Author Archives: Finch

Fleet Week 2016

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I hauled down to Quantico Virgina for “Fleet Week” which is a week long shooting event hosted by the Navy at the USMC base there. 

I shot in a 500 agg on Monday. It was the EIC course except with sighters in each stage. It was a perfect day mid 60s and sunny. The Navy shoot straight though with just one pit change which I liked. I was in the pits first. Even with a perfect Hail Mary 12:00 scratch 5 in sitting  I managed to beat my personal best for the EIC course! 

  
Tuesday was the EIC match. It was just an awful wet morning so the Navy postponed the match untill 11 which turned out to be perfect. By the time we were ready to shoot it was sunny and in the mid sixties.

Things went well at 200 but thats where it stopped. Moving back to 300 we had a lenththy “the line is not ready” and some how I managed to knock my safety on. I figured it out but the Hail Mary from the day before was still fresh in my mind so I rushed my way into a terrible score.

I remained optimistic as I moved back to 600. EIC is like baking a cake, it’s settled untill the last shot is fired. The wind was howling and my wind call was a little off, I made what I thought was a perfect correction right into the 5 ring. I assumed the wind changed and corrected again, right off the target. It turns out the windage knobs on the VXR scope turn the opposite direction of the A2 knobs. Learned that one the hard way.

In the end no points for me but I took some lumps early in the season and hopefully I can learn from them going forward. I’ll be back next year for sure the Navy runs a good match!

Quick AAR: First Across The Course Match With Optics

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  Took my shiny new, optics equipped service rifle down to Quantico for fleet week to give it a work out.

Some quick observations. I am using the VXR 1-4 with a SPR-G reticle.

1. My zeros were 100% and my windage changes went where I expected.

2. The back berm is where it mattered the most. Today was just me vs the wind. As opposed to me vs my eyes. When the math was right the shot went where it should. Best of all after the string my eyes didn’t hurt.

2. I like the dot. There has been a lot of speculation on the right reticle. At least for me it doesn’t seem to matter. I put the green dot in the middle of the black dot and squeaze.

3. Hold off. There was some crazy shifting wind at 600 today. I was able to hold off when I could see the conditions changing.  In theory this can be done with irons but it seemed much simpler to me with optics. With the light conditions I could just make out some of the scoring rings and was able to slice up the black for windage in a pinch.

4. Seeing the spotter. This one is minor but I’ve been using the rifle scope to see my last shot instead of my Konus. Shoot #1 > load > see shot #1 > make needed changes >take shot #2 > plot shot #1. While a little goofy at first this way, I am able to use the time the target is down to plot my shot in my score book. 

Bottom line: I like it. For me it seems to make a difference and be worth any trade offs at least for now. I posted a 458/500 which is my best EIC so far, even with a Hail Mary in sitting.

Let’s see what I say after tomorrow’s match  as they are calling for rain! 

Pre-Season Practice Match at New Holland: New Personal Best 

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New Holland Rifle and Pistol Club runs a series of monthly matches they call “shoot and scoot” in the off-season. Work had caused me to miss the first couple and the February match was moved inside due to single digit temperatures. But I finally made it out to the last one this weekend.

It was a beautiful March day sunny and in the 50s.


We shot a reduced “SAFS course of fire” which is 10 rounds each stage, slow prone rapid prone, rapid sitting, off-hand. I brought the new Optics equipped A4 service rifle to give it a full work out.

I wasn’t super happy with my rapid prone or my off-hand, but when I got home and did the math, I beat my personal best by 3% which is a statistically  significant difference  from my scores last year. Of course there are a lot of things at play here so it’s not good science to say the rifle is the cause. I have been working with my SCATT trainer in the off-season and i have never shot a reduced match at this range. The lighting and conditions here are just perfect which contributed to a good score.

A little story about off-hand, My first 3 shots were in the white, a pair of 8s and a shameful 7. I took a little break, told my self to put them all in the center of the target shuffled my NPA and then some how didn’t leave the black again. Sometimes all it takes is reminding yourself to shoot the middle of the target.



Snowmageddon: 2016 Freezer Match

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I’ve been tinkering with a new optics equip service rifle for the 2016 season for around a month now. While I’ve been playing with it at the range a bit and have been dry firing with SCATT the past couple weeks, I have been anxious to finally try it out in a match.

My club, Kimberton Fish and Game,  has an annual “any rifle” freezer match in January. It’s a 40 round off-hand charity match, with a raffle, prizes, and best of all, chili.  Course of fire was 10x10x10x10 with 2 sighters and a brief break for scoring before each 20. It was a beautiful day for January. There was still over a foot of snow on the ground but it was down right warm in the high forties.

I shot about my typical off-hand posting a 356/400 and coming in 6th over all. Not so bad, however, I was hoping to do a little better with the scope and with the practice I’ve been putting in with SCATT. My shooting buddy did very well besting me by 10 points and coming in 4th with his A2. Don’t write off the A4 just yet, it’s a rare day if I beat him on our feet.

A2 vs A4

Observations on optics.

Since this was the first time on the line with this rifle I noticed a few differences. While a 4x scope does not make one a better shooter, it sure make shooting more comfortable, specifically less eye strain and a faster sight picture. With a nice clear view of the target it is much easier to see the “wobble” and call shots. Long-term this should be a valuable tool for improvement.

We brought some new shooters with us to this match. One brought his FAL and the other, a 1917. There were a few other odd rifles on the line, some good old A2s and a couple of folks trying out their A4s for the upcoming season.

A couple more practice matches and then the Eastern Games will be here soon!

Right arm chicken wing of the free world

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb: Optics in Service Rifle For 2016

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It started as a rumor at Camp Perry, then emails went out,  then official word on the website from CMP. At first there was talk of  a weight limit, now it doesn’t look like there will be a weight limit. Hopefully, we are likely a few weeks away from seeing the new rule book.

It’s time to face it, optics will be allowed in Service Rifle matches next year.

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Read CMP’s statement here:

https://thecmp.org/2016-cmp-rifle-and-pistol-rule-changes/

Note that Mark has stated that the weight limit for optic equipped rifles is no longer going be included.



Take a deep breath, it’s ok.

First things first: “why in the heck would they do that!”

My understanding is that it is driven by the military teams.  The logic seems to be that deployed Soldiers and Marines do not use iron sights.

Josh from CBI at Twentynine Palms with his ACOG equipped M16A4

The A2 has dominated the firing line at Camp Perry for almost 20 years. First accepted in 1986, the A2 is fast becoming  an “old gun” at this point. If the question is “should” CMP allow optics, well, the times are changing. From Springfields to Garands to M14s to A2s, the service rifle community has always adapted. The game is changing with the times; the line might look different but it will still be the game we love.

The skills that made a good marksmen in 1907 with a Springfield and a Campaign Hat will make a good marksmen in 2016 with a optic equipped  A4. 

It’s yet to be seen what scopes will do to scores. Things could be about the same, irons could continued to reign supreme, or scopes could break all the records. It took several years for black rifles to take hold in the XTC world. Personally I think we will see the same thing by the time the NTI comes around with a mix of irons and scopes making the cut.

My Service Rifle 2016

I can’t tell you what the right choice is. But  since I can’t change the rules I’m going to embrace them.

The equipment related rule changes that will matter most to Service Rifle shooters are optics and collapsible stocks.

Sadly as far as for the optics, it’s not as easy as just ordering a 4.5 power scope and strapping it on with your favorite tactical brand of scope mounts. Service Rifle is shot “across the course” (XTC) at 200, 300 and 600 yards. With the exception of some very high dollar scopes most 4 powers scopes have a fixed parallax which poses a challenge. 

After Camp Perry I ordered an A4 flattop upper with a MK7 rail, from White Oak Armament in anticipation of the rule change, and I needed a New Jersey legal upper if I wanted to get serious about EIC matches. I really like this upper it served me well in the late season and now is making it easy to adapt to the new rules.

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Leupold VX-R 1.25-4

I ordered a custom VX-R 1.25-4 from Leupold with the parallax set at 200 yards, this being the shortest distance shot in XTC matches. The logic being that 200 yard parallax is fairly close to infinity so the error at 600 will be minimal compared to the error a user will experience shooting a shorter distance than the scopes’ parallax.

I also selected Leupold’s M1 turrets, I picked these over the CDS turrets as they seemed easier to read and I might be more likely to notice if I missed a rotation of elevation when I moved back to 600, like I did in Maryland.

For the reticle, I went with the SPR-G which is the SPR with the green dot instead of red dot. I’m color blind so seeing red on black is a challenge for me. The SPR has a large circle and hash marks. The hash marks were my primary reason for selecting this reticle.  I also like the idea of the large circle – it might come in handy when trying to square up the target.
 SPR-G at 100 on a SR-1
For a mount I went with a DNZ “freedom reaper” one piece mount. The magic numbers for shooting prone with this scope  seem to be 1.38 or less tall  with a 3 inch over hang. Sadly there are not a lot of options for those numbers. I know some other folks are going with a riser with low rings mounted to that. I’ve had a DNZ mount on my Tikka T3 for many years and it never left me down so I will give it a shot on my service rifle.

Basics to look for in a Service Rifle Scope:

  • 200 or 300 yard parallax
  • Repeatable elevation and windage adjustments
  • 1.38″ or less height over bore mount
  • 3″ cantilever mount.

Magpul UBR Stock 

 

The new rules include language around collapsible stocks now being legal. Frankly this one might be worth waiting to see the rule book on as it not clear if “any” collapsible stock will cut it. I happened to have an extra UBR so I installed one on my Service Rifle to kick around.  As far as stocks go this one is one of the best out there. For one, it’s built like a tank, but more importantly it allows the user to adjust the length of pull while maintaining a constant cheek weld.

A full range report will follow as soon as I can stretch its legs a little. I only have a few rounds down range with the scope mounted just getting a rough 100 yard zero due to the recent weather. My initial impression is that shooting with a scope is going to at the very least be more comfortable than irons.

All in it’s around a $800 cost to upgrade your A4 to be optic equipped, more if you have an A2. Make that $1100 if you want a UBR as well.

If you are new shooter please do not be intimidated by all of this. Get a A4 with a removable carry handle or even an A2 irons will still get the job done.