Starter F/TR Rifle?

[P3T3R]

Have been thinking about trying my hand at F/TR for a little while but at the moment with other projects on the go can't really afford a new set up and top end £2k scope. But it suddenly hit me the other day I have got a £150 Parker Hale TX1200 sitting in the cabinet that I haven't shot yet so it might be a pig but if it shoots ok I might try a season using this to see how I enjoy it.

 

Have been looking at the weaver T36 and Sightron fixed 36x scope, seem to be middle of the road magnification wise in f class terms anyway compared to a Nightforce competition or March. Would mirage be a problem without it being an adjustable power?

 

I don't expect to be running up there with the big boys using the juggernauts and top end kit but think that this set up should enable me to shoot and get a feel for it without dropping too many pound notes.

 

I can't really afford to spend more than £500 on a scope as there are some other bits I would like to get before I enter a match; f class type bipod, rear bag, bullet pointing system, neck turner, flash hole uniformer, primer pocket reamer, also don't know wether to go for a redding type s FL die or a body die and bushing neck die?

 

I will be weighing bullets and powder on a set of gempro 250 scales.

 

Any input and ideas from some more experienced f classers would be great.

 

Pete.

[The Gun Pimp]

Yup - shoot what you've got before you spend.

 

Dies - forget bushing dies just go for a Forster die set with the benchrest straight-line seater.

 

Start with NEW Lapua brass - preferably 'Palma' and use the 155 Lapua Scenar/Vit 140 powder to start with. Don't bother weighing bullets.

 

Look out for a secondhand Sightron 8-32 scope - for about £600. Honestly, you won't get anything decent for £500 new. If that's too much, buy one of Fox Firearms' 8-32 Chinese jobbies for £125 til you can afford the Sightron. Buy decent scope rings but stay away from the vertically-split Weaver.

 

The main bit - that no one ever mentions - is reading the wind! Unfortunately you can't buy that one.

[Laurie]

The T36 and Sightron 36X will work, but both are 42/44mm objective lens scopes with out and out target reticles. Divide 44 by 36 to get the 'exit pupil' size and it's a mere 1.22mm. Young people's pupils open up to 7mm in poor light, for old fogies like me it's ~5mm. Go down to a scope exit pupil of 1.2mm and the scope transmits plenty of light on a bright day, but much less than your eye needs / can use on a dark one.

 

Inevitably, the day will dawn on a match when you can hardly see the target through the scope and will also strain your eyes to see the fine reticle against the dark target centre because the ambient light is low. At the other extreme, bright sunshine, boiling heat, little wind and serious mirage on the range, 36 power can prove a severe problem. The variable scope owners are (mostly) turning their mag rings right down to reduce the mirage, but you're stuck with 36X. If you must use a fixed power scope, 24X models are actually better in F and FTR IMO, but they are difficult to sell on when you come to upgrade the scope.

[P3T3R]

Thanks for the advice chaps definitely given me some things to think about.

 

Pete.

[bewsh]

I just sold a Fultons of Bisley Mauser FTR rifle that blew me away with its accuracy on a relatively simple and painless reloading process

Only reason I sold it is to plough money into something else!! beginning to regret it!

 

I had a 20x44 Optimate on it which worked well enough for my purposes.