N/A Off the Shelf?

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Centercut

Centercut

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I’m throwing this out there for discussion.

Can you buy an off the shelf gun and compete at RMAC or EBR with a reasonably good expectation of doing well? No accessory barrels, etc. just a normal set of adjustments to get the gun shooting at the proper speed for the pellets of your choice.

I’ll go first. In 2022 I was shooting .22 caliber RD Monsters most of the season with an older Red Wolf HP. We all know the troubles JSB has/had with pellet consistency and flyers, especially from that pellet.
So about a month prior to EBR, I had had it with the occasional flyer ruining a good scorecard. So I called AoA and ordered a .25 Red Wolf. It shot the .25 King Heavy on mid power at 940 fps. I installed my favorite BR scope, a 15-60x Vortex Golden Eagle. 🦅
At EBR 2022, I squeaked into the finals with so-so 75 yard scores, and then finished 3rd in 100Y Pro Division ($2,000 prize).
Bone Stock. Nothing done or added to the gun. I still have that gun, now in a red PRS Chassis (thanks AoA!!!) and will be shooting it in Speed at RMAC next week.
Why not 100Y BR you ask? It’s a 225+ gun, not a 230+ gun, which is what is necessary these days to make the finals and the podium.

Your turn.

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Centercut said:
I’m throwing this out there for discussion.

Can you buy an off the shelf gun and compete at RMAC or EBR with a reasonably good expectation of doing well? No accessory barrels, etc. just a normal set of adjustments to get the gun shooting at the proper speed for the pellets of your choice.

I’ll go first. In 2022 I was shooting .22 caliber RD Monsters most of the season with an older Red Wolf HP. We all know the troubles JSB has/had with pellet consistency and flyers, especially from that pellet.
So about a month prior to EBR, I had had it with the occasional flyer ruining a good scorecard. So I called AoA and ordered a .25 Red Wolf. It shot the .25 King Heavy on mid power at 940 fps. I installed my favorite BR scope, a 15-60x Vortex Golden Eagle. 🦅
At EBR 2022, I squeaked into the finals with so-so 75 yard scores, and then finished 3rd in 100Y Pro Division ($2,000 prize).
Bone Stock. Nothing done or added to the gun. I still have that gun, now in a red PRS Chassis (thanks AoA!!!) and will be shooting it in Speed at RMAC next week.
Why not 100Y BR you ask? It’s a 225+ gun, not a 230+ gun, which is what is necessary these days to make the finals and the podium.

Your turn.
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Sacrifice some sparrows to the wind god so he may bless you with at worst a gentle breeze. Leave a Ducat christ facing up and he'll not only favor you, but spurn your enemies.

(is he insane or is there some sort of dry humor thing going on :huffs silver krylon:)
;)
 
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Not sure how close the matches are as I’ve never watched or competed at either but when I shot competitive rimfire matches where scores were decided in decimals I shot well enough with a single shot savage that was off the wall. It also doubled as my hunting gun. I shot well enough to qualify for tryouts on the Olympic team. This was a 120$ gun at the time vs several 2 k rigs.
So win prolly not but do well I would says its possible if you find the right guy.
 
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Most experienced shooters could beat me if I was shooting the most high dollar, newest wonder-gun with perfectly equal weight identical dimension, non-deformed ammo -- and they had an AV Avenger and were just pulling from the tin.

I've spend mucho time and dollars seeking the gun which would improve my shooting consistency. Of course that is all barking up the wrong tree as the three most important things for better, more consistent shooting are... trigger time, (and repeat 2x).
 
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I don’t have one and I don’t compete. That said, everything I heard and read about the Sonoran makes me think that it may be the most accurate out of the box gun ever.

I HAVE a Mora in .22 though and even with its least preferred slug it is more accurate than some of my others with “their” slug… insane gun. I know it’s a BP and will probably never be in those events but who knows :)
 
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Centercut said:
The Sonoran is a great gun, and SubMOA barrels are great barrels, but does it really count as “off the shelf” if the gun was upgraded at AoA with a SubMOA barrel and .30 caliber specific porting and tune?
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Fair point… would be one that someone could online and just wait for the brown truck, open the box and shoot though…
 
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Centercut said:
The Sonoran is a great gun, and SubMOA barrels are great barrels, but does it really count as “off the shelf” if the gun was upgraded at AoA with a SubMOA barrel and .30 caliber specific porting and tune?
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You could argue that point, but I am going to say yes it does count as off the shelf. I - as the end user - am shooting the gun 100% as I have received it - thus is it stock. And I think what makes that fair is that the upgrade is not exclusive to me - anyone can go and buy the same gun setup exactly as mine.
 
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ctshooter said:
You could argue that point, but I am going to say yes it does count as off the shelf. I - as the end user - am shooting the gun 100% as I have received it - thus is it stock. And I think what makes that fair is that the upgrade is not exclusive to me - anyone can go and buy the same gun setup exactly as mine.
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Ok, I agree. It’d be the same as if someone bought a Skout with an upgraded LW or ECR barrel, or even with an FX liner, as long as they bought it from a dealer or from Skout.
 
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ctshooter said:
You could argue that point, but I am going to say yes it does count as off the shelf. I - as the end user - am shooting the gun 100% as I have received it - thus is it stock. And I think what makes that fair is that the upgrade is not exclusive to me - anyone can go and buy the same gun setup exactly as mine.
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So a Thomas (built to your spec's ) and received from the Brown truck is off the shelve ? That means my custom shop built Anschutz is off the shelf
 
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Isn’t off the shelf kinda misnomer? Look at donny fl he had a gun built for him that he also sells. Is it or isn’t it really off the shelf? The guys at ua i wonder how many liners they go through before deciding on 1? I just got a 30 ghost and think i might have won the barrel lottery with it as its shooting very good but i never have a chance to shoot in wind like you guys do out west so you guys would kick my butt till i find a range with similar conditions.
 
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Highly possible in the Sportsman class with an off the shelf
Very unlikely in the Pro class...i haven't met a person who doesn't tinker with their rifle at that level
There are the cases where a person wins the barrel lottery and get a barrel that is just above the rest and gets into the hands of the right person...it could happen..but unlikely
 
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It’s very interesting how far Airguns (and ammo) have come in the past three or four years.
In the original post EBR 2022, my 75 yard qual scores were 234-230 (464). That was good enough for the Pro finals.
Last year at EBR 2024, I made the Pro finals with a 241-242 (483). If I remember correctly, wind conditions weren’t much different between the two years.
Amazing how much better the guns, ammo, and shooters have improved in only a couple of years… 😳
 
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I shoot in 100 yard EBR style matches with my out of the box 30 cal Impact M3 with a 700 mm barrel and 45 gr AEA pellets. It's competitive. I also shoot alongside a previous RMAC winner. He always beats me but he's30 years younger than me and dedicates a lot of time and development into his shooting. You can't buy high scores with an expensive rifle. Any accurate rifle (and most are) can do the job, but most of the work is up to you.
 
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kwaping said:
Maybe "mass produced" is a better term, but there's wiggle room even with that.
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The same can be said for ammo, specifically .30 pellets. What does “mass produced commercially available” really mean? How many is “mass produced?” Commercially available where? In a foreign country that the USA has an embargo with? I think the big comps just take someone’s word for it, especially if they are a “big name”. Just try and buy .30 caliber 71 grain pellets from Russia…. Good luck. 😳
 
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