Oh yeah- 100% I'm with you on that. But that rifle's a ways off in time (and-ouchy-pricey! lol), and I wonder if it's better to wait it out in Skills (yeah, probably it is) or if there's a factory or used custom piece worth spending time with.Originally Posted by msstate56
Per the PF Code of Conduct, I have a commercial interest in the StreakTM product as sold by Ammo, Inc.
If there was a match reasonably close, I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot skills category. I’ve paid way more than it was worth to shoot PRS matches in open division with no prize table at all.
Nevermind. I just looked up some of the open registrations. $150-$180 for skills div with no prize table, $275-$280 for regular entry? No thanks. That’s the same reason I quit PRS.
Further research- the “Hunter Games” matches are $40 for a 9-10 stage one day match, and the points count for the NRL Hunter series. I’m not seeing the price/value on a two day match for 4-7 times the cost.
Last edited by msstate56; 05-24-2024 at 10:23 PM.
One of the things I like about NRL Hunter matches over PRS is they let staff shoot on the day before the main match. It seems like the regional 2-day PRS matches don’t have an option for staff to shoot the match which is a bummer. USPSA does offer staff an option to shoot, and I work a lot of Level 2 and up matches every year. I’m signed up to shoot 7 major matches this year (3 NRL Hunter and 4 USPSA) and I’m working 6 of those as RO, CRO, or RM. And I’ll probably volunteer to work the PRS Finale since it is semi-local to me this year in Idaho.
I just got back from the Leupold Relentless Rifleman NRL Hunter match in central OR over the Memorial Day weekend. I shot on Friday with all the other RO’s and then worked one of the stages on Sat & Sun. There were 40 of us ROs that shot on Friday and the match fee was comp’d in return for working Sat/Sun. So if you’re looking for a way to economize, volunteering your time is a good way to do it. I’m signed up to RO (and shoot) another 2-day NRL Hunter match in Utah in early June.
As mentioned above, I shot the LRR NRL Hunter Match in central Oregon this past weekend. I also worked it as an RO on one of the stages. It was a great experience, and I’m still processing everything I learned. Working a stage was a great opportunity to watch 160 shooters of all skill levels come thru my stage. There were some really good shooters that made it look super easy, but at the same time I also got to coach a lot of Skills and newb shooters thru my stage, everything from helping them find the targets to re-finding the targets once they transitioned to their rifle, and even working through some gun malfunctions. Coaching was encouraged by the Match Directors, even for the non-Skills shooters if they were struggling to find targets. I think the MDs knew that their match was difficult to find targets, so they told staff to assist people that were struggling so they had a positive experience (and will come back next year).
This was the hardest NRL Hunter match I’ve shot. All the targets were reasonable size, especially from a windage standpoint, but I found them to be very difficult to find. And based on comments from many of the shooters, I wasn’t alone in this. Even the 24” white stage placards were hard to spot with a naked eye. Either they blended in with the surrounding vegetation/terrain or they were in the shadows. I will say that the good shooters were fun (and educational) to watch and most of them found their targets without too much difficulty in the first minute. This is clearly something I need to work on.
The weather was beautiful during the main match on Sat/Sun, sunny and in the 60-70’s with just enough wind to be sporty, and even the RO’s got to enjoy nice weather on Friday morning. But on Friday afternoon we caught 5 hrs of rain while we were shooting the second half of the stages which made things even more challenging. Oddly enough, my scores for the stages we shot in the afternoon in the rain were better than my morning stages when the weather was nice. Staff shot all 20 stages on Friday while the regular competitors had a much more relaxed schedule where they shot only 10 stages on Saturday and 10 stages on Sunday.
For this match all the stages were on a rim above a small canyon and we shot from the north aspect that had moderate to heavy juniper growth and most of the targets were across canyon on a south aspect with less vegetation. Being on a canyon rim, there was a lot of lava rock that we shot from or had to lay in for prone shooting. Quite a few stages were on a reverse slope, so if you tried to shoot prone your legs were uphill of your head. I shot prone whenever I could but ended up shooting off my tripod for a lot of stages. There were only a couple stages where I shot off my bag that was laid on top of a boulder or fence post, and on those I used my tripod for rear support.
Some of the targets were in the canyon bottom and were partially hidden by the juniper trees. Other targets were arrayed in a band of rim rock on the opposite slope, others were out in the open hillside with very little reference points to help mark the target. Targets were all animal shapes, ranging from 8-10” size rabbit silhouettes to life-size deer head targets, 14-16” pig shaped targets, and I think the largest target was a life-size turkey silhouette. There was even a moving target on a motorized track that was in constant motion (2-3 mph / 1.5 mil lead was my estimate). The closest target was 230-ish yards (small target) and the furthest was 925-ish (big target) and the majority were between 500-700 yds (medium size targets).
Speaking of rain, I was kind of prepared for the rain in that I had a waterproof pack cover for my rifle and a rain coat. But after 4-5 hrs of steady rain, everything was wet or at least damp. That burned me on my second to last stage when it was raining the hardest. My scope got soaked and the lens was completely wet, wet enough that I couldn’t see through it and I didn’t have anything dry enough to wipe it off with. I ended up zero-ing that stage. Prior to my last stage I used up the last of my toilet paper that I had in a plastic baggie in my pack, and fortunately the rain tapered off to a light drizzle by then, so I was able to finish my match with a 7 score on my last stage. But lesson learned, carry more dry microfiber towels in plastic bags, use lens caps, and get a better rain cover for my rifle.
Incidentally, the week prior I spent 5 days shooting/working the 2024 Area 1 Championship in Winnemucca NV and stayed on the road in my van. I went mtn biking in the Bend/Redmond area for a few days before driving over to Madras for the NRL Hunter match. Got home yesterday after a 14-day, 2 match road trip, with about 50 miles of single-track bike riding in between.
I even got to meet Mr. and Mrs. GJM at Area 1!
I shot a local 1-day Hunter Games match on Saturday. Out of 30 shooters about half were first-timers. I brought one of them and he had a blast. Pretty sure he’ll be back.
7 stages, target distances ranged from 150-ish out to 700 with a mix of target sizes from generous to sporty. IMO these 1-day Hunter Games matches are perfect for growing the sport and introducing guys that hunt to the competition world. If you think about the sheer number of hunters out there compared to competition shooters, it is definitely worthwhile to cater to the new shooter. There’s still plenty to challenge shooters, everything from the time pressure, to finding and accurately ranging the targets, to building stable shooting positions, then taking the shot with the right wind call.
7 stages with a max of 8 rnds per stage is 56 rnds total, so not a high barrier to entry even if you’re shooting factory ammo. And if you’re getting a lot of 1st rnd impacts you don’t even shoot that much. I shot 31 rnds at the match not including my sighters to check zero before the match.
All in all, this was a good match for me to feel better about myself after my lackluster performance in Central Oregon last weekend. Now to get ready for my next 2-day NRL Hunter match in Utah next weekend.
I am a little jealous of how much more active NRL appears to be out West, compared to the SouthEast, but in a good way.
A friend got to shoot last weekend's match up in Tennessee, and it seems like almost all the matches are some kind of a good time.
Per the PF Code of Conduct, I have a commercial interest in the StreakTM product as sold by Ammo, Inc.
I really want more of these to make their way to the SE. There has been a 2 day in LA and one in TN. But as mentioned earlier, I’m not interested in spending $275-300 on an entry fee. I’m not a pro, I don’t have any sponsors. I shoot competitively simply to test my skills and my equipment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not some sore loser, I’ve won several multi day and single day matches over the last few years. I just don’t want to drop $800 for a weekend match anymore.
That’s the way to game it! No rules on how heavy the tripod clamped to the rifle can be! 😁
I do nearly all my shooting from a tripod these days.
So instead of having a match story - I reaaally like these matches! - how about some math?
I'm looking at my PRS Tactical-oriented rifle, all 24" of chonky .308 and I wonder if I can get it to 15.9, or if that'll be an exercise in futility.
The chassis seems like the long pole in the tent and the easy win, I'm kicking around in mind if there can be enough "lightness added" to just have one rifle to swap back and forth from this PRS-style rig to a "NRL rig". Bottom line: Chassis - looks like my one big opportunity, and I can't imagine running a can and making weight.
As I add up the weights I am embarrassed to admit that I have no up-to-the-task scale, all that stuff's at work where I can't take the rifle. Is there a common brand/model in use? Bushnell II-i Elite Tactical (Ha! I think the same things when I hold my Mil-Spec Operator. I operate a keyboard.) DMR 3.5 - 21x, the Bushnell website says 37 ounces (but for a "G3" version of the scope- I don't know if the weights changed between whatever I have - I don't see "G" markings anywhere, and my dials are white instead of the green shown). Mount is a Spuhr SP4002C, coming in per manufacturer at 9 ounces, and an Atlas bipod with Area 419 knob, at 12.7 ounces. The chassis comes in at 6.1 pounds (97.6 ounces) per MDT, with the NV hood-combo there at .38lbs (6 ounces) + and Impact ProShop puts the rubber dampener pieces in at .5kg (17 ounces). Yay mixed units. Gun also has a 3-port Hellfire- 4.8 ounces.
The rifle right now comes in at 20 pounds (320 ounces). I've got to knock 4+ pounds (64 ounces) off on paper before this can be an actionable plan.
We're not doing anything to the barrel- goal of the exercise is to not affect the action, barrel, and trigger. I've mentioned to the smith who built my rifle that I'm beginning to believe that a scope with 10x - 15x wouldn't hurt me at all one bit at this level of match performance. What would be critical however, would be for very good glass that can handle weird weather, rough handling, and picking out steel from the woods. While I get that the ultimate move is probably some 130+ gr .25 Creed, I've only had maybe one or two stages where my error in calling the wind would have been made up for by a 6.5 or .25. The .308 barrel will last and last, and load development/match prep is in boxes at Academy.
I'm looking at the XLR Magnesium 4.0 with the CF buttstock & grip- 28 ounces. Even if there might be lighter chassis, I really have become spoiled by the long forearm of the heavy chassis, and also by the balance of the rifle. If there's one of the other, possibly lighter ways to set it up, but needed a short forearm, I'd at least probably want to put one some kind of Arca extension. Silly, but I prefer to avoid the aesthetic of a super long barrel hanging out in space. So current setup of chassis + weights + NV Hood = 120.6 ounces, with 28 ounce replacement, we've saved 92.6 ounces off the gun. That alone, really ought to be enough. But I have literally zero experience trying to do this, and I could be making some big errors.
If that math is on, and I can make that happen, then rest of this becomes navel gazing at ounces for sake of getting the rig as competition-aligned as possible. The first goal is just to get into a competitive division, then improve the setup
I don't want to be too confident that it's all just gonna be that easy, but I wouldn't have a problem swapping chassis out for NRL Hunter or PRS. I'm going chassis to chassis, and now that I've been through class, I'm comfortable moving optics to get more weight margin, but those are also going to be the most expensive ounces to buy. I see Leupold is advertised as a weight conscious option with something like the 4.5 - 18x at 27.5 ounces or the PMII 3-12x50 at 32 ounces. The Kahles 3-18 is 33 ounces, and it looks like that new 3-28 with its insano FOV would weigh the same as my current optic.
In the weight loss scheme, if there's a titanium brake out there for the A419 mount, then that could shave some inches. Being able to add some ounces for greater utility, I also like the MDT grip, and I've got it on my .22 RPR trainer. With the same position-location of the grip, cheekpiece, and recoil pad, I feel like I could retain a lot the handling and balance. particularly if they could be reallllly close to the shape-position-geometry .
While it seems like the most tuned up NRL Hunter guns are shooting off double- or trip-pull Ckye pods with tripod rear (and it looks awesome), I can be happy with the Atlas. If other bipods can offer similar performance as the Atlas, but weigh less, then that's interesting- but I don't want delicate. I've got two semi-broken GRND-Pods that are all my own fault. Could then maybe even chase getting might be the "lightweight" version of the Double-Pull on while making weight, but that feels like optic vs bipod weight tradeoff space, and again I have zeroooo experience.
In an effort to not only chat gear like a total nerd, Kit Badger has been putting up some great NRL Hunter content. I cannot overemphasize how much of a difference it makes in the sport to have Skills division, with all the uniqueness of its rules. And, considering how hard it is to get those high scores, I've personally seen leadership and ROs talking about how to make sure all the shooters got to have positive experiences. That kind of kindness really shines out.
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...ger+NRL+Hunter
Last edited by Bergeron; 06-03-2024 at 11:56 PM.
Per the PF Code of Conduct, I have a commercial interest in the StreakTM product as sold by Ammo, Inc.
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