PiercedMrsP

Hi guys, this is my very first post on here so be gentle with me ? I've been thinking for a while about whether to get my own FAC and join in the fun hubby seems to have with his rifle and last week took the plunge and signed up for probationary membership at Bisley. Hurrah! I've decided FTR is the discipline for me and spent a lot of time recently doing research (while getting thoroughly sunburnt watching the CSR matches at Bisley lol). Anyway, my plan is to start off focusing on 300-600yrd distances and work my way up to 1000, and I would like to compete eventually too. Below is my "kit list" so far and I would greatly appreciate any comments / advice / constructive criticism: Rifle & scope: I'm looking at the Savage model 12 ftr 308 and a Vortex golden eagle. While I'd love to go for a custom gun straight off I don't know enough yet to be confident in putting a spec together and I don't really have the money either. The Savage seems like a good compromise between being pretty good "off the shelf", customisable in the future and ultimately saleable if/when I do go down the custom route. Vortex would be my first choice for a scope anyway, I've read lots of good things about the golden eagle and having gotten my hands on one yesterday for a look through I really like it. Scope mounts/rail I have yet to decide on so any advice there would be appreciated. Hubby swears by his Warne mounts but he is in to CSR rather than FTR so maybe the same rules,especially don't apply (and he has a whopping great Razor Gen II). Loads: although I don't have my own FAC yet I'm not a stranger to hand loading. I am Chief Deprimer-er and Weigher of Powder for hubby's loads and because I'm ridiculously curious about most things I pepper him with questions every loading session so I'm reasonably confident with the process, although working out bullet seating I'm still a bit unsure on. Research suggests the Berger 155.5gr bullets are the best, although I'd be interested to hear anything on the 155gr Sierra TMK, and our loading manual suggests Vit N540 as a good velocity producing powder in the absence of Varget. That said I have seen people recommending a whole variety of powders, including other Vit grades, so this I am less sure on. Is it just trial and error? We always have N150 floating around the house but that's way down the list in the loading manual for this bullet weight. Bipod: the two that jump out at me as being available/affordable/good to use are the flexpod and dolphin's carbon fibre one. I know the joypod is "the" thing to have but I'm not sure I like the joystick idea. This is all complicated enough without adding something else to fiddle with! I haven't looked at butt bags yet so any recommendations there (bag and filling) would be really appreciated. So, apologies for what is possibly the world's longest first post but I'm one of these people who likes to research the hell out of things in advance and have a clear plan right from the start. I'm certain there are things I haven't even thought of and I'm hoping those of you with lots of wisdom will help and share with a newcomer. Thanks in advance!

Thank you again guys, absolutely loads of great advice which is very much appreciated. Plenty of things for me to think about! I am convinced and definitely going to speak to Dolphin. I figure its worth asking and at least then I'll know for certain if they're out of my price range or not. Hubby is In full on enabling mode too - he has a really rather expensive rifle built and modified to his spec so he sees no reason why I shouldn't too. I didn't realise there were classifieds on here (doh!) but will certainly take a look there too. Thanks again everyone, and I'll keep you posted on how I get on

Thanks guys, advice is much appreciated. As it happens we're planning on heading up to Bisley to watch some of the imperial meeting matches later this month so hopefully a good opportunity to ask questions and have a look at what setups people are using. I must confess I am torn really between the Savage and talking to Dolphin about what they could do, although I know deep down I probably can't afford it. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to at least ask... Admittedly the vortex scope is a little heavier than the March and Nightforce ones (about 100g I think) but it's also about £800 cheaper and I worked out that putting it on the Savage I should still have plenty of spare weight for bipod, decent mounts, etc.Believe me, I would love to be able to spend thousands on a properly top notch setup but sadly the day job just doesn't pay enough and I think the bank would like me to keep paying my mortgage lol I do have one other thing I meant to ask about - safes. We currently have 2 (hubby's rifles and a shared shotgun one) and I will have to install a third but neither of the ones we have will take a 30" barrel. Any recommendations for extra tall ones?