OzFclass

Gday,

This is just an enquiry, I am looking to get into target rifle shooting and would just like some info or point of contact in regards to beginner info.

I would like to know a few of the fundamentals as far as equipment recommendations.

Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Jarrod

Welcome Jarrod.

The best way to work out what equipment you need is to try some of the options out on the range. The best range to head to depends on which state you are in, where in that state and, and if you already have a shooting licence.

Here are 3 links to the main peak bodies that oversee the various clubs

https://nraa.com.au/
https://shootingaustralia.org/
https://www.ssaa.org.au/

If you could provide details about your location and licence status I'm sure people from nearby will chime in with suggestions about what you need to do to get going

Thanks tachyon,

I’m in Ballarat, Vic and have a cat A&B license.

I’ve been told that little river is probably the best and closest range to me.
I have checked their details and the services they provide. I plan to take a trip there and observe and ask questions.

I just want to know a bit more about it before I go and what seems to be the most common caliber, manufacturers, equipment etc.

Smallbore uses 22LR. Fullbore most commonly uses 308 but you can shoot 223 in many of the matches. F-Open allows you to use pretty much anything but is dominated by 7mm magnums.

Sights can be highly specialized open sights or telescopic depending on the class. Most shooting is done from prone although shooting from benches also happens.

The open-sighted shooting is mostly with a shooting jacket and a sling. The telescopic sighted shooting is usually with a front rest and rear bag. The front rest may be a bipod or benchrest style rest.

Most target rifles are single-shot with heavy long (ie 30") barrels - not the sort of thing you commonly find in a gun shop. Mostly they are custom built. That said, I started shooting with a Howa 1500 .308 with a 24" barrel dropped into an aluminum chassis and that worked ok out to 1000 yards.

While precision clones of the Remington 700 action are reasonably common the Barnard Action from NZ would probably be the single most common action people build on.

Most fullbore shooters reload because hand-made ammo is more consistent than factory ammunition and can be loaded with very high BC bullets that drift less in the wind. Reloaded ammo is also a bit cheaper than factory depending on how you value your time.

Here's a picture of a 308 rifle I use to shoot F/TR with a front bipod and rear bag out in the back paddock while I was doing some load development.

Thanks heaps on all that info,
That will be a massive help. At this stage I am not looking at anything past 1000y at least until I know whether it is something I’m going to enjoy. That’s why I am kind of at two minds on whether I get a heavy .223 or a heavy .308 incase I happen to not enjoy it, that way I can still use it for hunting somewhat. I have been looking at the precision howa models that they fit into a MDT or similar chassis.

As for scopes I know more expensive it better but after recommendations on a few good scopes under 1000 if I can.

Another reason I want to hopefully get into it is for the reloading. That kind of stuff interest the hell out of me and I’d probably enjoy that the most haha.

PS, that’s a nice setup your running!
What is it if you don’t mind me asking?

Jrod,
If you are going to try out Little River it is inly a short trip from there to Geelong Rifle Club’s range at Anakie East. Electronic targets out to 900 metres and a pretty good club as well. Check out their website. It is my home range.
Cheers
Peter

Jrod wrote:PS, that’s a nice setup your running!
What is it if you don’t mind me asking?

The scope is a Vortex Golden Eagle 10-60x52
The action is a Barnard
The barrel is a 30" Kreiger heavy varmint profile
The stock is a Dolphin https://www.hoptontrading.com.au/dolphin-stocks
The bipod is also Dolphin (see Hopton above)
The mat is also from Paul at Hopton
The bag is a Lenzi one but Seb bags are cheaper and better

MDT may have fixed it but when I dropped a Howa 1500 barreled action into and MDT ACC 3 years ago there were 2 problems:

1) The ACIS magazine did not seat fully as the front lips hit the bottom of the feed ramp. I milled an 0.080" deep pocket to make it seat although a modification to the magazine catch might well have been a better idea. Taking 0.080" off the first 0.200" of the mag would probably have worked too (that's not the bit that's holding the cartridge and controlling feeding)

2) Using the longer short action ACIS mags 2.96" from memory (rather than 2.9"), you have to modify the Howa feed ramp to utilise the extra length (if you want to mag feed but note we generally have to single feed under target rifle rules).

Long story short - you might be better to get a pre-made package and then a Gun Bloke light trigger spring kit and a Harris bipod.

Before you buy anything specific I'd really encourage you to get in contact with people at a near enough range, then get out and shoot a few different rifles. Most of us load and bring enough ammo for that day, but will generally load some extras for people coming along to have a go.

Rifle shooting is roughly 50% wind reading and shooting fundamentals, 25% precision reloading, and 25% gear so don't feel like you need the best of everything to be competitive.

My current rifle will shoot 0.25" at 100 yards for 5 shot groups all day long, but my Howa would should 0.75" with good loads. At 1000 yards that is 2.5" vs 7.5" so there is a difference but... here is the thing...

At 1000 yards a 1 mph error in wind call for a 200 grain 308 Berger 200.20x at 2620fps = 7.2 inches in error

Also at 1000 yards, ammunition that has an extreme spread of 50 fps will have 15 inches of vertical, compared to handloads with an extreme spread of 20 fps where that will be 6 inches.

In other words, unless you can call the wind and reload well it does not matter how good your gear is. I will outshoot you with a Howa where my whole rifle costs less than your barrel/action/stock...

You can make seriously good handloads with very inexpensive equipment and attention to detail. The wind, well that just takes time behind the gun...

It's surprisingly difficult to be a consistently good shot. For me I look at is as high-speed golf where we make our own holes!

Jrod wrote:Thanks heaps on all that info,
That will be a massive help. At this stage I am not looking at anything past 1000y at least until I know whether it is something I’m going to enjoy. That’s why I am kind of at two minds on whether I get a heavy .223 or a heavy .308 incase I happen to not enjoy it, that way I can still use it for hunting somewhat. I have been looking at the precision howa models that they fit into a MDT or similar chassis.

As for scopes I know more expensive it better but after recommendations on a few good scopes under 1000 if I can.

Another reason I want to hopefully get into it is for the reloading. That kind of stuff interest the hell out of me and I’d probably enjoy that the most haha.

It sounds like you are pretty much exactly where I was when I started.

For 1000 yards a 308 is a better choice than a 223. The recoil on a 308 is tolerable for most people and a bit of padding (as in jumper or jacket or soft recoil pad (or all) means it is not punishing.

NB: The recoil pad on the MDT ACC is made out of tyre rubber, not sponge rubber. In short, it is shit - it should be way softer.

If I was starting all over again I would not put a $849 stainless 308 24" Howa barrelled action into a $1099 MDT ACC chassis. I would just get something like this: https://www.cleaverfirearms.com/Product ... &Brand=113 for $869. That would be a great place to start, at half the price, and it would be hard to make the recoil pad more firm than MDT!



To add to that I would want a bipod and a Harris is fine.

Now we are a rear bag, rings, scope and ammo short of shooting.

The second scope I got was a 2nd Hand Vortex Golden Eagle - moved from the Howa to a later rifle (the one in the previous picture). It was second hand and I bought it for $1900 and sold it for $1800. New they are $2450 or so, second hand $1800-2000 so they hold value well. At 1000 yards I think 40x is about ideal but 25x will work fine. You may not have seen mirage in a scope but at 1000 yards with a bit of heat the target movement is such that 40x 50x 60x and 80x offer very little value as the target is moving so much you can not get value from the extra magnification.

For scopes under $1000 you would be hard-pressed to go past Vortex. The lifetime warranty is good and the value retention is also good. While I sold my $1900 2nd hand Vortex Golden Eagle I still have a Vortex Viper 25x HST which was the first scope I got. The knobs look and feel a bit second class but the glass is good, it's easy to get behind, it does track and the price point is just under $1000. FYI target shooters mostly run MOA and talk MOA. Sniper 101 etc might talk Mils but target rifle is mostly MOA. The conversion maths is hard to do in your head so I'd recommend going MOA. I went Mils and ended up selling those!

I have had a look through some ZeroTech scopes and they do seem good value although new in the market. All I've done is look through them on a box at targets across the street...

For reloading gear I like RCBS. The Rock Chucker kit with beam scales would be my go-to. I still reload with a Rock Chucker and in a 14 press shootout, it was 2nd to a press with 4x the price tag.

https://ultimatereloader.com/2019/04/08 ... -shootout/

Peter Hulett wrote:Jrod,
If you are going to try out Little River it is inly a short trip from there to Geelong Rifle Club’s range at Anakie East. Electronic targets out to 900 metres and a pretty good club as well. Check out their website. It is my home range.
Cheers
Peter

Thanks Pete, I’ll be sure to check that out too. May even see you there at some point to ask questions

Thanks again tachyon,
I’ll check out all of that equipment so I know what I’m looking for.
What’s your thoughts on the thumb hole stock? I have noticed adjustable combs are a big thing in target rifles. Is a necessity? Also i have noticed everyone goes on about the 20MOA scope rail?
If I go .308, is heavy barrel the way to go? Does it need to be threaded? Twist rate?