Rifle Balance - What's Your Preference?

Zee705

Zee705

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Up until this year I was running a Savage MkII for rimfire PRS, which was balanced a little bit ahead of the magwell. Now I'm running a B14R Carbon where the cg is behind the magwell. I like the rifle and I don't have enough trigger time to say which balance point is preferred but I wanted to know what everyone else's preference was?

I noticed that most photos are PRS rigs balanced on the bag in front of the magwell. I've also seen someone attach a bunch of rebar to their chassis at an NRS match last year to add weight to the muzzle.

Anyways, just curious. Cheers.

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I'll echo what others have said: I setup my PRS (centre fire) rifles to balance in what would be the middle of the support bag when the magwell is pressed into the bag (ie a few inches in front of the magwell). If anything you want to err on the side of being front heavy over rear heavy.
 
Mine is front heavy to balance on a barricade and bag also. I’ve been practicing standing offhand shooting a lot with it which is not ideal. If I’m quick and smooth it’s not bad. Pushing the butt further back in the standing works with rimfire, but centerfire would need a shorter LOP I think.
 
So, biggest chunkiest barrel available, heavy muzzle device, keep the bipod mounted, maybe add weights forward, and meanwhile the lightest skeletonized stock findable. Heaviest of everything forward, lightest of everything aft. Any other good tricks?
 
Johnny Boom said:
Muzzle heavy, with the balance point in front of the magwell.

7VjrGxX.jpg


Could use a little more weight in the front though.
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What's that muzzle device :O

I should really think about balancing my rifle, especially since I keep toying with the idea of entering into a PRS match because it's ass heavy as all hell.
 
rugbydave said:
I'll echo what others have said: I setup my PRS (centre fire) rifles to balance in what would be the middle of the support bag when the magwell is pressed into the bag (ie a few inches in front of the magwell). If anything you want to err on the side of being front heavy over rear heavy.
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This^^^
 
old303 said:
So, biggest chunkiest barrel available, heavy muzzle device, keep the bipod mounted, maybe add weights forward, and meanwhile the lightest skeletonized stock findable. Heaviest of everything forward, lightest of everything aft. Any other good tricks?
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No need to go overboard, but I agree with others: CG that is slightly muzzle heavy.

On my centerfire rifles, I accomplish this by using long and heavy contoured barrels. No need for weight. However, in a .22lr you are not gaining anything by going over 22" in barrel length, so weights may be required to achieve that balance, depending on your setup.

One option is to use the KRG Bravo chassis (a great budget chassis that punches above its weight class, with many accessories available). This chassis is light, and it's relatively easy to get the balance right without additional weights. A heavy contoured ~22" barrel should certainly balance out nicely in a KRG Bravo chassis.
 
Clearly not a lot (or enough?) off-hand shooting in PRS matches most go to. You match directors out there should challenge that.
 
beltfed said:
Clearly not a lot (or enough?) off-hand shooting in PRS matches most go to. You match directors out there should challenge that.
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PRS isn't about off-hand shooting, there are other disciplines that focus on that like high-power, service rifle, etc and therefore the rifles aren't setup with a focus on off-hand shooting. I don't see why MDs should "challenge that"?

That being said, I routinely have an offhand target (or maybe 2) at my matches but that's 1 or 2pts out of maybe 80 for a one-day match.
 
I realize it isn't all about offhand shooting, nor should it, however positional and improvised field shooting was part of its inception (I think a rather large component, no?).
Eliminating it entirely takes a good chunk out of the 'Practical' in PRS, and encourages 'gaming it' - not that there isn't enough of that already.
 
I'd argue it's still entirely (supported) positional and improvised field PRECISION shooting. It's all about building a stable enough position to make a precision shot on a smallish target (generally at range). The "race-gun" type matches (PRS, NRL) have pretty much evolved to be a variation on "how well can you shoot a heavy gun off a Gamechanger bag" for a few reasons. Firstly, it's much easier/accessible to run matches on "square" ranges and therefore you end up with some kind of barricade to simulate something you might end up shooting off in "the field". With that being the case, and par times being short, the most effective way to address that is basically to shoot off a heavy support bag with a balanced, heavy rifle. All this has come to pass because there is no disadvantage to having a really heavy setup for these kind of matches being that you don't move far between stages and there is no "time hack" to make. Most of this wouldn't be necessary to hit, say man size/full-size IPSC targets but the targets are generally closer to 2 moa. At what range does it become impractical to be engaging targets un-supported?

Again though, this (PRS/NRL) is a shooting discipline and not some kind of simulation of "fighting with a precision rifle". There are matches that are closer to that, generally billed as "sniper matches" (think Mammoth, Sniper's Unknown, Bushnell series, etc) which require a more "practical" rifle and setup being that you are covering distance under time constraints. The shooting skills between the different styles of matches transfer, you just have to adjust your expectations with regards to how tight and how fast you can shoot going from say a heavy Gamechanger and 20lbs+ rifle to field obstacles, a lightweight support bag/rear bag and a more reasonable (16ish lbs) rifle.

The best answer, if you think the MDs of PRS matches need to challenge the lack of un-supported shooting, is to run your own match(es) with stages and targets that you think best represent how the shooting style should be. Personally, field matches are my preference but I can't host them at my range (the layout is not conducive to it) so I run more typical PRS-type matches but with some pistol components and the occasional off-hand shot thrown in as I believe both those skills to be important. Other MDs do as they see fit.
 
Just an addition to OP's question, I would suggest balancing your rifle without a bipod attached. If you arent going to need to use your bipod for a stage, I would suggest taking it off. I find it makes the rifle a little easier to handle, even if you arent shooting through small ports. Less likely to snag/bang on something etc. Most stages that require a bipod generally dont have any other positions, so balance doesnt matter so much, and even if you do, a little front heavy isnt a problem, as others have mentioned.
 
rugbydave said:
I'd argue it's still entirely (supported) positional and improvised field PRECISION shooting. It's all about building a stable enough position to make a precision shot on a smallish target (generally at range). The "race-gun" type matches (PRS, NRL) have pretty much evolved to be a variation on "how well can you shoot a heavy gun off a Gamechanger bag" for a few reasons. Firstly, it's much easier/accessible to run matches on "square" ranges and therefore you end up with some kind of barricade to simulate something you might end up shooting off in "the field". With that being the case, and par times being short, the most effective way to address that is basically to shoot off a heavy support bag with a balanced, heavy rifle. All this has come to pass because there is no disadvantage to having a really heavy setup for these kind of matches being that you don't move far between stages and there is no "time hack" to make. Most of this wouldn't be necessary to hit, say man size/full-size IPSC targets but the targets are generally closer to 2 moa. At what range does it become impractical to be engaging targets un-supported?

Again though, this (PRS/NRL) is a shooting discipline and not some kind of simulation of "fighting with a precision rifle". There are matches that are closer to that, generally billed as "sniper matches" (think Mammoth, Sniper's Unknown, Bushnell series, etc) which require a more "practical" rifle and setup being that you are covering distance under time constraints. The shooting skills between the different styles of matches transfer, you just have to adjust your expectations with regards to how tight and how fast you can shoot going from say a heavy Gamechanger and 20lbs+ rifle to field obstacles, a lightweight support bag/rear bag and a more reasonable (16ish lbs) rifle.

The best answer, if you think the MDs of PRS matches need to challenge the lack of un-supported shooting, is to run your own match(es) with stages and targets that you think best represent how the shooting style should be. Personally, field matches are my preference but I can't host them at my range (the layout is not conducive to it) so I run more typical PRS-type matches but with some pistol components and the occasional off-hand shot thrown in as I believe both those skills to be important. Other MDs do as they see fit.
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I only play in the Rimfire match world, but I find that as I improve my offhand unsupported skills, they apply directly to less stable supported positions with unbalanced rifles. If I can shoot accurately and confidently unsupported, it’s way easier to “wing it” fast and effectively through otherwise wobbly supported positions. Kind of like freehand carving vs a stencil, or a musician that is super comfortable in a jam session. Being comfortable means a solid mental game and gives more time for wind adjustments and fixing mistakes on the clock.
 
Alpheus said:
Just an addition to OP's question, I would suggest balancing your rifle without a bipod attached. If you arent going to need to use your bipod for a stage, I would suggest taking it off. I find it makes the rifle a little easier to handle, even if you arent shooting through small ports. Less likely to snag/bang on something etc. Most stages that require a bipod generally dont have any other positions, so balance doesnt matter so much, and even if you do, a little front heavy isnt a problem, as others have mentioned.
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This. I’m hoping my aftermarket heavy barrel will allow my rifle to balance without the bipod. I was also too cheap to buy external weights for my ACC in order to increase the load moment while limiting max weight.
 
emerson said:
I only play in the Rimfire match world, but I find that as I improve my offhand unsupported skills, they apply directly to less stable supported positions with unbalanced rifles. If I can shoot accurately and confidently unsupported, it’s way easier to “wing it” fast and effectively through otherwise wobbly supported positions. Kind of like freehand carving vs a stencil, or a musician that is super comfortable in a jam session. Being comfortable means a solid mental game and gives more time for wind adjustments and fixing mistakes on the clock.
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No argument there. Improving your unsupported shooting skills (or just becoming an overall better shooter) will improve your performance in match shooting, especially off less than stable props. When shooting unsupported, you're basically working on timing a good shot and that translates directly to shooting off less stable props. It's really just a question of how you allocate your training time and what you choose to emphasize. Ideally you'd have a mix of practice that involves more specificity (shooting off bags on props for PRS-type stuff) as well as general marksmanship skills (traditional unsupported shooting, carbine drills, pistols, etc). It also depends on how experienced you are: the less experienced you are, the more you'll generally improve by working on basic marksmanship skills, as you get more experienced you'll probably have identified particular deficiencies you need to work on.
 
emerson said:
I only play in the Rimfire match world, but I find that as I improve my offhand unsupported skills, they apply directly to less stable supported positions with unbalanced rifles. If I can shoot accurately and confidently unsupported, it’s way easier to “wing it” fast and effectively through otherwise wobbly supported positions. Kind of like freehand carving vs a stencil, or a musician that is super comfortable in a jam session. Being comfortable means a solid mental game and gives more time for wind adjustments and fixing mistakes on the clock.
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Yep....well said.

Jerry
 
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