Hi all i just came back from the state Match Rifle championships, the MatchRifle is shot at 1000, 1100 and 1200 yards and Match Rifle is restricted to a 308 and using a scope with a rest under your front hand with any sighting device.
I was shooting in the F Class section so we are unlimited in calibre up to 8mm max. the targets are the standard 800 yard target with the V Bull at around 8" and bull at 16". It was a great shoot first day 3 sighters 15 shots at 1000 then 1100 and at 1200 3 sighters then 20 shots so a bit of fun and mirrage of hot barrels.
the calibres used in f Class were 308's with 175 to 210gr projectiles one 6mmbr with 107 matchKings and a 300 WSM with 190gr MatchKings and a 7mm Rem SAUM with 175gr MatchKings.
the first range i hammered down a 85/90 as the V counts as 6 then their were 2 83's and one 82 the 300wsm in seccond i am using the 7mm, then at 1100 i shot an 80/90 and the WSM had me with a 82/90, we moved to 1200 and i was on a roll and hammered down 22 shots including my 2 sighters i used in just over 5 min no mirrage tube and around 100 in your temp it was hot. i shot one four it was just past the bull line but came up with a 109/120 again the WSM in 2nd with a 99/120 place for the range. At the end of Saturday i had won 2 ranges and had an 11 point lead.
Another day awoke and it was heating up realy quickly the mirrage was flowing and the flags stated to realy flow in the wind then stop dramaticaly. this was going to be a much harder day but we were shooting only 2 optional sighters and 15 shots to count at each range.
So off to start the short range 1000 yards again after the dust settled i had a 86 on the board and the wsm in seccond with an 82 so i was hoping to hold it together, the way the squading on the targets was we were shooting at the same time overlapping so our conditions were very similar. then back to 1100 and a real surprise happened i hammered a hard faught 82/90 in realy hard conditions then it settled and in seccond place limped the 6mmBR pushing the 107 Molly Sierra MatchKing at 2870fps with an 80/90 a realy good shoot. so it was back to 1200 yards and they re sheduled all of the shooting positions for all compeditors and we shot ff in realays with the lowest placed compeditors shooting in un filled realays moving down to the top 5 all shooting at the same time int he same relay. it took me longer to fire the 15 shots yesterday at 1200 than to fire the 20 the day before my first 2 sighters were bulls eyes 5's so i cut them as i did not want to start 2 down. it was realy tricky with the flags going from fully upright from 9 to straight down the poles and switching around after the wind change the flags were showing about 5 secconds after the change was to take effect. also the mirrage was showing after the change because we were focased at the target we could not see it move from around 1000 yards and towards the target once you were committed and fired then as the target was dissapeering to be marked the mirrage change would show and you just hoped you made it before the change. so i nailed 3 4's at 1200 yards and all were under an inch into the 4 so not to bad and came up with another 80/90, in seccond position was the 300 WSM again and all he cound manage was a 70/80 as the lower BC of the 190gr 30 cal matchKing also traveling slower than my 175gr MatchKing was getting more elevation problems down range.
The usual rule of thumb is that anything for an aggregate of 510/570 on our ranges is a top score and i got up with a 522/570 32 points in front of seccond place. the 6mm BR made it to 1200 but was tran sonic and almost sub sonic so he did a great job of actualy making it work and shoot well back to 1200 yards.
I was using my custom rifle that i built with Geoff Grenfell here at Grenfell Armouring Service the Australian Agents for Lawton, I had Bill Shehane shape some rare Australian timbers into a Modified Lee Six thumbhole tracker with my Lawton 7500 dual port action, Jewell HVR trigger at 4 oz, Arms Rings, Seekins recoil lug, my own 20moa rail, Stiller tuner, Lawton 9 twist 28" 7mm Barrel and Nightforce 12-42X56 benchrest with CH2 reticle wound up to 42 power for the whole shoot. i was using both Remington and Norma cases with 66gr of Retumbo and 175gr MatchKings ( dont use this load start from around 64gr and work up slowly) i got form Adam Bauer here on the hide thanks Adam with CCI 250 primers for a muzzle velocity just under 3100fps. My throat is over .200" long so these loads cant mag feed or the projectiles will fall out. Also for dies i am using Forster Ultra seater and one of their full length dies with the neck honed to .313 by them for an extra $10US and using a forster co ax press.
what an awsome shoot hammering those 20 rounds at 1200 yards was great and to get up at the end of it with a realy high score that is one of the highest that has been shot here in Australia in the conditions we have was amasing the seccond place getter was last years state champion and was limited by only having a 1 in 12 twist barrel and he used to shoot a 7mm06 improved but had worn it out he also believes he will be getting a 7mm Rem SAUM as his next barrel and was already loking to have one fitted before he arrived this weekend just pased. The club took some pics and i will try to get them to email me some so i can post them here.
Thanks to Stawell Rifle Club here in Victoria Australia for a great competition and also to the great competitors and shooting community.
I was shooting in the F Class section so we are unlimited in calibre up to 8mm max. the targets are the standard 800 yard target with the V Bull at around 8" and bull at 16". It was a great shoot first day 3 sighters 15 shots at 1000 then 1100 and at 1200 3 sighters then 20 shots so a bit of fun and mirrage of hot barrels.
the calibres used in f Class were 308's with 175 to 210gr projectiles one 6mmbr with 107 matchKings and a 300 WSM with 190gr MatchKings and a 7mm Rem SAUM with 175gr MatchKings.
the first range i hammered down a 85/90 as the V counts as 6 then their were 2 83's and one 82 the 300wsm in seccond i am using the 7mm, then at 1100 i shot an 80/90 and the WSM had me with a 82/90, we moved to 1200 and i was on a roll and hammered down 22 shots including my 2 sighters i used in just over 5 min no mirrage tube and around 100 in your temp it was hot. i shot one four it was just past the bull line but came up with a 109/120 again the WSM in 2nd with a 99/120 place for the range. At the end of Saturday i had won 2 ranges and had an 11 point lead.
Another day awoke and it was heating up realy quickly the mirrage was flowing and the flags stated to realy flow in the wind then stop dramaticaly. this was going to be a much harder day but we were shooting only 2 optional sighters and 15 shots to count at each range.
So off to start the short range 1000 yards again after the dust settled i had a 86 on the board and the wsm in seccond with an 82 so i was hoping to hold it together, the way the squading on the targets was we were shooting at the same time overlapping so our conditions were very similar. then back to 1100 and a real surprise happened i hammered a hard faught 82/90 in realy hard conditions then it settled and in seccond place limped the 6mmBR pushing the 107 Molly Sierra MatchKing at 2870fps with an 80/90 a realy good shoot. so it was back to 1200 yards and they re sheduled all of the shooting positions for all compeditors and we shot ff in realays with the lowest placed compeditors shooting in un filled realays moving down to the top 5 all shooting at the same time int he same relay. it took me longer to fire the 15 shots yesterday at 1200 than to fire the 20 the day before my first 2 sighters were bulls eyes 5's so i cut them as i did not want to start 2 down. it was realy tricky with the flags going from fully upright from 9 to straight down the poles and switching around after the wind change the flags were showing about 5 secconds after the change was to take effect. also the mirrage was showing after the change because we were focased at the target we could not see it move from around 1000 yards and towards the target once you were committed and fired then as the target was dissapeering to be marked the mirrage change would show and you just hoped you made it before the change. so i nailed 3 4's at 1200 yards and all were under an inch into the 4 so not to bad and came up with another 80/90, in seccond position was the 300 WSM again and all he cound manage was a 70/80 as the lower BC of the 190gr 30 cal matchKing also traveling slower than my 175gr MatchKing was getting more elevation problems down range.
The usual rule of thumb is that anything for an aggregate of 510/570 on our ranges is a top score and i got up with a 522/570 32 points in front of seccond place. the 6mm BR made it to 1200 but was tran sonic and almost sub sonic so he did a great job of actualy making it work and shoot well back to 1200 yards.
I was using my custom rifle that i built with Geoff Grenfell here at Grenfell Armouring Service the Australian Agents for Lawton, I had Bill Shehane shape some rare Australian timbers into a Modified Lee Six thumbhole tracker with my Lawton 7500 dual port action, Jewell HVR trigger at 4 oz, Arms Rings, Seekins recoil lug, my own 20moa rail, Stiller tuner, Lawton 9 twist 28" 7mm Barrel and Nightforce 12-42X56 benchrest with CH2 reticle wound up to 42 power for the whole shoot. i was using both Remington and Norma cases with 66gr of Retumbo and 175gr MatchKings ( dont use this load start from around 64gr and work up slowly) i got form Adam Bauer here on the hide thanks Adam with CCI 250 primers for a muzzle velocity just under 3100fps. My throat is over .200" long so these loads cant mag feed or the projectiles will fall out. Also for dies i am using Forster Ultra seater and one of their full length dies with the neck honed to .313 by them for an extra $10US and using a forster co ax press.
what an awsome shoot hammering those 20 rounds at 1200 yards was great and to get up at the end of it with a realy high score that is one of the highest that has been shot here in Australia in the conditions we have was amasing the seccond place getter was last years state champion and was limited by only having a 1 in 12 twist barrel and he used to shoot a 7mm06 improved but had worn it out he also believes he will be getting a 7mm Rem SAUM as his next barrel and was already loking to have one fitted before he arrived this weekend just pased. The club took some pics and i will try to get them to email me some so i can post them here.
Thanks to Stawell Rifle Club here in Victoria Australia for a great competition and also to the great competitors and shooting community.
