Thread: NZ Mountain Challenge.

Hi guys is there anyone here who has shot this or knows someone who has. I am keen to learn a bit more about it and what sort of gear (not just the rifle)you have to get together to shoot it.

Thanks
Jeremy

Are you talking about the "Vortex" NZ Mountain Challenge? If so, yes i did shoot. You need to have a partner to shoot as a team(2) and be able to spot and call shots to your partner, fitness is not a must but be fit is very important as the overall time will give you points that help in the overall score…
I am booked again for the next year!

Good luck!

Mac

That's the one Mac. It looks pretty intimidating. They still have some spots I am hoping to talk to them this week to see about the details. Not sure if I can get a second at this stage trying to talk my brother into it. We only have Varmint rifles 223 etc. so not the most suitable but we would have a go with what we have. We have all summer to get good DOPE on our rifles. Do you need a lot of ancillary gear like high bipods for sitting shots etc. I see some photos online of guys using all sorts of rests and buddy support to shoot. Do you know what ranges before hand you are likely to have to shoot from a non prone position?

Thanks Jeremy

Originally Posted by Dermastor

That's the one Mac. It looks pretty intimidating. They still have some spots I am hoping to talk to them this week to see about the details. Not sure if I can get a second at this stage trying to talk my brother into it. We only have Varmint rifles 223 etc. so not the most suitable but we would have a go with what we have. We have all summer to get good DOPE on our rifles. Do you need a lot of ancillary gear like high bipods for sitting shots etc. I see some photos online of guys using all sorts of rests and buddy support to shoot. Do you know what ranges before hand you are likely to have to shoot from a non prone position?

Thanks Jeremy

Going to bed now, will PM you tomorrow with what "I" think and suggest.

Mac

Hello there! (@Dermastor)Thought it is fair cowrite my views to all members of the forum who may be interested in a good event and learning.
The event is great(in my opinion) and i learn quiet a bit from it, such as, there is where you find that you "don't know nothing" about long range/field shooting, when you in situations where "some" gear can make the difference and shooting position will make a difference in your final "result" you will know that "we" need to practice a lot more. Have a good rifle setup is a must and make sure your rifle can make "SOLID" hits at targets far as 1200yards, this year(2016) we had some people who made hits and it was not recorded for "technicality" so solid hits will/can make difference.
Gear, the more fortunate shooters will use all the "gadgets" they can and with a solid "D.O.P.E." card it will work flawless, many of those who i call "top shooters" will have available(to themselves) Kestrel weather stations and very fancy shooting rest for the sitting and standing occasions, I personally use a set of "walking/skiing" adjustable poles, this way i can adjust the height to what suit me the best but it will never give me the stability of the "carbon fiber" tripods some will use.

My recommendations to the shot related to my gear available:

Rifle: The person who won overall shooter i think use a 6.5X284 caliber rifle and the runner up a 300WM DTA, I recommend any caliber that will make solid hits at long distance, "MY" suggestion as minimum caliber is a 6.5 or above as you will be competing with calibers up to 338 Lapua Magnum;
Field gear: have a solid D.O.P.E. card/data, shooting positions and angle are from minus 10-15 degrees up to 30 degrees up, a shooting rest(tripod if you have one, etc), wind meter if you have one, a day pack where you can carry your ammunition, food, clothing, etc, etc;
Clothing: you are in what "I" call a semi alpine area where weather can be stunning good or miserable drizzling/wind so check the weather updates prior to leave to the event;
Food: the organisers have someone with a stall selling food(at least had this year(2016)) but take some musly bars and snacks for the up the mountain time, water, etc.

Well, i am sure i missed few things and so if you have any other questions do not hesitate is ask. In the main time, check other great options for a practical shot at Gillice practical shooting competition(https://www.facebook.com/GillicePracticalRifleEvents/) or contact @Gillie in here for more info.

Best regards to all, have a great week.

Mac

Good to hear it isn’t only us that has problems with small caliber hits on long range targets. Video doesn’t lie and in videoing a few events and stages now it is surprising the number of calls on impacts or corrections that have been misleading or flat out incorrect. I have video of hits called as misses, misses called left when they were right, corrections called to the edge of target not the center of target, misleading at best! I think the best call I have seen was a spotter called the shots impacting high as the trace was going high... the bullet impact as seen on the video were good for height until the shooter dropped them when he shouldn't have listened to his spotter.
I am a firm believer in competing with a rifle that will allow you to see your own misses – this will allow you to be your own spotter and own all your own mistakes rather than be left wondering about a spotters call or at worst blaming a spotter - use the spotter as a back up only. Personally I would like to run a competition where the spotter is only allowed to call hit or miss – no corrections or shot locations. This would level the playing field for a lot of competitors.


For a variety of reasons I have not attended the NZ Vortex Mountain Challenge – it looks like a cool event though and I hear they have a fantastic prize table. I think I read somewhere that this year they are allowing individual entries in 2017 as well as two person teams?

Gear I typically recommend for a longer distance field style event includes:

• Appropriate footwear for a working farm
• Wind/waterproof jacket as appropriate
• Warm base layer clothing
• Hearing protection (plugs, muffs, or both)
• Reliable and safe rifle/ammunition suitable for the event i.e. sighted in!
• Enough ammunition to complete the course and at least two additional stages if a stage re-shoot is required.
• Chamber flag
• Rifle sling both for carrying and as a shooting support
• Ballistic drop data (printed, phone, etc.)
• Rangefinder
• Bipod and rear bag (if shooting precision targets or targets past about 400m)
• Time keeping device (watch, phone, etc.)
• Note pad and pencil
• Spotting scope and tripod.
• Day pack with snacks, lunch, drink, etc. and to carry misc gear and ammunition
• Pencil or ball point pen for scoring.
• Hat and sunscreen
• Rifle and optic cleaning and maintenance gear
• Common sense, a good attitude, and a sense of humour!

Kestral weather station is optional but very good to have if you are shooting past about 800yards or don’t have much experience calling wind.
Tripod, shooting sticks, tall bipod is event dependent – if I am already taking the tripod I won’t bother with the shooting sticks or tall bipod.

Thanks Mac and Gillie for your time in putting that info out there. My rifle selection wont be ideal in a 223 but that's just too bad for me its what I have. It is capable and I load my own ammo so 1/2moa is achievable. I am gathering DOPE shooting at Akarana City Rifle Club this season. I was only 0.3 MRAD or 3 clicks off at 450m last weekend so have put that into my Applied Ballistics program. We only shoot out to 730m so I might need to shoot another rage up here to try the longer stuff. At this stage if I can shoot the event I will have no expectations except to finish and have fun. I will keep shooting and hope it all comes together. What would your suggestions be on either shooting sticks, a tall bipod or tripod I don't need a mortgage to purchase?

All the best
Jeremy

Great stuff from you @Gillie, I appreciate your input. @Dermastor, I think you must have a go on/in it, if a 223 is the rifle that rock your boat go for it, honestly my suggestion of caliber is "my personal" so don't get hang up on it, you may finish shooting better than me and few others.
Keep your good work and practice as much you can.

Good luck and hope to see you guys at the comp!

Mac

P.S.: Gillie I haven't forgot I promise to attend one of your events!

For a tripod I would recommend one of the manfrotto 055 range of tripods. You can generally pick them up second hand for a couple of hundred dollars. I like them because fully extended you can use them for standing and they have multiple leg angles allowing them to have a really wide and stable base for sitting shooting or uneven terrain.

For a tall bipod I like and use the harris - I think I have the HB25CS

Thanks I have taken your advise to heart and decided not to shoot my 223 Rem. I have dragged my old Rem 700 in 7mm Mag out of the safe. It has a shot out barrel but in its day could shoot .3moa 5 shot groups. So that is off to Dan Hardy to get a new barrel. I will organize a better stock the old BDL wood is too nice for this sort of thing and just not really suitable. I will get a suitable tripod and have ordered a Pig Saddle from the States to go on it. I already have a Kestrel, bipod, Sig rangefinder etc. I will have time to get good DOPE so should be ready to turn up sort of organized. I have very low expectations of my expected performance so wont be too disappointed. Talking to Lee there are some other guys around who want to shoot but don't have partner so that will work out. I am shooting the Otorohanga Practical so that will be some pre Christmas fun. That will get shot with my AR-15 though.
All the best
Jeremy

Hi the Mountain Challenge is certainly an excellent shoot. I've been twice now and my two cents is that if you want to post in the top few at the end then you need to turn up with a Magnum. I posted in the top 3 teams at the first one and was the top individual at this years one using a .338 LM, it's just one of those shoots where the wind and rain can pick up and if your not using a big enough hammer you might not get scored. Horses for courses when it comes to which cal. to shoot

@mitch00 I would suggest the people running the event need to improve the reliability of their scoring systems if there is a reasonably chance that with a non-magnum calibre (allowed by the rules) hits will not be recorded. My understanding is that the event includes a reasonable entry fee and a reasonable prize table.

GPR Events has had similar issues with small calibre hits on the larger, longer range targets being difficult to score and we are taking steps to avoid this in future events - of course we don't have their prize table either and this is one of the reasons why not.

Absolutely the magnum calibres allow for a greater margin for error in your wind calling ability and improve the reaction of a target to a hit but as a competitor I would be a bit pissed on the day to have my final placing determined (in part) by hits not being recorded.

Last time they had the situation of the shooter with something like a 20 or 25 power scope saying I hit that plate and the RO with a 60 power spotting scope saying no you didn't and then shooters complaining that their score wasn't right. I put Lee onto some electronic flash units so I would except that they will be being used this time. I think that the main problem is that their steel targets are so heavy that the lighter cals cant make them move. We have just finished running a match ( Alpine Long Range Shooting Matches NZ) last weekend and we split the magnums and non-magnums into two different competitions. We had no problems seeing full size IPSC targets at 940m getting hit with the 6.5s the plates are 10mm thick AR500. The magnums carried on shooting plates past 1300m we also had a hunting rifle class which didn't shoot past 500m.

Originally Posted by Gillie

@mitch00 I would suggest the people running the event need to improve the reliability of their scoring systems if there is a reasonably chance that with a non-magnum calibre (allowed by the rules) hits will not be recorded. My understanding is that the event includes a reasonable entry fee and a reasonable prize table.

GPR Events has had similar issues with small calibre hits on the larger, longer range targets being difficult to score and we are taking steps to avoid this in future events - of course we don't have their prize table either and this is one of the reasons why not.

Absolutely the magnum calibres allow for a greater margin for error in your wind calling ability and improve the reaction of a target to a hit but as a competitor I would be a bit pissed on the day to have my final placing determined (in part) by hits not being recorded.

Hey Gillie, the organisers already order 3 strobe light/visual scoring system for the longest shots, they hope it will improve the problems in the last year event.
I will keep you guys posted if I learn anything more.
@mitch00 we may have shared dinner table after this year event... 😎

Originally Posted by PERRISCICABA

Hey Gillie, the organisers already order 3 strobe light/visual scoring system for the longest shots, they hope it will improve the problems in the last year event.
I will keep you guys posted if I learn anything more.
@mitch00 we may have shared dinner table after this year event... 😎

@mitch00,as in Johnny Mitchell?