Advice for a Rookie

B

bama6ppc

New member
As a rookie to short range BR, am I better off either:

1. Shooting at as as many club and registered Benchrest matches as possible? OR

2. Shooting at a regular club by myself as much as possible and occasionally attending a club or registered Benchrest match?

thanks
 
In my opinion, the best practice is in a match, on the clock, looking out over your flags, where you MUST make the right decisions.

Make as many Club Matches and Registered Matches as your budget and life outside of shooting allows.
 
Shoot as many matches

as you can. Also, practice as much as you can. Both are important.

Richard Brensing
 
Shooting in the same conditions as others allows you to measure your progress.
If its a bad day and the good guys are shooting in the 3's and you shoot in the 4's not so bad.

Go look at some match results...not everyone shoots in the 2's all day long
 
"Practice" sessions for me were OK but only to make sure my rifle remained in the "good" category. The only real practice is under the gun at a match. Remember as well, that a practice shot is the same as a record shot concerning rounds through the barrel and barrels ain't cheap. Further, you can't practice for the wind...you shoot a sighter and do whatever it says do. Practice will tell you what conditions you should and should not shoot but once you know those limits you're good to go. Give this some thought before you wear out a good barrel practicing....for no reason! If the barrel is not a good one...why practice with it?
 
I look at practice

as a way to stay sharp on the flags. My rifles are good, so practice allows me to make those decisions at a match that can be the difference between and "agg killer" and an "atta boy"
 
Practice

Practice also allows you to identify problems with equipment and shooter. Testing new components,bullets,powder,etc.


Glenn
 
practice

my smith told me to 'wear out a barrel, then call me up'

i say the same thing to new shooters. shoot, just shoot. you are going to pay - one way or another- for the knowledge necessary.

i believe a certain amount of home shooting helps a lot. i would load my junk in the truck and drive 2 miles to shoot at a friends house just to get comfortable with taking all the right stuff and setting it up.
 
bama6ppc said:
As a rookie to short range BR, am I better off either:

1. Shooting at as as many club and registered Benchrest matches as possible? OR

2. Shooting at a regular club by myself as much as possible and occasionally attending a club or registered Benchrest match?

thanks
Click to expand...

I'm assuming option 1 doesn't involve any shooting between matches. Now, my take on this is that the same amount of time doing either will be about as good, from a skill-improvement standpoint, as the other. If finishing near the bottom of the list is heart-breaking, I suspect you'd be better off with option 2 (using a clock and your wind flags); if shooting with others is more fun than shooting by yourself, I suspect you'd be better off with option 1. Bottom line, as I see it, is spend your time doing what's fun for you.
 
bama6ppc said:
As a rookie to short range BR, am I better off either:

1. Shooting at as as many club and registered Benchrest matches as possible? OR

2. Shooting at a regular club by myself as much as possible and occasionally attending a club or registered Benchrest match?

thanks
Click to expand...

After getting your equipment, rifle, bullets, powder, etc., get or make some wind flags, AND, learn how to tune what you have.

In the meantime get Tony Boyers book and read thoroughly.

As to your answer to 1 and 2 above, do both as often as you have the time and money!!!

A new, top notch, Benchrest rifle will shoot 3-shot groups anywhere from 5/8" at worst to 3/16" tuned, with the same bullets, powder and prepped brass. It's up to you to get it tuned to the 3/16" stage.


.
 
Once you have had

a barrel that is outstanding, you will not wear it out prematurely practicing. If you do you will kick the stuffing out of yourself afterward! All barrels are not the same.
 
Another benefit from shooting as many matches as possible is that you will learn a lot from observing the top shooters and asking questions. There are so many details about tuning for conditions, brass prep, loading at the match, bench set up and technique that you just can't discover shooting by yourself.

The majority of shooters including the top world class guys will be more than happy to help out a new shooter.
 
Find yourself a good mentor. Some one that knows how to tune, read the wind and also what the target is telling you. As to how the group forms and so on. If you listen to too many shooters you will get confused as many do. We all are trying to get to the same place and just do it differently. Get your self some good wind flags, go to as many matches as you can and practice, practice, practice. And find some one to shoot with that shares your enthusiasm for accuracy. Until you shoot with much better shooters you will not improve.
 
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