Posted: 6/3/2014 8:08:12 PM EDT
|
Hello All,
I am a member at MCRC and looking for help with NRA Highpower. Any HP shooters here? Ive always been a pistol guy and am wanting to jump over. New rifle and looking to learn. Thanks for looking Barry |
|
I am not a member there but do generally shoot the Regional held in July and the KSRA service rifle championship match held in September, and the leg matches that go along with.
They are a generally accomodating bunch and once you finally hook up with them, pretty sure most of them will be happy to share as much information as they think you're listening too. I would imagine their HP chairman's contact info is on your website someplace. If you can't find out who to hook up with, email or IM me your contact info and I'll pass it along to a couple of their regulars. Sooner or later, you'll want to add the matches at Bucksnort at Marshall, MO and those down at Central Kansas Gun Club in Hutchinson to your schedule, at least the more important ones. Simple web search ought to turn those up for you. There is a boat-load of information here (clicky-this-linky). You'll be required to register to even look around but it will be worth your while. Theres some pretty good tutorial stuff on the web by Glen Zediker that he did by hisself and with G. David Tubb and Troy Lawton. You will save yourself a lot of money, pain and suffering by paying close attention to whatever those three have to say. Simple web search for Glen Zediker will turn up a good bit of it. |
|
Thanks Ando
Started reading On the link sites... I think I'll try to get to the range during a scheduled practice to try and get a name or two. Funny, but on the mcrc site their is very little contact info. Anyway - I'm hot after it and looking to put the first rounds down range on my new service rifle setup. Curious on your thoughts - I am not reloading 223 now and won't likely this year... What factory ammo would you off the cuff tell me to buy for practice and first match? Thinking about the privilege match grade 69 grn midway has on sale. Bad idea? BV |
|
I don't know much about factory match ammo personally, but Black Hill has a good reputation. Whatever you buy, you won't really know until you find out how it works in your rifle.
I overheard a couple guys at MCRC discussing some factory 55-grain stuff they were buying cheap someplace, that was capable of holding 10 & X ring out thru 300, but didn't assimilate what it was. Ask around when you get around those guys. 69's will absolutely work thru 200 and probably 300, but 77's are better at 300 if it's windy. There is some debate about whether or not 80's are better than 77's at 500/600, but the ballistics say the 80's shoot inside 77's in the wind if your rifle will handle them. You are probably going to need a 1:8 twist minimum to shoot heavier than 69/70. I am told "some" 1:9 twist barrels will stabilize 77's, but some won't and you won't know until you try them. Some folks run 69's or lighter at 200, switch to 77's for 300 and then 80's at 500/600, but that's way too complicated for me to keep track of. I run 77's out thru 300 and switch to 80's for 500/600. Pretty much all I've ever run are Sierra Match Kings but lots of people run Bergers, Noslers or Hornady bullets. Personally it seems like religious denominations to me. Some folks are Baptists and some are Lutheran. Theoretically they can all get you to the same place. Just starting out, you have enough to worry about without fussing with ammo. You'll get more benefit out of dry firing at a dot on the wall than endlessly massaging your loads. Find a load that works reasonably well, and don't screw with it until you master the basics. Concentrate on your basic stuff like sight alignment, trigger control, yada-yada-yada - the basics absolutely matter - and above all else, doing things consistently. That's the key right there, doing the right things consistently. "Everything matters, every point counts". And, keep your head in the game. Your head is the most important accessory in high power. Right between your ears is where you win or lose, improve or stagnate. Believe you can do it, and you will. Figure out who the better shooters are, and who are the yo-yos. Hang with the former and try not to get around the latter. The former will drag you along by virtue of their inertia; the latter will hold you back because of their lack of inertia. It was ever thus. |
|
If you reload, go get 1000 new Winchester cases, prime them with CCI BR4 primers, drop 24 grains of RL15 and top it with a 75 or 77 grain bullet to 2.250" OAL. Go with 75's or 77's across the course and focus on the trigger pulling.
Next, push a black poster pin into your white wall at eye level. From a distance of 15 -20 feet practice your dry fire offhand with an EMPTY rifle, that being no live ammo of any caliber anywhere in the room you're at. Best place I can tell you to go to work on your sitting or prone position is an Appleseed or USRA class. While it doesn't 100 percent mesh with NRA/CMP rules you will learn the fundamentals. I dont' care for the creator of AS but the marksmanship teaching are sound, just stay away from the Flavor Aide. |
|
Quoted:
If you reload, go get 1000 new Winchester cases, prime them with CCI BR4 primers, drop 24 grains of RL15 and top it with a 75 or 77 grain bullet to 2.250" OAL. Go with 75's or 77's across the course and focus on the trigger pulling. Next, push a black poster pin into your white wall at eye level. From a distance of 15 -20 feet practice your dry fire offhand with an EMPTY rifle, that being no live ammo of any caliber anywhere in the room you're at. Best place I can tell you to go to work on your sitting or prone position is an Appleseed or USRA class. While it doesn't 100 percent mesh with NRA/CMP rules you will learn the fundamentals. I dont' care for the creator of AS but the marksmanship teaching are sound, just stay away from the Flavor Aide. Sound advice, this. "you win at standing but you loose at 600" is an old but true saying [500 at DeSoto, of course]. When you get to where you can keep them all in the black in standing, you'll be well on your way to Master class. |
| Some great words of advice from Andouille. Just keep going on Wednesdays and you'll see a few of us who will be glad to help. I tend to practice during the week if I have time off from work. Tuesday mornings are about the only time to avoid as the cops are using the range. |
|
Quoted:
As far as ammo goes, I shot nothing but Federal bulk pack 55gr .223 for the first two years and had no limitations out to 300. I think the group in my avatar was shot with it. You may be the gentleman I overheard remarking on it. That's good information for the newbie to know -- and me as well. Sure would save a few steps, may have to look into it. Thanks. You -- or any of you -- shooting in Hutch this weekend? The leg might go cheap on Sunday....... |
|
Btrain needs to sign up for the free digital version of Shooting Sports USA, occasionally there will be a nugget in it, especially last month's issue with Julia Watson;
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nra/ssusa_201406/ Edited to add, last month's issue here: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nra/ssusa_201405/index.php |
|
Quoted:
. You -- or any of you -- shooting in Hutch this weekend? The leg might go cheap on Sunday....... And it did go cheap. 6-points to John Heger with a $hit score of 466 & 7 or 8 X's which nevertheless was good enough to leg him out, pending approval of match results by CMP. Congratulations, John, who has been chasing Distinguished for a long, long time now. |
|
We'll,
Been a busy week or so... To the range a couple of times and it's been fun - very humbling but fun. Wanting to attend the local match next weekend. Curious on your gear thoughts. Do I need a stool to attend? I don't really mind buying prior if I need to, but would like to attend and learn more about them first. Looked at creedmoore and champions choice online but no hands on experience. Thanks in advice for your thoughts BV |
|
Quoted:
Don't buy ANYTHING until you've shot a little while and see what you need. Club matches are very informal and guys will be glad to help you figure it out. Exactly so, very good advice, follow it. As far as stools, an inexpensive stool like for turkey or dove hunting will work nicely for a while, or even a 5-gallon bucket with lid. You don't need a elaborate/expensive cart until you start going to matches where you can't park close to the firing line, like Camp Perry or the CMP regional games as examples. Besides a high-quality rifle and sufficient reliable magazines that you can have them pre-loaded for the rapids so you don't have to mess with loading mags during the prep periods, the following will give you the most bang for the buck: If you have any vision issues whatsoever, talk to the other guys about who they use for opthalmologist and get thee hence immediately if not sooner. An optholmologist who understands vision as it relates to the RIFLE shooter is a hard bird to find. I had a wretched time finding somebody who knew what I was talking about, and the right guy made all the difference. Your fundamentals may be rock solid but if you can't see, you're very screwed from the get-go. Log book. Buy immediately and use it (my biggest failure, personally). A good shooting jacket and glove/mitt for non-firing hand. Don't skimp on money here, but do lookit what everybody else is using and compare features. They're very durable so you'll enjoy a good choice or regret a bad choice for a long, long time. A good scope stand. Don't skimp there, either, with the same advice as for the jacket and for the same reasons. Look thru a bunch of different scopes before buying one. I'm personally not convinced that larger is better and I'm not so sure Kowa is enough better than Konus to justify the much higher cost, although certainly opinions about that will vary widely depending on who's doing the looking thru. Whatever you get, angled eyepiece is essential, and extended eye relief eyepiece helps if available. Do buy a scope cover along with the scope to protect your investment. The rest of the stuff, you'll figger out over a relatively short period of time in traditional monkey-see, monkey do fashion. |
|
Shot the MCRC match yesterday and had a blast - Very nice group of shooters. I have not been on a line past 200 and it was alot of fun to shoot the 300/500yrd strings.
I felt like a turlte on its back most of the time, but my Carhart and motorcycle glove got me through. Pretty blown away by the scores, or should I say my LACK OF SCORE, but again - Really was alot of fun. I ended up with a 618, having 3 misses in the last 4 shots of the 200yrd standing. Fatigue/impatients was definatley setting in and for some reason I didnt think we could use a mag to load for the slow fire stings. For the 200 standing and 500 prone strings I was firing/ breaking dow to lock the bolt back/loading a round and rebuilding to fire - not very efficient is it. When I finished the 500 I noticed the others were using sleds or single shot mags (Can you say Newbie). Anyway... A used coat I purchased from an AR15 member and my spotting scope setup will be here this week. Looking forwad the next time. B |
|
618 in your first XTC match wearing a Carhart is tremendous. Well done, Rookie!
I myself shot a 385 in my first XTC match and had nowhere to go but up from there. In standing, don't get excited by stuff and don't let yourself get rattled. Front sight focus and if you think you're getting rattled and/or the front sight won't settle down for you TAKE THE GUN DOWN AND CALM DOWN! You can't force it and you don't have to take the shot if it doesn't feel right. And above all else, do as I say, not as I do......... |