a left-handed Remington 700 in .308 w/MPA BA Chassis, SWFA SS 10x (mil-dot), running Black Hills 175gr ammo, turner all-weather sling, harris bi-pod, with a TBAC Ultra 7 suppressor threaded over a muzzle-break]
 
Ahhh ... you might have a problem ... the 700 left hand will have a left hand twist. You did you order the Thunder Beast for left hand twist because it is standard right hand twist setup so when the bullet transitions from the barrel to the suppressor it's axial twist is opposite and messes up the stability?

















:D sorry but I had to do it ... good luck and remember position, breathing and trigger control are your friend.
 
[for the curious: I'm shooting a left-handed Remington 700 in .308 w/MPA BA Chassis, SWFA SS 10x (mil-dot), running Black Hills 175gr ammo, turner all-weather sling, harris bi-pod, with a TBAC Ultra 7 suppressor threaded over a muzzle-break]

That's a well documented combo (rifle and load) get your actual velocity, plug it into shooter, and your dope will be damn close, no problem there.

As for short notice... I've actually had to put a rifle together or mount a scope to a rifle on the tailgate the morning of a match bore sighted and used stage one for "testing". It really is all fun and games and should be treated as such. Just be safe and don't do anything stupid.

Where is the match? I've been too busy to even look at stuff the last few months.

If you had done this last week I could have met you at woodys and we could have flung some lead and worked on positions.
 
Ahhh ... you might have a problem ... the 700 left hand will have a left hand twist. You did you order the Thunder Beast for left hand twist because it is standard right hand twist setup so when the bullet transitions from the barrel to the suppressor it's axial twist is opposite and messes up the stability?

















:D sorry but I had to do it ... good luck and remember position, breathing and trigger control are your friend.

I read that on my phone & you kept it going so long that by the end of it I was starting to think you were serious. You got me goooood! :D
 
Frontline Defense. Pretty far from me, so I'll probably get a hotel. Linkage: http://www.guardianlongrange.com/


Ah, bad timing I guess! Thanks for the offer :)
Oh shit - it's the guardian already. Great group of guys and they'll all be happy to help if you need it. Definitely don't hesitate to ask anything if you have questions.

Also, make sure when you sign in they know you're shooting a 308
 
Oh shit - it's the guardian already. Great group of guys and they'll all be happy to help if you need it. Definitely don't hesitate to ask anything if you have questions.

Also, make sure when you sign in they know you're shooting a 308
I put .308 down when I signed up. Why does this matter... is there a special league for people who have to lob their ammo, and all of the 6.5 creedmore/.338 Lapuas have a different league? ;)
 
I put .308 down when I signed up. Why does this matter... is there a special league for people who have to lob their ammo, and all of the 6.5 creedmore/.338 Lapuas have a different league? ;)
You guys have the possibility for a "special" prize ;)
 
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Wow, went to re-zero and the suppressor actually hadn't changed it at all.

After zeroing at 100, went to 200yds and got first-round hits on all 3 hangers that are up there.

Stretched it out to 300, 400, 550 and was just kicking up dust trying to do it with some ballistic table I found online. Lesson learned: it's actually really hard to spot for yourself ;) I can see some dust plumes but without being able to watch the bullet-trace, I'm pretty clueless on where the impact was.

I'll probably get out to Woody's again tomorrow and I'll try using Shooter app's results instead. It is showing much smaller offsets than the chart I found.
 
And if you're not seeing your impact with a 308 running a can, then you aren't getting behind the rifle correctly. If you're that far off target (because of recoil) your setup must be off, or you aren't driving the rifle correctly.

No offense intended...
 
And if you're not seeing your impact with a 308 running a can, then you aren't getting behind the rifle correctly. If you're that far off target (because of recoil) your setup must be off, or you aren't driving the rifle correctly.

No offense intended...

I can see the dirt it kicks up, but I definitely get thrown off for long enough that I can't follow the trace (and I'm not good enough to be able to tell where amongst the dirt the actual impact is).

Should I be able to watch the trace if I'm running a can? I could definitely understand if I'm supposed to be more behind it: I was just sitting at a bench (and pretty much just my shoulder was behind it), so I was probably absorbing a lot less impact than if I was prone. I'll try to mess with that position some more.
 
Nope. Don't have a chrono. Officially it's 2600 fps at the muzzle for that ammo. I assume that means like... room temperature? Could have been warmer than that yesterday.
That's also based on barrel length too, any idea what they based the quote on?

Good rule of thumb is 2650 to plug into shooter unless they have one for that particular load.
 
That's also based on barrel length too, any idea what they based the quote on?

Good rule of thumb is 2650 to plug into shooter unless they have one for that particular load.
No idea what they base it off of. I'll try 2650... thanks!
 
I can see the dirt it kicks up, but I definitely get thrown off for long enough that I can't follow the trace (and I'm not good enough to be able to tell where amongst the dirt the actual impact is).

Should I be able to watch the trace if I'm running a can? I could definitely understand if I'm supposed to be more behind it: I was just sitting at a bench (and pretty much just my shoulder was behind it), so I was probably absorbing a lot less impact than if I was prone. I'll try to mess with that position some more.

Sometimes I can catch trace, but not always. Impacts should be visible after a bit of practice with it.

If you can, go prone and get completely behind it should be a night and day difference from just being on the bench as noted.
 
Sometimes I can catch trace, but not always. Impacts should be visible after a bit of practice with it.

If you can, go prone and get completely behind it should be a night and day difference from just being on the bench as noted.
Will do. Thanks!
 
If you want to stop by and grab my chrono to get your velocity you're welcome to it. Shoot me a PM and we'll see if we can work out the details.

What barrel length are you running?
 
If you want to stop by and grab my chrono to get your velocity you're welcome to it. Shoot me a PM and we'll see if we can work out the details.

What barrel length are you running?
Thanks for the offer! I don't even know how to run a chrono & I'm so tight on time that I barely can get to the range. I'm really hoping the Shooter calculations magically work. I'm going to try to get to the range today, but we'll see. If I do, I'll let you know how the Shooter calculations work out.

I have a 26" barrel.
 
Thanks for the offer! I don't even know how to run a chrono & I'm so tight on time that I barely can get to the range. I'm really hoping the Shooter calculations magically work. I'm going to try to get to the range today, but we'll see. If I do, I'll let you know how the Shooter calculations work out.

I have a 26" barrel.
Definitely going to be faster than 2600. What time you going I may be able to meet you out there if it's in the afternoon.
 
Go slow
Don't rush
Go slow
Don't try to muscle the rifle, relax
Go slow
If you miss, spot them.
If something comes up with the rifle (zero is off for example) haul ass after your shot to the 100 yard range and verify.
Go slow (getting this yet?)
Remember to breathe
Right down the course of fire the night before on note cards so you can then just write the dope during the safety brief or while others are shooting.
Do not dick with the rifle, had a friend do this at competition and he got last.
Get comfortable behind the rifle on the barricade, again don't muscle the rifle. If it doesn't feel right, fix it.
 
Go slow
Don't rush
Go slow
Don't try to muscle the rifle, relax
Go slow
If you miss, spot them.
If something comes up with the rifle (zero is off for example) haul ass after your shot to the 100 yard range and verify.
Go slow (getting this yet?)
Remember to breathe
Right down the course of fire the night before on note cards so you can then just write the dope during the safety brief or while others are shooting.
Do not dick with the rifle, had a friend do this at competition and he got last.
Get comfortable behind the rifle on the barricade, again don't muscle the rifle. If it doesn't feel right, fix it.
I resent that, I have never cone in last! Lol

Even when I ran 10.5" sbr we came placed in the top 20 and I put that together the night before and zeroed in on stage 1. Hahahaha
 
I don't have a can on mine...Remington 700 (.308), KRG X-Ray Chasssis, JP Brake (all from Paul at FLD) and a Viper PST 6-24x50 mil/mil.
Mine doesn't jump so much that I can't get back on target and see where I'm hitting...at least that's the way it was up in Gretna VA 2 Saturdays ago.

Using a MagnetoSpeed, my muzzle velocity was 2550 with factory Black Hills 175gr.

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. :)

Breathe and relax while shooting as much as you can.
 
I resent that, I have never cone in last! Lol

Even when I ran 10.5" sbr we came placed in the top 20 and I put that together the night before and zeroed in on stage 1. Hahahaha

haha Mr Operator!

It was his first match and he did everything he wasn't suppose to do from tighten action screws mid day, tighten scope rings, not trusting the bullet, just wrong wrong
 
haha Mr Operator!

It was his first match and he did everything he wasn't suppose to do from tighten action screws mid day, tighten scope rings, not trusting the bullet, just wrong wrong
Lol

Roy?
 
I'm telling him you said that! Naw my buddy Don, last month's match at Frontline was his first. To pour salt in the wound I remind him of a guy that left with 3 stages to shoot (he didn't want to be driving in the dark?) that still beat him.
OUCH!
 
Day 1 ran long so I pretty much just prepped and went to bed. Heading in for Day 2 in a sec. AAR coming soon! ;)

Short version: Lotta fun so far!
 
So... short version: it was a lot of fun!! If anyone is thinking about going to one and watching, I'd say that instead of watching... just shoot it! The event was SUPER friendly to new shooters (even though there were so many really good shooters there).

The first day was individual shooting... really long day (don't forget lots of sunscreen!) and a lot of fun. Our squad had a lot of first-time shooters in it and they intentionally put some really experienced shooters in with us & told them there were lots of newbies and that they could help (eg: read windage). They went way above-and-beyond with helping and I think everyone had a great first shoot.

My action came loose in the 3rd stage (wtf! this happened last week and @BurnedOutGeek helped me fix it to the correct torque). Not sure why it happened again, but maybe it was because I hadn't taken care of the rear action screw (it's REALLY down in that chassis). Fortunately someone in my squad had some tools for it (including the extender needed to get the rear screw), and when it was tightened up it was right back on the same zero! Really lucky that went so well. It will be interesting to see if it sticks this time (stuck at least through the 2nd day, so it's promising). Also... I need to buy a torque wrench ;)

I shot second on every stage, which was a really good challenge. They usually rotate who goes first, but the first place guy was really easy going & said he was okay going first every time.

Day 2:
They created two-person teams from the top shooter and last place shooter, 2nd place and 2nd-from-last, etc.. There were some REALLY fun stages with cool ways to make teamwork important. I don't want to elaborate too much because it might ruin the fun for people who do similar events at Frontline in the future ;)

It went really well, was a lot of fun, and was a great opportunity for newer shooters because we're paired with someone a lot better than us. Things went really well (and my partner shot great) and we ended up taking 3rd place out of 35 teams! There was a four-way tie for third originally, but the tiebreaker came down to the Accushot Challenge shot (cold-bore 100yd shot in the morning before everything else) which is largely a test of your zero... so big thanks to @BurnedOutGeek who helped me zero the rifle last week, because that shot broke the tie for us!

Second and third place won free entrance to future Guardian events for life... so I guess I have to go to more events now ;)

Thanks to everyone for the tips & help... had a great time & hitting steel is a lot more fun than missing it, so all the tips made the weekend even more fun!
 
Awesome! Congrats!

You couldn't have picked a better match to make your first one.
 
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