My first 1000 yard tournament

[BradH]

Went to Little Rock, AR last weekend for a two day 1000 yard tournament at Camp Robinson. Managed to squeak out a win both Saturday and Sunday. Being the only one with a stock rifle, Savage Model 12 F/TR, while the others were shooting flashy custom guns made the win even sweeter. http://www.jeffersoncountygunclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/HPLR-RSL-Aug-2013.pdf

Prior to last weekend I'd shot a 600 yard match and placed second with the Savage in Oklahoma City and shot two other 600 yard matches with a 20" barrel Remington 700 in OKC and Tulsa. The Savage has improved my scores significantly.

I'm pretty new to handloading as well, the load I used last weekend is as follows:
155.5 Berger bullets
New Lapua brass
46.8 grains Varget
Federal 210 primers
Bullet seated 0.025" off lands

I'd like to thank the following Savage F/TR team members for publicly sharing information. Monty Milanuk has been very generous with his knowledge on this and other forums. I've also picked up valuable information from forum posts and articles by Darrell Buell and Stan Pate.

[thomae]

Brad,
As you are a relatively new member of the forum, I'd like to offer you a welcome.

Congratulations on your good shooting.

I think you will like this forum. Lots of helpful folks are here willing to help you out (as you have already discovered). I have had good dealings with Monty Milanuk through this forum and he has been very helpful.


Please take a minute to familiarize yourself with the standing rules of the forum. Most of them are here:
http://www.savageshooters.com/showthread.php?24732-User-Agreement


As you have already figured out, many of the questions you may have (either now or in the future) may already have been answered, so please try searching for answers. If you don't find what you need, please don't hesitate to ask in the appropriate section of the forum.

In general, you usually aren't the first person to not know something or to have a specific issue. We've all been there at one time or another and are happy to help you learn from OUR mistakes instead of making your own.

- We also look forward to learning from YOUR experiences.


Again, welcome. Keep 'em in the X-ring!

[rdog52]

Great shooting, Brad. Congratulations!

[stangfish]

I followed my Daughter through 25 states playing softball. The word tournament slipped my lips many times when reffering to matches.

[seanhagerty]

Congrats on your great shooting. It is satisfying to shoot well with your own ammo.

[BradH]

Stangfish, I've not been around long enough to completely understand all the terms. That's why I used the same verbiage the match organizer used. The word tournament is also used in the NRA High Power Rules when referring to "A series of matches covered by an Official Program"

[BradH]

Thanks for the congratulations. As I mentioned, finding valuable information on this and other forums steepened the learning curve. Firing about 700 rounds through my Savage, testing loads and practicing, over the last two months helped as well.

[JCalhoun]

Brad,

Congrats man! Now you're hooked.

Hitting an X ring at 1000y was the worst thing that could have happened to me. ;)

[BradH]

Yes, I'm hooked.

Shot a 600 yard match in Oklahoma City today and missed winning by one point with an aggregate score of 580-17X. There were ten of us in the TR class and the guy who beat me was shooting a Savage F/TR as well.

Based on what I've seen the stock Savage F/TR's shoot as well or better than the flashy custom rifles.

[jsthntn247]

Brad, that is some awesome shooting for your first couple matches. What kind of groups are you getting at 300 during load development? I only ask because I am having trouble getting the bergers to shoot in my rifle.

[BradH]

I do load development at 500 yards. Here's the target used for the load posted above, due to wind I used vertical dispersion to determine accuracy. The vertical measurements for the two 46.8 grain groups were 1.39 and 1.16 inches. Overall measurement for the 1.39" vertical group, which was shot before the wind cranked up, is 0.376 MOA.

Edit:
Tried to insert the image but it didn't work, here's the link

http://s386.photobucket.com/user/BradCJ/media/P1010011.jpg.html

[Delaware_Ken]

Hey Boys and Girls,

Don't overlook that Savage F/TR in 223 either. Under ideal conditions I've embarassed a few of the big bad 308's, and a few of the Open shooters as well. Now when the wind picks up, I'll be the first to admit it's a different story. But under good conditions, it will flat out shoot!!!!!!

Ken