Welcome to the club!

Is that Prairie Station you were shooting at?

 

Yes it was.

 

Congradulations on jumping into competition ARA shoots. I am just getting my stuff together and haven't the courage to shoot competitively yet. Happily I am shooting at a range where champion rimfire shooters practice and they are giving me a number of helpful sugestions. Even loaning me their equipment to show how it can improve my score. Maybe soon I will be as brave as you and compete.

 

I expected to get my butt whooped hard. But no better practice than just jumping in there and doing it. Glad I did. Learned a good bit and know what to expect now.

 

I had a friend invite me to one a few weeks ago. It really was a good time. I've been shooting IBS in competition with local ranges for a few years but this is a tougher game for me. Good practice and good fellow competitors made me decide to do more of these.

 

Personal Observation...Shooters who wait to shoot until they are "ready" never do well.

 

Good deal, glad you got out and got to have the experience. I am participating in club level benchrest matches. They can be challenging for sure. We have wind here almost every match. Typical match conditions are switching 6-10 mph. It’s very challenging to get those bullets in the right place.

I never realized how much difference the ammo choice can make. I have been testing some ammo on Green Monster targets recently and if your ammo isn’t consistently spot on, your going to suffer. I got some very bad fliers with some $15 a box ammo. There were only 2 in 25 shots but still dropping 3-4 points on 2 targets is rough. Very important to test ammo under decent conditions to help manage that variable. My $10 stuff was actually better but have not repeated the testing due to ammo availability.

Finding a scope that works for you can be a problem. Hope you can get it worked out soon. As long as image quality is acceptable the biggest factor I have had is finding one that can completely remove parallax.

 

Yea this vector was tough to get adjusted to make it clear enough.

 

There is a mental condition that occurs to you while shooting in a match that you can't duplicate in practice.

 

Yeah I just wish my record shots were as good as my sighters!!!😂😂😂😂

 

Shot my first match this past Saturday. Was a learning experience for sure. I really enjoyed it. Everybody was very helpful to a newcomer. Would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t been fighting with my scope setup. Going to change some stuff up. Going to see if a athlon ares is clearer than this cheap vector. Had alot of trouble getting my head in the right position. When I figured it out a few times i was able to do much better. I didn’t have much time to practice with this setup and knew going in I had some issues. Still had fun and learned a ton. View attachment 528749

Well, now you've done it. You have looked over the edge of that bottomless hole known as the "RFBR need / want list and ammo testing fund". You are now cursed to a life of poverty and doubt. Luckily, many others have come before us and made certain sacrifices to save us the pain of making those sacrifices ourselves. Listen to the oracles and the lessons they have learned....it will ease your pain and shorten your journey. Unfortunately, you will have to follow the path of ammo gauntlet alone, as we all do. It is only our suffering that can bring the wisdom needed for our individual situations.
I wish I could say, the path is short and easy but, I would be giving false hope. You see, I have only recently started the journey myself. Already, my gold has slipped through my fingers, never to be seen again. My inner peace is shattered, yet, I still stumble along the path, hopefully to enlightenment.

 

I used to shoot 3 position 15 years ago. My funds were near nonexistent. I have missed it for a long time. Now that I have a better financial situation. I need something to keep me poor so I don’t get too big for my jeans. 🤣 The wish list is ever lengthening since my return. Getting back into 3 position also. Practicing for it and ara bench. Wanting a anschutz. Need to stock pile ammo. Need more gear. Need to try different things so i can have a pile of stuff i don’t use that didn’t work out. Yep. Down the bunny hole we go with $100s in one hand and a lighter in the other.

 

Yeah I just wish my record shots were as good as my sighters!!!😂😂😂😂

Yeah I just wish my record shots were as good as my sighters!!!😂😂😂😂

Give me one good reason why your 25 record shots should not be as good as your sighters.

 

I was thinking about my 100 yard match the other day.

I shot 2- 5 shot sighter groups that had 4 touching and about 3/4” groups then shot 5 5 shot groups for record that were between 1” and 1 1/2”.😂😂😂😂

I will say the wind caught me a few times, forgot my flag tops and was trying to look 2 benches over, by the time I got back on the scope I missed some 180 switches.

Fortunately it was a Friday morning retired guy match. 👍

 

It was great meeting you in person and hope to see you often at Prairie.
Happy shooting.

 

It was great meeting you also. And you will definitely see me again. Appreciated the help also. The carpet helped.

 

What was your score? If you do not mind.

 

not very good lol highest 2400

 

Looks like your NOV scores were much more consistentdid you change anything or learn/adjust and just get better?

 

Changed ammo. Went into the match knowing what to expect. Also changed optics. Went from a vector 15-60 to a athlon ares 15-60. Much more clear. The vector was really blurry at 60. Also added a bradley cheek rest. Still had some minor issues. Going to try a front rest with joystick instead of f class bipod. The bipod is good but to adjust elevation you have to reach way up to get to the knob and when doing so my chest digs into the bench throwing my breathing off elevating my heart rate a little. I could see the dot of my reticle jump to my heart beat. My moved my whole rig to the back of the bench and never could find that sweet spot. So on the waiting list for a seb ar250. ETA likely January.

 

AMMO is a huge deal eliminating pesky point robbing flyers is a very good thing. does that ammo group? Like 20 shots into .5-.6" group at 50yrds? If so that ammo will help you clean an ARA target. If not keep looking for better ammo.

Good call on the scope. Tried out a Vector 15-60x and it was like yours and it was returned. However I have 2 Vector Sentiel 10-40x scopes they are good. Those Vectors ride on my Tikka T1X and Bergara B14 and both will shoot 2500's when I get in the zone. FYI I think something is off with QC on the 15-60's they aren't lining up the optical lenses properly IMHO it was returned for a full refund, I would only buy one agian.

Another shooter here in AZ has as Athlon 15-60x. to me the eye box is too tight at 60x and somewhat dim but usable.

I shoot in AZ usually wind to contend with so decent flags and learning to read them was 100% necessary to be competetive.

The Seb AR250 should be great. Again another shooter here in AZ has one. Dang thing is very smooth compared to my Caldwell Firecontrol joystick rest. Certainly that Caldwell is nothing to brag about but gets the job done. The higher end stuff is simply SO MUCH nicer/smoother. I spent my rest money on a 1 piece for my UL gun that hurt the wallet.

Anyway good luck you seem to be making the right moves to get into the game and do well.

 

Well I usually stick to big name scopes. But i tried a Arken and was genuinely surprised at the quality and the price. I figured maybe I'll try another cheaper scope. The vector was not in the same league as the arken or athlon. Was very disappointed. Hoping the ar250 rest works out. I just got my poor wallet hurt bad. New Anschutz 54.30 showed up today with new sights as well. Definitely put a dent in my funds.