Playing this game on a budget can be done. I shot Border Wars matches for two seasons with a pieced together Savage. My total setup was under $2k including the Burris XTR ii and Criterion barrel. I bought the stuff to make shooting bags, and my wife sewed some very professional looking bags. For under $100 I have stuff to make roughly ten bags. I only ever use a rear bag and a barricade bag though. At matches, a pair of $100 binoculars will help you find the targets or you can ask to borrow someone's.
I burned through about a barrel a year and spent a fair amount on travel and motels. I could barely afford to shoot, but I had fun and wouldn't change a thing.
It chaps my ass when people say you need $20k worth of shit to be successful shooting PRS. The OP doesn't even care of he is competitive. He just wants to have fun. He can do that and shoot local matches for a whole lot less than all the gear whores would have you believe.
I got a different job and the wife now shoots with me. We have custom guns in wildcat calibers and all the gear and glass you can shake a stick at. We also have 223 trainers and for the first time in life I am saving for retirement. We will both toast a 223 barrel and a 6mm barrel this year as well. I am finishing higher in matches, but it doesn't have a damn thing to do with the equipment. It has everything to do with the amount of shooting I am doing that I wasn't before.
Is buying and playing with new gear fun? Hell yeah! Will it win you a trophy? Not without a lot of hard work to learn the skills and be able to perform consistently.
A howa, rpr, or Tikka is where I would look for trouble free on a budget. Bergara and Savage seem to be hit or miss. On optics I would highly recommend the Burris XTR ii 4-20. They are extremely robust and track very well. The glass isn't half bad for what you pay either. If you watch, they can be found used for a song.
Also, for anyone else that reads this and wants to do well at the game for cheap, the best $50 I ever spent on gear was for a DFAT.
Sorry, end of rant. I just hate it when people snub their nose at those that won't drop new car prices on PRS gear.
I burned through about a barrel a year and spent a fair amount on travel and motels. I could barely afford to shoot, but I had fun and wouldn't change a thing.
It chaps my ass when people say you need $20k worth of shit to be successful shooting PRS. The OP doesn't even care of he is competitive. He just wants to have fun. He can do that and shoot local matches for a whole lot less than all the gear whores would have you believe.
I got a different job and the wife now shoots with me. We have custom guns in wildcat calibers and all the gear and glass you can shake a stick at. We also have 223 trainers and for the first time in life I am saving for retirement. We will both toast a 223 barrel and a 6mm barrel this year as well. I am finishing higher in matches, but it doesn't have a damn thing to do with the equipment. It has everything to do with the amount of shooting I am doing that I wasn't before.
Is buying and playing with new gear fun? Hell yeah! Will it win you a trophy? Not without a lot of hard work to learn the skills and be able to perform consistently.
A howa, rpr, or Tikka is where I would look for trouble free on a budget. Bergara and Savage seem to be hit or miss. On optics I would highly recommend the Burris XTR ii 4-20. They are extremely robust and track very well. The glass isn't half bad for what you pay either. If you watch, they can be found used for a song.
Also, for anyone else that reads this and wants to do well at the game for cheap, the best $50 I ever spent on gear was for a DFAT.
Sorry, end of rant. I just hate it when people snub their nose at those that won't drop new car prices on PRS gear.
