Match Report - A Newbie's Perspective
This started as a summary of the match for a couple friends that were interested in trying rimfire PRS but had other commitments for the day. I've shot a variety of competitions in the past but this was my first rifle comp outside of traditional small bore or silhouettes (a few decades ago). My only 22 repeater is an SR-22 (AR looking 10/22) containing almost everything KIDD offers and I fed it Lapua Polar Biathlon for the day.
There were 7 stages in total, all set up on the 200 yard range with shooters divided into 3 squads of 5 shooters. The squads started with at least a stage between them. My match report will make a lot more sense if you download the descriptions of the 5 official stages are available at
https://outlawrimfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ORPS-March-2019-Course-of-Fire-Final.pdf.
My squad started on bonus stage 2 (Ikea) where we were given a variety of props to construct a barricade behind a chest high vision barrier and fire 10 shots, all within 120 seconds. I don’t recall exactly the course of fire but I think it was 5 shots at 50 yards and 5@75. The first 3 shooters placed the 1’x1’x3’ crate on end, a couple blocks on top and shot off that. Fast but not very stable. I placed 2 truck tires flat, the crate laying down on top and a 6x6 on that. I made 3 mistakes, I didn’t extend my bipod legs far enough before the stage began, I didn’t build a support under the rear of the rifle and I rushed, raising my heartrate too much to be steady. I did however build a more stable foundation and managed the best score in our squad with 6 hits, good enough to tie for 4th on the stage.
Our next stage was 4 (Stack ‘em). My primary mistake here was setting the rifle down to stack the tires, burning too much time. I believe I was clean until the top of the 4th tire where I missed the only shot I got off before timing out. I also drove the mag release into the sidewall of the 4th tire but it had not impact on my result. My 6 hits were only 1 shy of the top 2 shooters in the squad and good for 5th on the stage.
Moving on to stage 5 (Barrel of Fun), I scored 2 of 3 @50, 2 of 3 @75 and 0 for 4 @100 which left me confused. The barrel wasn’t very stable but I thought I made reasonable shots on the 100 yard target. My 4 hits were again good enough for 3rd on the squad but only a 3-way tie for 6th on the stage.
Next up was bonus stage 1 (Unknown distance) where we were give 120 seconds and 5 shots to range and hit a 4” plate from prone, somewhere between 100 and 200 yards away. Having never mil’d a target or done any prep work, I guessed the target was a closer to the 200 yard berm than the 100 yard targets and dialed up 165 yards from a ballistic calculator on my phone. I had shot 25 to 100 yards a few weekends earlier and the data was a reasonably good match on that day. My first shot felt good but missed. I aimed a couple inches high for my second shot and missed again followed by a couple inches low for my 3rd shot with the same result. As I was already aimed under the target, I aimed a couple inches lower for my 4th shot and put the first mark on the paint. Same hold for the final shot and the target now had 2 marks on the paint which had survived half the field untouched. I still had no idea how far the target was but my calculated table put it around 145 yards. My 4th and 5th round hits were good for 10 points each and a tie for second on the stage. Another shooter in our squad later made a first round hit for 35 points but was unable to repeat that on subsequent shots.
We had caught up to the squad ahead of us so we all had another go at the UKD target, just for fun. Several shooters were able to get on target and make repeated hits and it was generally agreed the target was around 170 yards. I was beginning to realize my drop data from a few weeks ago, with the ammo and rifle in the shadow of the berms for several hours -3*C had very little in common with the drop being experienced on this day with the midday sun beating down on my black rifle and charcoal jacket pocket containing my ammo.
Off to stage 1 (Find Your Limit) where I was one of 7 shooters to score a full 100 points with 4 solid hits on the 1” to 0.25” targets at 25 yards.
On to stage 2 (Perfect Position) and I decided not to use the allowed sling. I had intended to use a 1907 service rifle sling but didn’t have appropriate hardware to easily attach and remove it from the rear of the rifle nor did I take the time to adjust it for use with a winter jacket. I’ve also shot some 3 position small bore and the targets appeared generous. I went 5 for 5 standing on the 5”@50 yard target and repeated the feat kneeling on the 6”@75 yard target for the only clean run on this stage.
Back to 100 yard targets on stage 3 (Left Side, Right Side) to wrap up our day. I didn’t know how much drop I had at 100 but by now I was fairly certain it was less than the 6 MOA the calculator suggested. I dialed in 4 MOA and stepped up to the line. I’d shot support side before but not enough for it to feel at all natural. I failed to build a solid position against the ladder and struggled to refine my hold, only ringing steel with 1 of my 5 left shoulder shots. Transitioning to my right shoulder immediately felt more stable and holding in the upper half of the target generated 4 additional hits. Good enough for 2nd on the squad but only 6th on the stage.
I placed 5th (350pts) on the series stages and 4th on the bonus stages. There was a 2-way tie for 1st (430pts) which was settled by a 2 stage shootout. Most of the competitors went out for a beer and food after the match. Overall a fun day and I’ll likely shoot the next one (May?).
Jeff
