Club de Tir récréatif de Valcartier Long Range rifle match
This match was a last minute decision for me, my original plan was to drive out to Borden for the ORA PR match, but it got cancelled. So I found this little match held by the Club de Tir Récréatif de Valcartier. This club's matches are held on the ranges of the Valcartier Base north of Quebec City.
Not much info was available on their website other than the fact that the targets would be mostly steel plates and that they would range from 200m to 1400m. Shooters would be classified according to the caliber they shoot.
Left MTL at 4:45 and got to the range at 8:00 just in time for the short shooters briefing.
There were 12 shooters. 6 in .308 class and 6 in .338 class ( 1x 338 Lapua, 2x 300 Ultra Mag, 1x 6.5x47, 1x 6mm SLR and 1x 6mm Creedmoor), shooters in each class were assigned a competitor number.
Once the briefing is done, we all setup side by side on the shooting line and the match begins. When your number's called up, you have 30 seconds to hit the drsignated target, if a second shot is required, you have 15 seconds to make that one.
Cold bore shot was at a big sheet of paper with a bunch of 1 inch dots. Distance191m.
Shooter closest to the center of the his dot gets 30 pts, next closest gets 27 pts and so on. Only one shot taken at that target.
This was the only paper target of the match, every other target was steel, you get the maximum 5 points for a first round hit and 2 points if you hit on the follow up.
Second target was a 10 inches plate at UKD, no range finders allowed for this one so it was a milling exercise. First lesson learned, I have to work on my milling skills.
For every other target following this one we were given the ranges in both meters and yards. Target size varied between 8x8 to full IPSC for the long shots. In total there were 10 targets for the match. So a maximum of 20 rounds, which at first might seem kind of low to justify driving 3 hours but when you think about it, it's not. I ended up learning a lot more out of those 20 shots than I would have shooting a 60 rds PR match. Each new target you have to switch you body position slightly, redial your scope, gauge the wind etc... Each time there's the possibility of messing up and of learning something new. This is a great format, the root of Practical rifle shooting and a great training for hunters because the emphasis is on the first shot, which is always the most important under field conditions.
The match itself went quickly and we were done at about 12:30 and that where the big bonus kicked in. We had all afternoon to play on this wonderfull range. How often do you get an afternoon of free shooting, on a 1400+ meters range full of steel target? For a Quebec shooter where most ranges are under 200 yds, this was priceless. Luckilly I had show up prepare and brought lotsa ammo and the 6mm Creedmoor got a good work out.
The CTRV will be holding another one of these matches on the 26th of October for those who would be interested in trying their hand at some long range stuff. It will be on a different range which is even longer and they would gladly add a .50 cal class if anyone wanted to sign up for it.
Their website is: http://ctrval.########.ca/ and is probably the best place to get information on their match schedule
P.
This match was a last minute decision for me, my original plan was to drive out to Borden for the ORA PR match, but it got cancelled. So I found this little match held by the Club de Tir Récréatif de Valcartier. This club's matches are held on the ranges of the Valcartier Base north of Quebec City.
Not much info was available on their website other than the fact that the targets would be mostly steel plates and that they would range from 200m to 1400m. Shooters would be classified according to the caliber they shoot.
Left MTL at 4:45 and got to the range at 8:00 just in time for the short shooters briefing.
There were 12 shooters. 6 in .308 class and 6 in .338 class ( 1x 338 Lapua, 2x 300 Ultra Mag, 1x 6.5x47, 1x 6mm SLR and 1x 6mm Creedmoor), shooters in each class were assigned a competitor number.
Once the briefing is done, we all setup side by side on the shooting line and the match begins. When your number's called up, you have 30 seconds to hit the drsignated target, if a second shot is required, you have 15 seconds to make that one.
Cold bore shot was at a big sheet of paper with a bunch of 1 inch dots. Distance191m.
Shooter closest to the center of the his dot gets 30 pts, next closest gets 27 pts and so on. Only one shot taken at that target.
This was the only paper target of the match, every other target was steel, you get the maximum 5 points for a first round hit and 2 points if you hit on the follow up.
Second target was a 10 inches plate at UKD, no range finders allowed for this one so it was a milling exercise. First lesson learned, I have to work on my milling skills.
For every other target following this one we were given the ranges in both meters and yards. Target size varied between 8x8 to full IPSC for the long shots. In total there were 10 targets for the match. So a maximum of 20 rounds, which at first might seem kind of low to justify driving 3 hours but when you think about it, it's not. I ended up learning a lot more out of those 20 shots than I would have shooting a 60 rds PR match. Each new target you have to switch you body position slightly, redial your scope, gauge the wind etc... Each time there's the possibility of messing up and of learning something new. This is a great format, the root of Practical rifle shooting and a great training for hunters because the emphasis is on the first shot, which is always the most important under field conditions.
The match itself went quickly and we were done at about 12:30 and that where the big bonus kicked in. We had all afternoon to play on this wonderfull range. How often do you get an afternoon of free shooting, on a 1400+ meters range full of steel target? For a Quebec shooter where most ranges are under 200 yds, this was priceless. Luckilly I had show up prepare and brought lotsa ammo and the 6mm Creedmoor got a good work out.
The CTRV will be holding another one of these matches on the 26th of October for those who would be interested in trying their hand at some long range stuff. It will be on a different range which is even longer and they would gladly add a .50 cal class if anyone wanted to sign up for it.
Their website is: http://ctrval.########.ca/ and is probably the best place to get information on their match schedule
P.
