Re: Field Precision Rifle Class Concept Approved!
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mattt</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Do they want the palma targets with there scopes and less competition? </div></div>
Well, after hearing the rhetoric bandied about on both sides of the debate, I figured I'd see what the response really was like (somewhere besides Sacramento where the concept is fairly entrenched). The match I chose was the Arizona State Palma Championships, there were ~65 Palma shooters there, plus close to 20 F-Class shooters. For the record, the F-Class shooters were NOT local bumpkins, amongst their numbers were 5 US Team members, plus German Salazar; a very respectable skill set!
The rifle I brought to the match was a bone stock Savage tactical rifle (model 10 BAST), see picture. It has a 24" barrel - WITH a muzzle break, and a 10 round mag. I was running a 5.5-22x Nightforce NXS scope on top, pushing 155 grain bullets out of the muzzle at ~2920 fps. I fed my rounds out of the stock magazine, and shot off a folding, "tactical" style LRA bipod.
The match was fired at 800, 900, and 1000 yards (typical Palma course), 15(2) shots per yard line. The conditions were moderate, switchy tailwinds, 5-10 MPH, and ~40°F. The target was the standard long-range F-Class target (5" X-ring).
The results: I was initially rather skeptical about how my "sniper" rig would run against some of the best in the game and their dedicated long-range F-T/R rifles. For starters, their 30" barrels were pushing their projectiles up to 200 fps faster than I could go with the 24" barreled, magazine fed Savage. A few of them were running heavies (fast 185 grain bullets, ~2850 fps). In practice, the Savage was very competitive, shooting a 147-8X at 800 yards. This would have placed me in 5th place for the yard line. At 900, conditions were nastier, so I shot a 145-3X. This effort would again have put me in 5th place. At 1000, the conditions were pretty tough, with most of the F-T/R ranks shedding plenty of points (the exception being German Salazar, only dropped 2 points!). My 133-1X effort would have seen me in 7th place. For my string though, I was experimenting, playing with the wind, shooting through switches, etc. that I probably wouldn't have done in a serious match. Overall, for that day, I'd have come in 7th. Against some of the better F-T/R competitors out there, not a shabby result.
The response: Generally, the response to the muzzle-braked magazine-fed rifle was very positive. There was initially some trepidation about the "evil" muzzle brake, but once I got going, it was immediately apparent that it wasn't that bad (we did joke that the F-Open guys next to me shouldn't put a round in their rifles while I was shooting for fear that my brake would set off their .75 oz triggers! To be fair, the match director squadded me down on the far end of the line.
Overall, I was impressed at how competitive the stubby, mag fed tactical rifle with it's (relatively) light scope was when dumped in with the sharks and their dedicated long-range rifles. There is NO reason in the world why this proposed F-Tac class should be using a massive Palma target as a crutch.
Darrell
