PRS Talk Gamer Plates?
- Thread starter lte82
- Start date
Speaking of Beer are you shooting the PRS match on the 19th?
Some of us will be camping.. and having a beer the night before
I suppose I’ll chime in, since I too scoffed at the “cafeteria tray” as it was referred to in my area when it was released and started showing up at matches.
Then the mini came out, and I tried a friends during a practice day and decided to buy one myself. Used it at my first match this past weekend and took home the match win.
Let me say what it does and doesn’t do for me, since there is a lot of talk in here about practicing more instead of using one or what have you.
This thing is not going to make you a better, or more accurate shooter, and practice with the plate, is just as important as practice without it.
What the plate does do, is give me something comfortable to grip when pinching the game changer against the rifle during transitions, and give me sort of a lever to fix the cant in my rifle much more easily if I happen to get onto a prop a little off kilter. It’s stable, but it’s no more stable than a full size game changer without a plate. You still need your fundamentals, all of them.
I don’t see why this thing is being looked at any differently than any of the other things we carry in our bags that have now become a common place. The plate, like anything else, will be for some people, and not for others, and everyone will need to practice with it if they intend to use it.
I do still think the large plates are impractical and best used as optics hubs.
Then the mini came out, and I tried a friends during a practice day and decided to buy one myself. Used it at my first match this past weekend and took home the match win.
Let me say what it does and doesn’t do for me, since there is a lot of talk in here about practicing more instead of using one or what have you.
This thing is not going to make you a better, or more accurate shooter, and practice with the plate, is just as important as practice without it.
What the plate does do, is give me something comfortable to grip when pinching the game changer against the rifle during transitions, and give me sort of a lever to fix the cant in my rifle much more easily if I happen to get onto a prop a little off kilter. It’s stable, but it’s no more stable than a full size game changer without a plate. You still need your fundamentals, all of them.
I don’t see why this thing is being looked at any differently than any of the other things we carry in our bags that have now become a common place. The plate, like anything else, will be for some people, and not for others, and everyone will need to practice with it if they intend to use it.
I do still think the large plates are impractical and best used as optics hubs.
I’ll probably toss my large one on in practice for shits and giggles. But in dryfire it definitely takes out a ton of side/side wobble. More so than just a bag.
Can’t speak on the mini. I’d assume it’s effect is not as pronounced as the large one.
This is its main purpose for me though and works very well:
I can’t speak on the big one, though with a full size GC and a stable shooting position, there is no side to side wobble I can speak of, with or without a plate. The only thing I experience on thin barricades (IE cattle gate) sometimes is a pronounced up and down bounce, usually fixed by changing my support arm and getting it out on the barricade and grabbing the fore end of the rifle. This happened to me even with the plate on a stage this weekend.
The mini plate really is quite mini in comparison. Just an inch on either side of my fore end.
Turns out, I like where it puts the terrapin fairly even with the binos.
The coupling is now part of permanent setup with the RRS plate.
This whole thing is nothing but a game.....so I'm going to game the fuck out if it.
Gonna run 2 Numero-Uno bags, a GrayOps AMPplate, sticky Game-Changer, RRS tripod and a tac-table, MPA weight kit, MTU barrel on a 6BR weighing-in at 35-lbs, vertical grips, 14-round magazine (#fuckamagchangeright?), Ckye-pod, Arca-everywhere with a eDOPE card, a Radius, while looking through a $4k scope with Tremor-3 reticle!
Did I miss anything?
Gonna run 2 Numero-Uno bags, a GrayOps AMPplate, sticky Game-Changer, RRS tripod and a tac-table, MPA weight kit, MTU barrel on a 6BR weighing-in at 35-lbs, vertical grips, 14-round magazine (#fuckamagchangeright?), Ckye-pod, Arca-everywhere with a eDOPE card, a Radius, while looking through a $4k scope with Tremor-3 reticle!
Did I miss anything?
I think you should just run this setup on every stage:
You missed about 6 targets when you had to run a 12 position 90 second stage.
If I had money to burn, I always thought it would be funny to shoot a match with so much extraneous gear that I time out on every stage, just trying to get all set up. ?
I saw a guy @ the best in texas match that built his own. It was the 1st one I had ever seen. He even had a place toward the rear where he could screw in a 2" wide "stop". When that dude was on barricades he could just throw his weapon up there slide it forward till it hit the hard stop. He said his weapon was extremely stable on those types of stages.
Played with a mini plate yesterday after a match. I ended up buying one last night. I know of a few stages it would have really benefited me had I used one yesterday.
I guess I don't know why we're worried about it. If a guy wants to use one and it makes him happy or helps him win. Cool.
If a guy doesn't want to use one and wants to run a minimalist set up or feels they're gamer gear. That's cool, then don't use one.
If MDs don't want people using them, they won't allow them in stages or at matches.
If a guy doesn't want to use one and wants to run a minimalist set up or feels they're gamer gear. That's cool, then don't use one.
If MDs don't want people using them, they won't allow them in stages or at matches.
Because there's a segment of the population that feels like everything in this sport is a gear race, and the only thing keeping them from winning matches is that everyone else has better gear than them.
My lack of impacts is everyone else’s fault and not mine!!!! ? (walks away stomping feet and flailing arms)
Must be miserable (not you) living a life blaming everyone else for lack of success. I won a regional match earlier this month using a bipod, game changer and a rear bag. I used a pillow on one stage and could /should have used my pack instead.
Exactly. I've got no problems being competitive at 2-day matches with little more than a pint size GameChanger and a Fat Bag. Every single target I have missed this year has been either A) a mental mistake or B) a bad wind call. I've shot from exactly 1 position all season where I honestly couldn't get stable, and I probably could have skipped that position in favor of a better one with a better stage plan. Even then, I hit one of the two shots from that position by timing the shot.
This. Will it make a back of the pack shooter more stable? Yep, most likely. Will it make a mid pack shooter more stable? Yep, most likely a little bit. Will it make a mid pack shooter a top 10%? Nope. The returns are diminishing based on your performance level. The difference between a guy winning a trophy and someone finishing top 25% is not stability, it’s mental game and wind calling.
I can think of one or maybe two stages at the regional match where it would have been beneficial but I could also just practice those two stages and it'd be just as beneficial.
On day 2 of the best in texas match we were shooting of a tower, it was 12 rounds @ six targets @ six different distances. I don't have a mag that holds more than 10, so I had one mag with 10 and I with 2. I had not made time on a single stage day one. I was so engaged in getting my dope for all the targets that I wasn't paying attention to what mag I picked up. I had already made up my mind that I was going to time out so I just grabbed one mag and went to the top. when it was my turn, I fired off two rounds and I was done. I grabbed the wrong mag. I had never shot a two day match before. But that pissed me off so bad and got to me so bad, I couldn't shake it. with only 6 stages Sunday and that being my 1st, I went "0" on three of them. I think I finished about 3rd or 4th from the bottom.
Beside the misses, At my local club we have 90 seconds on each stage. I always time out on those also. But when I saw all these had 2 minutes I thought "Man, I'll make time on all these". ...Nope. In the end I made time on one stage. I cleaned it too!! 6 for 6 @ 450 I think, 3 different targets, each target twice. Yes I'm 58 years old, Yes I'm 60% service connected and I can't get around as fast as some of these younger guys, but you would think I would make time more than I do.
Beside the misses, At my local club we have 90 seconds on each stage. I always time out on those also. But when I saw all these had 2 minutes I thought "Man, I'll make time on all these". ...Nope. In the end I made time on one stage. I cleaned it too!! 6 for 6 @ 450 I think, 3 different targets, each target twice. Yes I'm 58 years old, Yes I'm 60% service connected and I can't get around as fast as some of these younger guys, but you would think I would make time more than I do.
That's why I always keep an "oh shit" mag on my belt, for when i inevitably fuck up haha
Yep. Oh shit mag on the belt, and 2 rounds in the SAP holder in front of the ejection port. I've had a whole lot of 'oh shit' happen in a single stage before, and having multiple backup plans is a good idea.
FYI - if you all are still interested in this topic. I did a video about it recently.
Well, I gave in and now use a mini plate + WC mini fortune cookie.
I feel dirty doing it, but damn is stable.
I feel dirty doing it, but damn is stable.
I just ordered a mag cut mini plate, after borrowing one to try on my AI, and it works well. With the AI AT, and a properly adjusted scope height for me, the rifle is a solid 2-3 inches taller than most rigs. So the rifle I chose to compete with gives me a natural disadvantage. It's top heavy, bolt lift is slightly on the heavier side (compared to race guns) and the plate offers way more stability than I'm used to.
It's a game, not some sniper competition. Its essentially IDPA for long range guys, and I'm fine with that. IDPA is not practical, you don't reload outside of cover, unless you're completely empty, in which case it's an emergency reload. It's just a way to make the game harder, and more challenging for competitors. But IDPA has all these crazy rules on size of guns, triggers, production numbers, etc. I don't think any of us want that big can of worms opened.
Sometimes I don't like when someone uses his tripod as a rear bag, on a sitting/kneeling postilion, but my reloads aren't single SD's either. I'd hit a lot better once I get my reloads on point. This entire game is just a money pit.
We need divisions in newly manufactured ammo, amateur reloads, and expert reloads. Anyone with a 10+ SD is in the amateur reload class.
All kidding aside, it's a game. I do it for fun. If I did it to win, I'd pick a different gun, different caliber, and probably a different optic....as well as a Prometheus powder measure. I'll be shooting a match on the 12th, and I'll report back if the mag cut mini has been a game changer for me.
It's a game, not some sniper competition. Its essentially IDPA for long range guys, and I'm fine with that. IDPA is not practical, you don't reload outside of cover, unless you're completely empty, in which case it's an emergency reload. It's just a way to make the game harder, and more challenging for competitors. But IDPA has all these crazy rules on size of guns, triggers, production numbers, etc. I don't think any of us want that big can of worms opened.
Sometimes I don't like when someone uses his tripod as a rear bag, on a sitting/kneeling postilion, but my reloads aren't single SD's either. I'd hit a lot better once I get my reloads on point. This entire game is just a money pit.
We need divisions in newly manufactured ammo, amateur reloads, and expert reloads. Anyone with a 10+ SD is in the amateur reload class.
All kidding aside, it's a game. I do it for fun. If I did it to win, I'd pick a different gun, different caliber, and probably a different optic....as well as a Prometheus powder measure. I'll be shooting a match on the 12th, and I'll report back if the mag cut mini has been a game changer for me.
Ironically, the two most bitched about items, tripods and gamer plates are some of the best items for real world (hunting or tactical) applications.
Tripod for obvious reasons. And the mini plates are so light weight they can either be left on the rifle or tossed in your pack without adding hardly any weight. The plate carried with a mini cookie or even a lightweight bag makes an awesome combo for taking shots off tree branches, windows, roof tops, fences, etc etc.
Also, your AT and SD’s in the 10-20 range (I’m assuming since you said not single digit) limit your ability to hit targets in prs in exactly zero ways.
I have one and use it on basic barricades etc. I can shoot just as well without it honestly. I do think it helps with recoil management when free recoiling. But it doesn’t make me more accurate.
And you can make a perfectly functional one for < $30 with a quick Amazon order and a trip to Home Depot...
Meh I took mine off for games seems to be a hinderance getting caught on things
Actually, it is a tac table. Not a plate. Sorry. But you get the idea
This is my first chassis, so I don’t know what I don’t know. Coming from a manners t6a, MTU contour at 26” in a tikka action. This is strictly a game gun for me.
Only accessory I ordered with the ACC thus far is the full length front weight.
Also have a Cole tac back bone deal that I think is a piece of junk. I typically don’t shoot tripod rear a lot but know I need to have it as a tool for unsteady props
i'd be aiming to balance in the middle of whatever bag you use or slightly in front of that. so for an AG schmedium you'd want to be ~4-5" in front of the magwell
I have a plate and bag but rarely if ever use it other than on a stage where I'm going to run it all the way forward on the rail and run a tripod rear.
Other than that, I feel it's pretty much pointless to have it attached to the gun and it gets used to run my binos on my tripod.
Other than that, I feel it's pretty much pointless to have it attached to the gun and it gets used to run my binos on my tripod.
Last edited:
Baker wings don't create a flat bottom (at least not on an ACC). They sit slightly above the plane of the bottom surface of the chassis. Keith describes the effect as being similar to a V-bottomed boat hull. The idea being that it makes it easier to level the rifle when compared to a wide, flat plate, while still providing lots of surface area for stability (and grip tape covered bottom surfaces for friction). Since the wings are attached to the chassis, they also keep the rifle's bore axis closer to the surface of the bag than a plate that clamps to the bottom of the chassis.
But the Area419 plate is removable, and you can attach the bag directly to it.
