Bolt-action competition?

[ZainAnak]

Hey all. New member here, initiated by a Mr. Derek Hoskins (anyone know him? )

I'm originally from Los Angeles, and went to school here in Boston. I led the Harvard Shooting Club (skeet/trap) for a number of years as an undergrad, and am very interested in getting into high power. I went to a CMP clinic at Woburn a few years back and got hooked- pistol and skeet/trap just seemed like training for the real deal after that day.

Anyway, after firing and falling in love with a Savage 10, I figured it would be a great entry-level bolt action to learn how to shoot long distance. But after speaking with Derek, it seemed that the world of competition really only had two categories- Service rifle, and the world of $6K+ custom bolt action jobs from Finland. I was looking forward to starting with a simple, affordable, bolt action rifle to learn the basics of shooting (sighting, maintenance, etc.) But now it seems an AR-15 is really the only option if I want to compete. I love the AR, and it's always been on my list, but I had my sights set on a Savage .308 and thought there would have been plenty of competition around for that type of rifle.

So does anyone know if I'm overlooking something? Some sort of league or regularly-held competitions (iron or open sights) that feature bolt actions? And obviously not the extremely expensive kind

I am all up for getting into Service rifle matches (and will likely soon do so,) but I wanted to hear from you if bolt-action is a viable option at the entry level.

Thanks all!
-ZA

 

[DryDock]

Ya gotta love the Savage, Their are 2 classes that you can use that in that I know of one is any/any (any rifle ant sight) the other is F class. I shot in the F class last weekend using my 22" 10FP .308, tons of fun. I posted a little on this on the i love f class thread.

 

[ZainAnak]

Yeah I just read the I Love F-Class thread after posting my question. So obviously it can be done, but my two main questions are still:

Assuming I go buy the Savage,

1) Where around here (Boston and NH area) can I shoot it competitively?

2) Will I get the chance to shoot/compete as often as if I buy a service rifle?

My main trade-off here is A) buy an AR and shoot a lot, or B) buy a Savage (drool) but wait in the wings for the odd F-class competition to show up. But I might be wrong- Thoughts on frequency/location/preference?

Many thanks

 

[DryDock]

How close is close, I drive 1-1/2 to 2 hours to shoot the closest one and I'm heading to Vermont in May. It does take a bunch of time, more than I thought it would I guess I didn't put much thought into the time end of it. SO... I think you would get more competitive trigger time with a service rifle. Neither is cheap although the Savage may be the less expensive of the 2 about $1,100 ready to shoot. Ammo adds to the tab as you won't be going to wally world to pick it up. Hand loading is something else that you'll be wanting/needing to get into for competative shooting. Go to www.readingrifle.com and look at the sched. May 22 is a 3x600 shoot that you might go to and check things out.
I wasn't trying to be negayive or discourage you from competative shooting in any way I just want you to know that it consumes time and money like crazy (in the begining at least) but it's tons of fun and full of great people.

Anyone tell me how to hot link? [roll]
Edit. Never mind the hotlink thing, thats a nice feature. [oops]

 

[Admin]

Glad to see you made it in ZainAnak.

 

[ZainAnak]

You might have misunderstood what I meant by time- I *want* to put time into this- my question was more what will *give* me more time to shoot competitively- the bolt action or the AR, and roughly by how much.

Let me rephrase my question for everyone:

Assuming I am interested in shooting every weekend, up to 1.5 hours from Boston, how often can I expect to compete with:

A) an AR/variant
B) a Savage .308

Yes, I have seen the postings for shoots at local ranges, but seeing '3/600' doesn't really explain much to a neophyte such as myself- If someone out there who lives in this area, has shot before, can give me a realistic estimate for A) and B) above, it would help me greatly in making my decision!

Thanks

 

[Admin]

If you want to shoot every weekend you will be able to find a service rifle (AR) match pretty easily. There are a bunch of bolt matches, but far more service and match rifle matches.

The 3/600 means a match at 600 meters, shooting a 20 round slow fire string for score. This is repeated twice for a total of three 20 round matches.

Once you have all your gear aquired, pretty much the only cost is ammo. We can discuss this further on the 7th, and hopefully get you doing one or the other, and hopefully both. [twisted]

 

[DryDock]

Yup...I Think I did misunderstand your question. What he said, If it's maximum competetitive trigger time your after then service rifle is the ticket. At present I am finding more than enough competetive trigger time for the bolt gun( my son is shooting an AR in F class also) between shooting and reloading for two.
I don't think either way would be a mistake, but the AR would bring more match shooting opertunities (sp).
DD

 

[ZainAnak]

Thanks guys. DryDock- two questions for ya- about how often do you compete with your bolt, and where does your son shoot F Class? (which sounds awesome, btw)

-ZA

 

[DryDock]

There are 3 matches this month than about 1 a month after that right till Oct. If I wanted to travel more I could shoot about every other weekend, Which I think would be a good pace. My son shoots my Bushmaster Varminter right beside me, we'll be going to the same matches (he's 17 and no licence or car). It's nice to have something that we both enjoy doing together .

 

[ZainAnak]

Where do you usually shoot F class?

 

[DryDock]

Most of the matches are at hampden rifle and pistol www.hampdenrpc.org
DD

 

[rscalzo]

Bolt Matches

Major Waldron Sportsman's Association in Barrington, NH is holding a bolt gun onlt match on

October 8, 2005 It will be a CMP Match – Bolt Gun’s Only

The club runs several CMP Matches throughout the year and we have a few shooters bring their 03's. We even have a few using bolt guns in the fun matches where a load of lead goes downrange in a short period of time. They manage to keep up, but it takes work.

Check out the clubs website at www.majorwaldron.com

The outdoor range mantains a website at www.tinyurl.com/3sqos This site details all of the rifle activities at the club and is updated very often.

 

[rscalzo]

CMP Match

Our match director has a few M1 Garands that can be borrowed to start off with in CMP matches. It would be a inexpensive alternative to buying an AR or shooting the bolt gun. Try before you buy.....then get hooked and start sending in those order forms to the CMP....

The matches are informal and informative. Great place to learn the ropes in shooting CMP.