My local-ish range has monthly 600yd competitions for F-Class style shooting, which I've never done.  I'm not a member (yet) at this range, but the competition is open to members and non-members alike.

I have a 308 with a 20" barrel with a sub-moa load in 175gr TMK that I've only been able to test out to 100yds.  I've shot 168gr FGMM out to 400yds and was able to ring an 8" plate all day with some cross winds.  I have a few questions:

1) Being that I've only shot out to 400yds with this rifle, and have never gone further, should I even attempt to do the competition?  EDIT: I should also add I was able to consistently ring a 8" gong at 400yds without a problem, and was able to more often than not hit a 6" gong...probably about a 80% hit rate.
2) They have a match on this Saturday, but I cannot confirm my zero with the 175gr rounds before then most likely.  I am currently zeroed for the 168gr pills.  Which should I use?

Use what you have zero'ed, but usually you get 2 or 3 sighters, might now matter much.  I can't imaging at 600 there being more than a couple clicks difference.

You're rig is good to go if you have a bi-pod for F/TR but you will have stiff competition.

If there are guys there practicing for the 1000 yd matches it's not unusual for someone to score all 10s and Xs on a target at 600.

It is a good fun learning experience.

I'm not worried about winning.  I'm competitive, but I know that some of the guys have rigs customized specifically for this style shooting.  I don't.  I do have a bi-pod.  I ran the numbers last night too...at 400yds, I'm usually at about 2.7mils of elevation, 600 has me around 4.2-4.3mils.  I'm working on memorizing wind corrections for full and half value.

The match gives two sighters, with coaching.  I guess I'm going to learn on the fly about reading wind! I'm gonna give it a go...the worst that can happen is I suck at it, and learn what I need to practice on!

A local club does 500yd F-Class.  The first time I shot I had a bit of classic "beginners luck" and shot a low expert score with a much worse rig than I have now, just ignored the wind, and I never matched that performance again the few times I went out there after that.

RE: wind.

If you have not worked on reading wind before you might just want to ignore it unless its crazy.

One shooter who does well at the local F/TR told me when he first started all he paid attention to was direction and lulls in the wind.  If there was wind, he held into the 9 ring the direction it was coming from, if it was a lull he held center.  
I've had good results doing that with steel at 500yds.

Thanks for that advice.  I'll probably do that.  I'm going to confirm my zero after work today and I'll post back Saturday afternoon and let you know how good (bad) I do!

Well, to update, I went.  I realized that I didn't have near as nice gear as a majority of the guys there, mostly since my paychecks aren't as big it seems.  But I live by the motto "run whatcha brung" and I did.  I shot decently for my first time at that distance.  I shot a 545-6X.  I didn't come in last, which is a plus, but only one person shot worse than me...but hey, I'll take it.

I'll definitely continue going since it's fun, but I know I won't be competitive with most of those guys unless I sink some serious coin into it, which I'm not going to do.  I enjoy long range shooting, but I enjoy shooting AR's a lot more, doing moving and shooting.

That is good shooting. I also tell people to start with what they have, costs nothing extra.

You can use ballistics software to get on paper. I did it with a 100 yard zero and guessing velocity from the books and it was on paper at 1k on first sighter.

Was that a 60 shot match?  If so, good first time score with that setup and quite an endurance test.  I usually shot 2 x 15 shot matches for a total of 30 shots.

That's what I did.  I had only gotten to 400, and new my comeups were good out to that far.  I used Strelok to confirm my data, and it had me perfect on paper on the first shot for elevation.  Windage was about half mil off, and was easily fixed for my second sighter.

Yeah, it was a 60 shot match.  We were shooting starting at 8am, and didn't finish until 1:30PM.  I now know to bring a lunch next time, and a lot more water....south Louisiana is no joke during the summer.

I already anticipated needing a new barrel within the next 500rds or so, so I may just go ahead and buy a new one sooner, and get something in the 24" range.  That should get me a little more velocity behind the bullet, and make things a bit easier.

I started shooting F Class with a  humble  Rem 700  SPS with a Varmint Barrel in .308.  That model has a 1:12 twist and unfortunately can only stabilize up to 178 gr bullets.


It is  a  relatively cheap way to start and the addtional 6" of barrel on the SPS  will help you greatly with velocity.