shooting matt

If the ground is wet, a waterproof mat can help you stay drier. If it is raining, a waterproof mat will be wet to lie on. Might be slippery, too.
No harm in using a mat for any prone deliberate shooting, Just gets in the way for position shooting.
Ziplock bags are your friends, for scorecards, notebook, etc.
You need something to keep your ammunition dry. Having a chamois handy is useful. Plastic tubes (pieces of vapour barrier, etc.) can be elastic banded to your scope to keep rain off the lenses.

In your other thread, you were asking about shooting jackets. Few competitors use them. Something with a bit of elbow protection is useful. Something to reduce the butt slipping on the shoulder is also not a bad idea. In SR, you often have to get into position and shoot quickly. Whatever you wear has to be comfortable, and not reduce freedom of movement.
A jacket could be used in sniper. Once again, some do, most don't.
I have experimented with an old 10X cloth coat. Very light, some padding. Usable, no benefit I could see for SR, probably no harm in sniper.
 
A quick and cheap way is to run down to Rona/home depot and get a length of carpet cut off the roll. I got one that is brown, wide enough for prone shooting, thick rubberized bottom and top a thin soft carpet. It might suck to shoot on in a t-shirt (chafe) but a long sleeve it's good to go. Cost me about 5 bucks I believe. Rolls up and fits nicely in trunk or truck bed.
 
A black shooting mat on a hot, sunny summer day doesn't work very well.

If you are shooting with a bipod, don't put the feet on the mat - less stable than worked into place on the ground.

A mat is just another piece of gear to hump around the range. Some are pretty bulky. Having said that, I often do use one for prone deliberate stages. If the mat is folding, rather than rolled, other stuff can be carried in it.
 
Snivel kit is great for practice, if you are miserable while you train it will not be enjoyable and you likely will get little out of it. There is something to be said though for training and equipping as you will fight (or compete). It is best to train with equipment and methods that will be compatible with your intended uses of your skills. Shooting jackets, mats, plastic rain shields on your scopes are great for the static, flat range but have little application in practical shooting which SR is supposed to replicate.

Not saying you shouldn't use the stuff if your competition rules allow it but at the highest levels of international SR comps (military ones and DCRA at least), in the worst weather you do not see guys dragging around much elaborate kit. Rain gear and combats is pretty much it. Precision rifle is a bit of a different story but I would see what other guys in your area/club actually bother with before sinking a bunch of money into gear. Its the little things like water-proofing your data-book or match cards and having (several) dry lens clothes handy that make the difference to me.
 
Paul at centerthegroup.com/ makes an excellent tri-fold mat here in Canada. It's a great piece of kit.

Only trouble with shooting on a mat in the rain is that is also makes a collection point at the pressure points, like your elbows and knees. You may not be covered in mud, but you will be wet (depending on your wet weather gear).
 
I kicked myself for not taking a shooting mat to Australia as the ground was covered in Kangaroo dung.

Not for use during shooting but for laying on between stages to soak up the sun.
 
For the Service Rifle game, a mat is really a PITA to haul around because in the ORA we are shooting the new CFSAC matches 1-4 (read: no time to set up a mat and then move to the next firing point / mound).

Now for Precision Rifle, that's another story. I like to use a combination rifle case and mat for my M70 Stealth like this one:

http://www.gunaccessories.com/Blackhawk/WeaponCases.asp

Mind you that BHI version is $ 175 give or take. Since I'm too goofy to deploy to the 'Stan, a ZXhinese knock off (Voodoo? NcStar? TacForce?) will do the job for around $ 100. Hey, I'm a mirror kommando and it's not worth spending lots of $$ on features I'll never use, like stalking. The only critters I stalk are earth pigs!

DSCN1458.jpg


As you can see, spending $ 100's of dollars is not justified. So Zhinese knockoff stuff will work the the hunting fields. :D

Buy what works for your game, budget, color scheme, and finally LCV (look cool value)... :)

Cheers,
Barney
 
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