2=day Palma match where I shot F-Class for the first time was more of an adventure than a shoot. Never saw so many SEB rests in one spot before. It's almost like a right of passage to shoot F-Class. Some nice eye-candy too, in the form or rifles. Jim Hart of Hart barrels was shooting and another shooter had a rifle that Jim just finished. Real wood stocks, but with laminated cores. The rifle the other shooter was shooting had a curly maple fore end and some dark figured, looked like burl, stock. Told the guy he could miss all day and still look good. He agreed. The rifle Jim was shooting had a similar stock only with a machined and polished aluminum plate that wrapped around the sides of the fore end. I never got a chance to look at it closely.
Weather was brutal on Sat. If we did not set records in the area that day, we got damn close. Temps in the 80's and killer humidity. I had jeans on and they were like the pants version of a straight jacket. Black cap, red shirt and jeans... I cooked. Shorts, white shirt and white had made today much more pleasant. Temps were better today, but humidity was up as it rained last night.
As for my performance, my goal was to not come in last. There were 39 shooters on the line. They were shooting Palma (iron sights/sling), Anyany ( any gun, any caliber, any sights) also shot with a glove and a sling. Then there were the F/TR (bipod .308 or .223) and F/O (rest and any caliber). I shot a borrowed 6mm BR in F/O.
Course of fire was unlimited sighters at 800 yds and then 15 rounds for score. 22 minutes. Then 2 sighters at 900 and 15 for score. Last was 2 sighters at 1000 and 15 for score. Second day was a repeat of the first.
My first relay on the first day at 800 was a major ego boost. I shot 149-10X. I was shooting off a friend's SEB Neo rest rather than my $75 Caldwell POS. I have to say that I think I was amazed as the guys I was shooting with. But humility was right around the corner. I shot a 120 at 900 and a 132 at 1000. Conditions were tough for those two yardages and I watch experienced shooters struggle. So, I did not feel too bad. Today, I decided to shoot off my Caldwell. I shot at 139 1X at 800, 140 at 900 and 132 1X at 1000. Conditions were a little better because we got a late start yesterday and the sun was higher and drove some serious mirage. So my aggregate was 812/900 -12X.
Did not meet a single shooter that I did not like. Great bunch of folks. Lots of gray hair. But no shortage of working age folks either. In spite of the weather trying to kill me and the other shooters, I had a good time. I have not shot any prone in years and my back ain't what it used to be.
So, I still need to decide if I need another shooting sport. The two guys I shoot with both have Autotricklers for loading. That's about $1000 in power measuring equipment. But if you are going to do this regularly, (Ian hinted at this when he suggested a Chargemaster), it's mandatory unless you have nothing else to do and are not bothered by boring, repetitive and tedious activities. Then there is the rest. The SEB is around $1800. SEB makes others that are a bit less. The joystick for fine adjustment does make life much easier. I might make a joystick top for my Caldwell. Shadetree makes one for it as well. The rifle... well, that's the real commitment. My partner Steve is trying to get me to build my own. I have to admit, it would be fun. But my concern is my experience and knowledge level on what is required is minimal. The machine work is not the challenge. It is what and how to machine it that resides in the brains of the experts like Jim Hart. We'll see. In the meantime, I have a few ideas for mods to Steves 6BR that might remove a few of the challenges I have to deal with while shooting.
Here's a couple of picks. Took these from the 1000 yd firing line. We were on the 1st and 2nd relays. The guys shooting were on the 3rd or 4th.
Here is the view from the 1000 yd firing line to the targets. You can see the giant numbers over every target but you can't see the targets, which are below them. There is berm between the numbers and the targets. There are 15 shooting points at Forbes.