Thread: ORC Practical Rifle Match

Was a really fun event I thought. I was interested in a few of the results and some of my predictions certainly didn’t come true!

The unlimited round count know your limit stages proved to be highly entertaining as people would get so far, miss, and then to start all over again with the clock still counting down. More than a couple of people ended that stage with a miss meaning they got a 0 score.

The positional stages proved interesting as again it seems that a lot of shooters do not know how to take the most advantage from a support. I think the time limits for the positional stages were about right as well – the semiauto shooters had a little advantage in these stages.

The swinger target proved entertaining as always. We did notice a crack has developed in the rod though so that is back in for repair. The rattle battle stages with the penalty for misses stages proved to be several people undoing. I think the target size was probably a little small on this stage (particularly at 400). For people that shoot service rifle we were basically asking competitors to make a 5 or V shot at 400yards and then penalising misses. At 300 yards it was good but at 400 we should have increased the target size.

The Drama stages (hostage targets) were a lot of fun. The additional rounds allowed at 300 ensured several people shot the maximum score on this stage. At 400 yards competitors were given an unlimited round count to hit all 8 targets (5 targets plus 3 “hostages”) with no penalty for misses – I got a few comments on how people enjoyed this stage punishing the “hostage” target that cost them points on previous stages!

Overall, the top 4 shooters were as expected – these people have all been to several of our field style events before, are very good shooters, and are well practiced with their rifle setups. Just to point it out though, 3rd place was shooting a bolt action .223 hunting rifle with a 3-9 scope… Top shooter was 8 hits outs in front and missed only 9 shots out of the 71 counting shots on offer.

What was surprising is that there was only one semiauto shooter in the top ten (ninth overall). I will be taking steps at the next event to ensure there is a couple more stages that are better suited for a semiauto shooter – particularly at the shorter ranges.