new to compitition shooting

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garrett123

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hey im new to these forums and was wandering if i could get some advice on were to get connected with competition shooting. i was also hoping i could get peoples opinion on choosing the 308 for a beginner caliber. ive been trying to do some research on it and what ive come up with is its a pretty good round thats more affordable to shoot. if so does anybody recommend a certain make or model. thanks for the help.
 
What type of Compitition Shooting?

You mentioned 308, so can we assume NRA HP or F Class?

Need a bit more info on what you want to do.
 
see thats the thing i got no idea what classes there are or different devisions or leagues. ive done a lot of shooting growing up but now i want to do some kind of competition
 
I'll bet you Google these and find lots of info. Some possibilities are:

1000 yd Benchrest (1000 yds. Requries advanced handloading skills and very spendy equipment to be competitive. I did this for a while)

Highpower (200-600 yds. Not as spendy a 1K BR and no need to handload for a while. I did this for a couple of matches)

M-1 Garand Matches (200 yds. Cost can be reasonable. Not sure if you can handload for these matches or not.)

F Class. (I think it is shot at 600 yds. Equipment cost could be more than with Highpower. Handloading almost a must)

Little BR (100-200 yds. Requries advanced handloading skills and spendy equipment)

Centerfire Silhouette (Not to bad on equipment costs, handloading usually required, requires an incredible amount of skill)

Rimfire BR (50 yds. No handloading required but lots of ammo sorting. Equipment can be spendy. Guys who shoot this class seem to be angst junkies.)

Rimfire Silhouette (Not sure of range 100 yds maybe? Cost not to bad.)

I recommend you find some local competitions that are appealing, then go watch some matches and ask the participants question (of course, not while they are shooting. ;) )

I wanted to shoot Centerfire Silhouette in 2005, but 1000 yd BR fit my schedule better. So I showed up with my sub 1/2 moa varmint varmint rifle in 6mm Rem and finished last. I think I managed to shoot a 10" group that day. I also ruined the 6mm barrel. I then built a 6.5x284 on the same Rem 700 long action I had for the 6mm, got a proper barrel, got a proper scope (Nightforce 8-32x56 BR model), found an okay stock, bought a proper front rest, and for the next year I usually finished in the middle of the pack.

The fall of 2005 I had to deploy for four months to the Middle East and during that time I had a rifle built. I used a proper action, proper barrel, and proper stock. I also bought a high end chronograph. The rifle cost about $2800 to build, which is on the low side for a competitive rifle. It took a couple months after I got back Jan of 2006 but I finally found a good load and then did very well in competition.

While I was shooting 1K BR I scrounged together the stuff and shot a couple of Highpower matches. Because I had friends helping me out I got into this sport way cheaper than I should have. I only had around $600 into the rifle (1x8 twist AR-15 with 3000 rounds though the barrel) and it would shoot 1.75" groups at 200 yds. I was given a shooting mat, a shooting glove, a shooting jacket, and a spotting scope stand. I already had the spotting scope. I moved away from the area before I had a chance to develop any real skill in Highpower.

I posted all that so you could see how one guy stumbled into competition shooting and progressed. I haven't competed since I moved in 2007 but I sure learned a lot about shooting and handloading those couple of years.
 
hey thanks a lot for all the info, i really appreciate it. i was wandering what your thoughts on a Remington 700 were? ive heard there pretty good, are they something i would be interested in for competitive shooting? Is there anything that is like a standard or a common one to build up on?
 
The Rem 700 is good choice as a first action for a lot of these competitions where bolt actions are common and you are going to use a non-custom action. The Rem 700 is lightweight and stong, easy to accurize, and good quality components are readily avilable.

If I was shooting silhouette I'd use a Rem 700 short action because of the tight weight limits on Silhouette rifles. IIRC, David Tubb won a Silhoutte championship with a pretty much stock Rem 700 in 243 several years ago. The 700 would also work well in F Class, though if I were building an F Class rifle I'd use a pre 64 M-70 action or a custom action.

In 1000 yd BR you can do okay with a trued up 700 action. If you want to shoot Little BR with a 700 Action it really ought to be sleeved, and if you are going to pay for sleeving you might as well get a custom action.

In Highpower it is so much easier to use an AR-15, but guys have done well with bolt rifles. I'd again use a pre 64 M-70 or custom action if I were building a Highpower bolt gun.

BTW, my only significant experience is in 1K BR. I'll stand ground on my opinions in that game, but for all the rest I'll quickly defer to others with more experience.
 
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Afp has great advice. Best advice, if at this point you're agnostic, is to find local clubs and go from there. No point in taking up a particular discipline if there is nobody around to shoot it with. Find a club where you have people sharing techniques and equipment.

Check out these sites:

http://www.usrifleteams.com/ (registration required, highpower)
http://pronematch.com/ (smallbore)
http://www.accurateshooter.com/
http://targettalk.org/ (international 3p, 10m air rifle, smallbore)

I started with 10m air, then moved to Service Rifle because I found a local club.

I would also recommend the book "Ways of the Rifle"
 
hey thanks for all the advice, i will invest in that book for sure. and i got another question, i was looking at Winchester and saw that they are making, from what i understand, they are making brand new model 70s with most of the features people love of the pre 64 versions, is this true?
 
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