I also shoot smallbore at Mass Rifle in Woburn (not sure what the league is called, technically). I started a couple of years ago, and the club let me borrow (for matches) some of the club's Weirauch rifles until I purchased my own rifle. We shoot Friday nights, starting in early November through around March or so, and are always happy to have new shooters.
To answer your question about how to get started, I would recommend reading everything you possibly can on target shooting. Doing so will solidify your technical base, so you know
why you might want product A over product B, or whether you even want to bother with getting either item at all. You'll also know
how to shoot - how to position your body for optimum support, trigger control, concentration, etc.
One really good forum for all things target shooting is
www.targettalk.org. The members there are very knowledgeable and extremely friendly. You can also check out the myriad of excellent articles hosted by Pilk Guns (a target shooting supplier) at
http://www.pilkguns.com/menu_coaching.shtml. For books, any of the books at this page would be excellent
http://www.pilkguns.com/books.shtml. The best would be Ways of the Rifle, which is consider by many to be the best book on smallbore shooting (I'm not affiliated with Pilk Guns; they simply have a good selection of articles and literature - many of the books are available elsewhere too).
Regarding equipment, you need a rifle, a shooting glove, and a sling. Smallbore shooters have TONS of gear, but if you have the above 3 items, you're in business. The sling is used for prone shooting, and connects your stock to your left (nonshooting) arm to make a rock solid support. The glove is basically a big cushion so your hand doesn't hurt too bad during prone, and to give a solid interface with the rifle in offhand. Most clubs will have an extra sling and probably an extra shooting glove that you can borrow. The sling should be a TARGET style sling, NOT a hunting sling. Target slings have a loop into which you put your arm, rather than just providing support when you throw your rifle over your shoulder.
Other niceties are a spotting scope and stand/tripoed (so you can see where your shots are going) and a shooting coat. A shooting coat actually makes a HUGE difference, as it really locks your upper body so you don't wobble around so much (it's
almost like cheating, but everyone's doing it
![[smile]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/001.gif "Smile [smile]")
). You can spend hundreds on a custom shooting coat once you get into it, but I've had excellent success with Champion Shooter's Freeland ISU coat:
http://www.championshooters.com/coats-ssl.htm. Midwayusa also has some Anschutz sizes on sale right now, although you should probably wait to invest in any target-shooting clothes until you know for sure you like it, and know what you want.
As for your rifle, you definitely get what you pay for when it comes to target rifles. You do get more accuracy with more expensive guns, but any gun that isn't a total POS should be able to hold the 10 ring at 50 feet with decent ammo. What you really get with more expensive rifles (read "Anschutz") is ergonomics. As you'll see when you shoot offhand (standing), you basically get yourself into the best position your body design allows, and then adjust the rifle to fit that position. The more you can adjust the rifle, the less you have to compromise your own position. That is why you see 800 million way adjustable buttstocks, cheek pads, and palm rest that extend many many inches below the rifle.
At the lower end, a good deal right now is the Savage FVT at $212 from the CMP
http://www.thecmp.org/22targetcommercial.htm. It comes with peep sights (I don't know how good), their not-highly-regarded synthetic stock, and decent enough accutrigger. The savage is very accurate though. I have a different Mark II model that will shoot 1/2 inch at 50 yards no problem if I do my part. You could probably get a newer, more target-oriented stock from Boyds and have a pretty decent, inexpensive setup.
Low/mid range there is also the Russian-made CM-2:
http://www.raacfirearms.com/CM-2_Cadet.htm I'm not sure where to find one right now, but a little google action should yield some hits. I've also seen some at Four Seasons and Collectors sporadically, though they might have been the junior model. Nonetheless, you can at least see if you like the fit/finish/trigger/ergonics, and then order a full size model. I believe they are in the $350-500 range, including sights. The triggers I tried were very good, particularly for the price.
Four Seasons actually has a Weirauch and Walther target rifles as of right now, at $850 and $999 respectively. Both are very decent rifles for the money.
Beyond that, you are in Anschutz territory. Feinwerkbau makes some rifles too, but Anschutz is definitely the most popular. Prices new are in the $2500-3500 range. If you get serious, you could give Mac at MTGuns a call
http://mtguns.com/. He has tons and tons of older Anschutz barrels, actions, and stocks, and he can mix and match just about anything you want. I ended up with a '60s era barreled action in a (I think) 1413 stock, which he put a MEC buttplate on, all for around $1500. Not bad, considering the MEC buttstock alone was in the $250 range. That was 2 years ago, so things could have changed a bit. Newer stocks are a bit more adjustable in some places, but lets just say I have a looooooong way to go before I can blame anything on this rifle.
Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.
