Going F-class: Shooting rest to get?

[OrlandoProneXgun]

In Florida, wearing a jacket is killing me (sweat like a pig) & getting to old to hold sling :-( Is there a site that people discuss pros/cons of shooting rest, Fclass? I think a front rest should be able to clamp a stock. Is pressure on stock important? What you think? I am looking at the Caldwell The Rock BR Competition Front Shooting Rest. Any suggestions?

[Erud]

I'd ask over here, lots of F-Class types:

http://forum.accurateshooter.com

Make sure your credit cards are limbered up if you are going to go down that road...

Good luck,
Erik

[oldcaster]

I won the F class competition in Missouri in 2010 and I used a Harris bi pod. It was important to load the bi pod to the point where it was about to slide on the rubber mat but there was a lot more to it than that. How you load your bullets is the biggest part. You have to be laying on the ground in order to shoot the match and no one ever wore a coat or used a sling. Are you sure you are talking about F class.

[ChipEck]

When I last shot F-Class SEBs were the hot ticket. You aimed the rifle with a joy stick. At that point I had enough and moved to Bullseye, Free Pistol and 10 meter air. Wish I would have made that move decades ago.

Chip

[oldcaster]

Things must have changed. When I shot it was necessary to use either 223 or 308 and it had to be from a bi pod. Some of the older guys that didn't want to lay down shot from the bench but it didn't count in the match.

[Tim S]

You have to be laying on the ground in order to shoot the match and no one ever wore a coat or used a sling. Are you sure you are talking about F class.

I'd say he is. The OP is clearly a Prone shooter, but wants to give up the jacket and sling for a rest.

[Texdance]

The SEB rest is a fine piece of machinery, and quite beautiful. Its joystick travel seems to be designed exactly for the ARA 50-yard target where the shooter moves from bull to bull, 25 bulls plus sighters, all the while doping the wind. It works for longer distances. too, but its limit of travel means it can't cover a USAS/NRA 50 target at 50 feet - the distance is too short for the SEB. I forget if it covers the smallbore 50-meter target A-50.

The SEB NEO is the one for long distance shooters. It is wider than other rests, and claims improved joystick components, capable of balancing a heavy rifle while still using the joystick. Its extra-cost counterweight allows it to move around the heaviest rifles.

There used to be a constant waiting list for the NEO. The engineer who builds those rests has a small shop overseas, but the importer is an American in the US, and he's a great guy to work with.

[ChipEck]

Yes, the NEO is the best, but F-Class because more about an equipment race compared to shooting skills. Custom rifle with BAT action, 6mmBRX, etc., March 8 x 80 scope (because the NightForces did not have as clear or as finely adjustments). Spending hours weighting cases, turning necks, weighing each powder charge to the tenth of a grain (or hundredth in some cases), tipping bullets, etc. About all the shooter had to do was account for mirage and the wind. A number of shooters were shooting free recoil even though the rules did not allow that. At the end everyone was shooting perfect scores and matches were determined by X counts. They were reducing the size of the target scoring rings when I left.

Compare that to air pistol, free pistol or bullseye. Yes, in bullseye you have to load your own rounds but I doubt anyone weights each and every charge. All three of these pistol disciplines require many, MANY hours of practice and it is the technique and the ability to execute each shot exactly the same that determines the winners. Great equipment is helpful, but great equipment will not determine the outcome of a pistol match.

Chip

[atomicbrh]

OrlandoProneXgun,
You may not think so but this is what you seek:
www.steelchickens.com
Not an equipment race. Standing unsupported. Wind and conditions are a major part of the game.
No coat. No sling. No gloves. Regulations limit the simple vest that competitors are allowed to wear.
It is the off-season but check the coming events section in the NRA publication Shooting Sports USA for matches near you.
You will like the people and love the game if you ever try it.