F T/R Competition Spring for Sinclair bipod or keep saving for a better scope?

[CGGunnersm8]

After shooting my 3rd match at Bayou Rifle. I know I need a better bipod and scope. Shooting a Howa 1500 .308, 20" barrel, cheap harris bipod w/ a SWFA SS fixed 10. I have shot consistently dropping 8 to 14 points per string crazy thing is I shot a little better in the 600 yard match. Hopefully that's respectful w/ current equipment either way I enjoy it. Question is would getting a better bidpod (looking at sinclair gen3) make a noticeable improvement or should I concentrate on saving for a better scope first?

 

[Raymond Johnson]

I just got a SUPER deal off of another web site....120.00 bucks shipped for a gen 2.... the deals are out there.... try 6mmbr.com or something like that, they come up there all the time............

here you go..............

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3851256.0

 

[lawman29]

1) bipod
2) 10" more barrel
3) scope

 

[Killshot44]

My vote is for a better scope.

Nightforce 36x or 42x. 1/8moa clicks preferred. NP2DD reticle is the most used in F-class. No need for a FFP on a known-distance range.

Put a WTB ad on AccurateShooter.com. Great time of year to pick up used goods.

 

[SWRichmond]

You don't say how far you are shooting most of the time. 10X is light for long range, probably adequate for 300 and IMO marginal for 600. If you are shooting LR, you need more scope.

 

[longrangefool]

I recently bought the sinclair bipod and it has been a significant improvement for me. However, if you're shooting f class, 10x isn't going to cut it at 600+ yards. I think you'd be better off with a new scope then the bipod. The scope is a necessity, the bipod is just an improvement.

 

[gstaylorg]

Out to 600 yd, you can do plenty with a 20" pipe. You'll be giving up a fair bit of MV, but it can work just fine. 800-1000 yd will be a different story for a .308 with a 20" barrel in F-TR, but I'm sure you're aware of that. IMO, the 10X scope upgrade would be the first thing I'd do. I've shot an Atlas bipod in many F-Class competitions ranging from 600 to 1000 yd. Although a wider stance bipod is definitely better, it's not better by anywhere near 8-14 points per string. On the other hand, I've also shot a NF 3.5-15x50 scope on several occasions at 600 yd and my scores are routinely lower than something capable of 30-35X magnification. Even a 5.5-22X NF seems light on mag to ma at that range. For my eyes, it's simply too difficult to resolve the very small scoring rings as well as I'd like at that magnification. The other question I would ask is are you reloading? If not, that would be worth looking into also. Otherwise, I would prioritize the upgrades you mentioned as follows:

1) Scope
2) 26"-30" barrel
3) bipod

 

[damoncali]

I'd go scope first. 10x is just not enough to favor one side of a 3" circle at 600, which you need to be able to do to in a lightly varying wind. At even a hair over 1 MOA of dispersion, and you're bleeding points in a way you can't see well enough to control.

 

[CGGunnersm8]

Thanks for all the advice. Yes I'm reloading but was using LC brass finally sprung for some lapua but didn't do it in time to test load before the match. Hopefully they will show they are well worth it as I plenty of LC laying around. I'd love to jump into shooting over 600 yards but after a lot of good advice that will come some time after I shoot out the barrel and replace although at that time I might just go w/ the Savage F-TR. I run on a pretty tight budget so I was leaning toward bipod now and income tax time new scope unless I manage to save enough before that time. The good news is I enjoy just shooting and trying to learn to read the wind w/ what I have (little less than ideal equipment) so as long as the scores don't get worse I'll walk away happy at the end of the day. Still can't sway myself either way yet. Hopefully it's not bad ethics to ask one of the other shooters that has a spare Sinclair to use it during the day and see how it goes. More luck of that then borrowing a scope . As always thanks for all the great advice and insight.

 

[damoncali]

Consider a used fixed power 36x sightron or Weaver benchrest scope. They're $400 brand new, and more than up to the task.

 

[haroldwilson]

Get a Weaver T36 and a bipod.

 

[haroldwilson]

Here is a Sightron and a T36 for sale.


WTS 2 scopes

 

[Denys]

I have used a T-36 for many years shooting F-TR. In fact, I have two of them, with only one in use now on my backup F-TR .308 rifle. So I have a black T-36 with fine crosshair and target dot that may be available for sale. I plan to be at the next LR and subsequent MR matches in September and I'll see if I can remember to bring it along.

 

[Toast]

delete post - sorry

 

[Denys]

Thanks for all the advice. Yes I'm reloading but was using LC brass finally sprung for some lapua but didn't do it in time to test load before the match. Hopefully they will show they are well worth it as I plenty of LC laying around. I'd love to jump into shooting over 600 yards but after a lot of good advice that will come some time after I shoot out the barrel and replace although at that time I might just go w/ the Savage F-TR. I run on a pretty tight budget so I was leaning toward bipod now and income tax time new scope unless I manage to save enough before that time. The good news is I enjoy just shooting and trying to learn to read the wind w/ what I have (little less than ideal equipment) so as long as the scores don't get worse I'll walk away happy at the end of the day. Still can't sway myself either way yet. Hopefully it's not bad ethics to ask one of the other shooters that has a spare Sinclair to use it during the day and see how it goes. More luck of that then borrowing a scope . As always thanks for all the great advice and insight.

LC brass is not bad brass. If you have a lot of it, you may want to use it for now. If you can prep it nicely and for consistency, it will do fine to start with.

As for spare Sinclair bipod, I sometimes have a couple with me.

 

[SWRichmond]

Brass is fricking expensive, so count yourself lucky on that. If it's Lake City match brass, yes it's fine. It might take a bit more work (sorting by weight, uniforming flash holes, etc) but AFAIK the main reasons people aren't using it more are: 1) availability, a problem which you say isn't a problem for you, and 2) it's heavy, which means it has less capacity than, say, Winchester. The heavier brass means it is thicker, which means you can't stuff as much powder in it, so you can't get absolute max velocities from it. At 600 yards and under, it's probably not an issue for you. You can tool out or sort out the rest of the problems you might have with it.