My first Gallery rifle competition

[ovenpaa]

We were at our local range Friday when I noticed details of a gallery rifle competition on the board, a quick check and yes it was on for the coming Sunday (Today) with a 10:30 start so first thing this morning I grabbed the Vikings Marlin and a handful of .357 mag ammunition and we headed out with no real idea of what to expect apart from hopefully a fun morning and some good weather.

So am I an experienced under-lever shooter? Erm not exactly, the Viking has one however life has conspired against us so it has never actually been shot from new other than the Proof rounds. She aquired it 18 months or so ago and all we did was strip it and slick it up to get an understanding of how these things work and apart that it had never been out until a couple of days ago when we put 30 rounds through it.

We arrived at around the 10:15 mark to discover the competition already in full swing having started some time before however the RCO was very happy to let me tag along on the end so we signed in, I paid my entry fee and found a couple of competitors to ask about the COF:

Open to Gallery rifle or LBP with irons sights only, the club COF was:

1) 25m 12 shots deliberate over 2 minutes any position, static target.
2) 15m 6+6 shots taken as single shots against a turning target with a 2 second exposures.
3) 10m 6 shots taken as pairs against a turning target with 2 second exposures.

The competition:

As I had started late I shot in the sequence 2,3 then 1 so I would do the 25m at the end.

So simple enough in theory or so I thought until I realised just how poor the tiny peep-hole sight was for timed exposures, add to this I shot the first string with only 5 rounds in the rifle – Oops! That will teach me to stick 12 rounds in my coat pocket and load without counting properly. The RCO very kindly suggested I unscrew the peep-hole to gain a larger aperture for the second string and this worked in that I could actually see the target however the aperture was now way too big, no matter it was done.

We advanced forward to the next position, 10m and I remembered to load 6 rounds this time when instructed to. Now I have always thought that two seconds for 2 shots is reasonable however 2 seconds certainly flies when you are new to the game and the target was turning as I fired the second shot for the first pair, work harder! After that I managed to put two rounds a piece on the last two exposures however they were far from perfect.

The targets were checked and we all went back to the 25m point and the RCO allocated me a target. ‘No prizes for you today’ The grinning RCO told me and he was about right as well. I had planned on shooting this stage standing however given my less than ideal start I needed to recover things so I opted to shoot sitting, rifle supported off my elbows and kept everything in the 10 ring for a respectable 120 points with the small aperture sight that I screwed back in place. Incidentally, I had the highest score for this distance so you can see where my comfort zone is!

So what did I learn?

Peep-hole sights, especially when filled with fluff from a gun slip are not great.

I need to manage my loading process a bit better.

The Gallery Rifle targets we used are far from intuitive at 25m nor when you have on in your hand so I held my aim on the high side of what I would call body, centre mass which put my 12 deliberate shots all in the 10 ring however above the water line.

A Marlin trigger as standard has a fair amount of wobble in it and this needs improving.

I ended up 10th out of 12 entries, so not last however loads of scope for improvement and of course the good thing about coming at the bottom end is, in theory at least, things can only get better.

I can see this becoming very addictive and when I looked back from the 15m firing point I could see the Viking chatting to some of the other shooters in quite an animated fashion so I suspect she enjoyed it as well. Roll on the next competition. :)

[FredB]

What you shot was the old Service Pistol "B" competition, now metricated and renamed "Multi-Target". Leave all three sights on your Marlin and sight it in on point of aim at 25m. Only use the peep sight at 25m and fold it down for the other distances.
Stand by for other advice, disagreeing with mine!
Fred

[safetyfirst]

Open sights is called gallery rifle classic and Williams peep sights are the norm.

Congrats on your first gallery comp, it's a lot of fun!

Timed and precision 1&2, multi target and the classic 1500 match are all staples of the British gallery scene and there's lots of chances to shoot at other clubs.

The derby open is well worth a weekend every year.

[ovenpaa]

I found this format of shooting huge fun and am looking forward to the next meeting. I am not sure what to go for regarding the rear sight, the aperture I have will not fold out of the way however I do have a couple of variable aperture rear sight inserts of the correct thread so I could always try one next time.

Now the question is, how to train without the aid of turning targets...

[mr smith]

disagreeing with mine!
Fred

Okay that COF is very nearly the old Police pistol one or Timed and precision one now.The 10m part would normally be a three second exposure.

[Mike357]

Well done Dave. We'll see you on Melville at next years Phoenix then?

[ovenpaa]

Was this a fairly standard course of fire that I shot?

[mr smith]

Was this a fairly standard course of fire that I shot?

I'd say so as i said it is pretty much Timed and precision one other than the 10m section would normally be 3 secs.

[morph007]

Have a read of this, lots of very useful info, btw I love these competitions, always great fun.

http://www.nra.org.uk/common/files/bibl ... book15.pdf

[Robert303]

The comps are great fun. You can practice counting 'One Thousand Two Thousand' to yourself but make sure your INERT / DRILL rounds are all you have out at the time.