Precision Rifle Blog - What the Pros Use - 2014

ceriksson

ceriksson

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Came across this series.

Take it for what you will. The author surveys the top 50 scoring shooters in the annual Precision Rifle Series (http://www.precisionrifleseries.com)

He isn't trying to see what is better or what isn't, just a quantitative look at what the lead shooters are using and lets the reader draw their own conclusions.

He surveys them to see what various items they use. It is mostly to see what is the most popular or most used among the top shooters in this competitive circle. It is also interesting as he has done it since 2012 and you can see the trends change.

Take for what you want, but it is interesting to see the trends among at least this group of shooters.


Reloading Components: http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/12/11/reloading-components/

Rifle Stocks: http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/12/03/custom-rifle-stocks/

Barrel: http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/11/18/rifle-barrels-what-the-pros-use/

Bolt Actions: http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/11/11/best-bolt-actions-what-the-pros-use/

US custom gunsmiths: http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/11/05/custom-rifle-gunsmiths-what-the-pros-use/

Scope Mounts: http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/10/28/scope-mounts-what-the-pros-use/

Tactical Scopes: http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/10/24/best-tactical-scopes-what-the-pros-use/

Rifle Calibres: http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/10/14/rifle-calibers-what-the-pros-use/

•Muzzle Brake & Suppressor: http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/12/20/best-suppressors-and-muzzle-brakes/

•Rear Bag Shooting Rest (coming soon)
•Bipod (coming soon)
•Sling (coming soon)



Again, opinios vary, and the reasons for each of the above shooters may also vary widely. I love the layout of the articles though and he includes a writeup on some of the equipment as well as the survey data. This is data collected from the more tactical competition shooters so of course it will differ from those that compete in more classical shooting and F-class genres, etc.


Otherwise it is some fascinating reading and of course just food for thought.
 
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It's excellent data, but you need to take his conclusions and some of his statements with a grain of salt...

The equipment is geared towards tactical shooting, and the matches in PRS tend to be the most challenging out there. Odd distances, no sighters, no wind flags, no shot indication (except the bullet swirl, and you have to spot your own), very little is shot prone or off of a bipod and everything is done under some kind of time limit or time is a factor in your score in some way. Only hits count and your score will generally be higher than the next guys is you shoot faster than he does. Targets are usually in the neighborhood of 1 MOA (prone), 2 MOA (supported on a barricade) and 3-4 MOA (shooting offhand). Sometimes they're smaller...
 
ah will fix that thanks.

Of course take the data with a grain of salt. He is just collecting info from each shooter. Why each shooter is doing what they are may vary widely.
 
Bile said:
Very informative, but how accurate is the data on those charts? Would it group the badger ordnance actions with the AI actions? it doesn't even list them.
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100% accurate! It's a poll of the equipment used by the 50 shooters who made it to the PRS Finale match. It only includes the equipment they used, and was collected on forms they filled out.

Edit: A description of what PRS is:
You know NASCAR? Yes, I’m talking about the racing-cars-in-a-circle NASCAR. Before NASCAR, there were just a bunch of unaffiliated, regional car races. NASCAR brought structure by unifying those races, and created the idea of a season … and an overall champion. NASCAR identified the top races across the country (that were similar in nature), then combined results and ranked competitors. The Precision Rifle Series (PRS) is like NASCAR, but for tactical rifle matches.

The PRS is a championship style point series race based on the best precision rifle matches nationwide. PRS matches are recognized as the major league of sniper-style rifle matches. At the end of each year, the scores from around 15 different national matches are evaluated and the top shooters are invited to compete head to head in the PRS Season Championship Match. We surveyed the shooters who qualified for the finale, asking all kinds of questions about the equipment they ran that season. This is a great set of data, because 50+ shooters is a significant sample size, and this particular group are also considered experts among experts. It includes guys like George Gardner (President/Senior Rifle Builder of GA Precision), Francis Kuehl, Wade Stuteville, the GAP Team, the Surgeon Rifles Team, shooters from the US Army Marksmenship Unit, and many other world-class shooters
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Again, the data he collected is purely quantitative, the author is just showing what they used, the reader can draw their own conclusions. He provides some of his own analysis but mostly tries to remain objective.
 
Sponsorship affects these stats somewhat when it comes to the actions used. For example Surgeon sponsores and has shooting teams, AI does not. Not sure about Defiance.
 
illae said:
^^ This needs to happen. If only there were more precision shooters to make it worthwhile (at least on the West Coast).
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The biggest obstacle is finding a venue. You need to be able to shoot at multiple distances from the same firing point.
 
Here it is,

It is hosted by BCRA

Tactical Rifle: Service conditions type shooting with everything from prone to standing using field expedient positions. The BCRA event is well attended by civilians, military, and law enforcement personnel from all over Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. Precision shooting at various targets at ranges from 75 to 600 meters. Rifles can be either semi automatic or bolt action with a magazine
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http://bcprecisionrifle.com/Home.html

Course of Fire for the competition: http://bcprecisionrifle.com/Course_of_Fire_files/2014 Course of Fire-4.pdf
 
It has some similar elements, but is still only shot one distance at a time, at even distances. When you have to shoot consecutive shots at different distances under time pressure, and those distances aren't evenly divisible by 100, it changes things a lot. You'll see certain trends in the PRS equipment because of that, that wouldn't be factors at that match. Caliber, optics... they don't matter as much. With known distances, you worry more about wind than drop. And recoil isn't as big of a factor as it is when you're spotting your own shots.
 
The snipers hide open is amazing though. I know that one at least one occasion, one fire segment included shooting from a helicopter.
 
kombayotch said:
The biggest obstacle is finding a venue. You need to be able to shoot at multiple distances from the same firing point.
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So who can host it in Ontario? I think we could get enough guys interested to at least try.

Wasn't there some chatter about putting a proposal together for UKD on DND ranges at the ORA PR championship?
 
I know a guy that when to the Hide Cup from Canada with his Coyote. He loved it. They drooled on his rifle. It would be a lot of fun to get these style of matches going here in Canada.
 
kombayotch said:
It has some similar elements, but is still only shot one distance at a time, at even distances. When you have to shoot consecutive shots at different distances under time pressure, and those distances aren't evenly divisible by 100, it changes things a lot. You'll see certain trends in the PRS equipment because of that, that wouldn't be factors at that match. Caliber, optics... they don't matter as much. With known distances, you worry more about wind than drop. And recoil isn't as big of a factor as it is when you're spotting your own shots.
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^ This. I have shot the BCRA several times and there are some similarities but its not even close to what one would expect in a match such as the GAP Grind, Bushnel Brawl, Snipershide Cup etc. There is only so much you can do on a fixed range and even more limited on a DND range. The fact that the distances are all known and the course of fire posted prior to the match makes a huge difference. Take known distances out of the equation and not knowing what the course of fire is until the day of the match makes it much more challenging. Uk distances, no sighter shots, no wind flags, no convertible shots for score, no getting each round indicated, various positions other than prone on even ground with elaborate ski type bipods and bunny ear bags is why I find this type of shooting much more appealing than say a F Class match but to each their own of course.
 
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