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Were you are now what would you tell yourself as a beginner?
- Thread starter 2c1fr
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Settle on a load, true your dope with field fire, then get out there and shoot tiny targets at 400-600 yards in any position other than prone.
That's what separates a 50% shooter from a 70% shooter on race day.
Its totally fine to chase that magic 1000 yard and farther cold bore shot. We're all in this to have fun. Ringing steel wayyyy out there, the first time, on command is awesome, but that represents a very small percentage of shots in the matches you see in the southeast.
That's what separates a 50% shooter from a 70% shooter on race day.
Its totally fine to chase that magic 1000 yard and farther cold bore shot. We're all in this to have fun. Ringing steel wayyyy out there, the first time, on command is awesome, but that represents a very small percentage of shots in the matches you see in the southeast.
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Don't start with long range shooting with a 338 LM
Seriously thats how I got into it. Start with a manageable caliber. Watch all of Franks training video and make sure you have plenty of money for lots of match grade ammo. (Or at least some pretty darn good ammo ). Don't break the bank on rifle and optics until you know what you really like/want. Do spend $ on quality rings and bases as there are few things more frustrating than a scope not keeping zero do to crappy mounts.
Dry fire dry fire dry fire! When I'm in shooting mode I dry fire the rifles every night. Amazing how you can pin point small flaws in form, muscle memory etc. Have Fun and set up a savings account for future purchases
Seriously thats how I got into it. Start with a manageable caliber. Watch all of Franks training video and make sure you have plenty of money for lots of match grade ammo. (Or at least some pretty darn good ammo ). Don't break the bank on rifle and optics until you know what you really like/want. Do spend $ on quality rings and bases as there are few things more frustrating than a scope not keeping zero do to crappy mounts.
Dry fire dry fire dry fire! When I'm in shooting mode I dry fire the rifles every night. Amazing how you can pin point small flaws in form, muscle memory etc. Have Fun and set up a savings account for future purchases
Be happy with what you have and shoot the shit out of it. Don't worry about chasing the new fancy, flashy must have this or that. Find a load learn it up and down left and right and in and out. Once you have mastered that part and can out shoot what you currently have then upgrade. Don't get caught up with what everyone else is doing unless that is actually gong out and shooting. All the fancy stuff is just that "STUFF". I have bought and sold way to much shit and never really learned how to load for it and shoot it.
Ten years ago when I really started getting into this that was my biggest mistake changing rifles and calibers way to much. In the past couple years I have just been shooting and found that to be a lot more enjoyable. 80% or more of my shooting time is with a 308 I have found that I learn way more shooting it than the smaller calibers. You can get away with a lot more mistakes with the 6 and 6.5 cartridges. If you can run a 308 managing recoil, reading the wind and learn consistency you will be light years ahead when you transition to a smaller, faster and flatter cartridge. I read somewhere that PRS shooting is a recoil management game with a lot of people shooting free recoil, you can get away with that on the smaller cartridges but if you move to a magnum or even a light 308 free recoil just don't work at least not for me.
All that to say get out and shoot!!!!!
Ten years ago when I really started getting into this that was my biggest mistake changing rifles and calibers way to much. In the past couple years I have just been shooting and found that to be a lot more enjoyable. 80% or more of my shooting time is with a 308 I have found that I learn way more shooting it than the smaller calibers. You can get away with a lot more mistakes with the 6 and 6.5 cartridges. If you can run a 308 managing recoil, reading the wind and learn consistency you will be light years ahead when you transition to a smaller, faster and flatter cartridge. I read somewhere that PRS shooting is a recoil management game with a lot of people shooting free recoil, you can get away with that on the smaller cartridges but if you move to a magnum or even a light 308 free recoil just don't work at least not for me.
All that to say get out and shoot!!!!!
Dont buy a 308, go straight to a 6.5 and get off your stomach and start practicing positional as well.
That made my day!
My wife thought motorcycles were expensive. She probably rues the day she suggested I sell the bike and take up a safer hobby lol
Start with a basic rifle and then save for an AIAX right away rather than constantly trading in and "trading up" until I finally bought an AX.
Simplify, simplify, simplify. Reduce the complexity until you are back to the basics. Stay out of the rabbit holes, because you're gonna end back up on the outside anyway, and you may also end up regretting some of the time diverted from getting back to simplicity. I'm 70, and I could sure use some of that time back; but it ain't comin' back.
I tried everything I could afford to try, and I thank my stars that I couldn't afford that much, because the excursion brought me back to the starting point, and the multiplicity of diversions I followed only postponed the inevitable.
Yes, all those special tips and tricks work. Taken together they do, however, often tend to cancel each other out. So the whole is indeed the sum of the parts, but some of those parts are not compatible and subtract from each other.
Do; develop your own skills at hitting what you aim at. I recommend the .22lr; early, often, and in depth. Shoot until it gets boring, then shoot some more. You can't learn how to shoot better by not shooting more.
Then do the basics of accurizing, Bed the rifle, improve the trigger, get clear optics, learn to handload, and then learn how to develop loads and refine them. Keep at this until the improvement plateaus. Then buy a really good barrel and start all over again with the load development. Pamper the rifle, but drive yourself to the limits of shooting under every condition you can manage. Become that guy who owns one gun and can shoot it anywhere, anytime, at any target. Missing is not a fatal flaw, it's what you do along the road to not missing. Let throat preservation become a mantra.
Some of you will be able to afford the supahdoopah goodies, and by all means avail yourselves of them. But recognize that money will not buy your way into the X-Ring. Without the underlying requisite skills you could end up wasting a lot of money. The only thing a cheap gun can do that an expensive one can't is let you down. Oh, wait... No matter what your equipment costs, learn it well enough to understand how far you can trust it. Fix whjat you can't trust, but be sure it's broken first.
I get beaten all the time. I don't care, because I honestly believe that my most formidable opponent is myself. I regret beating myself, but I don't resent it; because that is the hard lesson that drives home the knowledge.
Greg
PS, Silly me. I forgot to recommend Frank's training videos and articles. That was a mistake.
I tried everything I could afford to try, and I thank my stars that I couldn't afford that much, because the excursion brought me back to the starting point, and the multiplicity of diversions I followed only postponed the inevitable.
Yes, all those special tips and tricks work. Taken together they do, however, often tend to cancel each other out. So the whole is indeed the sum of the parts, but some of those parts are not compatible and subtract from each other.
Do; develop your own skills at hitting what you aim at. I recommend the .22lr; early, often, and in depth. Shoot until it gets boring, then shoot some more. You can't learn how to shoot better by not shooting more.
Then do the basics of accurizing, Bed the rifle, improve the trigger, get clear optics, learn to handload, and then learn how to develop loads and refine them. Keep at this until the improvement plateaus. Then buy a really good barrel and start all over again with the load development. Pamper the rifle, but drive yourself to the limits of shooting under every condition you can manage. Become that guy who owns one gun and can shoot it anywhere, anytime, at any target. Missing is not a fatal flaw, it's what you do along the road to not missing. Let throat preservation become a mantra.
Some of you will be able to afford the supahdoopah goodies, and by all means avail yourselves of them. But recognize that money will not buy your way into the X-Ring. Without the underlying requisite skills you could end up wasting a lot of money. The only thing a cheap gun can do that an expensive one can't is let you down. Oh, wait... No matter what your equipment costs, learn it well enough to understand how far you can trust it. Fix whjat you can't trust, but be sure it's broken first.
I get beaten all the time. I don't care, because I honestly believe that my most formidable opponent is myself. I regret beating myself, but I don't resent it; because that is the hard lesson that drives home the knowledge.
Greg
PS, Silly me. I forgot to recommend Frank's training videos and articles. That was a mistake.
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Enjoy the mistakes, look back and learn from them. Compete as much as you can. Shoot with others. Get off your belly. Dry fire. Buy once cry once. You'll know what to buy after making mistakes (see #1). Make good friends. Don't take yourself too seriously. Have fun... that's the only reason you're doing this.
Get out and shoot. Spend money on quality gear. Pay attention to the PX section on here for deals. Many people on the sight seem to buy the flavor of the month scope, rifle, caliber, equipment on a routine basis. Then sell it on here for good prices. I'm not saying they are doing anything wrong. What people choose to do with there income is completely up to them and can benefit you and me. I wish I could do that, One Day!!! Get your hands on equipment before you buy if you can. It's nice to know what your buying. Don't take advice from the guy who shoots 3 rounds at the range and walks around giving pointers while smoking cigarettes. (maybe that guys just at my range). Take classes!!! Even if its once a year or every other its nice to meet people in the sport and improve/maintain your skill set.
Keep that first gun, it'll outshoot me for a long long time.
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I would tell myself not to end up buying/building 12-18 custom rifles, and try every cartridge out there, figuring out what I liked.
Instead, I would tell myself to buy 2 TRGs.
A TRG-22 in 6.5 something, or .308
and
A TRG-42 in .300 WM.
Top them both with MIL/MIL 5.5-22 Nightforce scopes and be done.
Those 2 guns would do all I needed in the LR game, and the money I saved, not buying the dozen other rifles could go towards a high end spotter, the best ballistic programs, and shit loads of components.
Then I would tell myself to not have a gaggle of kids..
Instead, I would tell myself to buy 2 TRGs.
A TRG-22 in 6.5 something, or .308
and
A TRG-42 in .300 WM.
Top them both with MIL/MIL 5.5-22 Nightforce scopes and be done.
Those 2 guns would do all I needed in the LR game, and the money I saved, not buying the dozen other rifles could go towards a high end spotter, the best ballistic programs, and shit loads of components.
Then I would tell myself to not have a gaggle of kids..
Worry less and shoot more. Buy good gear from the get-go. $400 scopes fucking suck. Any time you buy something while thinking you can probably make it work.. you'll end up selling it in 3 months and that lesson will cost you 30% minimum.
6.5 Creedmoor
Don't dick with semi-auto precision rifles (to start out, anyway)
Accuracy is in the barrel
Try it before you buy it and buy once cry once
Buy enough components to burn out a barrel when you buy the barrel, all the same lot #. Get 1/2 MOA and decent ES/SD and mass-produce that load.
Shoot on windy days
ETA: One precision rifle at a time.
Don't dick with semi-auto precision rifles (to start out, anyway)
Accuracy is in the barrel
Try it before you buy it and buy once cry once
Buy enough components to burn out a barrel when you buy the barrel, all the same lot #. Get 1/2 MOA and decent ES/SD and mass-produce that load.
Shoot on windy days
ETA: One precision rifle at a time.
Buy a good quality 1/2 moa or better rifle to start. Had I had any idea what a rifle could really do I would have become obsessed with shooting about 15 years earlier when I had the free time to enjoy it.
Stay off the forums. Do your due diligence prior to purchases but besides that get out and shoot. It's way too easy to get into gear races.
Self, buy a good PCP air rifle with a good FFP scope on top > oh yeah, I did that while having loads of fun doing so and practiced fundamentals a lot on my own property which helped me win matches with the long range rifle. Literally pennies a day for practice.
Self, buy quality gear, sell the dust collectors to apply towards...and if need be charge it on the low interest CC, 0% for a year works great BTW. No I don't mean go out and buy a $10,000 rifle/scope combination if it's "out of reach for you" but $3000 can get you going quite nicely.
Self, reload ammo. Yep did that and saved 10's of thousands over almost 40 years.
Self, buy quality gear, sell the dust collectors to apply towards...and if need be charge it on the low interest CC, 0% for a year works great BTW. No I don't mean go out and buy a $10,000 rifle/scope combination if it's "out of reach for you" but $3000 can get you going quite nicely.
Self, reload ammo. Yep did that and saved 10's of thousands over almost 40 years.
Buy once, cry once.
Get a nice .22 repeater, it'll help you practice more when you're poor.
Sometimes being practical is no fun.
Also, take Jeff Cooper's scout concept with a grain of salt. It's super handy and works well within its intended role, just dont try to make it into something its not.
Quality > Quanity
Don't chase "fad" ish ideas, you don't need to buy a lot of firearms, get good with a few (precision rifle, defensive handgun, defensive carbine/rifle, .22 precision rifle, and maybe a shotgun).
Reload as soon as possible.
Again, buy once, cry once.
Get a nice .22 repeater, it'll help you practice more when you're poor.
Sometimes being practical is no fun.
Also, take Jeff Cooper's scout concept with a grain of salt. It's super handy and works well within its intended role, just dont try to make it into something its not.
Quality > Quanity
Don't chase "fad" ish ideas, you don't need to buy a lot of firearms, get good with a few (precision rifle, defensive handgun, defensive carbine/rifle, .22 precision rifle, and maybe a shotgun).
Reload as soon as possible.
Again, buy once, cry once.
Find other, better/more experienced, shooters to shoot with.
Save money and get to a training class. Sooner than later.
Save money and get to a training class. Sooner than later.
- build a custom from the beginning
- don't chase velocity
- dope is just a number on the elevation turret (speed doesn't matter)
- practice, practice, practice
- fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals
- fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals
- after the above are 150% correct always, stay off your belly and go to back to practice, practice, practice.
- get to as many matches as possible, mouth shut, listen, watch, learn. Ask questions when needed
- did i mention fundamentals and practice?
- lists suck
- don't always listen to the interwebs, most of these guys know nothing (there are a select few that have forgotten more than most will ever know).
- find the best shooter you can and learn from them
- don't chase velocity
- dope is just a number on the elevation turret (speed doesn't matter)
- practice, practice, practice
- fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals
- fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals
- after the above are 150% correct always, stay off your belly and go to back to practice, practice, practice.
- get to as many matches as possible, mouth shut, listen, watch, learn. Ask questions when needed
- did i mention fundamentals and practice?
- lists suck
- don't always listen to the interwebs, most of these guys know nothing (there are a select few that have forgotten more than most will ever know).
- find the best shooter you can and learn from them
Learn what the fundamentals of marksmanship are, practice them, learn external ballistics, take bad ass pictures, dont bang trannies, have fun.
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- don't try to polish a turd
- you're too poor to make bad investments
- Spend the money on that range membership, and USE IT
- don't half-ass things just to save money
- make friends that know what they're talking about, and ask them questions.
- you're too poor to make bad investments
- Spend the money on that range membership, and USE IT
- don't half-ass things just to save money
- make friends that know what they're talking about, and ask them questions.
Don't worry you will understand these crazy Mil/Moa things in full one day. Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. Dont clean your rimfires after each outing. Dont constantly fuck with your guns, get em set and leave em. Don't take everything to heart you read on the hide lol 
Stay as far away from SNIPERS HIDE as you possibly can!!! This site will ruin your life!!!
You will get no work done while you refresh every exchange page, every 2 seconds ,trying to be the the first to write "ILL TAKE IT" on the latest "greatest deal of the century".
If if we all devoted as much time, energy, and money into other things as we do here we would all be filthy fucking rich!!!
if you must be part of this game then my words of advice would be, keep it simple and get only what you truly need. You don't need a threaded barrel if you don't have a suppressor or you don't plan on using a brake. You don't need all the rails and flush cups and NV crap hanging all over your rifle. Stay away from truck axle barrels!!!! There is no reason a rifle should weigh more than your mother in-law. Borrow and try out other people's gear as much as you can first and see what fits you best before you buy your own gear. Don't let "your friends convince you that you need what they have. Reloading is the way to go if you ever really want to realize a rifles full accuracy potential. I would start reloading as soon as possible and learn to enjoy it and become proficient at it.
And most important, 1MOA and under is good enough for 99% percent of the shooting we do. You don't need that 1/4 MOA rifle to be successful and have a great
time. You will burn through more ammo and time and become more frusyatrsted if you keep chasing the 1 hole rifle dream. It can be done. I have seen it plenty of times but you don't need it.
You will get no work done while you refresh every exchange page, every 2 seconds ,trying to be the the first to write "ILL TAKE IT" on the latest "greatest deal of the century".
If if we all devoted as much time, energy, and money into other things as we do here we would all be filthy fucking rich!!!
if you must be part of this game then my words of advice would be, keep it simple and get only what you truly need. You don't need a threaded barrel if you don't have a suppressor or you don't plan on using a brake. You don't need all the rails and flush cups and NV crap hanging all over your rifle. Stay away from truck axle barrels!!!! There is no reason a rifle should weigh more than your mother in-law. Borrow and try out other people's gear as much as you can first and see what fits you best before you buy your own gear. Don't let "your friends convince you that you need what they have. Reloading is the way to go if you ever really want to realize a rifles full accuracy potential. I would start reloading as soon as possible and learn to enjoy it and become proficient at it.
And most important, 1MOA and under is good enough for 99% percent of the shooting we do. You don't need that 1/4 MOA rifle to be successful and have a great
time. You will burn through more ammo and time and become more frusyatrsted if you keep chasing the 1 hole rifle dream. It can be done. I have seen it plenty of times but you don't need it.
Decide whether you're a collector of shiny, noisy metal things, or a marksman. You're not rich enough to be both.
This literally was gospel to me. I am a serious shooter of pistols and I tried a friends rifle and wash hooked. I read this thread and this post in particular. I bought the AT.
I would change nothing. There's no substitute for experience, and that's what got me to where I am now. Some things have to be learnt the hard way.
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