Fullbore target rifle equipment/Sights questions

Extra padding mainly but it does help with the sweat. Many sweats for shooting have a little more padding in the elbows. Recoil is less because half the recoil goes into the left arm. If you have a painful hand after a days shooting you need to move the handstop forward to get more shoulder pressure an less on the hand. You should need to pull your shoulder well back to swing the butt off your shoulder.
 
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Thanks, I will be trying that when things cool down either later today or early tomorrow and get this new sling adjusted. I should be able to do another small practice at the range sometime next week to foul the barrel and get a little more settled in.

Regarding the Warner and Riles sights, is anyone selling them as a full kit to fit barnard actions in Canada, or gotta order from the US? I'm guessing there's no ITAR foolishness on these?
I currently have a barnard S, I suppose if I build a new rifle I'll get a P action.
 
Sweatshirts are still being worn but some are wearing knited shooting sweaters with a zipper up the front. Not really fashionable for street wear but very trendy on the range. The idea behind the knited sweater is that is better for taking your pulse out of the sling. I watched one of the UK's top shooters getting ready to go onto the line down in Barbados a couple years ago, temp was over 30C, one long sleeve Under Armour shirt, 2 sweatshirts and a big knitted sleeve that he pulled on his sling arm before putting on his shooting jacket. While getting dressed and during the shot he drank a litre of water.
 
Well, just to add a little update for now. I've just shot my first TR matches, 3 days and around 180 rounds total, and I think I'm hooked...
I had shot about 50 rounds prior going into it and changed a few things each day. After day 1 I could feel my left arm being quite sore, so I moved the hand stop ahead a little and made sure to better shoulder the rifle, also adjusted the butt length a bit and it made a good difference. First time plotting shots, with F-class I never bothered but I can now see that its helpful. I lost 2-3 points due to dialing the wrong way.

Day 1: (out of 50): 300M, 47-3(am), 45-1(pm) it has no cheek adjustment so I have to put way too much pressure at close range, better as the sights raise up further out. 500M, 48-3(am) 47-4(pm), 600M, 48-3(am), 49-2(pm)
Day 2: 500M 46-3, 600M, 48-7(lost the last 2, low left) 800M, 48-2, 49-5, 48-5. I was happy just to survive the heat... although I could only close the front iris to 3mm and at 800M I was still seeing the target frame a bit, very basic 18mm front sight with bubble inside(so useful). I'll try to take a look through those 30mm sights before I decide what exactly to buy, 22mm would probably be just fine.

After day 2 we had a wonderful dinner/awards given out at the Royal Artillery Park, being the oldest(1816) military Mess in Canada it was quite fitting with the shooting sports. We're very fortunate to have had this opportunity, great meal and everything.

As it turned out, although those 2 first days were horrible compared to the amazing shooters that were competing, (top shooter lost only 1 point out of 550), it was still enough to make it into the mini-palma match(coached match shot in string, all at 800M, out of 75, 75, 50) which was today. So after the dinner I came home to reload until 12:45am and today our Atlantic team of 12, 8TR and 4 F-class shooters, ended up winning vs New England at 2306-199 vs 2223-141. All the US shooters were fantastic, I think they had a great time as well and enjoyed our beautiful range. I ended up with 71-4, 67-6(ouch..) and 48-4. The conditions were changing fairly quickly, faster than I could get the shot off before they would change again, I did what I could though and really just had 1 shot I knew I screwed up bad and it was a low 3, 15th shot on 2nd match of the day.

So, in conclusion my goal now is to be set up properly for both F-class and TR and to gain the skills over time to be fairly competitive in both. Each have their challenges no question about it and I know what I can learn about technique in TR will help greatly with F-class. Just as some wind/mirage reading and reloading procedures I've been learning from F-class will help me with TR.
I'll see after December if I have time/$ to build a new rifle for the coming season and what exactly will happen, lots of other projects to keep throwing $ at right now.

thanks for the help/information, it'll be quite useful.


Also, to anyone wanting to try competition have it be F-class, TR, or anything else, please do. You don't need fancy rifles to start and there's many shooters willing to help.
I think a lot of F-class guys would really get a lot of fun out of TR too, I certainly did and plan to again.
 
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Having a bigger aperture is easier to center than one that is too small. Back in the old days when I had better eyesight a 2.8 would have been about right at all ranges for me. Now a 5.5 front sight works well for long range and maybe up to a 6.5 for 500 yards/m. Yes I see the whole frame. Definitely try a 30mm front sight with a .5 eagle eye.
 
Lots of local shooters are using the 30mm and eagle eye so it shouldn't be trouble to take a look through one, hopefully I can make it to 1 more match this season.
 
SND congrats on the good shooting Paul was telling me you did exceptionally well for a first time TR shooter , I plan on trying this myself if I can manage to bend my left arm far enough [bad rotator cuff] .

I tried Mike lutes's setup but his 6'3" framed jacket was a wee bit to big for me lol and I couldn't get the sling adjusted. I am going to keep my eye open for a jacket and maybe slowly gather what I need seems like something I would like to give a try.
 
You'll enjoy it, I was worried about having issues with my shoulder and chest as well but surprisingly didn't(they've healed up good though). The jacket and sling hold things so well that the weight on the left elbow isn't really noticed or tiring at all, left hand goes numb by the 7-8th round though when shooting 3 to a target. Hopefully it will work out for you as well, its definitely worth trying if even just one match. I can see now why the guys who shoot TR want to stick to TR until their eyesight pushes them into F-class.

I got pretty lucky that Bill had a jacket(and rifle) I could use, it fit pretty good, just minor things here and there I'd have to tighten up when I find myself one. There's gotta be a few guys in your area that could lend you some stuff to try it out before putting $ into it.
I remembered yesterday that the 45-1 at 300 was when I tried it without the sweater to see what would happen, pretty much shot 1/2" all around the bull, even the ones in the bull were only maybe 1/2" inside the line or right on it. Needless to say I put it back on after that.

Paul did really good, he mentioned he wants to try TR as well, I have no doubt he'll be excellent at it.
With the number of shooters we got around, being able to shoot both disciplines and fill in for others in the inter-maritimes and being able to switch things up from time to time would be great, that's my goal anyhow.
I didn't see myself shooting only f-class for the rest of my life.
 
Great stuff.

I really enjoy shooting both T/R and F class. But my heart is in T/R. It's more of a physical challenge. Feels like the"purist" end of the shooting sports. So cool to be able to say you hit the V bull at long range with no optics and off your elbows. I love that moment when you're locked in and holding dead on target and in the zone.

F class is a nice break away and I find it relaxing and less strain on the body. It also presents it's own unique challenges.
 
For jacket, gloves and that sort of kit there is a new company in Ontario. Sorry I forgot the name but they had an ad in the last issue of the ORA/DCRA magazine and I think is owned by Jason Higgins, a TR shooter.
 
For those who are using a diopter lens in there sights , I can understand the feature of having in either front or the rear, but is their an advantage in having the diopter lens in the front or the back sight ?
 
A lens in the rear is adjustable to focus where you get the best scores. A lens in the front is a magnifier. With it in the front it enlarges the target but not the front ring so you must use a larger range. If you need a correction of any magnitude you should firstly have a proper pair of glasses like a Champion or Junkers. Fooling with front and rear lenses comes after you can shoot a possible. What is your age and what is your correction?
 
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