I wish I was going, but unfortunately I will not be attending this year. I have shot at Rifles Only a few time, it's a great venue ran by great people. The emphasis at Rifles Only is on the fundamentals and keeping it simple, there will be stages with equipment restrictions.
For equipment, bring the following:
- Reliable rifle capable of ~1 moa or better
- 2 or 2 magazines, 10+ rounds
- DOPE for your rifle from 30 to ~1000 yards (kestrel, app, hard data or however you personally manage this)
- Bipod and sling
- Rear bag, and another bag such as a barricade bag. Some stage will be one bag only
- Enough ammunition for sight in, and shooting both stages. If you are driving, easy to bring extra ammo. I would plan on bringing ~250+ rounds
- Pistol, pistol mags (will probably have to do some reloads during a stage) and pistol ammo - they usually incorporate some pistol shooting in their matches
- Proper clothing for the weather (pants, long sleeve shirts, hat, anything else for shade, sunglasses, sunscreen)
- Hydration - I use a hydration bladder placed in my backpack
- Snacks and any additional food such as sandwiches
Other notes of interest:
- Safety is #1 priority at RO (as it should be), pay attention to the safety brief and keep the safety rules in the back of your head as you are shooting a stage. It's never fun to DQ.
- There's no squadding at RO matches. You will stages in whatever order you want. In the morning, people will rush off to shoot the tower stage in order to beat the wind (this is the longest range stage). Personally I'm not afraid to shoot in the wind, so I'll shoot it in the afternoon when it's not as busy. Shoot whatever stages are currently "low traffic" to help keep the flow moving.
- RO likes to have shooters remove their magazines prior to any transitions during a stage. It's to help with safety, but RO likes to challenge certain skills that most shooters won't practice.
- Shooters shouldn't have a "weak side" in the mind of Rifles Only. Expect to have to shoot off of your support (non-dominant) side
- Be prepared to shoot from 30 yards to 1000 yards and anywhere in between. Have dope for these distances
- RO likes to limit gear on stages, be prepared to be limited to a sling only, 1 bag only, etc. for some stages.
- Be prepared to shoot from kneeling and standing positions, with gear limitations (i.e sling only)
- They have a mover at RO, expect to shoot a mover stage (or multiple mover stages)
- When it comes to the "mouse trap" stage, watch how other shooters shoot it before taking it on yourself. Watch how people shoot from the different sections, how they handle transitioning between the different sections, and how they shoot from the top railing.
- You may have to shoot from "unconventional" positions, RO likes to model their stages after real life LE/mil sniper shootings. Shooting sitting from a toilet, shooting from a helicopter airframe with you rifle being supported only by a rope that's hanging across the open heli door, shooting with the rifle supported only by a looped piece of rope hanging off of a pole, etc.
Most importantly, have fun, meet new people, and don't be afraid to ask people for any tips on how to shoot a stage. It's a good crowd that shoots at RO, and people will be very willing to help. As your first match, don't expect to place well. Your goals should be to have fun, meet new people, and come out of it a better shooter with new insights on what you need to do to improve going forward.
Hope this helps, enjoy!
