Competition Shooting

[Shane R]

I don't care what style: Bullseye, 3-gun, Rimfire Sporter, Long Range, IDPA, Cowboy Action, Trap and Skeet, or even Turkey Shoots.

Share what you do, maybe how you got into it, and if you are any good.

 

[Servant68]

I shot in the BPCR (Black Powder Cased Rifles)silhouette and 1000yd matches in Phoenix for a few years while I lived in AZ. My dad was really into that for years and gave me one of his rifles.

It's a Uberti clone of a 1885 Winchester High Wall in .45-70 govt. All of the rounds I used n competition were handloaded. I usually used a 515gr cast lead bullet and 66grains of black powder.

My rifle had the vernier sights when I was competing, but have mounted a period correct 6x scope. I shot a couple of my dad's rifles that had scopes in competition and I preferred the scope.

I was OK. I won my class a few times and usually scored between 25 and 31 out of a possible 40.

It was fun, but since I moved up here, the nearest match is a couple of hours away and on the weekends, and I work Sundays.

 

[ChavaK]

I shoot a little of everything....speed steel, IDPA, USPSA, Bullseye.
I am strictly a handgun shooter, no rifles or shot guns for me.
I do well in Bullseye, our team took first place in the postal league last year
and I think we'll be first again this year. Otherwise I am usually in the middle of the
pack as far as results go. My first competitions were Bullseye, so I can't get
the need for accuracy out of my brain and I give up a lot of time because of that.
But the main thing to me is to go have fun, learn something, and not get DQ'd!

 

[Archie the Preacher]

My first competition was NRA 2700 or Bullseye shooting. I learned a lot, but was '... always a bridesmaid and never a bride'. Still, I did learn to watch my sights and a proper trigger squeeze; which serves me well still. I went into law enforcement and became a PPC shooter (the old sort with revolvers at 50 yards). Again, never a high winner, but it was fun.

Did some NRA High-power rifle competition. Good experience, except I would rather be on my feet.

Fell into a crowd who shot a pre-IPSC form of gun fighting with handguns. Learned how to shoot a double action revolver properly. Learned the value of 'any position' shooting, weak handed shooting, one handed 'everything' with either hand.

Worked at a little Metallic Silhouette shooting. Couldn't travel to the matches enough. Several years of Cowboy shooting but everything involved Sundays and I wasn't available.

Have a couple trophies on the mantle. Now I'm mostly a collector; but I still shoot every other Tuesday and Friday at my gun club in 'practical' type handgun matches.

I reload nearly all my own ammunition. Except for the rimfires, of course.

 

[ChavaK]

became a PPC shooter (the old sort with revolvers at 50 yards).

I forgot about PPC. Been awhile since I've done it, but it was fun. Most people now use semi-autos, although on occasion you
will see a revolver or two.

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

Every second Saturday we have a fun shoot at the club; .22 rifle bulls-eye.; we don't compete with each other, but there is a prize for "most improved" at the end of the year. It begins with a breakfast, and usually ends with a few beers.

We also have a competitive cross country .22 rifle shoot, with a walking course on our club property; I have never participated, but intend to this year.

We have no trap and skeet at this club, but I did shoot a lot of both at my former club, back int the '80s.

My club is in the process of upgrading our outdoor range to bring it into compliance, and expand it's use; adding a high horseshoe berm for combat pistol, and a heated shoot house to extend our season. It will hopefully be open mid to late summer... My wife got me an SKS for Christmas, and it really needs to be fired!

 

[GeorgeJ]

IHMSA handgun metallic silhouette shooting............love it!

 

[PRESIDIO]

I have not shot competitively in a few years however, I'm hoping to move soon closer to some clubs. I never IPSC qualified but shooting Expert SSP in IDPA

 

[ThatRobGuy]

I was in a pistol shooting league for about a year and a half at a local range, it was a lot of fun, but you come to some realizations when you do something like that.

1) You're not as good as you thought you were (I definitely became humbled lol)
2) There are some people who are phenomenal and will make you envious and will cause you to become rattled if they go before your and you realize what you're trying to compete with
3) It shatters the myth that all LEOs are experts with side arms (with all due respect, there were 3 police officers in my league, 1 was decent, the other 2 were always near the bottom of the pack)
4) You realize just how expensive of a hobby it is lol (I was going through about $100/week in ammo)

Granted, what I was in wasn't an official sanctioned league, it was just a Monday night recreational league, but there were still some top notch shooters there. It was a 3-pistol league (rimfire, centerfire, 45)...however, most people there just used their 45 for both the centerfire and 45 portions.

 

[Shane R]

I shot in the BPCR (Black Powder Cased Rifles)silhouette and 1000yd matches in Phoenix for a few years while I lived in AZ. My dad was really into that for years and gave me one of his rifles.

It's a Uberti clone of a 1885 Winchester High Wall in .45-70 govt. All of the rounds I used n competition were handloaded. I usually used a 515gr cast lead bullet and 66grains of black powder.

My rifle had the vernier sights when I was competing, but have mounted a period correct 6x scope. I shot a couple of my dad's rifles that had scopes in competition and I preferred the scope.

I was OK. I won my class a few times and usually scored between 25 and 31 out of a possible 40.

It was fun, but since I moved up here, the nearest match is a couple of hours away and on the weekends, and I work Sundays.

That is an interesting competition format that I had not encountered before. 1,000 yards is a long shot for modern rifles and certainly a challenge with black powder. I am quite familiar with the .45-70 round (I have a lever-action carbine chambered for it). Your load used a very heavy bullet; the original gov't load was 405gr. What was the rate of drop with the extra weight?

 

[Archie the Preacher]

That is an interesting competition format that I had not encountered before. 1,000 yards is a long shot for modern rifles and certainly a challenge with black powder. I am quite familiar with the .45-70 round (I have a lever-action carbine chambered for it). Your load used a very heavy bullet; the original gov't load was 405gr. What was the rate of drop with the extra weight?

I've never shot black powder cartridge, either. (Other than close up cowboy type stuff.) It looks like fun; but I just never got around to investing in another expensive rifle and then finding a range or match within driving distance of where I lived at the time.

Bullet weight I know about. I reload extensively and study both internal and external ballistics. All bullets drop. Heavier bullets are less affected by cross winds ('less' being a relative term; wind affects everything) and the bullet 'drops' at a constant and predictable rate. And here's the kicker. A heavier bullet - all other factors being equal - has a longer trajectory than a lighter bullet. All the rounds made specifically for machine guns until the Second World War had heavier bullets than infantry rifle bullets for that reason. For instance, the U. S. infantry rifle round (M2 ball round) for the Springfield .30-06 had a bullet of roughly 150 grains. The U. S. .30-06 round (specifically) for machine guns had a bullet of 174 grains. Similar ammunition existed in many other armies.

The 500 grain loads in the .45-70 does drop quite a bit. But it goes a lot farther and drifts less than a .30-30 round.

 

[Servant68]

I used my .45-70 for the silhouette matches which are up to 500m in distance.


For the 1000yd match, I borrowed one of my dad's Sharps rifles in .45-90. I have no idea what loads he used as I just was the trigger puller.


I have no idea what bullet drop was; at least 50'+... I recall a .308 drops around 32' so a .45-90 would be substantially more with a trajectory path that resembles a mortar round more than a rifle round...

 

[Archie the Preacher]

For the 1000yd match, I borrowed one of my dad's Sharps rifles in .45-90. I have no idea what loads he used as I just was the trigger puller.

From what I can find in Cartridges of the World and such, the .45-90 Sharps typically shot a 405 grain cast lead bullet at about 1300 feet per second. That velocity was close to the limit with black powder as a propellent.

Yes. I'm guessing, actually. But to go on anyway...

I have no idea what bullet drop was; at least 50'+... I recall a .308 drops around 32' so a .45-90 would be substantially more with a trajectory path that resembles a mortar round more than a rifle round...

Yeah... The load I outlined, when run through a ballistics calculator (JBMballistics.com) shows with the rifle sighted in at 1000 yards, the high point in the trajectory is roughly 58 FEET at 600 yards. That's close to a mortar round.

 

[sylverpiano]

I don't shoot in formal competitions. I have been known to take a wager or two while shooting in the company of others. ;o)

That being said, my best time for an "El Presidente" drill is just under six seconds.

Tim Boettcher's world record 3.01 seconds:

 

[Shane R]

That's my claim to fame: shooter on the 3rd place pistol team at Atlantic Fleet Matches in 2013 (I do take a little pride in posting the one 'X' in our team score). I don't have the trophy anymore. The last time we completed a military move, 1/4 of our household was shipped to Africa and that was in the lost items.

 

[Servant68]

One of my plaques/trophies..

 

[Servant68]

What the 1000yd targets look like...

To put things in perspective, those targets are 5' x 5'...

During competition, shooters are divided into two groups. One group is on the line shooting, and the other group is sitting below the targets in a concrete bunker lowering, raising, and scoring the targets.

It's a bit disconcerting to be sitting there with rounds going over your head. Occasionally a bullet will hit the metal target frame and spray bits of lead on you. It's not a competition for the faint of heart...

The rifle I used:

 

[ChavaK]

Off to an IDPA match this morning, and looks like the weather is going to hold out.
Just found out about a Glock indoor match which I have never done before. Starts
in a couple of weeks so I'm going to check it out.

 

[Shane R]

What the 1000yd targets look like...

To put things in perspective, those targets are 5' x 5'...

During competition, shooters are divided into two groups. One group is on the line shooting, and the other group is sitting below the targets in a concrete bunker lowering, raising, and scoring the targets.

It's a bit disconcerting to be sitting there with rounds going over your head. Occasionally a bullet will hit the metal target frame and spray bits of lead on you. It's not a competition for the faint of heart...

I have worked the 1000 yard pit at Camp Perry. There were no bathroom breaks permitted during live fire. The year I worked (sometime in the late 90's) the USAF team had a major snafu and a shooter forgot to adjust for elevation. He was shooting the sand bags under the target frame rather than anything on the target itself. Needless to say, that team got laughed at pretty hard that year and no trophies went home with them.

The Navy team used the 600 yard prone scores to make cuts and get the top 4 shooters for the 1000 yard match.

 

[ChavaK]

Went to the Glock indoor match, it was okay but not as much fun as the outdoors one. But a nice alternative during bad weather.
It's mostly about accuracy, timed shots with target distances from 25 feet to 75 feet.
Maximum score is 500, so I was happy with my 488. Have to see if I can do better next time though!