What it takes to be competitive - advice and tips

[aloreman]

Service rifle competition is about beating yourself. Show up to a match and people will hand you gear to use and help you

[Roadkingtrax]

Service rifle competition is about beating yourself.

Very true words.

I just embarrassed myself this Sunday at a full course match. I mean bad.

Out of disappointment comes learning. I learned what can happen when you lose focus, both mental and physical. I also shot my first 90 in offhand. Not all bad.

Learn from those better than you, its the journey.

[aloreman]

Good shooting brother. Somedays the wheels just fall off. You learn what you can from it and come back next time. Someday you eat bear and somedays bear eats you. Nothing in life is more humbling and rewarding as a service rifle. Kinda like dating a red headed hair dresser named tiffany. When its good. Its good. But when its bad. Woah

[Roadkingtrax]

I'll take a bad day at the range over any redheaded woman.

I'd fault the wind, but it was still. I'd fault the weather, but it was 90 and sunny. Newguy556 was there, he shot well. I was shooting an NM M1, and my eye glass lens got so scratched up from the sight hood, I could not shoot at 500 accurately.

The best I could do was correct for zeros with my sighters, which more or less paid off. So we know that was working...

[NEWGUY556]

I'll take a bad day at the range over any redheaded woman.

I'd fault the wind, but it was still. I'd fault the weather, but it was 90 and sunny. Newguy556 was there, he shot well. I was shooting an NM M1, and my eye glass lens got so scratched up from the sight hood, I could not shoot at 500 accurately.

The best I could do was correct for zeros with my sighters, which more or less paid off. So we know that was working...

Most of us that have not made it to the Mount Olympus Level have good and bad days. The less experinced you are the greater those swings can be. I felt that my performance Sunday was one of those bad days. That Broke my 3 match streak of master scores. I thought with 2 extra strings of rapids that I would really have to mess up to not shoot master and I did and didnt have great Rapid scores to bail out a bad offhand. Every one I talked to after the match had struggled at some point and no one felt that they performed to the best of thier ability.
With that said the bad days are part of the learning process. The trick is to figure out what things made the negative impact on your score and try not to let it impact it again.
It was really bright (south facing range) and we should have started at 730 those of us that went 2nd relay had it rough because it was hot by the time we started at 200. That was the first match all summer where the heat had bothered me. I was dehydrated by the time we got to 300 despite all the water I drank and i wasn't right again until I went to bed that night. There wasnt really much wind, yet no one with a service rifle shot above 193 in slow prone.
So lesson learned is that M1 you shot has a stock thats a tad too short for you we talked about that after the match. Also you could put a dab of silicone or RTV on that sight as a temp fix so that you dont scratch your lenses. Back up plan is to keep a 2nd pair of glasses within reach so that if it did happen again you could swap out without breaking your position.
For me, I need to try using my prescription sunglasses on bright days and make a new bigger blinder.
Even though both of us had struggles, it was good because those conditions will more than likely be close to what Ben Avery Will be this weekend with the exception of the sun blinding you from the other direction. Now we have a chance to prepare for it.

For the record I like Redheads and Brunettes and Blondes with long legs.

[hi-revr]

To be truthful I liked reading Greg's path to the promised land. This is a request for other guys to share their story in their own thread.

My two cents.........

1) Read every USAMU tip, Gary Anderson article, and any other tutorial source you can find. The ones that seem to strike a chord should be saved or bookmarked. You can't remember everything and as you gain experience some of the lessons will have more meaning the second or third time.

2) Outside the basics of shooting, NPA, Sight alignment, Sight picture, trigger control, and few other things, there are no absolutes. Try different things. If you make a small change and don't see improvement, try something different. Take advantage of any coaching you can get.

3) Relax, enjoy the matches, take the good with the bad. Too much pressure can make matches seem like work instead of fun.

I've had two long term Red Head girl friends. One of which could make you forget a rifle range ever existed.

[Greg Ficklin]

Went up to the club today and shot this clean with my M1. This was shot at 200 yards prone with a sling like any other CMP GSM match.
This particular M1 is my Clint Fowler 3 lug Unlimited Garand with a new Criterion .308 barrel. This rifle has had everything possible in terms of NM accurizing, so it should shoot like this, but don't think you have to have a $2000 M1 to be competitive. Which brings me to the next topic in this blog. Gear !

You can't be a competitive shooter without good gear. Your gear is everything you take to a match. Most people get into competitive shooting before they have the gear to start. People that already have a rifle suitable for CMP games matches seldom look into, or even know about the game that was created just for them. They are having so much fun sitting on their tail, measuring group sizes, and tinkering with ammo, and the thought of taking a new direction into competition would upset their world where they feel like fundamental marksmanship is below their expertise and skill level.

I'm sure that no one reading this far is in that category, but every competitive shooter was at one time an enthusiast that shot like everybody else, until everything changed. The change is a change in focus away from the rifle, and ammo to a focus on your own ability to put into practice the concepts of fundamental marksmanship to a military standard. In the military all the rifles, and ammo are the same. It's the shooter that wins or looses based on what he knows, his decisions, and application of fundamental concepts.
I have said this before, but it bears repeating. You will never lose to a better rifle in the same category, only better shooters.

With that in mind lets rundown the basic gear you absolutely need, and stuff you will want to make your journey more enjoyable. Let's face it, we love good gear and there seems to be no end to the search for things that will seemingly give us an edge.

Things you absolutely need:
1. Rifle ( Your CMP M1 is fine just as it is)
2. Ammo (more on this later)

Let's look at these two things a little closer.
1. The rifle- The rifle is the least of your worries. You don't need the best rifle to be competitive. If you have a CMP Special, or Service Grade M1, you have a rifle that can win the National JCG at Perry. Just make sure the gas plug is tight, and the rear sight has the proper tension to stay put during the match.
Don't mess around with your rifle too much. People take them apart too much, clean them too much, and blame them too much. If you are field stripping your M1 more than once a year, stop it. It loosens the fit, and wears out the trunions on the trigger guard that hold the whole thing together.

2. Ammo- There are entire books about ammo, and arguments on web forums about it. Since it is the consumable used in all shooting, it is the most debated, studied, and maligned component. Nothing shakes the confidence of a competitor more than untrusted ammo. But we have to realize that the CMP matches are only shot at 200 yards, and dispel some myths about ammo, and superstitions that cause uncertainty in it.

This is my opinion from good to absolute best in terms of match winning ammo.
- Good: HXP and Lake City ball can win any JCG match at 200 yards.
- Better: Surplus LC match ammo, and hand loaded match ammo. (The load used above for the picture was mixed .308 brass FL sized, three different primers, 42gr of Varget thrown with a RCBS uniflow, and a
155 Nozler CC bullet, COAL 3.30.)
- Best: Factory made Hornady, Black Hills, and Creedmore match 30/06. Factory match ammo is in the "best" category because it is. Factory match ammo sets the standard that all competition hand loaders aspire to copy.

[3StrikesNC]

Nice clean Greg. Good to see people such as yourself posting targets at 200 yards, versus 25. A range well within the capability of the M1.

Cleans always make one feel good, everything comes together. Shot another 300 VS clean Saturday as well, 6X, with an A4.

[Roadkingtrax]

Nice clean Greg. Good to see people such as yourself posting targets at 200 yards, versus 25. A range well within the capability of the M1.

Cleans always make one feel good, everything comes together. Shot another 300 VS clean Saturday as well, 6X, with an A4.

I shot a clean on Sat with an HRA service grade M1 at the Western Games in slow prone. No lugs, no bedding needed.

[NEWGUY556]

I shot a clean on Sat with an HRA service grade M1 at the Western Games in slow prone. No lugs, no bedding needed.

I was pulling his target and he blew the spotter out of the X ring with the last shot.
Good shooting Tim.

[fredpete2]

I read in the reloading room on facebook about 1inch groups. What they don't talk about is Lead Sleds and sandbags. I shoot HXP with a shooting glove and look at their groups with a jaundiced eye. I look forward to a cordura shooting jacket, not lots of sandbags. Different philosophy I guess.
Fred

[BuddyBGood]

Greg,once again know one says it better.You are spot on about factory ammo at the big events.When it comes down to just 30 rds for a big match for GSVMM why not use factory. The handloads to practice fundamentals of position and technique are fine.

[Chap17]

Excellent, I, for one, am very grateful.

Jess

[Mike67]

Excellent thread!

[BobSanders]

In a couple weeks, I hope to shoot my first KD range match in just over 20 years. As an aside, its a busy match weekend and I'm having trouble deciding what to shoot when, but I can do a Garand match Saturday, or XTC on Sunday. Just completed amassing a basic kit, with coat, glove, an NRA token stool, new spotting scope, stand and mat. I had much more while being fortunate enough to shoot with the Kentucky National Guard, but for some reason they want all that stuff back. Back then I was a match away from advancing out of the SS classification, I'm sure my skills have deteriorated since. So, I'm going to campaign an old Garand, and perhaps a stock 20" AR at reduced matches, and just have fun. I'm also really into the action shooting, like USPSA and 3 gun, but there is just something about scoring a 10 at 600 yards with iron sights. Wish me luck!