"Best" Competition Rifle?

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dwilson050

Member
Dec 17, 2017
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Beaverton, Oregon, Washington United States 97006
So, I want to come out to EBR this year to try and compete with you guys (though it's more likely I'll get schooled!). Problem is, I only have a Wildcat MKII and a Condor SS.

I know this will likely end up being a long thread but I have to ask... what is the best competition rifle for someone wanting to compete at EBR? I know "best" can be interpreted in many ways. Maybe I should ask, what are some of the top options? Impact? Red Wolf? Other?

Thanks in advance all! -Dave
 
Not trying to be a "smartarse" but the rifle YOU shoot the best is what you want to use. You are going to get as many different answers to your question as there are different high performance air guns. You can look at past results for ideas but that will only give you part of the story (I think that you will even find a Wildcat in those lists). The amount of experience and actual trigger time shooting at distance I would think are more important.
 
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I think a good wildcat is perfectly capable of competing. I think some of it comes down to that last couple percent gain from tuning everything to be just so. I think a lot more of it though comes from practice. A lot of EBR is making good wind calls on the fly. Only way you'll do that is by determinedly practicing with your rifle. I would also add that there are a lot of world class airguns which you just don't see at EBR for whatever reason. 

Just my 2c.
 
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Competed in 100yd benchrest in 2016. And as many has said, all your top manufacturers have guns capable of winning. I probably shot 5,000 rounds gearing up for the event. However the desert environment was totally different from the Mississippi landscape I came from. My biggest challenge was playing the wind. So my advice would be spend lots of time behind the trigger at the long distance and don’t be hesitant to shoot in the wind. It was my biggest problem!! 

Good luck

Ron
 
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I was wonder that once a while ago, part of my answer I get it here:

http://www.extremebenchrest.com/2018-extreme-benchrest-results/

Check other years also (Specially!), and you will see...is not a scientific measure but it helps ;) (and probably you check that already)

(Consider also that vendors are pushing brands there too)

IMO Any airgun grouping MOA or less can be a winner, after that, the shooter skills meter, specially with wind and gusty wind
 
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Agree with those who say it’s the shooter, and who performs best in swirling winds. There’s also a bit of luck involved, since benches are assigned by drawing a number from a hat, and not all positions are equal. Having said that, look at the past 4 years of finishers in the finals, both Pro and Sportsman. The .30 caliber FX Boss/Bobcat has more top 20 finishers than any other gun... 

There seems to be this myth that all of the Pros had heavily modified guns. Other than normal adjustments that we all do for efficiency and pellet velocity (i.e., tune the gun), I don't think many had super custom guns (except Claudio). Congrats to him of course, but it wasn't a "dominating" performance. He shot 215, there were two scores of 214, and four other score of 210 and above. To quote a phrase, he "won by a hair"... A dominating performance would have been a score of 225 give or take, when the next best scores were 214. Just my two cents of course, but it amuses me when I hear shooters talk about how the winner "dominated" the competition. ;) 
 
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The gun is only a small part of it. If you look carefully at last year's results Troy Hammer made the finals shooting a Kral and in fact after Day 1 at 75 yards was lying 4th with a score of 238. He of course had spent a lot of time modifying it but so did most of the top shooters. For example Claudio Flores's winning Brocock Bantam had the LW Polygon barrel from a Daystate Redwolf, considerably upgraded power and I am sure a few other mods. I doubt whether any of the guns, certainly in Pro Class, were stock, as you would buy them from shop.
 
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As mentioned practice practice and practice . Well perfect practice really , taking your time and timing yourself and focus on the target and wind. If you have poor form and you keep practicing as such it won’t help you. Most high end guns are capable of winning it’s the individual who is the weak link as I see it. Shooting the gun that fits you best and you have confidence with is another key variable. 

You look at the list and you have Impacts , Red Wolf , RAW, Crowns, ... on and on...take your pick...


 
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I wonder how many of the guns that made it to the finals actually were highly modified, apart from Claudio's, that is. I know that at least a few of the top ten were pretty much stock. Fredrick's gun (Impact), for example, was straight off of the shelf and he came in third. I imagine some were modified, but I don't think it is that necessary if the gun is good to begin with.
 
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