Reflections on the 2024 Shamrock Shoot

[Hunter]

An idea for helping revive this forum.

Of the approximate 70 shooters at this year's Shamrock, would some be willing to post a short write-up here of some of your experiences surrounding that shoot? I suspect many of us who did not attend might be interested in some of the following:

1. Your planning and preparation for the trip, and the shoot;
2. Travel arrangements (e.g., distance, accommodations, who went with you, and length of stay);
3. Your shooting equipment;
4. Loading-area set-up, etc.;
5. Weather conditions;
6. Stuff for sale on-site;
7. Eating and sleeping arrangements, and other non-shooting activities while there;
8. Some of the highlights of your trip; and
9. Whatever else you might want to write about.

Your efforts in sharing will be appreciated by many, far and wide.

 

[hayscott]

Okay, I’ll bite! Lol

• Your planning and preparation for the trip, and the shoot;
  • I chambered a new barrel for two of my Sporters this year and tuned them in Midland before taking them to the Cactus. With just two weeks between it and the Shamrock, I didn’t get to do much testing/re-tuning before heading East. Besides, I knew that central GA was going to be a lot different than West TX or AZ was anyway.
• 
  
• Travel arrangements (e.g., distance, accommodations, who went with you, and length of stay);
  • I left home with another Texas shooter on Wednesday and we drove to ATL, 16 plus hrs drive. Next afternoon drove to Dublin and got everything set up for practice on Friday. We spent a few days in ATL after the match sightseeing and visiting before heading back to TX the following Friday.
• 
  
• Your shooting equipment;
  • Two Sporters, both BAT actions, one a DS/Scoville, the other a 3L/Scarborough. Both NF42 scopes, Farley rest. My own 68 grain BT’s and N133 of the ’22 lot, Lapua brass.
• 
  Loading-area set-up, etc.;
  • We figured that the loading barn would be full so we brought along a canopy and several tarps to do our loading under. We did find a place in the barn for rifle cleaning. The tarps tied to the canopy came in very handy with the weather on Friday keeping us dry and out of the wind somewhat. (We used a lot of stakes and tie-downs cords)
• 
  
• Weather conditions;
  • Friday was wet and rainy for most of the day, nothing like we get much of in West TX. Saturday was cloudy and winds were rough to shoot in with a couple of storms blowing through, temps were in low 50’s and humidity was 99%. We didn’t see but a little misting sprinkles though. Sunday was mostly sunny and winds were very switchy throughout the day. You didn’t get to run and gun, it was picking your way through every match kind of day. I’m used to shooting out West and we generally don’t have big trees… we have berms but nothing like the 40 plus foot tall trees surrounding the range. It’s like the wind blows in and get trapped in the range and swirls around looking for a place to go, playing havoc with the wind flags!
• 
  
• Stuff for sale on-site;
  • I didn’t pay much attention to the wall with the stuff for sale, too occupied trying to catch up with everyone or trying to figure out what I was doing wrong on the bench and loading table!
• 
  
• Eating and sleeping arrangements, and other non-shooting activities while there;
  • We met up with fellow shooters for dinner each night, Longhorn, Cracker Barrel and the Mexican place just a block North of the highway. Good choice of hotels in the area from the budget to three star.
• 
  
• Some of the highlights of your trip; and whatever else you might want to write about.
  • Best part of going to Dublin is seeing all the great folks! As this was a points match, there were quite a few of the top shooters from the eastern half of the country in attendance, so I knew coming in that the competition would be fierce. I got to sit next to some great folks (HOF guys) during my relay and visit with them along with getting to watch them shoot their groups. The range in Dublin is very different than what we see out west so it’s always tough for me trying to get and keep my rifles in tune. Also, there were three other guys from TX, that made the trek east with me, that had never been to Dublin before, (this was my 3rd trip) so it was fun for me to have them along for the ride.

 

[Hunter]

• Your planning and preparation for the trip, and the shoot;
  • ...tuned them in Midland before taking them to the Cactus. With just two weeks between it and the Shamrock....We spent a few days in ATL after the match sightseeing and visiting....MY HAT'S OFF TO YOU FOR BEING WILLING TO TRAVEL SO FAR TO SHOOT! ALSO, WHAT SIGHTS IN ATL DID YOU VISIT?
• 
  Loading-area set-up, et
  • We figured that the loading barn....BY "BARN," DO YOU MEAN AN ENCLOSED STRUCTURE? THE LAST TIME I WAS THERE THE LOADING AREA WAS NOT ENCLOSED.

Thanks a bunch for sharing.