Getting started in F Class

[grumpyBD]

Hey guys, I was looking to get into 600 yard "any sight" or F Class matches as a primer to LRH. I was in the Army for a while and shot M16a2 out to 500 meters. However as we all know they strive for "meat" hits on sillouhettes. Animals deserve better. I presently shoot a Remington 700 LTR 20" barreled 308 Win, trigger set @ 3#, Tasco SS 10x scope, Badger rings, Near 20 MOA base, action skim bedded, lugs lapped, and bore lapped/ crowned. I have shot this combo at 300yds twice and got 3.75" groups fairly consistently. My question is, Is this combo good enough for 600yd Competition and hunting? Thanks for your advise.

[overbore]

Fast and dirty answers:
No
Yes.
Long answer:
To be competitive I would load tune/ ladder shoot until you had .3" groups at 100 yards if you want to be highly competitve. If you want to shoot for the experience, go for it. Overbore

[abinok]

Ill agree with overbore, id do a bit more load development, and se if you could shrink those groups a good bit. Going to a competition with a rifle that won't perform to the level nessicary for you to at least call your shots.... it won't even be fun. You will be very annoyed by the time the first relay is over. Look at the diameter of the xring on the target you will be shooting at. If the rifle won't do it under ideal conditions, you have ZERO chance of being competitive, and you probably won't enjoy it much at all. You won't learn how to shoot the wind, and you will essentially be wasteing ammo.

I did this once at a smallbore match in Raton. Day 2 was an anysight match, and I could place the dot in the leupold in the xring, extremly stable wind condition, watch the bullet drop throught the target a couple inches left, correct, repeat, low, repeat, left, repeat right AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

When you don't get the points you are holding for, you feel like instead of the wind being your enemy, its this freaking POS rifle youre trying to drive.

[esromvre]

the combo is ok. but you wont be winning any f class comps. also your best bet would be F/TR not the open. gata tell you its HARD to keep up with Mr.Jim M. and the whole crew.
The 6.5 284 is a house of fire, but when one of the F Class team get one its like a LASSER. Now I'm not tring to say that thay are the greatest ever but I have had the great pleasure to shoot with them.The amount of respect that I have for that team is tremendus.

[grumpyBD]

Thank you all for your honesty and answers. At least I know what I'm in for. Maybe I'll stick to the club level 600 yd "any sight" matches until I start handloading. By the way, I was using Federal 150 gr Fusion ammo just to try it out. I'll try some match ammo now.

[Mysticplayer]

Don't give up on competing just yet. Everyone wants to be competitive but participation is what improves your skills and the sport.

Let's say your rifle/ammo and you will shoot 1.5MOA consistently in dead calm air. Well, that puts you in solid 9 ring as possibles with a 10 ring as your X.

So, you need to shoot a score of 9X20 to be at your average each relay. A higher score should be considered improvements in your shooting and doping skills.

The fact that the top shooters are shooting for max number of X's shouldn't bother you. Compete against yourself first.

As you gain experience, you will also have time to save your pennies for more accurate hardware. Then you can think about placing, maybe even winning.

The big thing I see is shooters shying away from trying because they don't have the very best (read expensive) gear. That is hurting the sport.

Plus you will never learn if you never burn powder.

Get out there, shoot to your best and have fun. The teeny tiny groups will come soon enough. Load up some match Black Hills or Fed and you may already by there.

Jerry

[grumpyBD]

Thanks to all, these were the answers I really was looking for. Maybe I should have been more specific. This is great news, since I felt this was the proper way to learn without a mentor. You guys and gals are the best! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]