Posted: 6/6/2010 12:19:36 PM EDT
I currently have a rra 20" A2 I am shooting/practicing with this year, in hopes that next year I will be able to shoot at local service rifle competitions. I have a JP adjustable front sight. I have gone over the rules 3 times now. It states any metallic sights are legal, but then states no external mods. Here is a picture of one. What are your guys thought on it? Thanks
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I can understand that yes it doesn't appear USGI. But a national match front sight with the 4 set screw isnt USGI, is it? If I have to change it, I have to change it.
Yah, Im pretty sure that no one would protest me in my first year. I dont think I will be setting any records. 
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| Probably not legal, but it will be up the the individual match director. The sprit and intent of the rules are to keep the weapon looking like the issue arm. As others have pointed out, nobody will give a rip until you can score with the big dogs, so don't sweat it and go practice. Spend your money on ammo and range time and go shoot a match if you can. Games matches are a good entry point, although you will not be competing for awards with an AR-15 (but they will let you shoot, people do it all the time). Still, the experience is excellent and it will help you get your "kit" together and shook out, which is nearly as important as your rifle. |
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If I am going to practice, I might as well use the correct sight. I have the correct one with the four set screws. I just like this one better, and I can tune the gas system easily. Oh well.
That means I am going to have make some more trips to the range to sight it in again. Thats going to suck. 
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What? An excuse to go to the range "sucks"???
Ahhhhh, my ears are bleeding! Dude, any reason to go shooting is a good one, be it sighting in a rifle or practicing for a match or.... whatever. A bad day at the range is still better than a good day at the office! Matt |
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I currently have a rra 20" A2 I am shooting/practicing with this year, in hopes that next year I will be able to shoot at local service rifle competitions. At what point will you have practiced enough? Why wait until next year to go matches? Just come out right now regardless of what front sight you are using. |
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What? An excuse to go to the range "sucks"??? Ahhhhh, my ears are bleeding! Dude, any reason to go shooting is a good one, be it sighting in a rifle or practicing for a match or.... whatever. A bad day at the range is still better than a good day at the office! Matt I hope you are kidding. That was my attempt at sarcasm. note winking face. |
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I currently have a rra 20" A2 I am shooting/practicing with this year, in hopes that next year I will be able to shoot at local service rifle competitions. At what point will you have practiced enough? Why wait until next year to go matches? Just come out right now regardless of what front sight you are using. I know some people believe in just showing up and shooting. For me, my profession is sports car racing, and the teams that just show up, usually end in disaster and hurting themselves or other teams. So yes, I am going to practice some more, and go to a few events and just watch to make sure I am prepared enough to compete. Just my 2 cents. |
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I currently have a rra 20" A2 I am shooting/practicing with this year, in hopes that next year I will be able to shoot at local service rifle competitions. At what point will you have practiced enough? Why wait until next year to go matches? Just come out right now regardless of what front sight you are using. I know some people believe in just showing up and shooting. For me, my profession is sports car racing, and the teams that just show up, usually end in disaster and hurting themselves or other teams. So yes, I am going to practice some more, and go to a few events and just watch to make sure I am prepared enough to compete. Just my 2 cents. When you go and 'just watch', be prepared to shoot :-) For all the matches I have gone to that people just want to watch they usually get offered a rifle, matt, ammo, anything they need to try... and they usually end up shooting. You will never find a friendlier bunch on the line. People will offer to coach you, give you all tips you need. I wish I hand't waited so long to start. Turns out I took to it like a duck to water. Frank |
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I currently have a rra 20" A2 I am shooting/practicing with this year, in hopes that next year I will be able to shoot at local service rifle competitions. At what point will you have practiced enough? Why wait until next year to go matches? Just come out right now regardless of what front sight you are using. I know some people believe in just showing up and shooting. For me, my profession is sports car racing, and the teams that just show up, usually end in disaster and hurting themselves or other teams. So yes, I am going to practice some more, and go to a few events and just watch to make sure I am prepared enough to compete. Just my 2 cents. When you go and 'just watch', be prepared to shoot :-) For all the matches I have gone to that people just want to watch they usually get offered a rifle, matt, ammo, anything they need to try... and they usually end up shooting. You will never find a friendlier bunch on the line. People will offer to coach you, give you all tips you need. I wish I hand't waited so long to start. Turns out I took to it like a duck to water. Frank Thats great, I can appreciate that. Thats awesome that the people competing in these events are so friendly, definitely not the case were I work as a mechanic. My original question was just to make sure that my current rifle is compliant with the rules. I not looking to buy every gizmo available. Right now, I want to work on my technique. |
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Collector is right. Here's what you need to have under your belt before your first match, and you're wasting your time if you try to do much more:
- A good 200 yard zero for your rifle. Your first course of fire should be 200 yard slowfire offhand. and the next will be 200 yard rapid fire sitting. Your 200 yard zero will probably work for both, but even if you have to move a click or two between offhand and sitting, you'll still be on paper. Next will be 300 yard rapid fire prone, so you can probably come up 3 MOA from your 200 yard zero to get on paper, then another 11 or 12 MOA up from 300 to get on paper for the 600 yard prone slowfire. Let the match director know that you are a new shooter if you don't have your 300 and 600 yard zeros, and he'll probably allow you have some extra sighters before you shoot for record. - You will need to practice good solid holds for all three positions, and know how to use your sling in sitting and prone. Most of the practice to achieve these skills can best be done in your living room dry-firing. Cheaper, too, as you don't have to buy ammo or targets, or the gas and time to drive back and forth to the range. Learn to use a good, tight sling, and one way to know if it's tight enough is to get into position and look through the sights as you take a breath - if the sights move straight up and down, your golden, but if they move at an angle, you need to tighten the sling. - You will need to have some idea of the range commands, and how to "safe and ground" your rifle at the end of your string. But just a rudimentary knowledge of this will take you a long way, and all you really have to do is watch the shooters next to you and mimic what they're doing. Unless you do something manifestly unsafe, nobody will jump down your throat. Again, let the match director know you're a new shooter, and he'll probably partner you with somebody to keep an eye on you and keep you out of trouble. - Equipment-wise, you will need probably 5 magazines - (2) two-round mags, (2) eight-round mags, and a mag dedicated to slowfire and sighters, and the 20-round straight ones are best. You will need something to lay on - a mat like the one Midway puts on sale frequently is fine, but lots of guys start out with a piece of cardboard or a carpet remnant. You will need something to scope your targets - a spotter scope and stand is good, and you may be able to borrow one at the match from the relay that is in the pits, but a pair of binoculars might work in a pinch. I started with an el-cheapo NC-Star spotter scope that really worked pretty good. You will need some decent ammo for the 600 yard stage - your WalMart XM193 55-grain bulk pack ain't gonna cut it a 600 yards. The minimum that my club will allow on the 300 and 600 yard line is 69-grain bullets. - You will probably need an NRA membership. Most clubs that run these matches are affiliated with the NRA, and will turn your scores in to their competition department for an eventual ranking. For CMP matches they will also require that you sign and have notarized an eligibility affidavit (downloadable from CMP's web site). If you do this, get two affidavits notarized - one to turn in at your first match, and one to carry around in your range gear in case you go to another club and they want to have one on file for you as well. I wouldn't advise you to go to Camp Perry for your first match. Check with your local club, and find out if they have an informal "practice" league. My club runs a "Wednesday Night Highpower League", which shoots an 80-round across-the-course match spread over two Wednesdays. They shoot the 200 yard offhand and sitting one Wednesday, and the 300 prone rapids and 600 prone slowfire the next Wednesday. It's a great way to get broken in to the range commands, get your zeros, work out the kinks in your equipment, and learn to work the pits. |
| Please! ! ! ! ! Just go and shoot and have fun. Watch the first round, and the range officer will probably ask someone to watch and show you the ropes. Thats what they did with me last year and I'm having a great time. High Power shooters are some of the nicest people, they will lend you equiptment, give you advice, and anything else you might need. I'm just sorry that I waited this long to start shooting in high power matches. |
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Excuse me, but what part of my reply is considered to be bull$hit?
I took the question from the OP as a reflection of where I was a year or two ago, having attended a HP match, and being intimidated by the level of equipment and obvious skill of most of the competitors. I was just trying to point out the bare necessities, and the minimum skills needed to get started. Do you have something constructive to add, or are you just here to piss people off? |
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For your first match, see if there is a 100 or 200 yd. range near you that has a match. Once on paper you won't have to worry about the sights as you learn the basics of the game. Our club makes every new shooter attend a class on the basics of the match, the rifles, and safety rules. Every match starts with a review of the safety rules. New guys usually get squaded with more experienced shooters so someone is looking out for you and usually shares their equipment...if you're an OK guy!
Consider a Garand match for your first match. Our club has loaner M1s. Very low stress and fun shoot. |
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At what point will you have practiced enough? Why wait until next year to go matches? Just come out right now regardless of what front sight you are using.
A good starting point would be where you can consistantly keep them all in the black on a correct target. You can buy reduced "repair centers" for reduced ranges, or get the measurements from the rulebook and make your own. To be competitive you need to be able to keep them all in the 9 ring or better, but keeping them all in the black will make you feel like you belong there. Starting out, don't worry if you have an occaisonal flier or three that wanders out of the black, but you should be able to keep your group looking like a group and not "improved cylinder". Roy |
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At what point will you have practiced enough? Why wait until next year to go matches? Just come out right now regardless of what front sight you are using.
A good starting point would be where you can consistantly keep them all in the black on a correct target. You can buy reduced "repair centers" for reduced ranges, or get the measurements from the rulebook and make your own. To be competitive you need to be able to keep them all in the 9 ring or better, but keeping them all in the black will make you feel like you belong there. Starting out, don't worry if you have an occaisonal flier or three that wanders out of the black, but you should be able to keep your group looking like a group and not "improved cylinder". Roy I think telling someone that a good starting point is keeping them all in the black does a diservice. I know people who have been shooting high-power for years and they can't keep them all in the black. They still have a great time. The black ring on the 200 yard target only goes to the 9 ring... and the 300 to the 8 ring... If you can keep all your shots on paper, your ready to go to a match. Frank |
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It all depends on how thick your skin is, I guess. People always used to tell me what I good shot I was. When I went to my first highpower match, I found out differently. It's a pretty humbling sport. The OP seemed to have some reservations about jumping right in, I just gave him something to shoot for, as it were. How about, keep most of them in the black? It really depends on whether you want to be marginally competitve or just hear the gun go bang. All on the paper is more like the absolute minimum proficiency.
For my money (and pride), I practiced until I could hold the black with most every shot. Then I started shooting Games matches. Won a medal here and there and got my kit together. Now I'm shooting highpower (50 and 80 rounders) and working on getting them all in the nine or ten ring. There's no rush. Roy |
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Nothing wrong with jumping right in. For this sport to grow shooters need to shoot matches. I often here that you should keep em in the blak or shoot xxx/500 or xxx/800. If you want to shoot well at matches ou go shot matches, the hell with putting it off.
I do agree that highpower is humbling. |
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It all depends on how thick your skin is, I guess. People always used to tell me what I good shot I was. When I went to my first highpower match, I found out differently. It's a pretty humbling sport. The OP seemed to have some reservations about jumping right in, I just gave him something to shoot for, as it were. How about, keep most of them in the black? It really depends on whether you want to be marginally competitve or just hear the gun go bang. All on the paper is more like the absolute minimum proficiency. For my money (and pride), I practiced until I could hold the black with most every shot. Then I started shooting Games matches. Won a medal here and there and got my kit together. Now I'm shooting highpower (50 and 80 rounders) and working on getting them all in the nine or ten ring. There's no rush. Roy I also am told this, but I pretty sure I will be humbled as well. When I say I need to practice, this means I will problem get the range 2 maybe three more times this year(funding issues!). I hope to be able to show up to one event to just check it out, so next year I wont just be showing up blind. I appreciate everyones input, the sight was the only part that I had a question about. The rest of the rifle is legal. |
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A clinic is a great way to start out. There aren't any on the schedule in Florida, but that can change. Many clubs have one at the beginning and again at the end of their seasons. Keep an eye on the CMP Competition tracker. The web address is below. Near rthe bottom of the page is the pick for "upcoming clinics". Once that page opens, you can sort by state.
http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi Good luck, and see you on the firing line! Roy |