Hi

[bartman007]

Hi Keith,

As Brett was pointing out, the 300 Win Mag is a beast to run. If you aren't up on the 10Kg limit, then the recoil won't be fun during the course of competition.

You must understand that muzzle breaks are typically not permitted for use during club shoots. A special session at another time would need to be arranged, and I'm not aware of clubs in my area that have shooters doing that. Certainly not on a weekly basis.

So if you're running a light gun with no muzzle break, and want to use 210 -> 230 gn projectiles to be super competitive at 1000 yards, then enjoy the recoil.

Then you may have a new take on your line...

like iv always said a bad days shooting better then a good day at work

[Batman]

Hi Keith
If your coming out to Lower Light tomorrow Im more than happy to show around
Im with CTV Club bring out your rifle and ammo and you will be-able to shoot in the comp, you will need 24 rounds we are shooting 400m
I can show you what is all about.

Regards Stuart

[RAVEN]

Keith if you venture to Lower Light look me up I'm a member of CTV CLUB
and you are most welcome to join in on a club shoot day no rifle required as we have club rifles that you can use also if I know you will be out there ppl will load a few extra rounds so you can have a few shots through some different set ups.
RB

[RAVEN]

SNAP Stew

[Keith C]

im only just getting home now... so chances of me making it out today are getting slim , i wont be fitting a break and it will be 9.9 kgs to allow for someones dodgy scales lol.

the rifle ill be getting built is drastically different from the ones on the aprs site if thats what people are looking at?

[Keith C]

thanks guys for the invite i will still try to make it out, ill bring my .223 if i make it out. its only a t3 lite but with a 8-32x56 weaver on it i can still keep moa out to 300 she starts to open up past that though.(thats shooting from bipod and no rear bag)

[DaveMc]

Hi Keith,


The 300WM won't have half the barrel life of the 6.5*47. Someone has told you some porkies there. If you want to confirm this there is a barrel life calculator somewhere on accurateshooter (hopefully someone will post a link here). You will use twice as much powder, projectiles and brass are way more expensive and you will get half the barrel life. All in all I would say it will cost you more than twice the $.00 per round to run.
Many have tried in F class based on ballistics and 1000 yard BR results but nearly all have faded away. It is however a popular cartridge in Long Range Benchrest where you can either use a very heavy platform or a muzzle brake in the lighter class (although not as popular there)

In a bipod F class outfit the 6.5*47 will simply run rings around the larger caliber as far as consistent accuracy goes for all but 0.1% of the shooting population. It has little felt recoil and will hold and track beautifully. It would be my pick of the above two for what you want to do. Is there much large game down there that would require a cannon?

If you get the 6.5*47 (308 bolt head) heavy barrel in a bipod outfit you may be tempted to get a lighter 308 barrel down the track and try FTR (bipod only competition). OR if you want to up the ballistics you can go to a 284, 284 improved, 280 AI, 30-06AI, 30-284. All these calibres are very competitive in F open and remember this

ACCURATE RIFLES ARE FUN RIFLES - you will have a ball if you are hitting around the middle but be frustrated to hell if you aren't and it is belting the hell out of you at the same time.

[Paul Janzso]

Hi Keith.
Welcome to the web site and welcome to this great sport, F CLASS.
I have used a 300WSM for F Class for many years very competitively.
To me recoil was very manageable as I realised heavy varmint profile barrels were a wast of time so I went with straight profile barrels ( yes they are allowed in F Class) to bring the weight of the rifle to just a bees whisker under 10kg.
I have dabbled with 300 Win Mag also and using that cal helped me into 4th position at the QLD Queens in 2013 to 4th position on the last day as the winds went absolutely crazy and a lot of the top shooters got blown to the out house, my 300Win Mag shot through it.
If you took a drive to the Murray Bridge RC on a Saturday arvo you will probably bump into Ian and Shobby who are not scared to run with the big 30's. They are a great bunch out there.
I am living in QLD and there is a restriction on velocity and muzzle energy that can be used on the Belmont range so my 300 Win Mag barrel has been pulled out and I have replaced it with a 7mm barrel ( straight profile) to keep in with energy restrictions.
Have you looked at the Barnard site they have some great rifles built on there actions.
Cheers
Paul

[DaveMc]

Here it is

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/201 ... rrel-life/

Ran the 300 WM through with 86 Grains 2225, 230 Berger hybrid with 8mm seated in neck, 40 seconds between shots and came up with a predicted 970 odd usable rounds. at 20 seconds between shots this dropped to 480 odd! (Ian or Paul might help here with the real loads they use - They are the 0.1% of the population but also shoot off a rest)

The 6.5*47 with 130 VLD and 37 Grains 2208 doing 2950 fps
gave 2165 at 40 seconds and 1599 at 20 seconds between shots

[Paul Janzso]

Hi Dave.
I ran 75gn 2225 with 230gn hybrids.
I also used a 30-284 when I first started shooting F Class Open but wanted bigger and faster so I went with the 300 WSM.
In the WSM I used 60gn 2209 with 210gn VLD's for the longs and 62.5gn 2209 with 190gn VLD's for the short ranges.
I took a visitor to the Mt. Vince range and put him behind my WSM with the 190gn load, first round 57 second round 60.7 shot at 300 yards.
Cheers
Paul

[DaveMc]

Hi Paul
OK your load came up with 1152 rounds at 20 seconds and 2100 odd at 40 seconds (at 38,000 psi, and 2600 fps Quickload data is very light)

Would you advise someone to shoot a 300WM off a bipod in F class though? Do you feel the difference between the WSM and the 300WM at full noise....??

.

[MCLE]

Hi Keith
The thing that we are missing here is this is the Rifle that Floats your Boat and I get that..And this sport Needs to encourage all types of shooters and there rifles (As long as they are within the rules).The advice that you have received here is all good and from some of the Best shooters going around.I was like you when l first turned up to a range to see what all the fuss was about I was using my Tactical Based Rifles A Accuracy International AW in 308 and A DTA and a Tubb 2000 .Its what I had to use and wasn't going to purchase something just to try it.I was welcomed and given help and advice and with my rifles reached a level that l was very happy with.But after a while I got hooked it is a huge amount of fun and it come to a point where if l wanted to go further in the sport the limiting factor ( Other than me ) was the compromises you make with a rifle that is not 100% set up for Fclass and I went on to have one made and my shooting improved a little with practice and the right gear..But you have said that you are not all that competitive and it is mostly giggles so that doesn't matter .My advice RE caliber would be 6.5x47 ( Barrel life is longer that a 300 WM someone was having a lend of you) as it is a 308 bolt head you can you can go to a 308 and this may well be handy for you.Let me explain as some of the members have said you might won't to look at FTR it will probably take over from Fstandard down the track and your rifle (Tactical ) is not out of place in the sport ( 8.25 KG with Bipod) a tactical Based set up.Have a look at the Barnard web site the winner of the FTR comp in NZ ( 2 years running l think) was using a Barnard 07 set up and you can use an adjustable rear bag rider .This is a Repeating Tactical Rifle.The only thing you would have to change to be more competitive is your Bipod Just get a light FTR Bipod that fits the front stud on your rig you don't need to put a rail under it and you are set.But don't be put off give it a go .Go down to the range meet the members they will help you and let you join in.This sport NEEDS shooters like you more than You need us.......
Michael H

[AlanF]

...Competition in my mind is who has the most fun on the day. Im a pretty easy going kinda guy who is not inherently competitive...

Shortly after taking up F-Class I told my club captain that I just wanted to shoot at the local range and wasn't interested in competing in prize meetings. More than thirty Queens Prize attendances later I get reminded of that statement from time to time.

[Tim N]

Hi Keith,
When I started shooting F class I had a "dual purpose" rifle which in my case meant something which could do 2 things not so well.
I had a 284 in a tactical stock which was too heavy to carry around the bush and didn't ride bags well.
I then fitted an F class stock
For most it is a reasonable outlay to build a dedicated rifle(which I ended up doing), so maybe you can spend some time with a club rifle and checking what others are using then choose what to build.(patience grasshopper
)
It's a great sport with great people and having fun is the most important thing!

[Keith C]

Thanks guys for ya advice.

Going to start weighing components over the next week or so, that way I know where im at as far as which barrel i can go with 28" or 30" parallel barrel is the direction im heading at this stage.

Going to go with the 300 as it will be of more use to me personally over the 6.5x47 even though that may be better suited to f open. Will possible start shooting if off a dedicated front rest once i know i can shoot it off a bipod.

If its gets em on the paper the whole length of lower light money well spent

i might enjoy it enough to build a 6.5x47 one day especially if my partner wants to come down for a days shoot