What are reasonable expectations for positional/sling/barricade shooting?

[C_R_Slacker]

A little background... I've been slowly getting into precision shooting for about the last three years. I decided to start getting more serious about it this summer and joined K&M Precision. Prior to this year I've just been focusing on the fundamentals, shooting prone at mostly close range with the occasional long range session. I feel fairly confident shooting prone, and have doped my rifle out to 1100 yards.

The last couple of times out, I have tried to take my learning to the next level and have started trying to shoot more from barricades and using a sling while standing, kneeling, and sitting. My question is, what is a good "par" for shooting these types of alternate positions? What are the typical distances and target sizes for these types of shots at PRS events? For example, today I shot at 300 at a full size IPSC using just my sling. I think I was 2 for 3 in all three positions. Is this good, bad, or ugly? What would you say is an adequate hit percentage at 500 at a full size IPSC off of a typical wooden barricade? What would you all say are reasonable goals for a fairly new shooter trying to get started in PRS style shooting?

Also, if you have any other tips or advice for drills or techniques, feel free to let me know. Thanks in advance.

 

[Sheldon N]

A good benchmark is the PRS skills stage #2 which you will see in almost every match. Here's the official description.

PRS Skills Stage 2 will consist of one target, 10” in diameter placed at a distance of 400 yards. Start
position is 10 yards behind the firing position which is a barricade marked with 4 firing points. At the sound
of the beep the shooter will move to the barricade to a firing point of his/her choice and engage the target
with 2 rounds only. Shooter will then move to the remaining firing positions in any order and engage the
target with two rounds from each position. Par time is 90 seconds and round count is 8.

Barricade heights are 28-30" (low kneeling position) and 52-54" (standing).

A new to average shooter will maybe get 3-5 hits out of 8, and possibly time out in the 90 second time limit. Top shooters will get all 8 hits almost every time and do it in under 60 seconds. The time is used as a tiebreak in major matches.

Full size IPSC at 300 to 500 yards is a big target, bigger than average for PRS. Typical target size in PRS is around 2 MOA to 2.5 MOA. In competition hit percentages are typically 75-85% for the match winner and 60-65% for an upper mid pack shooter.

Hit percentage on a full size IPSC at 500 yards from a barricade should be very high in a practice, non-match situation. Barring difficult wind I think an average shooter should be able to hit that 75% from a barricade, and a top shooter should be 95%+ hit percentage. My personal practice targets are 12" and 6" at 525 yards and a 66% IPSC at 580 yards, shot from wobbly barricade positions.

If you want to get started in PRS shooting there's two key things that I think are the hurdles to overcome. First is the match experience itself. Adrenaline, time limits, unfamiliar positions you've never tried, mental management of your dope, gear, and what to do when. Pretty much all of that I think is best learned by going and doing. Find small one day club matches, shoot as many as you can with the goal of mainly having fun and just being able to get comfortable in a match situation.

Second is the physical skill of positional shooting/transitioning/target acquisition. This one you can make very big strides with dry firing practice. Practice with the gear you will compete with, setting up a position quickly and smoothly, being able to hold the reticle steady on your target and break the shot with good follow through. Practice the skill of being able to look at the target with your naked eye and transition to the scope on the gun in position and have the target already in the field of view. Practice transitions and dialing dope and hold overs and wind holds in the reticle. Don't stay in one position, move dry-fire, move dry-fire. Do this on as many different heights and types of barricades/obstacles as you can. Try it with a timer so you know what you're able to do in 90 seconds or 120 seconds. Try to dry fire 4-5 times as much as you live fire, even more.

Anyhow, sorry for the long winded answer. Hope that gives some helpful info!

 

[Praeger]

If you want to get started in PRS shooting there's two key things that I think are the hurdles to overcome. First is the match experience itself. Adrenaline, time limits, unfamiliar positions you've never tried, mental management of your dope, gear, and what to do when. Pretty much all of that I think is best learned by going and doing. Find small one day club matches, shoot as many as you can with the goal of mainly having fun and just being able to get comfortable in a match situation.

Second is the physical skill of positional shooting/transitioning/target acquisition. This one you can make very big strides with dry firing practice. Practice with the gear you will compete with, setting up a position quickly and smoothly, being able to hold the reticle steady on your target and break the shot with good follow through. Practice the skill of being able to look at the target with your naked eye and transition to the scope on the gun in position and have the target already in the field of view. Practice transitions and dialing dope and hold overs and wind holds in the reticle. Don't stay in one position, move dry-fire, move dry-fire. Do this on as many different heights and types of barricades/obstacles as you can. Try it with a timer so you know what you're able to do in 90 seconds or 120 seconds. Try to dry fire 4-5 times as much as you live fire, even more.

This is great advise for new PRS shooters, or anyone considering trying a PRS style match.

I'd only add that as you size up a stage, only go as fast as you can shoot accurately. New to PRS shooters (and I include myself in this category) tend to set the tempo of their shots to finish all shots within the time limit. A few slow hits are worth more than fast misses. In most cases I look back at a stage and realize I should have just slowed down.

Apply a strategy - if a stage allows the shooter to start at any particular position, start where you are strongest. Better to run out of time at the position you are least accurate.

Lastly, practice the most at your weakest positions. We tend to practice most at our best positions because we get better results. The improvements on a position that you do poorly will make you a better shooter at your stronger positions.

 

[morganlamprecht]

good advice in here

for myself, off a wobbly/thin barricade...im good for about 3moa average under time pressure
off a solid/wide barricade...1.5-2moa

the above depends on the winds as well...if the wind is blowing 10-20 mph and is blowing you and the barricade around it gets interesting

last weekend i had a phone cam attached to my scope for a few stages in a match and i got video of this stage

5 different rocks, they are almost more like awkward/jagged barricades because they are seated/kneeling height and pretty narrow front to back...just wide enough to support the front of the rifle
2 shots, run to next rock, 2 shots...etc...66% IPSC at 500 yds but it was angled a bit so it made it a little more narrow, i just ran 1 bag up front on the fore end because the rocks arent wide enough to support a bipod...wasnt the cleanest run (7/10) as i was fighting the phone mount being where my forehead needed to be so it kind of compromised my position, but you can where my wobble is

while shooting i can feel myself getting stable, transition into the target, break the shot...i try not to spend much time sitting with my reticle on target to save time...this stage was 2 minutes and i finished in about 1:40, with most bigger matches having 90 sec par times i try to go faster than what the club match times dictate...i was tryin to break the shots with my dot just inside the right edge (video thru the phone is flipped because of the mount system) of the plate except for the last 2 the wind died off, i just went straight up

 

[Sheldon N]

Love the video, gives a great sense of what it's like behind the gun

C-R.Slacker, don't be fooled by how Morgan makes that look easy. It's not.

 

[Lowlight]

Work it on paper first then you can map your shots, after which you can work on tightening them up

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[Darkside-Six]

if I can keep it under a 2MOA target then I'm happy.

 

[C_R_Slacker]

Sheldon N, long winded, but the exact kind of info I was looking for. Thanks.

Lowlight, right after I posted this, I got on YouTube and watched that video. Thanks for the tip.

Also, thanks everyone else for your replies. Now I have some goals to work toward and some ideas to try at the range. Right now I'm going to keep working on building solid positions until I can get pretty consistent hits on 2-3 MOA targets. I'll also try shooting paper to have a better idea of where my misses are going and how bad my misses are. Once I feel more confident with making the shots, I will start trying to speed it up and setting some par times for myself.

 

[Kane0519]

Sheldon, great post!