Service Rifle Accessories

[TJ Kackowski]

I'm all for sticking it to the man, but not the mouse ... NEVER the mouse ... but was truly intrigued by the recent WTB semi-thread on this topic. I was hoping those of you who actually shoot this sort of competition will continue to enlighten those of us who haven't (yet) jumped into this sort of shooting. To get things started, here's a quote from jrh84 that provided an initial summary ...

What Nate said. The spotting scope is more used for keeping an eye on mirage than for scoring.

Midway will have their competition mat on sale a few times a year for like $30. It's worth it.

I like my Konus 15-60x80 spotter. It works for what I use it for. I wouldn't judge anyone for spending the extra money on a Kowa or nice Vortex though.

I spent almost 2X as much on a gearbuggy stand from Wayne McLeod than I did on the scope. It's the Rolls Royce of stands. Can't recommend it enough.

There are good ones to be had for $150-200 though...
Scope Stands - Holub Machine & Repair, LLC
https://chippewafoundry.com/new-products/spotting-scope-stand

I use the Creedmoor full finger glove. It's the same thing the CMP sells, just a different logo. It's good for a season or two of matches and dry fire. Monard and Anschutz have the high end of the market. I have no experience with them, but I'm sure they make good stuff.

Eric Hollis is the go-to for 1907 slings these days. Good dude, and an active high power competitor himself. A plain jane web sling gets the job done, though. Many of the other makers churn out good stuff too. Jack Jones, Turner, Les Tam, etc.

I use a Foldit cart that the wife got me for Christmas. If I had to do it again, I'd get a proper high power cart. The fold it works, but its not ideal.

What else ya looking for?

Thanks in advance for your insights.

 

[drm-hp]

Another option for slings is Ron Brown.
https://www.servicerifleslings.com/home.html

The Creedmoor cart is expensive for a dedicated piece of equipment but it works as advertised.

The spotting scope is more for condition changes than shot record.

Don't forget good boots and a coat of some sort. I have two hats. 1st is wide brim for most of the time to keep sun off face and neck, 2nd for shooting.

This is just stuff, as JRH84 originally posted he and I are listing stuff. Take that rifle out and shoot it!
Practice offhand, sitting, and prone. Take a shooter with you the first couple of times if you can. I practice offhand every other day if possible, sitting biweekly, at home dryfire. Prone at the range when I can.
Barrels are cheap, shoot it out if possible, 2500-4000 rounds of accurate fire then a new barrel.

Good luck, be safe, and have fun.

 

[rosejm]

This is just stuff, as JRH84 originally posted he and I are listing stuff. Take that rifle out and shoot it!
Practice offhand, sitting, and prone. Take a shooter with you the first couple of times if you can. I practice offhand every other day if possible, sitting biweekly, at home dryfire. Prone at the range when I can.

Here's the nugget

And my
Until you're shooting 2-3 MOA, with your rifle/sling/ammo, everything else is just crap to slow you down and make you tired (weather appropriate clothing excepted).

Practice your marksmanship, practice those positions.
Practice the transition to those positions.
-- even if you don't plan for that in your CoF. Assuming an expedient shooting position is part of a Rifleman's toolbox.
Practice shooting YOUR target among many from those positions (happens more than we might admit).



Then, until you're shooting ~1 MOA with your rifle/sling/ammo: all that crap is just there to slow you down, make you tired, distract you & give you excuses.

...so maybe not entirely useless (purple? not purple)

 

[Gabriel]

Barrels are cheap, shoot it out if possible, 2500-4000 rounds of accurate fire then a new barrel.

If I throw in a bunch of inaccurate fire, will I get longer life out of my barrel?

 

[76Too]

I'm just starting with service rifle this year, but already had quite a bit of the 'needs' from shooting CMP matches at local clubs. The only thing I didn't really have that fit the bill was a serious rifle/scope combo.

Keep your ear to the ground for deals on that and other stuff, and keep your eye out on USRIFLETEAMS 'shooting related gear' section. It's basically all match shooters getting into and out of the hobby. I scored 48lbs of powder for just over $1000 recently from a guy up in Fort Wayne that 'did what he wanted to do in the sport' and then got into something else (bullseye pistol).

For the time being, I bought a white oak armament flat top upper and will just use one of my existing lowers to get the job done for now. Next is an optic, and my stomach is already churning thinking about how many weeks of pay are going to go down the drain when I finally make a decision on that one.

FTR though, I've already made an educated decision that i'm getting into service rifle because it's 'the next step up' from what I've already done...not just going in willy nilly to blow all my dough on a bunch of crap i'll never use for anything else.

Have you joined CIHPRS yet? I haven't shot a match with them yet because of the cooties, but i'm really looking forward to my first one!

 

[jrh84]

Agree with pretty much everything said here so far. Dryfire and practice will do more for your score than any gadget or gizmo.

I will say this on equipment...get primo stuff if your budget allows. It's not wasted money. That being said, service rifle in particular is MUCH more about the shooter and his/her skill than equipment.

I made it a point to stick with the same setup I started with while I was chasing points toward the Distinguished Rifleman badge. That original equipment list was:
-Rock River Predator 20" that I changed the handguard to an A2 float tube. Had a bunch of rounds on it when I started shooting HP with it.
-A2 stock
-RRA 2 stage NM trigger
-Web sling
-Vortex Viper PST 1-4X scope in a Vortex cantilever mount
-Sierra 69gr Matchkings for 200 and 300 yards, Sierra 80 gr Matchkings for 600 yards, Prcessed LC brass, CCI #41 primers, Varget
-Lee single stage less, Lee dies, RCBS Chargemaster powder dispenser
-Midway USA mat
-Creedmoor full finger glove
-Creedmoor hardback Cordura coat
-Foldit cart
-Konus 15-60X80 spotting scope
-Freeland 5/8" stand

Here's what I changed prior to earning my last leg points at Perry last year:
-Eric Hollis 1907 sling, 54" I believe
-Geissele HSNM trigger. I resisted this move for a while, but I have to begrudgingly say it's worth every penny so far.
-Gearbuggy scope stand

Here's what I changed since then:
-New White Oak button barrel
-Athlon 1-4.5X service rifle scope
-RCBS Summit press and RCBS Gold Medal seater die. Still using the Lee full length sizing die

I really like the PST scope, but I kept feeling like having 1/4 moa clicks might be worth an X or two. It's yet to be seen if that shows up on the score card yet.

I say all this to hopefully help someone see that it doesn't take $5000 worth of gear to get started. You can have a LOT of success in this sport with "entry level" gear. The Kowa/Nightforce/Redding/Berger level of gear is great...I cant say it's not worth it because I dont own any of it, but I can say that none of it is necessary to shoot cleans at every yardline. Hard work, practice, and mental toughness are what puts 10's and X's on the scorecard.

Conrad Powers even had Illinois team shirts made up that say "Mental focus, not equipment focus pocus" or something similar. There's a lot to that.