Yesterday was a long day, drove about 4 hours early in the morning, shot all day, had an excellent time, and drove back. I checked out the COF on Friday and for the most part I thought the ranges were kinda short and sort of "consistent" I guess, lots of 25, 50, 75, 100 yard shots. The rimfire matches that I normally shoot are similar in some ways but the ranges can be all over the place like 35, 63, 118, 262 yards, stuff like that. So my first inclination was "great, this shouldn't be too bad".
Yeah....
Before I get too far, let me get my excuses out of the way. I was shooting my Bergara B14R, which I'd never shot in a match before, with ammo I only have raw data for at 100-ish, 200, and 300, and a Burris RT25 that I have for T&E. My data chart was generated from one range trip where I got said raw data so anything in between and beyond those ranges was a best guess. Now, I knew the rifle could shoot well and the scope tracked correctly so I had that going for me. Going into it I kind of felt like a newb with a new gun, sketchy DOPE, and big dreams.
The Good
I'm not totally new to precision rimfire matches but this was my first NRL22X match and I liked it. Some of the stages were a departure from what I was used and it was great to get out of my comfort zone a little. There were two stages with movers, that was a lot of fun, I'd never shot movers with a rimfire before. There was also a stage that practically forced you to roll the gun on its side and engage targets 25 yards to 100 yards, again something I'd never done with a rimfire before. Target sizes were challenging but not impossible and in some cases their positioning meant that if you dropped one off the edge, you basically had no idea where it was. I found that those small targets were balanced pretty good against other stages that had more generous sized targets. Positional stages were fun and I didn't think they were too gimicky, although some other competitors didn't feel the same way. I liked that they weren't all super stable and rigid.
Gear wise the rifle and ammunition were flawless, everything cycled and shot perfectly for function and the accuracy was pretty good. Dropped/missed shots were totally on me. The Burris RT-25 tracked perfectly and not once did I doubt it's abilities. The SCR2 reticle was very nice for the stages where we either couldn't dial or I had to hold over because I ran out of elevation, such as at 350 and 400 yards.
The Bad/Not So Good
For the most part I think the match was really well run but it ran into one of the biggest headaches I think any MD runs into, finding good RO's. I think the MD here struggled at the last minute to fill all the RO roles and ended up having to use some people that were otherwise not experienced at being an RO. They either didn't have proper equipment like a shot timer, didn't use proper verbiage with the shooter, and/or they were not experienced at spotting/communicating to the shooter. That being said from what I saw in my squad we took it in stride and helped them out where we could to keep things moving along and that worked out.
As good as the RT25 is, at closer ranges the depth of field is such that I couldn't say dial for 50 and be good at 25 to 100. This made it annoying on some stages but it was still doable, I just had to live with it on the clock. Also, the SCR2 reticle got a little difficult to see on a couple of stages where I had to dial it down to open the FOV and the target was against a natural background.
Need To Improve
I need to improve my data and get that dialed in. I need to work on developing some mover DOPE and roll over dope out to 100 yards. Generally, I think I just need to work with the gun more so that I can be at the same comfort level as I am with my 10/22 that I typically use. I definitely look forward to shooting another one of these.
Yeah....
Before I get too far, let me get my excuses out of the way. I was shooting my Bergara B14R, which I'd never shot in a match before, with ammo I only have raw data for at 100-ish, 200, and 300, and a Burris RT25 that I have for T&E. My data chart was generated from one range trip where I got said raw data so anything in between and beyond those ranges was a best guess. Now, I knew the rifle could shoot well and the scope tracked correctly so I had that going for me. Going into it I kind of felt like a newb with a new gun, sketchy DOPE, and big dreams.
The Good
I'm not totally new to precision rimfire matches but this was my first NRL22X match and I liked it. Some of the stages were a departure from what I was used and it was great to get out of my comfort zone a little. There were two stages with movers, that was a lot of fun, I'd never shot movers with a rimfire before. There was also a stage that practically forced you to roll the gun on its side and engage targets 25 yards to 100 yards, again something I'd never done with a rimfire before. Target sizes were challenging but not impossible and in some cases their positioning meant that if you dropped one off the edge, you basically had no idea where it was. I found that those small targets were balanced pretty good against other stages that had more generous sized targets. Positional stages were fun and I didn't think they were too gimicky, although some other competitors didn't feel the same way. I liked that they weren't all super stable and rigid.
Gear wise the rifle and ammunition were flawless, everything cycled and shot perfectly for function and the accuracy was pretty good. Dropped/missed shots were totally on me. The Burris RT-25 tracked perfectly and not once did I doubt it's abilities. The SCR2 reticle was very nice for the stages where we either couldn't dial or I had to hold over because I ran out of elevation, such as at 350 and 400 yards.
The Bad/Not So Good
For the most part I think the match was really well run but it ran into one of the biggest headaches I think any MD runs into, finding good RO's. I think the MD here struggled at the last minute to fill all the RO roles and ended up having to use some people that were otherwise not experienced at being an RO. They either didn't have proper equipment like a shot timer, didn't use proper verbiage with the shooter, and/or they were not experienced at spotting/communicating to the shooter. That being said from what I saw in my squad we took it in stride and helped them out where we could to keep things moving along and that worked out.
As good as the RT25 is, at closer ranges the depth of field is such that I couldn't say dial for 50 and be good at 25 to 100. This made it annoying on some stages but it was still doable, I just had to live with it on the clock. Also, the SCR2 reticle got a little difficult to see on a couple of stages where I had to dial it down to open the FOV and the target was against a natural background.
Need To Improve
I need to improve my data and get that dialed in. I need to work on developing some mover DOPE and roll over dope out to 100 yards. Generally, I think I just need to work with the gun more so that I can be at the same comfort level as I am with my 10/22 that I typically use. I definitely look forward to shooting another one of these.
