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N50 early attempts

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Franklink

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Sep 3, 2017
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First off, I'm not a benchrest shooter, but was curious to see how me and the gun could do so shot 4 cards all in the same setting at the field target match over in NM last month. It was a little after lunch so was needing to account for some wind. 8300 feet above sea level, temps were in the low 80s. 

Shot with my Vet Long in .22, here's the story on the gun.....https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/veteran-long-22-rebarrel/

SWFA 20x scope, used the magazines and FX branded 25.4gr Monster RDs, straight from the tin. Used the gray plastic folding table the gun is sitting on in the below pics. Chinese copy bipod up front and home-made rear bag. 50 yards. Pellets only going about 850fps for roughly 40 fpe. 

Had some fun with the lighting and these pics. 

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Right after shooting this a few weeks ago I scored it with a .22 pellet and got a 239 (score for each shot when plugged this way are in upper right of boxes). In discussion a shooting buddy told me I'd gain a few if I scored it with a plug and just hadn't gotten around to it til tonight. Using a 30.06 bullet (0.308) I'm coming up with a 244 (score for each shot when plugged this was are in bottom right of boxes) and dunno how many X's. That danged six was an outright flyer, even a few weeks later I remember watching that one veer off in the scope. Even a nine on that shot and I'd be looking at a 247. 

The other 3 N50s that I shot I only scored with .22 pellet as a plug and they were in the 225-235 range. 

Not amazing, but I'm pretty pleased considering the equipment handicaps I was working with. 

Fun game. Hoping to shoot some more when I have the time. 

Mike N deserves a "thank you" for coming up with another challenging and rewarding shooting game. (thanks Mike). 
 
Those are scores that would be competitive. I think on average the pellet plug (.350” base) adds 7 points over the .224 plug.

You can look at the submitted match scores from those participating on the N50 site and get an idea of where you stand. I think Phoenix is shooting 2 N50 matches per month at Rio Salado if you care to try it out in a match setting. Good guys over there…I’m sure you would have fun.


http://national50.org/results/

Mike 
 
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Good shooting! I'm struggling to shoot competitive score's with my .22 RW right now. I honestly believe I'm better shooting my .177 (It's much more consistent) We will see in the next couple Wks.?
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Thank you sir. Honestly speaks more to the machinists barrel prep skills than my shooting ability. My 8 year old son shot a 221 (plugged with .22 pellet also so probably more like a high 220s/low 230s) with the same gun/setup right after I shot the 4 cards. 

Some of the best long range high power pellet shooting I've witnessed has been done with .22 Red Wolfs so I bet the magic is in yours too, maybe something simple like a less than optimal pellet batch is responsible for the struggle you mention. Of course the .22 Red Wolfs I mention are owned and shot by the same Daystate (and general airgun/barrel master) guru that machined my barrel for this Veteran, so there is a common denominator there for sure.
 
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Frank, good shooting with the Vet!

I shot these this morning at my local outdoor range. First time shooting the N50 cards with my Taipan .25 Long. I did not use flags, but I should have of course. I know Mike N is watching me and he is right. Had no excuses, but it was hot and some friends were at the other benches anxious to shoot. I knew it would be difficult, but I was a bit disappointed with the results even w/o the flags. I was hoping to land (2) cards in the mid/high 230's. Next time I will try flags, but not sure I can get there either. 

In any case, I was experimenting with the 33g FX branded .25 cal pellets at 875 FPS. Shot a few Chrono strings at 30 yards and moved out to 50 yards. I know there was a tail wind and it varied from 1-4 or 5 mph at times on Kestrel at the bench. Had some good wind reads at times, but was blind without the flags and it bit me as expected.

Wanted to add that the Taipan ( for me ) is much more difficult to shoot at 50 yards accurately than with my two long rifles; RAW HM1000x .22 HP with Poly barrel and Red Wolf Safari .22 HP with ART barrel. There is no comparison vs. the Taipan at 50 yards, and I have shot in the low to mid 240's with the Safari and posted those results in NRL22 categories. 

I doubt if there will be many shooting the Taipans at the upcoming National Benchrest N50 match in September. It's a great gun for all of the well documented reasons, but from the bench at 50 yards hard to compare with the accuracy of the RAW or Safari. (YMMV ) 



IMG_3495.1628703212.jpg




Here is a couple of cards with the Safari

IMG_3247.1628704102.jpg




IMG_3470.1628704324.jpg

 
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Good shooting, Cole!

Did you use flags?

I'm fairly convinced it's my plastic table that's destroys my BR scores. When I lean forward to position the rifle it weights the table about 2" then if I'm not super careful I'll forget to stay down on the gun so not following through.
Click to expand...

Yeah Steve, those 244 and 239 at 100Y really sucked. You should try harder!!! ;) Stupid table!!!
 
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Good shooting, Cole!

Did you use flags?

I'm fairly convinced it's my plastic table that's destroys my BR scores. When I lean forward to position the rifle it weights the table about 2" then if I'm not super careful I'll forget to stay down on the gun so not following through.

Click to expand...

Thank Steve. No, no flags. But did this on the little personal silhouette/field target practice area that I always set up for myself at these camping/shooting weekends. So I had a couple sessions of shooting right there and felt like I had a good handle on what the wind was doing. I was shooting towards where Barry always camps (he wasn't there that weekend). And it was switching to quarter in from about 2oclock and away from me at about 7 o clock, mostly. Pellet path was about the same angle as where we set up the silhouette course, so roughly parallel to silhouette course but about 80 yards? northeast of silhouette area. The best score of the 4 N50s was the 2nd one, sequentially. 

100% agree on the plastic table stability issue. Great for convenience and portability, but, in the stability area, they are less than optimal. I've been wanting to do a comparison between prone and the plastic table and see if prone would improve scores. Which leads me to a question: if anything goes as far as rifle supports (mechanical rifle supports butt-less stocks and concrete benches in place at official ranges, etc) could a guy shoot prone at an official match? I've not got enough experience in the paper shooting game to know if that would even be an advantage, but in the competitive airgunning world, where any and all advantages not explicitly outlawed in the rules are not only allowed but often viewed as "innovative" well.........how much stink eye would a guy get if he showed up and shot from a new position (prone in this case) and perhaps won? (I'm a long ways from winning any official N50 matches and don't have time to add another shooting competition anyway, but mostly curious from a theoretical standpoint). 
 
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Good shooting, Cole!

Did you use flags?

I'm fairly convinced it's my plastic table that's destroys my BR scores. When I lean forward to position the rifle it weights the table about 2" then if I'm not super careful I'll forget to stay down on the gun so not following through.
Click to expand...

Yeah Steve, those 244 and 239 at 100Y really sucked. You should try harder!!! ;) Stupid table!!!
Click to expand...

Steve

CC got you good there. We should all try your table!😀
 
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I don’t think anyone would care if someone shot prone. If they won, good for them.

BR is not supposed to be a contest decided by steadiness. Steadiness is assumed. If your setup is not steady or requires a fair amount of your attention to be steady….you don’t have the right equipment.


Mike
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Thanks Mike, was just curious. 

Do you have any experience or conjecture to the thought that a pellet traveling that much closer to the ground could potentially have it traveling through less wind? Or would it be MORE turbulent down that close to the ground? (In my mind I've got a slug fired from prone position leaving the muzzle around a foot above the ground.....although, if target level is waist high? than it would have to rise up through various horizontal laminar layers as it went down range vs a benchfired projectile starting and ending at about the same height). 
 
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I don’t think anyone would care if someone shot prone. If they won, good for them.

BR is not supposed to be a contest decided by steadiness. Steadiness is assumed. If your setup is not steady or requires a fair amount of your attention to be steady….you don’t have the right equipment.

Yep in my case a concrete bench would be awesome!
Click to expand...
 
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Good shooting, Cole!

Did you use flags?

I'm fairly convinced it's my plastic table that's destroys my BR scores. When I lean forward to position the rifle it weights the table about 2" then if I'm not super careful I'll forget to stay down on the gun so not following through.
Click to expand...

Yeah Steve, those 244 and 239 at 100Y really sucked. You should try harder!!! ;) Stupid table!!!
Click to expand...

Steve

CC got you good there. We should all try your table!😀
Click to expand...

Haha, yes he did!

But I still think I could have done better by a few points with a nice bench.
 
Upvote 0
Good shooting, Cole!

Did you use flags?

I'm fairly convinced it's my plastic table that's destroys my BR scores. When I lean forward to position the rifle it weights the table about 2" then if I'm not super careful I'll forget to stay down on the gun so not following through.

Click to expand...

Thank Steve. No, no flags. But did this on the little personal silhouette/field target practice area that I always set up for myself at these camping/shooting weekends. So I had a couple sessions of shooting right there and felt like I had a good handle on what the wind was doing. I was shooting towards where Barry always camps (he wasn't there that weekend). And it was switching to quarter in from about 2oclock and away from me at about 7 o clock, mostly. Pellet path was about the same angle as where we set up the silhouette course, so roughly parallel to silhouette course but about 80 yards? northeast of silhouette area. The best score of the 4 N50s was the 2nd one, sequentially. 

100% agree on the plastic table stability issue. Great for convenience and portability, but, in the stability area, they are less than optimal. I've been wanting to do a comparison between prone and the plastic table and see if prone would improve scores. Which leads me to a question: if anything goes as far as rifle supports (mechanical rifle supports butt-less stocks and concrete benches in place at official ranges, etc) could a guy shoot prone at an official match? I've not got enough experience in the paper shooting game to know if that would even be an advantage, but in the competitive airgunning world, where any and all advantages not explicitly outlawed in the rules are not only allowed but often viewed as "innovative" well.........how much stink eye would a guy get if he showed up and shot from a new position (prone in this case) and perhaps won? (I'm a long ways from winning any official N50 matches and don't have time to add another shooting competition anyway, but mostly curious from a theoretical standpoint).
Click to expand...

Next time try some flags and from prone. I bet you'll see improvement.

I'm not familiar with the rules for shooting prone at a BR match but I think the match director present that day would be the one to decide if prone was allowed or not??? 
 
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I love these small tangent's that spring off from original topics because it brings me back to to things I've never thought of or things I've theorized and tried over the years! I had a table that was not very stable, This is what I tried about 2yrs ago, I put down a 2x3 sheet of 3/4" plywood put my farley rest and rear bag on it. ( similar to F-class shooters ) I didn't do it to test wind influences at low proximities to the ground just stability. That stability made a difference in my groups but struggled with getting comfortable behind the gun! so immediately canceled this as a match shooting style, even if it was allowed? 
 
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