Rimfire Benchrest Matches P2000

[JALLEN]

I did something I had never done before today, shoot a Rimfire Benchrest match. These are held normally on Sundays once a month at Project 2000 the range out on Willow Glen southeast of El Cajon.

It was a fun morning despite dreadful weather. We put up tarps and shot the match, getting unavoidably wet in the process. Today there were 8 or 9 shooters.

I have a 10/22 completely stock except the Volquartsen trigger group I put on 4 or 5 years ago, with an Accushot 4-16 scope, and no bench rest. Luckily, the fellow who put out the word had extra equipment, bench rest, etc. After establishing that the 10/22 is not the BEST at this, compared to the specially configured bolt actions jobs, one of the guys had me shoot an extra rifle, Remington 40X, with a 36 power scope...... much, much better!

I'm happy to report I didn't show up any of the much more experienced shooters. It would really ruin it if some noob showed up with a 10/22 and blew them away, but not to worry, I wasn't even close to doing so. This means there is plenty of improvement ahead, and that's the challenge.

[ocabj]

I think a few of the IF&G Rimfire BR shooters go to that match.

There's a monthly ARA rimfire BR match at IF&G, the 1st Sunday of every month and they usually get at least a dozen participants.

Rimfire BR is a sinkhole for money. While there is skill involved, the separation of performance between shooters is mainly due to equipment, and it ends up being an equipment race. You can spend thousands of dollars trying to find the right ammo and barrel combination. Then after than, you have to get an Accu-Rest or another custom built single-piece rest.

What they need to do with ARA BR is create different classes so people with factory commercial rifles can compete against the same types of rifles, mildly modified guns, and so-forth.

[JALLEN]

I think that is pretty close to the mark.

My score shot skyward on the last target using the bolt action, 36x scoped rifle with match grade ammo instead of the 10/22 with 16x and Wallyworld El Cheapo bulk pack ammo. This rifle was the guy's back up. They do have "sporter" class, two piece rests, no "tuners" (whatever those are), and I believe I won that class, even if by default.

Of course, I don't worry about being competitive. I shot Bullseye pistol matches for several years and never finished higher than third, and then only if there were only three of us that night. My shooting skills skyrocketed, though, and my scores went from abysmal to not bad, and were starting to be almost respectable. Every now and then I would shoot a really good target, whereas when I started I was happy to get holes in the paper more than not.

Some wise man observed that you go to war with the army you have, not the army you want..... this is something like that, I guess. I look forward to getting the most out of the gear I have, then we'll see about upgrades.