Phoenix Queries

[TattooedGun]

I know some of you guys tackle the Phoenix meeting at Bisley, so I was hoping to garner some experience or advice from fellow Full-Bore members who have experience with these competitions as this year will be my first.

My first foray into competitions at Bisley other than TR RAF Matches was at the Spring Action Weekend where I competed in LBP Speed Steels, Mini Rifle Speed Steels and Long Barrel Pistol Practical. Simply put, loved it, and it's the main attraction for me going to phoenix.

My query however is about the McQueens and mini-mcqueens.

Having never shot it before I was wondering if A. I could shoot mini-mcqueens with my Sako Finnfire (bolt action .22rf) - as Gallery rifle in my mind is semi-auto. Would it be competitive enough in terms of speed...?

Also in terms of competitions, I see that theres discounts for doing certain numbers of comps throughout the weekend, how many do you guys shoot and how realistic is it to do many comps? At SAW, me and a friend spent all of saturday at butt zero keep re-shooting the speed steels, which was a lot of fun, so presumably we could have had our goes on that and then wandered off to where we were squadded elsewhere on a different discipline.

So my other question is about the McQueens (full-bore) What distance is this undertaken at?

I didn't know prior to the SAW that you can get classes (gold/silver) in events, and with enough "points" you can get a grandmaster medal, or something to that effect. Does anyone know how you do that? Is it 5 golds = grandmaster or something like that, the info I got from the person I went with was fuzzy at best, and it would be nice to be in with a chance at getting something like that, if at all possible

I'm sure I'll have other questions as it gets closer...

Thanks in advance, hope to see some of you there

[johngarnett]

TG,
On the NRA UK website you will find the Gallery Rifle handbook and the Phoenix 2018 handbook. They are a mass of info and courses of fire.
I have not shot mini mcqueens so afraid I can't help. If you are dead set on entering, put your entry down for Sunday(?), go to Bisley Friday and watch. I have always found ROs and competitors pretty approachable, - BEFORE the comp starts!!
Don't be afraid to ask. We all shot a comp for the first time and we are all shooters together (although I do wish some further!)
Good luck and maybe see you around the Common!
JohnG :cornwall:

[TattooedGun]

Thanks John,

Would not be able to enter on Sunday since I'll be shooting practical pistol league on Sunday.

I did pick up the GR&P Handbook when there in summer, I looked at definition of gallery rifle, there doesn't seem to be anything against using a bolt action for the mini mcqueens in the rules, just wondered if it was competitive in terms of speed.

Cheers, hopefully see you too! :)

[JSC]

You'll be fine with the bolt action for the mini McQeens. It's not a speed shoot and you've got plenty of time to cycle a bolt action and get settled for each shot.
IMO you need a very accurate rifle for that match as the target is very unforgiving, so your Sako will be ideal.
The 'full size' McQueens is shot at 200yds on Short Siberia. What are you thinking of using for that?

Bear in mind, both matches allow re-entries, so if you mess up first time you can always have another go, but those who have the time to re-enter 4 or 5 times could have a bit of an advantage as conditions play a part in those matches. One tiny gust of wind can mess up your string!

The squadding is done very efficiently for these weekends, so you'll easily be able to fit in the practical match, both McQueens, speed steels and a couple of other short matches if you want to. The matches which take all the time are the likes of the 1500 and Bianchi. Most of the others are done and dusted in 30 minutes or so.

The practical match on Sunday will be AM or PM so you will be able to enter other matches that day.

The medals and Grandmaster qualification should be explained in the GR handbook. (I can't remember what you need for one of those big medals ATM!).

I'll be doing the practical on Sunday morning so might see you there!

[TattooedGun]

You'll be fine with the bolt action for the mini McQeens. It's not a speed shoot and you've got plenty of time to cycle a bolt action and get settled for each shot.
IMO you need a very accurate rifle for that match as the target is very unforgiving, so your Sako will be ideal.
The 'full size' McQueens is shot at 200yds on Short Siberia. What are you thinking of using for that?

Bear in mind, both matches allow re-entries, so if you mess up first time you can always have another go, but those who have the time to re-enter 4 or 5 times could have a bit of an advantage as conditions play a part in those matches. One tiny gust of wind can mess up your string!

The squadding is done very efficiently for these weekends, so you'll easily be able to fit in the practical match, both McQueens, speed steels and a couple of other short matches if you want to. The matches which take all the time are the likes of the 1500 and Bianchi. Most of the others are done and dusted in 30 minutes or so.

The practical match on Sunday will be AM or PM so you will be able to enter other matches that day.

The medals and Grandmaster qualification should be explained in the GR handbook. (I can't remember what you need for one of those big medals ATM!).

I'll be doing the practical on Sunday morning so might see you there!

Brill, Thanks :)

I'm thinking of using my Accuracy international for the McQueens.

Is there a possibility of zeroing at 200m prior to the competition? I only have facilities out to 100m generally, and whilst I could guess, i'd want to make sure it's on.
I'd like to get some other matches in to give myself the best chance of a Grandmaster medal via points. Can't see myself winning any toher medals as I'm still wet behind the ears for all of the competitions! haha.

Maybe get involved in some more smallbore stuff as it's cheaper, although I'd love to do some long range stuff with the AT, if theres time. I guess I'd need advice from someone who gets as much in as possible.

I'll probably be around the practical stages all day Sunday - I'll be shooting lbp, but wil be with friend who'll be shooting revolver and LBP, so probably will see you :)

Cheers

Tg

[Chapuis]

TG if you read the handbook for the Phoenix it will answer most of your questions regarding sighters etc.
If you don't have access to a 200 yard range find out what velocity your rifle is actually shooting and consult a ballistic table either online or from a reloading manual and set up your sights to be +1" or whatever at 100 yards then at least you will be somewhere very close when you take your actual sighting shots and can adjust.

Just enjoy it and don't get worried about making a fool of yourself as there will be plenty more in the same boat. The guys that shoot this regular will probably have it all sewn up anyway as most of them are shooting possibles and the results will be decided on the X count. The first time I shot it I scored a 47 and was delighted with that but I was no where near the top of the score board.

[JSC]

Unlikely you'll be able to zero the AI on the day unless Century has some 200yd targets available, so best bet is to try and book a lane on S.Siberia or Century in the weeks leading up to it, assuming you're an NRA member. If not, you will get a couple of sighters right before you shoot the match, so make them count!

Any of the full bore rifle matches will take at least half a day to shoot, so you won't get many of those in one weekend. Generally, the cheaper the match entry fee is the less time it takes to shoot. You could do a WA48 or advancing target or T&P1 or multi-target match and each would only take 30 minutes to complete.

I've done weekends where I've shot 2 x T&P1, 2 x Multi-target, speed steels with 2 different guns, McQueens, 200yd any rifle and a half day practical match. I probably still could have squeezed in another couple of matches.

[breacher]

You can manage 8 matches in a day.

Mini McQueen - I do it with a single shot BSA Martini ( 50.9 and a gold in AAW - 50.9 and 5th in SAW ) so you will do fine with a bolt action. I advise a sandbag front rest as I found a bipod, even with low muzzle rise of .22 gives a slightly too firm rest - I could be wrong but intend to shoot it off a front bag for The Phoenix and see how it compares to the bipod.

[TattooedGun]

You can manage 8 matches in a day.

Mini McQueen - I do it with a single shot BSA Martini ( 50.9 and a gold in AAW - 50.9 and 5th in SAW ) so you will do fine with a bolt action. I advise a sandbag front rest as I found a bipod, even with low muzzle rise of .22 gives a slightly too firm rest - I could be wrong but intend to shoot it off a front bag for The Phoenix and see how it compares to the bipod.

Thanks Breacher...

If there's time to do it from a single-loader. Tempted to do it with my Anschutz as it's more consistent than the sako... Not sure if adding single loading rather than mag fed might be biting off a bit more than I can chew though...

Is it inward or outward marking on those mcqueen targets?

[breacher]

Inward. You cannot slouch but it is entirely possible with a single shot. Many being used to good effect.

The v bull is .2" or .22"