Why don't you compete?

I'm seeing alot of poor excuses in this thread for not attending a competition or not joining a club.

I have seen a guy with a Tikka .204Ruger with a 3-9X loopy try, and then hit the 800 meter paper during our new shooter day. So don't let equipment be your poor excuse for not showing up.

Others argue that they would rather dump hundreds of dollars of ammo down range at home, yet the gas and $30 entry fee are too steep to warrent a competition?

The only way this sport is ever going to grow and rid itself of the negative attitudes of society, is for more people to get involved. We are a shrinking minority and its really only the rifle clubs that are doing anything to try and stop this.

As for the asshats and mall ninja's...I only see them on the internet. Competetive shooting is for people who are serious about the sport, and everyone I have met at the range is open and willing to get new people into the sport and share thier extensive knowledge.

I did not join the F-class circuit to win the competition, I joined so that I could learn how to become a better shot. Mabey you should do the same.
 
Bang

ryandpahl said:
I'm seeing alot of poor excuses in this thread for not attending a competition or not joining a club.

I have seen a guy with a Tikka .204Ruger with a 3-9X loopy try, and then hit the 800 meter paper during our new shooter day. So don't let equipment be your poor excuse for not showing up.

Others argue that they would rather dump hundreds of dollars of ammo down range at home, yet the gas and $30 entry fee are too steep to warrent a competition?

The only way this sport is ever going to grow and rid itself of the negative attitudes of society, is for more people to get involved. We are a shrinking minority and its really only the rifle clubs that are doing anything to try and stop this.

As for the asshats and mall ninja's...I only see them on the internet. Competetive shooting is for people who are serious about the sport, and everyone I have met at the range is open and willing to get new people into the sport and share thier extensive knowledge.

I did not join the F-class circuit to win the competition, I joined so that I could learn how to become a better shot. Mabey you should do the same.
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on brother.

For me competing in SR BR is all about shooting with people who have something in common and using the resources of the other shooters to help myself become a better shooter.

I can practice all I want at home or the local range. Unless you shoot under the gun of timers etc. and others the learning curve or mastering the sport takes longer.

I never listen to someones thoughts about shooting unless they have proven themselves in competition.
 
I've seen guys on here rant about only being able to shoot 15 or 20 shot strings at a match. Cost of shooting a match is too high, too far, no place to stay, blaa, blaa,blaa.
Like Ryan just said, there are a million reasons, or should i say,excuses...for not competing. Truth is that most of these guys shoot hundreds of rounds down some gravel pit range, then tell tall tales about killing gophers at 500 yards, and then there's the loony sized groups at 800...LOL.
Those that really want to learn something about long range shooting don't need to tell tall tales. They come out, spend time learning from the hundreds of years of combined knowledge that you can't get in your local gravel pit.
Most of the guys are more than willing to help out, the cost of matches are generally about 20.00 per day. And the round count is more than sufficient to learn a boat load about wind reading, loads etc etc etc...
You certainly don't need to be the most competetive person around,just willing to come out and meet a great group of guys and enjoy yourselves.
 
And if you're scared you won't make friends, pack a bottle (BIG) of Rum and a 12 pack of cola in your vehicle for after the shoot.

PS: Don't forget to bring the Red Solo Cups and ice as well.
You'll have more friends than you know what to do with.


Get enough in them and they may just spill the range secrets. LOL
 
Cyanide hit the nail on the head with his above post. It is AMAZING what you will learn and talk about over a few drinks after the shooting has stopped....... Oh and possible a slightly larger than life head the next day.

Costs, well we all know for a fact there are a TON of high priced so called tack drivers out there. So the excuse of not having a rifle goes out the window. If you do not have the right rifle for the competition, take some of those safe queens or those that just sit around because you like the looks of them and sell them. Then get the RIGHT rifle for the job, caliber etc. What I mean by this is we know in our game of SRBR that there are a LOT of full blown BR rifles floating around AB that never get shot to there full potential.

Buy a BRSC membership for 25.00, or 45.00 for 2 years and come out and shoot for a day. 30.00 per day or 60.00 for the weekend. I am pretty SR BR fees are by far cheaper than any F-Class fees.............. :^O Where else could one compete against the likes of say Tony Boyer, Gene Bukys, Jack Neary, Ron Hoehn and the list goes on and on. Top world class shooters who are in the Hall of Fame where you actually can go out and have a chance to beat them??????

I should ask though what do the fees run for most matches? I am not talking small fun club shoots but actual sanctioned matches?

Then pack your vehicle and travel around to some of the matches. I have to travel a minimum 10 hours one way to shoot at a match and do so 3 times a year. There is fuel and some hotel on top of it. I am lucky that I do not need a lot so I usually camp out at someones house or at the clubhouse at the range. Cooler of food and one is set. When I am at theses matches all I do is think about the sport and try to resolve issues I may be having.

Sometimes I think you either WANT TO be the best or you JUST WANT TO talk about how you and your rifle are the best.

JMO on competing. I may not shoot F-Class but this goes either way for the sports. My main reason for not shooting F-Class is I hate getting dirty laying in the dirt when I can sit at a bench and watch wind flags and pull the trigger. The other I have seen is the cost of match fees. For a few of the matches I have seen 1 match fee in F-Class would cover my match fees for more than a year.

JMO again.
 
You also get to meet some interesting people at the matches you won't if you stay at home.
Met some SEAL snipers at Connaught and probably my biggest highlight was having a few beers with John C. Brick at Base Borden one night when he was alive and still shooting. If you don't know him he was one of the dozen survivors of the Dieppe raid during WWII. I was all ears when he told me his story of the fight and capture by the Nazi's.
 
The cost for a TR, F Class match are generally high because we use paid target pullers during matches. Even on pratice days at my home club we try to hire target pullers. Long gone are the days of giving a kid $40 to pull targets for the day. We pay them $80 a day to work from 8am to 4pm. It is less than $10/hr but they get paid for their lunch break, so it works out to $11 and change for hours acually worked.

For a practice day at our range we also have to cover the cost of 2 beach sentries. Yep, they sit on the beach and stop people from entering the danger area and watch for boats moving through the danger area. They get paid the same as a target puller. For 2 target pullers and 2 beach sentries our fixed cost is $320/day.

That $320 is divided up between the # of shooters we have out for the day. More shooters=less money out of pocket per shooter.

Competitions like SRBR were there is no cost for butt markers or sentries can get away with $20 entry fees. Other types of competitions use competitor marking that reduces cost. With that, you are either shooting, scoring or pulling targets.

Myself, I go to the range to practice or to compete, not pull targets.
 
Funny thing, i think you can learn as much when your in the pits pulling targets then anywhere else on the range. The guys like to BS a little and tell some trade secrets as well.

In Alberta our long range matches are either 25.00 for a single day, or 40.00 for a two day match. Provincials are 60.00 for three days. Or if you are a AFRA member, you can get a shoot card for 100.00 and covers all 9 matches including the provincials. And a club membership is only 20.00. So i think the Alberta guys can stop crying about the costs of the matches, these are true costs!!!

As far as getting in the dirt to shoot, and getting all dirty. Most of the time you can shoot with a golf shirt and pink pinny shoes. That's what the shooting mat is for. LOL!!!
 
highmark said:
Funny thing, i think you can learn as much when your in the pits pulling targets then anywhere else on the range. The guys like to BS a little and tell some trade secrets as well.

In Alberta our long range matches are either 25.00 for a single day, or 40.00 for a two day match. Provincials are 60.00 for three days. Or if you are a AFRA member, you can get a shoot card for 100.00 and covers all 9 matches including the provincials. And a club membership is only 20.00. So i think the Alberta guys can stop crying about the costs of the matches, these are true costs!!!

As far as getting in the dirt to shoot, and getting all dirty. Most of the time you can shoot with a golf shirt and pink pinny shoes. That's what the shooting mat is for. LOL!!!
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Yup, If you left an F-class match dirty, that means you came dirty :) I like "belly benchrest" and will continue to shoot until it's impossible to continue.
 
For myself, the distance to drive to the only long rage facility (Connaught DND range in Ottawa is 1000yds+) is about 45mins from my house, so that's not an excuse.

What is however the reason I wouldn't participate in long range competitive shooting is the accessibility to the said range, or should I say, lack of thereof. I say this eventhough I fully understand that civilian shooters are only guest at the range, but to me the limited/restricted access to shooting time at a quality range such as that one isn't quite enough to even think about making it a competitive hobby.

From April to November:
- Wednesday evening from 1700hrs to lightout &
- Sunday morning from 0830hrs to 1200hrs or so.

So a total of 8hrs, give or take, IF you can make it on Wednesday evening right on time (work, family responsibilities, household duties, darn traffic making out there AT 1700hrs, hockey, golf, etc..) just isn’t enough time to put in for a hobby that requires a lot of practice to be competitive.

If the range would be accessible 5 evenings a week and open full time on the weekend, I’d be one happy camper. The cost of markers, RO and other on duties would probably drive up the membership cost, but I’d be willing to pay 2x what it is right now if I could have access to a range that’d actually be open.

Cheers
Ben
 
BenL, you can add Victoria Day Weekend and the July Long Range Match too. And if you shoot F Class there is also the Eastern F Class Championship. All these days add up and can be used as practice even if it is a match.
Not all practice has to happen at long range. A .22 at 100 yards will help you wind reading skills at 1000. Dry firing on the livingroom floor is also practice. 8 hours of range time/week and a 45 minute drive, most guys could only wish. Add 7 1/4 hours to that and you will understand how far I have to drive just to get to Connaught.
 
Come compete in with your rimfire. Its a CGN thing. free. all you gota do is print a target, shoot it, post it and try to win bragging rights.

in the rimfire section. check it out. we could use more attendance.
 
maynard said:
BenL, you can add Victoria Day Weekend and the July Long Range Match too. And if you shoot F Class there is also the Eastern F Class Championship. All these days add up and can be used as practice even if it is a match.
Not all practice has to happen at long range. A .22 at 100 yards will help you wind reading skills at 1000. Dry firing on the livingroom floor is also practice. 8 hours of range time/week and a 45 minute drive, most guys could only wish. Add 7 1/4 hours to that and you will understand how far I have to drive just to get to Connaught.
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You are right Maynard, it can add up, there's no doubt there. One does have to make sure that both those weekends can be dedicated to that however. Between other sports I practice, archery practice amongst one of them, work, home life, etc, those two long weekends typically are spents with family and freinds at the cottage. Not fishing for excuses, just putting things in the same bowl for a proper mix or so to speak.

You're also absolutely correct that shooting a .22 will help alot and is has help me alot from my younger age when learning how to shoot till still today. There has been many, many...many cases of .22 spent.

What is my biggest hickup with the access to the range and it's long range shooting facility is the set two half days a week its open. If say your son has hockey practices on Wednesday nights, you're down to half a day. If you have a family outing on Sunday morning, you've just lost a week's "time".

It's absolutely frustrating that we can't have a range open all week long to practice at when we can make it. Heck even just 5 days a week would be flat out amazing!! You head down south and the boys can play and plink away at steel or paper as much as they like. But hey, we do always seem to like things alot more complicated up here when it comes to firearms.

Cheers
Ben
 
Terry Perkins said:
BenL,
You could ask a country aquaintance (farmer) if you could shoot on his property, like his back 50. Then your shooting time could be regulated to your lifestyle.
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My uncle has over 400 acres on his farm (actually its been in the family for over 110 years) and its definately great to have access to it at a resonable driving distance, but the shooting distance is limited and its an important factor as we're talking about long range shooting after all. I can definately get pratice time in, but its just not the same as being able to shoot from a proper bench, at a proper range, etc (I am being picky I know!). At the farm all my shots are taken from a prone position (which is great, just sayin' that I don't have a permanent concrete bench and weather protection set up, etc).

Got to remember that here in the Qc, those who live in the cities have to obey to very strict firearms (and archery - can't even shoot my bow or xbox) on the city limits, which streches quite a ways out of what you'd think would be "out of the city".
 
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