The truth is, every shooting discipline has a certain "quirk" that ups the anti, whether you are shooting pistols, shotguns, or rifles. In other words, just about anybody can sign up and participate. Winning?? That's a different story.
Since I shoot 100-200 yard Benchrest, I can comment on that discipline.
100-200 yard Benchrest is one of those disciplines where the shooter is only as good as the equipment he using. It all starts with the Rifle. The very best Benchrest Shooter can only do as well as what the Rifle is locked into. A shooter who's Rifle is locked into a .260 category can only hope to do that, usually worse. When you add the multitude of things, such as such as wind, mirage, poor bench technique, infinite varibles, etc, to the equation, the game can become overwhelming in short order. In short, there are only a few things that will compell a bullet to take the exact same path as the one before, but about a million that will cause it not too.
This is not to say that 100-200 yard Benchrest is any more difficult to win at than any other discipline. One of the big things it has going for it is it requires no athletic ability. If you have a pulse, and can use your hands and arms, you can shoot Benchrest. But, since it is so equipment oriented, many shy away. Keep in mind, quite a bit of range time is not spent practicing reading conditions, it is spent figuing out how to keep the Rifle shooting at a competitive level.
Also, keepin mind, in 100-200 yard Benchrest, we sacrifice all other perameters that define "Rifle Performance" in the quest ofone thing, that being, the agging capability ofthe combination. Such things as BC, bullet performance after it hits the target, retained energy, etc take a back seat, or have no seat at all, in 100-200 yard Benchrest.
I like Benchrest mainly because it is a technical game. It is also a mental game. I am not really a "Rifleman". I am simply a person who likes to compete, and the Benchrest Rifle is simply the instrument that I use. The only other Rifle I own besides the ones I compete with is a low end Remington 700 in 30-06.
To me, Benchrest Shooting it is no different than racing boats, motorcycles, or showing a car, (other things I have done in my life).. You build a piece of equipment that satisfies the rules of the Sanctioning Body, and you test yourself, and your equipment, in a Competitive Arena against like Competitors.
I would encourage you to give Benchrest a try. Judging from your initial post, you might be a little ignorant of the entire concept, which in reality, is brutally simple. If you are shooting Group, you put a shot on the paper, and then every shot after on top of that one. If you are shooting score, all you have to do is hit that little dot in the middle.
The difficulty arrises when you come to grips with the amount of time and money an individule has to dedicate to the endevour in order to do this on a consistant basis.
But then, as I said before. Every discipline has something built into the concept that makes winning extremely difficult. If it didn't, it would not be worth pursuing........jackie
