National Competitions - what's involved?

[ex-skydiver]

Now that I’ve spent a small fortune on a rifle (7mm SAUM) capable of getting out to beyond 1000yrds, I though it a good idea to put us both to a serious test in a major competition. However, I was always put off by the mystery of what to expect at these competitions - from where to get the score cards to what the procedure was on the firing point. To help anyone who is thinking of shooting a comp I would like to add an article about my first F-Class Association Open competition and remove some of the mystery of competing beyond local club level.

I initially had a go at the Police Sport Comp earlier this year with a view to just learn the ropes and “etiquette” on the firing point and not worry too much about the results. It was a steep learning curve and I did reasonably well considering I was more concerned about making sure I scored the other shooters correctly than bothering to note my own score. It was an expensive way to find out what to do and in hindsight it would have been better to pair up on a club day with someone already experienced with shooting at Bisley and shoot as though in competition.

Preparation:
The organiser of the competition Mik Maksimovic at Dolphin guns distributed the competition application forms well in advance of the comp. Amongst other useful information this listed the minimum number of rounds needed (not including “blow offs” and “practice”) in advance of the competition so there was plenty of time to prepare. Since I was shooting as an individual this was 95 rounds which is a large amount if you handload a wildcat caliber.

Practice day:
First thing to do is pick up the squadding details and marking cards from the organiser’s tent. The squadding detail lists which targets you are shooting on and which detail for each distance. The large number of shooters required 3 details at each distance. We shot at 2 distances (900 & 1,000yrds) on the Friday and 3 distances on the Saturday (800, 900 & 1,000yrds).

On the practice day (thursday) we shot once at the three distances. Shooting was in pairs for each target and completely informal, so you could pair up with anyone. The only limit was the time at each distance. For me 20 minutes was more than enough since I had only 2 – 4 rounds per distance. Once finished your shooting “partner” could clear your rifle before removing it from the firing point i.e. not necessarily the nearest RCO.

The practice day was a useful introduction to the range itself - prevailing wind, flags, lie of the land etc. before the competition began.

Competition Days:
Arriving at the firing point at 08:30 allowed time to see what the wind was doing and to prepare for the first detail at 09:00. Rain arrived early which brought out all manner of scope and action covers to keep everything dry from elaborate plastic tubes to beach towels. To ensure fair play no two shooters shot together twice and you didn’t shoot at the same target twice. This meant that reading the wind was particularly important as it varied depending on how far up the slope or how close to the trees you were. I paired up with almost all the nationalities present – Spanish, German and Dutch, some of which spoke no English but all were equally enthusiastic about shooting.

If you haven’t shot a comp before it is worth stating this before firing so the other shooter is aware that you may need a bit more more time.

Once shooting commences the following 20 minutes can be a bit of a blur as it takes a fair amount of concentration to shoot, score and correct the scope turrets. After taking your shot you have to reload, mark your shot, confirm and note the shot value. The other shooter can then take their shot. During this time you can note and calculate and correct elevation and windage. When the second shooter has taken their shot you need to confirm and then note on their score card. This all may seem straightforward but when the time between taking your consecutive shots is approximately 2 minutes (subject to misfires and dithering) the thinking time is limited. I did turn the turrets the wrong way during the latter stages of the competition because I was rushing and departed from my routine. So I would recommend that to do justice to your shooting (and reloading) ability and to get the best out of a competition day you should practice the shooting procedure in advance on club days to tune your routine and find the best way of calculating the windage correction, whether it be in your head or using windage cards.

Everyone was friendly and keen to talk about anything to do with shooting whether you had met them at previous shoots or for the first time at the firing point. The organisers had tea and biscuits and the whole atmosphere was encouraging for a new shooter to competitions like myself. If you are thinking of shooting beyond club level then I would thoroughly recommend F-Class competitions or others at Bisley as a real test of your shooting abilities and not let the unknown procedures etc. put you off. Like many things - once you know what to expect it’s much easier.

[dromia]

Cracking post, thank you.

De-myistifying particpation at Bisley ranges is important. I've lost count of the number of people I've taken to Bisley for the first time over the years who I've encouraged to take a gun or two with them to shoot but haven't saying they wanted to see how to "go on" first. They've all regretted that afterwards.

[Robin128]

Good one...thanks for that.

And BTW....Welcome to the forum!

Rob

[Ovenpaa]

Excellent first post and welcome to the forum, can we expect some more from you?

[Christel]

Excellent post, thank you for that. Question is, would you compete in the European Finals again? Or another competition? I do believe the European Finals take place in Ireland next year, please correct me if I am wrong. Worth going to Ireland for?

[Dangermouse]

I really want to go to the competition in Ireland next year, but for me the location of the range is a big issue.
The range is just West, South of the Border, of Londonderry - I believe that area was known as Bandit country during the troubles, which although not mentioned much in the National news, are still bubbling away.
To attend I would have to be completely incognito, but I would still be nervous.

DM

[Christel]

Grow a moustache?

[Dangermouse]

Could do, Ovenpaa has mentioned that I am building a "Mexican" rifle


Not so much


As

[Christel]

Oh dear, that took awhile to sink in....LOL

Ovenpaa did help.

[Ovenpaa]

To quote Mr Speedy himself:

"Arriba! Arriba! Andale! Andale!"

:lol: :lol: