2014 Bushnell Brawl (hosted by Rifles Only)

[TheBelly]

Being close has it's advantages. I signed up for this competition: http://www.riflesonly.com/competitions.html

This will be my first big precision rifle match.

Any words of advice, encouragement, GFY-style, etc. are all appreciated.

I'm having surgery tomorrow, so the February deadline is the one that I'll be striving for....it'll be my 'you can do it!' event.

[Tim K]

There isn't much information on the site about the format, just some vague mention of rifle and pistols. If it looks like fun, I'd consider doing it with you.

I like having a big gig in the future. It focuses my training.

Surgery? Your wife is finally having you neutered?

[Delfuego]

Get to the Choppa!!!!


http://youtu.be/d2FqCnCdxLc

I wish I was closer; I would be there too...

[TheBelly]

I got the email stating that I'm definitely one of the competitors. I can't even imagine who I bumped in order to get that spot...

man, I'm nervous!!

[XC700116]

I've been trying to figure out what all that match entails, from what little I've heard, the prize table is huge and the match is damn fun but specifics are pretty hard to come by. I was considering making the trip for it myself but it conflicts with my annual trip to West Yellowstone.

Congrats on getting the spot in the match, Please report back on how it goes and take some pics if you can.

[C Ward]

Plenty of info on the match over at SH

[TheBelly]

I leave for the match tomorrow. I am officially going as a representative of my unit, so today I got the "Don't Embarrass Us" speech. Win or lose, I intend to be a good competitor and a strong competitor. Notice I did not say that I was going to go out there and win anything. I'm confident, but there are some seriously accomplished shooters competing.

[XC700116]

Good luck man, it looks like an awesome match. Can't wait to hear all about it.

[Delfuego]

Good luck man, it looks like an awesome match. Can't wait to hear all about it.+1 Good Luck!

[Zach O]

Very cool! Best of luck to you!! You'll do great!

[DeusExMachina]

This match is like some bills in congress, you don't know what's in it until you sign up.

[Hoser]

Good luck sailor.

[CHA-LEE]

Good luck boss!!!

[TheBelly]

I'm back. I'll be collecting my thoughts and providing a run down of what I 'should' have done to prepare for this match.

22 stages, 391 points available. It was so difficult that the winner scored an impressive 48%.

I scored a whopping 9%, which was not first place but it was also not last place. I learned a metric crap-ton, and I walked out with some cool swag, both from the prize table and from other shooters talking to me after the match.

To be continued.....

[Delfuego]

As long as you shot the helicopter stage your a winner. Good work Belly! [Beer]

[banks74]

Sounds like it was a fun match!

[TheBelly]

Part 1



Let's talk about mindset. In any course/competition/etc., it's important to go into it with a particular goal in mind. in the case of this match, although it was a huge national level match, I didn't intend on winning. My goals were few, reasonable, and easily achievable.

1) keep all my fingers and toes while not causing anyone else to lose their fingers/toes/life.

2) do not DQ due to a safety violation.

3) observe others and find those lessons that I need to learn.

4) be a good competitor, as strong of a competitor as I can, but don't let the 'Alpha' be the part that takes over. (I saw a couple competitors almost lose their minds when they missed a target, one in particular comes to mind. He is a good shooter. he placed pretty well, IIRC. However, more people talked about his temper tantrums after the stages than they did his pretty good shooting. He was 'that guy'.)

5) have fun, meet people, talk to folks, socialize, share notes, etc.




Here's a couple of metrics from the shooting:

I scored 36 hits out of a total 391 possible. I had an overall hit factor of just over 9%. This, to me, isn't the story that really tells the tale. I'm more interested in the following metric: Out of 109 shots fired, I hit 36 times. That means that I had a hit factor of just a shade over 33%. Some will say that that's just me trying to make sense of my crappy shooting. Well, here's my response to that. Yes it is, with caveat.

The caveat is that I refuse to pull the trigger just to hear the gun go boom. I won't pull the trigger unless I'm set up in my position and I feel that I've got a reasonably good chance of scoring a hit. This is evidenced by the fact that I didn't shoot at every target and that my hit percentages were different, overall points vs. shots taken.

[TheBelly]

PART 2: The Rifle System

I used an LMT MWS with the (LMT made) .260 Remington barrel in 20" length. It has a 1/9 twist. I made the following changes:

Carbine length to Rifle length stock: SOPMOD to Magpul PRS.

Stock spring to a Tubbs AR-10 Spring. http://www.laruetactical.com/tubbs-buffer-spring-ar10-sr-25-buffer-springs

factory charging handle to a Tac-Ops 1 charging handle. https://www.riflesonly.com/pro-shop/tactical-kit/tacops-1-sniper-for-ar10.html

I used a LaRue PSR mount with 20MOA built in. http://www.laruetactical.com/larue-tactical-20-moa-psr-scope-mount-qd

I used a Bushnell Elite Tactical 6-24x50 with G2DMR reticle. http://www.bushnell.com/tactical/rifle-scopes/elite-tactical/ers-6-24x-50mm-mil-dot

I used a TAB Gear sling. https://www.riflesonly.com/pro-shop/tactical-gear/tab-gear-sling.html

I used an Atlas Bipod. https://www.riflesonly.com/pro-shop/tactical-kit/bipods/atlas-bipod.html

I used a Red TAC rear bag. http://www.milehighshooting.com/red-tac-gear-original-bean-bag/

i used a WieBad Tac Pac. This is now an indispensable piece of kit, without a doubt. https://www.riflesonly.com/pro-shop/tactical-kit/wiebad-tac-pac.html

I used a stock birdcage muzzle device. I wished I had a recoil-controlling brake or a suppressor to help calm things down.

I loaded my own ammo using LC12LR once fired cases, Rem 9 1/2 primers, 41.0 gr of H4350 powder, and 123 gr Lapua Scenar bullets. This led to a pretty slow average speed of 2710fps. It grouped very well at 100 yards and also performed well at 250 yards, which was the farthest I was able to get positive grouping information.


I'll be honest and say that the only upgrade that I wished I would have made was the trigger. The stock 2-stage from LMT is definitely meant for a combat scenario when your target is something that looks like a human. It is just too firm for a competition that requires 1-2MOA accuracy all day long.

Out of 130 competitors, I was one of only about 15 or so that was using a semi-auto gun. Everyone else was using special built bolt action guns that had barrels much heavier than mine. This was evident during stages requiring longer strings of fire.

[CHA-LEE]

Regardless of where you finished, you came away from the competition with valuable experience gained and lessons learned that can improve your performance later on down the road. That in its self is worth the cost and time invested.

[DeusExMachina]

Do you ever feel that you were limited by your stock? I don't know how the shooting positions were, but myself and Not_A_Llama made the decision to run carbine stocks for Rocky Mountain Steel Quest.

[TheBelly]

Do you ever feel that you were limited by your stock? I don't know how the shooting positions were, but myself and Not_A_Llama made the decision to run carbine stocks for Rocky Mountain Steel Quest.

The short answer is no, it never got in the way. We were required to shoot from some goofy positions, and most of them from the support side. The consistent cheek weld on either side allowed me to index very easily. By using a carbine stock bare, or with a LaRue RISR, it's just a band-aid for the real problem that I faced: the gun didn't fit me as a carbine.

The added benefit from the deliberate decision to change from the carbine to the rifle length is that it smoothed the rifle out a TON and allowed a softer recoil impulse. Combine that with the fact that I had a birdcage (vs. an actual muzzle brake) and it made sense.

[TheBelly]

Regardless of where you finished, you came away from the competition with valuable experience gained and lessons learned that can improve your performance later on down the road. That in its self is worth the cost and time invested.

At the after-awards-ceremony BBQ, I asked folks what their deliberate training method included. I asked approximately 60-75 shooters. They all said they did three things for this match:

1) Dry fire your butt off.

2) Get off your stomach. Unless you are zeroing, figuring out ammo, or getting dope, you should never be in the prone.

3) Shoot from the support side as often as possible.