27-28 Sep 2014 Precision Rifle Clinic CFB Petawawa Debrief Here!

What a weekend!

It's always great getting back to Petawawa, and this weekend was no exception.

It was awesome to see familar faces from the CQB clinic and PLGT Carbine course and meet a bunch of great guys! It seems that you have to travel several hours away to meet your neighbour!

Precision Rifle shooting is a bit outside of my comfort zone so it was a good challenge. The 500 yd match was pretty frustrating and discouraging, not having any DOPE to dial in, and the Field Expedient sighter was not too helpful. The 600yd deliberate was much more enjoyable and gave us some excellent opportunities to practice spotting and actually see the trace/swirl. Having each shot indicated really helped with getting the rifles dialed in and I believe a lot of us don't have many opportunities to shoot past 200yds on a regular basis.

I obviously have some equipment and skill evolution to focus on before next year!

Thanks Barney for another high-value, challenging and ejoyable clinic!

Thanks Chalkriver, Frumpy & the PGC for hosting this event as well as to Chalkriver's daughter for standing sentry!

Thanks to Scott for volunteering your time to run the Butts! The targets ran very smoothly all weekend!

I am looking forward to the next event at CFB Petawawa!
 
What a great weekend, most fun you can have with your clothes on!

Big thanks to Barney and the ROs for keeping us on schedule and running a great event. Learned a lot and got to meet some great people. Also thanks to Steve for spotting like a champ and bringing some cool gear to sell, those 2 round holders were extremely useful. Now I want to attend an ORA match.

Managed to snap a few pics between relays:

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KuuzrLh.jpg


ex6GvYO.jpg


Tjj7rEm.jpg


Su4noEe.jpg


ZTim0mB.jpg


INMUSdB.jpg
 
Hey Barney, yer edumacation, it really works!.

A full box into it at 600, and my geriatric 6.5's barrel, it was so sooo hot. Some solid center hits in the shifting wind conditions. Happy shooter.
We were reading the near/far mirage and the dust spouts off the butt's for clues to our wind calls y'see ....
As I was about to pack up and pack it all in ....
Me spotter Avalonthas, he says:
"You arrogant viking dik, you think yer so hot do's ya?, ... then gimee a head shot."

"standby" says shooter.
"hold left ear" says spotter ... "send it".
"Hit. forehead."
"Wholly COW!" says shooter.

"standby"
"hold right ear" ... "send it".
"hit. nose."
"UHHH" ... says shooter

"standby"
"hold dead on" ... "send it"
"hit. cranial nasal sinus"
"WHAAAA?."

"Howsabout one easy kneecap poke at it fer us, last shot, a'fore we go off the line 'n fetch ya yer zimmerframe walker, oldtimer" says Avalonthas, whom, ....
.... by this point in time .. in my eyes at least, .. has become Canada's newly crowned #3 ranked spotter.

"standby"
"Hold left 1 minute ... wait .... 1/2 minute ... 3 inches... send it now."

.... can you believe this chit? ... 'ol Fugly, 100 year old mouser, she kneecapped dat fig 11 from 600 ....

My "aha" moment Barney?.
In order of increasing importance:
-rifle
-scope
-spotting scope
-shooter
-SPOTTER.

Damn, did we ever enjoy this shoot!.
To every one of you'se who volunteered their time and effort to make this shindig happen for us, my heartfelt thanks.

Brett
 
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frumpy said:
Awesome weekend, thanks Barney.

Lessons learned: don't bring norinco ammo and an m14 with wood stock. Barney WILL laugh at you.
Click to expand...
he wasn't laughing at mine making wris####ch shots at 600:p but I wasn't using Norinco Plinko ammo either.

Thanks to Barney, Chalk river , Frumpy, and anyone else I forgot to mention for putting together another awesome weekend.
 
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Here's some of my notes about the clinic.

I think there were a few folks that went into it thinking that the clinic was to teach them how to shoot. If they didn't already have ballistic calculations done up for their rifle AND ammo, they probably didn't get as much out of it as the rest. This isn't a dig against them, just a note for anyone signing up next year: Chrony your ammo and run the numbers through iSnipe or Ballistic, and then print that out.

As far as non-rifle gear, I didn't have any major "fails", but it was a really good opportunity on day 1 to get an idea of what other people are using, and Barney's walkthrough of what he packs was valuable. I ordered a bunch of stuff from LA Police Gear yesterday such as a 511 pack and a few MOLLE pouches - including the first aid pouch. I already had the NCStar shooting mat / rifle case that I ordered from Wolverine Supplies (and it's a really great deal at around 100$). I'll be beefing up the rifle case with one or two MOLLE mag pouches. I'm also going to order one of those 2 round velcro holders, and just ordered a 10 round mag.

I never shot beyond 200y before Sunday, and I was very impressed with the fact that my rifle was doing quite well even up to 600y. My rifle is:

Rem 700 SPS Varmint in .308, 26" factory barrel
AICS chassis from Wolverine
ATRS 20 MOA rail
Tactical bolt knob from ATRS
Harris bipod
Accu-Shot BT08-QK Monopod from Wolverine (used on one relay)
Sightron SIII 10-50x LRFCH with a LRMOA reticle from Mystic Precision
(dialed to 20x for 100-200y, ~32x for 500y, 50x for 600y)
Jewell trigger with a ~10-12 ounce trigger pull

Ammo:

Berger 185gr VLD
40gr IMR4895
Standard COAL ~2.805
Seated with Redding seater
Lapua brass
Chrono vel 2500fps +- 15fps
Worked out the ballistic table on iPad app called Ballistic

I plan or installing a new barrel on the rifle as the one I'm using is around 4 years old, and I have a Hart on the way; it's also going to get a Defcon 1 muzzle brake this winter at the same time as the barrel. But honestly the factory barrel shot quite well even with 3000+ rounds through it. Maybe not better than 0.75 MOA, but any shots outside of that are shooter error. After that's done I'm going to leave the rifle alone, because from this clinic I know that there's really nothing else I need to do besides practice, practice, practice.

The course of fire was lots of fun, obviously most of us don't get an opportunity to shoot anything except for static targets on our home ranges. Even hauling the targets up and down in the butts was a learning experience as far as watching how the shooter was acquiring, adjusting and grouping.

The way the course was run, the RSOs, local club exec, Barney, all of you guys did a great job. Also thanks to the club exec's daughter for acting as range sentry.
 
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Pierre :

Thanks for the kind words. I greatly appreciate them.

Many thanks for all this feedback. I was just so happy to realize all the joy you shooters and spotters experienced from shooting many many and many more booolits at the 600 yard mound. I was trying to get more experience downrange within the time parameters we had. So much productive learning practice was happening. On all levels everyone was maximizing this grand learning opportunity to the max by shooting faster.

I got a kick out of Ariel's discovery of the trace through Steven693 Precisions old school 25x spotting scope. He was yelling to me that he could see all the booolits from KLathams barrel with the current light conditions. He was declaring that this was his AHA moment and he saw the light ; so to speak.

Then Pomlt3 was reporting back to me that he never had so much fun shooting prone especially at this distance. I am honored to be part of all that experience.

I am honored to be facilitator do all this learning. Every single one of us learned a shztload of information in many different and varying ways. I am most thankful to be part of this experience.

Gotta go to bed now. Thanks all of you guys! :wave:

Cheers

Barney.
 
It was a great weekend of shooting and got to do it along side some really nice people .
There were a lot of nice firearms and some really good shooting that weekend as well.
Thanks Scott for helping out and running the butts all day .
Thanks again Barney for putting together another very informative and fun clinic .
Hope to see everyone back in Petawawa shooting again soon . :)

A few more pics




 
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Here we go... some more pics from the weekend!



Box test, I was far left, and my buddy was 2nd from the left... not to shabby!


Target butts.


Dinner after the first day.


A perfect morning, the last of the mist burning off.


From what I have seen, quite possibly the best shooting of the entire weekend... was done by Vviking and his beloved 'fugly' 6.5 Swedish Mauser. This was from the 300 meter snap shoot. Pretty frickin amazing to get a group like that with only 3 second exposures...


Took us forever to take this photo, some guy was busy keeping the butts running so smoothly that we couldn't stop for a selfie for hours... what has the world come to??:p;):redface:


MAN DOWN!!! The ISIS marked target got me!!! Thank goodness first aid packs were handy and well stocked... may not have pulled through... ;)


The guys had too much fun marking up our target...


Great weekend guys!
 
Thanks to everyone who made this clinic possible and for letting me come up, meet new people, sell some gear and hopefully help out a few of you. It was an awesome weekend!

And my aha moment was when I tried the 500 yard snap with an AR10 with no dope for that range. (also my first time shooting an AR, I only have bolt guns right now)

Aha 1. There is no bolt handle to grab after a shot.
Aha 2. 5 rounds goes quick
Aha 3. You have to change mags after those 5 rounds or it doesn't go bang (used to 10 rounds and no reload)
Aha 4. When you miss and exposure and change mags then forget to release the bolt it still doesn't go bang and Barney starts laughing at you and yells "load faster, shoot better"
Aha 5. A dud round after all this adds to the shenanigans
Aha 6. You can triple tap a target at 500 with an AR10 while Barney laughs at you (I want to try with my bolt gun now)

Thanks again for having me and buying some gear from me. Very much appreciated and it was great to meet everyone.
-Steve
 
"####! Reload... I'll double tap the next one. ####! Stoppage. Umm I guess I'll just triple tap the next one *bangbangbang* that was awesome!"

Thanks for letting me (and several others) try out your AI.
 
TacticalTeacher said:
I'm home safely now. Too much to type especially on the iPhone keyboard. What a freaking great time. I cannot stop thanking all for your kind words after torturing you with my lousy singing during the agony snap exercises. I should just stuck with the Stomping Tom on the loud hailer.

Many thanks to our Petawawa hosts for a well ru. Booking process from start to finish.

Many thanks to the Montreal and québécois or quebexican shooters for putting up with my franglaisie stunts and skills.

Many thanks for meeting new faces and being able to recycle some of the old stories once again. Next clinic I am wearing my Leafs goaltender jersey. I'm not joking.

Many thanks to Scott for bolunteering his weekend to yell at all of you in the butts. Any ORA Match ain't gonna happen and run efficiently without the good Butts Officers as all of you witnessed. A well typed match description does help on my part if I did not screw up the typing that forced all of you to shoot two rounds during the three second exposure at the 200 Yard rapid follow up match :).

Oooops! :eek: all good fun though

Many thanks To all of you service members who trusted me to run a smooth weekend clinic on your ranges since some range exercises can be frustrating at the best of times. I am here to show you how to run smooth relays , butts changes and a smooth match transition. How can you tell I've ran a military range before? I've been trained by the best and I am forever grateful. No you know how it's supposed to be done!

Many thanks to those service members who shared their deployment experiences and stories with me. I thank you for your trust and confidence in our brotherhood community. I am deeply honored that you all dearly loved the clinic. I am humbled by your contribution to the community.

Many thanks to our organizers and also to the kind help at Range Control for a smooth registration process and a slick arch off process. It reminds me of the great relationship I have shared with Connaught Range control, Borden Range Control and Dundurn Range Control. Without their help any range exercise ain't gonna run fast. :)

Many thanks to the newbies for their Latin e when I was yelling at them on the 600 yard mound to shoot faster and send more booolits downrange even when the previous booolit was not even pulled down and indicated. I promised that I would get your money's worth and shoot more booolits. :D

Many thanks to all the relays in the butts for speedy efforts in target presentation since Scott could not make things happen without your energy.

Okay I better bed down now.

So what was your aha moment?

What was your mofo moment?

For you Quebexicans, what was your tabernac moment when you realized what I showed you actually worked ??

Bring on the reflections of a super two day clinic? I say super since I laughed myself to a sore throat now. I am sore and hoarse from yelling,"shooter faster!"

Cheers and thanks from the bottom of my heart.

Barney
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My "tabernac", nay yet "#### tabernac" moment came when we transitioned from the 300 to the 500. I had massive problems at the 300 and was resigning my self to a day of failure and being a winey #####. Then at the 500 I persevered and began to shoot really well. The moral of the story is not to dispare you always have the ability recover from whatever situation you might be in.
I realize how corny that sounds... keep reaching for the rainbow guys!


Barney, you really know how to type a sappy post! We all owe you a massive thanks for bringing us all together and expanding our skills.
 
RugerBlast said:
My "tabernac", nay yet "#### tabernac" moment came when we transitioned from the 300 to the 500. I had massive problems at the 300 and was resigning my self to a day of failure and being a winey #####. Then at the 500 I persevered and began to shoot really well. The moral of the story is not to dispare you always have the ability recover from whatever situation you might be in.
I realize how corny that sounds... keep reaching for the rainbow guys!


Barney, you really know how to type a sappy post! We all owe you a massive thanks for bringing us all together and expanding our skills.
Click to expand...

I am not a sniper nor a sniper instructor; I am however a religion teacher. :)

So happy to read those AHA moments or those tabernac moments. That's what makes attending any of my clinics with all the expense : learning meeting socializing sharing eating prime rib chilling and shooting faster!

Thanks ,all!

Now keep those aha learning moments rolling along. What else didja learn?

Cheers, Barney.
 
Mason44 said:
What a great weekend, most fun you can have with your clothes on!

Big thanks to Barney and the ROs for keeping us on schedule and running a great event. Learned a lot and got to meet some great people. Also thanks to Steve for spotting like a champ and bringing some cool gear to sell, those 2 round holders were extremely useful. Now I want to attend an ORA match.

.

Managed to snap a few pics between relays:

p7qQa6l.jpg


NFF5zlH.jpg


KuuzrLh.jpg


ex6GvYO.jpg


Tjj7rEm.jpg


Su4noEe.jpg


ZTim0mB.jpg


INMUSdB.jpg
Click to expand...

I was just about to ask for rifle #### pics for the poor unfortunats that didn't make it.
Thanks
 
My ah ha moment is when Barney explained that early in the morn with the sun shining at the target to bring elevation up 2 more clicks due to your eye playing tricks on you (right on the money) and my mofo moment was when Barney made us shoot faster at the 600. 34 rounds in ten minutes makes the barrel mudder puckin hot. Next year I'm going to wrap my barrel in bacon for some aroma therapy and a snack.
 
Lt John McClane said:
My ah ha moment is when Barney explained that early in the morn with the sun shining at the target to bring elevation up 2 more clicks due to your eye playing tricks on you (right on the money) and my mofo moment was when Barney made us shoot faster at the 600. 34 rounds in ten minutes makes the barrel mudder puckin hot. Next year I'm going to wrap my barrel in bacon for some aroma therapy and a snack.
Click to expand...
Nothing like pushing your rig and ammo through tough and challenging conditions to help you learn what your rig will shoot like it tough times. I deliberately wanted to hammer you out of your comfort zone of sitting a t the gun club bench and shooting one round in between mouthfuls of mochachino latte framboise all the while listening on the updates from reaserch in motion about your blackberry stock after the recent release of the new passport smartphone just coming outta waterloo.

And keep shooting while you have the ten minutes with a dedicated target marker down in the butts giving you instant feed back. Ya all noticed how fast your butts marker pulled the target down when you kept hammering that target? It's important to know you can hurry up your target pulled,"Keep Shooting! ". That's why I made you shooters "Shoot Faster!"

And never forget from you ballistic charts and tables and ISnipe ; add a half minute or so when things are super bright out.

Lights high ; sights high! We had all the great conditions not only to shoot in but also to provide feedback to you shooters and spotters.

It's been totally my pleasure !

Cheers, Barney
 
I had used iSnipe a bit but I was really impressed with how well it worked. After switching guns I did a quick zero at 200 and iSnipe had me pretty pretty bang on for 400, 500, and 600.

POMLT Didn't have any dope for 500-600 (I think) and after putting in his info he only had to make some small adjustments.

Oh, and sorry to whoever I showered with dirt in the butts when I shot from 400 yards with my 200 yard settings.
 
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