Is anyone here interested in Benchrest?

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bogie

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
9,566
Location
St. Louis, in the Don't Show Me state
Not just talking about plunking your Bambi-blaster down on sandbags on a picnic table, but about the high-tech end of the accuracy sport.

If you live near a range that holds sanctioned benchrest matches, we may be getting a few sessions together - stuff like loading for accuracy, wind doping, etc., etc... You may get a chance to converse with some of the big names in the sport, and probably get your arm twisted to fire a few shots out of one of the most accurate rifles you've ever shot...

Anyone interested?
 
welllll...
yes i'm interested, sort of.

last time i got bit by the br bug i went out and had a gun built off a 700 action and had it worked into a pretty good rig. spent a boatload of money on it and dies, spent hours working on my loading technique, case prep, and more hours learning how to read the wind, and getting the shot sequence into a rhythm. the rifle wasn't a world beater, but it was good.

anyway, i showed up to my first (and last) shoot and found that most folks looked down on me and my entry-grade gun. it ended up being no fun, really.

so, now i just shoot a lot more prairie dogs at a lot further ranges and have fun. in short, i might be willing to test the waters again, but i'm really not chomping at the bit to do it.
 
Dakotasin...

Man, I'd have had to go out and have some fun with those ppl... hehhee... I can appreciate how you must have felt though... but over the years, I've learned, it's not the tool... or the critics, but the guy pulling the strings (trigger)...

I would have asked what they were using... and what made it any better than what you have... then proceeded to go out and give them a run for their money...
 
anyway, i showed up to my first (and last) shoot and found that most folks looked down on me and my entry-grade gun. it ended up being no fun, really.
Click to expand...

That's Funny!! My Father-in-law 'smiths his own 700 actions into competition guns. He's shooting at the nationals in Maryland this weekend.

Let them keep laughing....
 
the IBS 600 yrd benchrest national championship was held at my home range, so i'm lucky I guess, but still not terribly interested in shooting BR. I'm focused on leg points for now and piddling with tactical rifle. once i leg out, i'll focus on multi-gun. when i get old/lazy, i'm planning on focusing on BR :) i figure that will be about 10 more years.

http://orsahp.com/recent_match_results.aspx
 
anyway, i showed up to my first (and last) shoot and found that most folks looked down on me and my entry-grade gun. it ended up being no fun, really.
Click to expand...

That was my experience with the local club here too. And my kids complained that men were pointing guns at them. Luckily the IDPA, 3 gun, and F-Class groups encouraged me to come and have fun with what I had, and showed a genuine interest in helping me improve. Explains why some shooting sports are growing, and some are dying.
 
skinewmexico, while i haven't shot a BR match yet, i had a very similar experience my first outing years ago at NRA 1000 yrd matches, where I showed up with a stock rem700 308.
 
West Texas... Would it be at the Midland range, by any chance?

FWIW, since benchrest matches tend to move relatively rapidly (counting handloading, etc), there is a -strict- rule that the bolts come out before you leave the shooting bench. After that, the rifles are basically considered dead safe. And there are cleaning tables everywhere.
 
The bolts may be out, but I've taught my children to never point a gun at anyone. And I don't care if the bolts are out, I don't like having a rifle pointed at me, and I'd hate to hunt with someone who spent so much time engraining bad weapons handling habits. On the plus side, BR guys don't ever seen to hunt. And I'll take the 5th on my home range.
 
That is how I got hooked. I got invited to an informal shoot. One group and I was hooked. I went out and bought a complete (used) set up and started shooting in matches. I've been inactive lately due to work and children. I can't wait to get back to shooting in sanctioned matches. The competition makes it fun. It's not fun when it doesn't count. Everybody that loves to compete knows what I mean. :)

Any body close who likes accurate rifles needs to go. It will be eye opening at least, and you may find a new love.

They can all be a little elitist
Click to expand...
This has not been my experience. They took me in and taught me all I needed to know to be competitive. Yes, we do think our rifles are the most accurate rifles in the world though. :neener:
 
My 2 cents

I stopped by the BR area at the Ben Avery range, there was one guy sitting out there, since it was a non-match day. He was super nice and gave off no elitist type attitude. He BS'd with me for a good 45 min and gave me a lot of info about the sport, his rig, etc...
That said, I have even less interest now than I did when I stopped and talked to the guy. You call them"Bambi-blaster down on sandbags on a picnic table"...I call them people concerned with practical accuracy. I'm not a guy who pulls out his deer rifle once a year the weekend before the season starts and fires 3 rounds at a paper plate at 50yards. I shoot a reasonable amount, probably once a week on average, but it's mostly with the goal of shooting well under field conditions. I enjoy having an above average level of proficiency whether shooting prarie dogs with my buddies, or shooting a deer at 400+ yards. That said, shooting a $5,000 rail gun where the only interface between me and the gun is touching the 5oz trigger doesn't appeal to me. There are plenty of shooting sports for each person's interests, and I can appreciate BR for what it is, it's just not for me.
 
I am interested but not quite the same way you folks are. I have a 50-90 sharps and like the heavy recoil the flame out the barrel and all the smoke. There is just no practicle location for me to shoot here though.
 
Too serious and expensive for me. Guy I shoot with occassionally is avid rf benchrest shooter. 14 to 18K for a custom rifle is way out of my league as if 1400 for a case of ammo. Glad a lot of people enjoy the sport and it amazes me to see 25 rounds in the 10. He is precision tuned in all he does. I'm too much of a generalist to enjoy getting into all the details.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top