I headed toward benchrest shooting a few years ago. After I attended my first match, I reconsidered.
This is just my little opinion and no flames intended.
I went to an USBR smallbore match with a Remington 40X, and a brick of Eley Match EPS. Those guys seriously trounced me. It was the first time I had ever seen a $3000 machine rest. It was the first time I had ever seen windage and elevation adjusted with micrometer thimbles. And it was also the first time I had ever seen a trigger "pulled" with a camera shutter release. All the "shooter" had to do was line it up, and push the button. The only skill I saw involved reading the wind. I asked if there were any matches where stock rifles were used, shooting off sandbags, and facial expressions told me tha answer was no. Don't get me wrong, those guys/gals were great folks, but enough money can buy accuracy, and take most of the "shooting" out of it. At my age I do most of my shooting from a bench, but I'm not benchrest shooter"