Newbie PRL advice

[Adamdavi3s]

Hi all

Firstly; not interested in any political broccoli thank you, having a read seems like a lot has happened in the PR scene here and I just don’t care. 
 

I will hopefully be shooting some of the precision rifle league shoots in wales this year

1- it’s close enough to be doable

2- I don’t care about where I come, I care about improving my shooting and seeing my scores get better 

3- I just want to get out and shoot and have some fun 

So that cleared up, I’m mostly looking forward to improving my skills as a shooter, I’ve only really shot the minimum over the last 3 years due to Covid and children so I’m fully expecting to make a dogs dinner of it to start with, but I don’t care,  see point 3 above. 

I’ll be setting up a tank trap and other bits so I can practice with the rimfire and also dry with the 6.5cm (too noisy here)

I’ll be shooting with my Savage 12LRP which is excellent if a bit hefty, I’ll be adding a black rifle arca rail to the stock and maybe if I enjoy it I’ll put it in a chassis, but it’s a 1/2moa rifle right now so I don’t want to mess with it.

It also has some dark eagle 10rd mags which is great (thanks to March Scopes for helping me import them years ago) so I am not stuck with 3rds

On top sits an ares etr which should be fine 

for my sins I’ll be rolling my own 147, in Lapua brass over ram shot hunter as I have a load which is <5 SD at about 2660

I have a tier1 carbon bipod 180 with extensions

a barricade bag and rear wedge by practical precision, somewhere I also have one of their slings. 
 

I have a weather flow weather meter which does me just fine

Somewhere i have a belt with dump pouches etc from my airsoft days as well as trousers with kneepads 

 

LRF I only have a hawke 800 as I usually shoot known ranges, guessing I should get something better?

In terms of kit what else should I consider for now? 
 

 

Ps Moderation team, if this thread dissolves into politics please just close it. 

[JCalleja91]

From what I've found asking similar questions, the answer I get back is everyone is happy to let you borrow kit until you figure our what you want/need and can get it yourself.

 

[Adamdavi3s]

Awesome thank you, that’s a very helpful answer 👍👍👍

[JCalleja91]

If you have Facebook, join the PRS UK and GBPRA Facebook groups and you'll get some more specific advice.

I've only done a couple of practise days at the moment. Both times I borrowed different barricade bags, tripods etc and now have a rough list of what I want. Just got to get the money to buy it all now 😅

[Bangbangman]

Hope to see you at a Proshoot or Orion, then!

 

As suggested above, don't buy anything more at this stage. You can always borrow stuff and work out what's right for you as different shooters have different preferences.

 

You could spend a fortune on kit you don't use. 

 

In your kit list above I didn't see a brake or mod mentioned? Recoil management is a big part of PRS competition as you need to spot misses/trace to make corrections. Brake is definitely better (no heat/mirage, light, short, more effective, cheap, not "licensed", doesn't wear out for ages.)

A hefty rifle, as you describe it, is not a disadvantage (why we add weights and have chonky barrels), preferably one that balances forward of the mag well but without too much of that weight being near the muzzle. 

 

If you add a brake and it screws your groups, you could consider a different bullet if you are going to play with a new load. Nothing wrong with the 147ELD-M but there will be a bit less kick with a lighter, faster bullet (run the numbers in your ballistic app, Strelok, for eg.) and you might be surprised how little difference in drift there is between a fast-but-lower-BC bullet and a slower, more slippery heavy one. Definitely don't change unless you have to revisit load dev for other reasons, though. 
 

I was using 140s (Berger and ELD-M) in my 6.5Creedmoor but switched to 123Scenar when the opportunity arose (cheaper and, at the time, available.) 

 

I first shot PRS style comps with my 308Win deer rifle and 5rnd mags and had a laugh, learnt lots (not enough to worry the top of the tables though) and then bought kit later. Use what you've got and enjoy it.

 

See you on the firing point!

 

Ben B

[Adamdavi3s]

Thank you Ben that’s really helpful, hopefully see you at pro shoot 👍

I usually shoot with a pred8 moderator but meant to put a brake on that list. Everywhere I shoot requires mods these days but I do have somewhere I can try a brake out as understand how much better it would be in terms of recoil management.
The pred still has a fair bit of flip and a whole lot of mirage without the cover on it. 

I switched from the 140s to the 147s and I noticed an improvement without too much extra kick, to be honest it’s what I’ve got in stock and developed to load so the first match I’ll shoot with those and see how I do! 

[Bangbangman]

You'll be fine with the 147s. 
 

Don't forget about PR22: cheap practice for full bore. ProShoot and Monmouth are probably your closest venues.

[Adamdavi3s]

3 minutes ago, Bangbangman said:

You'll be fine with the 147s. 
 

Don't forget about PR22: cheap practice for full bore. ProShoot and Monmouth are probably your closest venues.

Yes did that ever happen? 

I saw something going on but it all seemed to be based at silverstone (possibly a different comp!) which was a bit of a trek, although I saw something at Budleigh Farm as well which is one of my local ranges 

 

my main problem is time, hoping I’ll make the comp shoots but I won’t have time for practice in between 🤣

[Scotch_egg]

I will echo the above. Run what you brung! 
 

Your rifle even with predator 8 will be just fine to get you going. 10 or 12 shot stages will heat it up but you should get through without too much mirage and it will have plenty of time to cool before the next stage. 
 

People will lend you kit to use if you don’t have it. You will see all sorts of huge bags. They will have got to them by trial and error. Don’t jump in just yet because next season there will be the next new thing. 
 

There will also be various tripods in use. That gets expensive. So I would also recommend waiting and seeing if you like it and then looking at the Chinese offerings RT90C is a well respected item. They need practice. I’ve seen many knocked over mid stage and folk battling against them over concentrating on the shooting. 
 

I thing it was Tom Rice. I may have made the name up, who turned up with a standard tikka t3 and used Kentucky windage. He beat the entire field and schooled everyone that knowing your rifle and just getting out and shooting beats gaming. 
 

Have fun. 

[Adamdavi3s]

Thanks! 

I do have a preasidia cover for my pred12 so it’ll overhang the barrel a bit but I could use that to help with mirage 

I use a red snapper tripod with a manfrotto  322 I’ve had it for donkeys years as I used to do a lot of photography.

Now I use it with my sub12   With an arca for bunny bashing

https://redsnapperuk.com/product/rsf-284m-alloy-4-section-tripod/

bur never under a time pressure so I’ll do a bit of practice with it! I’ll certainly do for season one 🙂 

 

Yeah getting out shooting seems to be the main thing, 10,000 hours and all that! 

[Ronin]

Not sure if any events are going to be at Powys this year 

 

I understand other venues may be in play though await announcements from GBPRA 

The PRS Uk team have provided interesting shoots at Proshoot and Scotland and then there is the Send It Series comps which  take place at arguably the best venue in the UK

 

All are welcoming to anyone 

 

Things have moved on a good deal in the last twelve months or so 

 

As others have said before buying loads of kit you may not use or need bring what you have 

Many will lend you kit to use 

Yiu will get by pretty well with decent mid sized bag a magazine fed rifle and scope you can spot and ajust for misses ,,,

Knowing your DOPE and having a reliable gun is probably the best thing you can have prepared 

wind meter and some kind of reliable solution platform also helps 

 

Good luck 

[pasky]

Adam, as others have said we are all a friendly bunch and happily share our kit. I like many others jumped straight into a match, and personally think its the best way to go. You learn a lot very quickly and can then go away on work on various things before the next match, I think the saying goes "you don't know what you don't know". Like Scotch Egg said, Tom Rice shot his first match back in August 2020 and won it with a factory tikka and minimal equipment.

If you are wanting to shoot in wales, then keep an eye on the PRS UK facebook page, they have just released booking to their first match in February at Pro-Shoot in South Wales. The GBPRA have traditionally hosted shoots at Orion in Mid Wales, but they haven't yet released their match calendar or locations for 2023. You've also got Gardners Guns who host matches just over the border in Scotland, and also Josh Martin of C2 Precision who will be hosting matches at Bisley from February onwards. So plenty to choose from...

Bullet wise, I have run the 147's in my Creedmoor for the last 2 barrels and they have performed well and certainly see no reason to change. You're welcome to get behind my rifle at a match and see how you like a muzzle break too.

Hopefully see you at a match.

[Adamdavi3s]

Thank you! 

All booked on the Feb match so looking forward to diving in head first and taking it from there!

 

thank you everyone for the very helpful and friendly advice! 

[pasky]

2 minutes ago, Adamdavi3s said:

Thank you! 

All booked on the Feb match so looking forward to diving in head first and taking it from there!

 

thank you everyone for the very helpful and friendly advice! 

Awesome stuff, see you there 👍