I don’t shoot just LRML. I have also shot a good bit of three position, I find the emphasis on finding your NPOA quickly, and then trusting your NPOA, to be very valuable in any shooting discipline. It is also a lot of fun.
Recently one of our friends, Jeannie, starting competing seriously and started prodding me to move from just shooting three position, to actually competing. So, for the past several months, I have been training to shoot at Camp Perry, in the Rimfire Sporter National Championships.
I planned to shoot two classes; O class for open sights using my CZ 452, and T class for telescopic sights using my wife’s Ruger 10-22. Both rifles are factory stock with no fancy trigger parts or target barrels, no special stocks, or modifications. The 10-22 has been refinished after 20k plus rounds and being fired by dozens of students as a loaner rifle. It had little wood finish remaining, and most of the bluing and black paint had worn off the rifle, so the metal parts were sent to a friend who Cerakoted the metal in satin black, while I stripped and re-oiled the wood. It’s about the best looking 10-22 out there now.
CZ 452 and Ruger 10-22
The Ruger has an inexpensive Vortex Crossfire II scope in the shortest rings available, mounted on a modified scope rail to move the scope out where it should be. The CZ has factory stock sights, simply adjusted to give me accurate settings for the required 25 yd and 50 yd distances, using a 6 o’clock hold on the bullseye. Using CCI Standard velocity ammunition, both rifles proved capable of 1 MOA groups from a sling, when I do my part. Good enough for the girls I run with.
I had chosen to be placed in the first two relays of the day, shooting both my matches back to back. I did not think the exertion of shooting twice in a row would be a problem, and it was not. I dry fired the night before and the morning of the match in our hotel room, just to get the “first shot willies” out of my system. It proved a good plan, as my first sighter shots the morning of the match were perfect.
I chose to shoot the T class first. I wanted to have the benefit of the scope early in morning in case my eyes were not fully adjusted to the light, and I wanted to be in the zone when it came time to shoot iron sights. Having shot with a scope first, when it came time to shoot irons, I was limber and had no problems finding a solid position when I needed a perfect form.
Arriving at the range that morning was exciting. The firing line was very long, 130 firing positions, and people were already there getting targets and preparing to start. We drew my targets as soon as we arrived and began placing my competitor stickers on the targets, organizing the stack for proper placement on the target board. I had everything in my shooting bag prepped and ready before we left home. I did not even have to go through my checklist. “Everything I need, nothing I will not use.”
Preparing my targets
When the time came, everyone started posting their targets.
Posting targets for the first relay.
One very long firing line!
When the first relay started, I shot my sighters and found I was 1 minute high and 1/2 minute right. That was not a surprise, as I have seen that I shoot a minute high when shooting down and a minute low when shooting up. I was 1/2 minute right because the sun was to my right while my other shooting is done with the sun to my left. I accepted that reasoning and made the sight adjustments. It proved accurate, as I shot a 100 8x in slow fire prone. Now there is a lesson here, check your targets against the scorer’s record before your card is turned in. My target is clearly a 100 8x but my recorded score is a 97 8x.
Slow prone T class target. Does that look like a 97 8x to you?
The next stage, rapid prone got off to a great start. The first set of five rounds (the rapid stage is fired as two five round groups moving from standing to prone.) were all tens. The second start was miscalled and many competitors did not get the start command, loosing several seconds to transition to prone and begin firing. You only get 25 seconds, so losing 5 seconds matters a lot. Luckily the CMP realized the mistake and let us reshoot the target with the full alloted time and I shot 5 more 10s with 3 Xs. Another perfect score.
Discount the five wide shots, those were re-fired after the error calling the line.
The rest of the relay went very well. I finished with a total score of 579 19x. Good enough for 29th place out of 209 competitors. I will recheck my targets and see if any other scores were mis recorded. Next year, I will fully score my own target before I sign the score card.
The next relay, O class, started immediately after with just enough time given for competitors to move equipment and drink some water. Luckily, I had requested the same firing point for both relays, so I did not have to move, just switch out my rifles.
My sighters went well, some small adjustment was needed for windage due to light, but I handled that with hold over as moving the windage on the CZ requires screwdrivers and patience. It proved to not be a problem, as my prone slow fire and rapid fire scores were very good; 98 3x for slow and 96 3x for rapid fire. I was not going to complain about those scores.
Rapid Fire prone with a bolt action and iron sights.
My seated stage was another problem completely. Just about a third of the way through my slow fire stage, I repositioned my right elbow and let out a breath, my glasses immediately fogged over. With the high temp and high humidity, waiting for them to clear was trying my patience. I did finish the stage, but not with a clear sight picture. Between the slow and rapid stages, I removed my glasses and cleaned them well, wiping the sweat off my face in hopes of removing any localized humidity that may have caused the problem. In rapid prone, it happened again during the first string. By the second string it was so bad I had no real sight picture. I finished rapid seated more or less, by holding on the target and “firing for effect.” My scores showed it with a 88 1x and a 84 1x.
The next stage was standing. We were off the ground, in the breeze, and my head position on the stock was different. The glasses did not fog up again and my scores rose back to what I expected; 97 5x for standing slow fire, and 94 1x for standing rapid fire.
I ended the O class match with a final score of 557 14x, good enough for 13th place out of 61 competitors.
My wife and I had a whale of a good time. The competition experience was outstanding, my shooting was good, and we got to spend time with our friends supporting Jeannie’s endeavors. I plan to return next year with the intent to do far better and improve my competitive ability even more.
Coach Huff, Jeannie, Me, and Shannon.
All competition is good training, regardless of which discipline it is. Sights are sights, trigger control is trigger control, and shooting a different rifle forces you to get out of your comfort zone. I find it stops me from becoming lazy and doing the same bad things over and over. I believe Rimfire Sporter, with it’s need for perfect hold and trigger control, to be very good for improving my shooting of any rifle. It helps a lot that it is equipment light, easy, and fun.
Rimfire Sporter is about the cheapest way to get into competition, allowing no match rifles, no shooting clothing, limited magnification for scopes, and a strict weight limit. If you own a 22 rimfire, it is probably competition ready as it sits. While many will say it’s little guns for little kids, they have not tried it. In 18 years, only one prefect score has ever been fired. Competing at 50 yards with a rimfire rifle, you will have no wind, reloaded ammo, or other equipment to blame your poor scores on.
It is bare bones competition, it is simple, and it is harder than you think.
For more information on Rimfire Sporter, see the CMP website at http://thecmp.org/competitions/club-sanctioned-events/rimfire-sporter/
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