An Observation

[SansSouci]

Twenty years ago, before deer/elk seasons, all one saw on ranges were traditional hunting rifles.

Yesterday I was at a Los Angeles County range. I was sighting in two deer rifles on the side of the range where one can shoot to 600 yards.

I was intent upon getting my two rifles sighted in. Before I left, I noticed a lot of shooters with long range rifles, some had adjustable stocks with long barrels. I had no clue if they were hunters or long range competitors. Either way, long range shooting/hunting seems to be here to stay.

If I didn't have to drive 90 minutes on LA freeways that are more parking lots than freeways, I'd consider picking up a long range outfit and competing. Long range competition seems like a fun sport, albeit a very, very expensive one. I'd imagine that custom built competition rifles have to start around 5 grand. Scopes have to add another grand to 3 grand and more. Competition reloading dies are about a hundred bucks. I'd imagine that competition bullets have to run a buck a piece. But it would be a fun sport. And I'd imagine that competition is tough.

 

[Barrelnut]

It's fun to take a long range rifle out to the dessert and just do a little long range plinking every now and then and you don't need a 10K setup to do it. gun)

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

It's not as bad as one might think.

One can get into long range shooting for less than $3k, depending on the setup.

I purchased a Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor for $975 and a Nightforce Benchrest scope for around $1,400. I added NF rings for another $120ish.

It may not be as accurate as some truly custom rifles, but I know that going in. I feel I could take that setup anywhere and at least have fun. My skills are not on par with more accomplished shooters, but we all have to start somewhere.

 

[WildRose]

The cost to get into the sport at a competitive level is less than what many if not most people spend on a single vacation and unlike the vacation the gear will last you a lifetime and you can use it all over the world hunting for as long as you are still able to hunt.

This reminds me of a thread we did hear a couple of years back.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/for...etting-started-but-intimidated-dollars-80244/

 

[HARPERC]

It's fun to have top level gear no doubt. I'm fortunate enough to own some.

If you'll look at some of the statistical analysis done, the difference in hit probability between good rifles, and great rifles isn't as much as we like to think. If you're one of the folks competing at upper levels head to head with others in that class, a couple of points here and there matter. The rest of us not so much.

I do hate that drive time though.

 

[FearNoWind]

It's not as expensive as you might think. My long range competition rifle, custom made, was less than two grand and it shoots scores as good or better than a lot of the $3000 - $4000 rifles I shoot along side of.

 

[J E Custom]

Twenty years ago, before deer/elk seasons, all one saw on ranges were traditional hunting rifles.

Yesterday I was at a Los Angeles County range. I was sighting in two deer rifles on the side of the range where one can shoot to 600 yards.

I was intent upon getting my two rifles sighted in. Before I left, I noticed a lot of shooters with long range rifles, some had adjustable stocks with long barrels. I had no clue if they were hunters or long range competitors. Either way, long range shooting/hunting seems to be here to stay.

If I didn't have to drive 90 minutes on LA freeways that are more parking lots than freeways, I'd consider picking up a long range outfit and competing. Long range competition seems like a fun sport, albeit a very, very expensive one. I'd imagine that custom built competition rifles have to start around 5 grand. Scopes have to add another grand to 3 grand and more. Competition reloading dies are about a hundred bucks. I'd imagine that competition bullets have to run a buck a piece. But it would be a fun sport. And I'd imagine that competition is tough.

Match shooting is a great way to improve ones skills and the cost of being competitive is far less than 8 grand. In fact you can start with less than $2,000.00 dollars and have a great shooting rifle
and scope.

There is always someone that can out shoot you so don't worry about being #1 at a match just try and improve your score each time you shoot. (Compete against your self). You will always see more expensive equipment in matches and after a while you will out shoot some of these equipment rich shooters if you improve your skills.

My first experience with match shooting was purely accidental. It was getting near deer season and I wanted to burn some ammo and check the zero. My favorite hunting rifle was a 270 Winchester
with a K-8 Weaver on a Mauser action. When I arrived at the range there were people everywhere and they were going to have a match so I couldn't shoot.

Disappointed, I decided to visit some of the shooters and watch a little of the match. The match director ask if I was going to shoot (New Face) I promptly said no because all I had was a "Deer rifle". He said That's ok and they would like for me to shoot if only for fun. reluctantly I said ok.

To say I was intimidated would be an understatement. All I could see was match rifles with heavy barrels and huge scopes with up to 32 power. the match was a 600 yard slow fire prone match and I had never shot that far (This was in the 70s and 1000 yard matches were considered extreme)

I though that I did well and was happy with my rifle and performance but was shocked when they announced the winner (ME and the shucks it's just a deer rifle). The point to this story is. go for it
and don't worry about cost and having to have an expensive rig. Shoot for fun and skill improvement.

Its the shooter that makes a accurate rifle.

J E CUSTOM

 

[barefooter56]

Hear hear!! JE ! I shot action pistol for many years and then my brother handed me a PALMA rifle. Talk about culture shock!!! Made it to MASTER then ran out of eyeball power, FT-R is on the radar now! Stop by a match and take a look at the equipment , talk to some shooters and jump in with what you have now.
JE is right.It aint the arrow... its the Indian. A good arrow helps ! But it wont make up for lack of skill that comes with practice in ALL TYPES OF CONDITIONS !
Good Shooting!

 

[SansSouci]

Match shooting is a great way to improve ones skills and the cost of being competitive is far less than 8 grand. In fact you can start with less than $2,000.00 dollars and have a great shooting rifle
and scope.

There is always someone that can out shoot you so don't worry about being #1 at a match just try and improve your score each time you shoot. (Compete against your self). You will always see more expensive equipment in matches and after a while you will out shoot some of these equipment rich shooters if you improve your skills.

My first experience with match shooting was purely accidental. It was getting near deer season and I wanted to burn some ammo and check the zero. My favorite hunting rifle was a 270 Winchester
with a K-8 Weaver on a Mauser action. When I arrived at the range there were people everywhere and they were going to have a match so I couldn't shoot.

Disappointed, I decided to visit some of the shooters and watch a little of the match. The match director ask if I was going to shoot (New Face) I promptly said no because all I had was a "Deer rifle". He said That's ok and they would like for me to shoot if only for fun. reluctantly I said ok.

To say I was intimidated would be an understatement. All I could see was match rifles with heavy barrels and huge scopes with up to 32 power. the match was a 600 yard slow fire prone match and I had never shot that far (This was in the 70s and 1000 yard matches were considered extreme)

I though that I did well and was happy with my rifle and performance but was shocked when they announced the winner (ME and the shucks it's just a deer rifle). The point to this story is. go for it
and don't worry about cost and having to have an expensive rig. Shoot for fun and skill improvement.

Its the shooter that makes a accurate rifle.

J E CUSTOM

Sir,

That was a great story. I've enjoyed every word, especially winning your first match with a .270 Win hunting rifle. I love underdog stories, the new guy wins the pretty girl.

The .270 Win is one of my favorite cartridges. Depending upon the weather, it can be my favorite. For me at least, it seems to possess inherent accuracy. My 43+ year-old more Model 700 will shoot .5" at a hundred yards with hunting ammo: 130 grain Sierra GK, 60 grains of H-4831, old W-W brass, & Fed 210M primers. And I don't weigh every case for uniformity nor do I weigh every bullet. I use a ChargeMaster 1500, not a competition scale that would weight a pencil mark on paper. I wonder how that hunting rifle would shoot if I loaded it for competition as opposed to killing big game. BTW, I began hunting with that rifle with a 2x7 Redfield Ranger. About a year ago I put a Leupold VX-3 2.5x8. The rifle shoots as good with either scope.

I might buy a Sako Varmint (I'd like to buy a Sako Vixen in Triple Deuce) in .222 Rem. I'm in Utah now waiting for Saturday. Utah has a fifty buck bounty on coyotes. If I were hunting coyotes in Utah, I'd burn a keg of powder. From what I understand, the .222 was the most accurate .224 caliber cartridge until the .22 PPC was introduced. Hence a Triple Deuce would fill a combined role of killing varmints and competition.

Regardless, I'd still be in the same fix in gun-hostile CA. I had to get up at 4:00 am just to beat LA freeway traffic to get here: Angeles Shooting Ranges It is a beautiful range, but I'd rather be waterboarded than sit on an LA parking lot, er, I mean freeway.

 

[WildRose]

Sir,

That was a great story. I've enjoyed every word, especially winning your first match with a .270 Win hunting rifle. I love underdog stories, the new guy wins the pretty girl.

The .270 Win is one of my favorite cartridges. Depending upon the weather, it can be my favorite. For me at least, it seems to possess inherent accuracy. My 43+ year-old more Model 700 will shoot .5" at a hundred yards with hunting ammo: 130 grain Sierra GK, 60 grains of H-4831, old W-W brass, & Fed 210M primers. And I don't weigh every case for uniformity nor do I weigh every bullet. I use a ChargeMaster 1500, not a competition scale that would weight a pencil mark on paper. I wonder how that hunting rifle would shoot if I loaded it for competition as opposed to killing big game. BTW, I began hunting with that rifle with a 2x7 Redfield Ranger. About a year ago I put a Leupold VX-3 2.5x8. The rifle shoots as good with either scope.

I might buy a Sako Varmint (I'd like to buy a Sako Vixen in Triple Deuce) in .222 Rem. I'm in Utah now waiting for Saturday. Utah has a fifty buck bounty on coyotes. If I were hunting coyotes in Utah, I'd burn a keg of powder. From what I understand, the .222 was the most accurate .224 caliber cartridge until the .22 PPC was introduced. Hence a Triple Deuce would fill a combined role of killing varmints and competition.

Regardless, I'd still be in the same fix in gun-hostile CA. I had to get up at 4:00 am just to beat LA freeway traffic to get here: Angeles Shooting Ranges It is a beautiful range, but I'd rather be waterboarded than sit on an LA parking lot, er, I mean freeway.

LA isn't fenced, you can get out and they don't require your return.

I would never tolerate LA traffic or many of it's other problems and your state's gun laws (including ammo) have gotten insane. I think every client I had 20 years ago living in CA has left except for 2 that are soon to retire and will be moving out of state within days of doing so.