Posted on 05/20/2002 4:53:14 PM PDT by CapandBall
Following Free Republic's successful & fun first postal match (How about a Freeper Postal Match?) for pistols, I'm sponsoring a rifle match. A "postal match" is conducted by mail, hence the name "postal" and should not be confused with a contest that involves shooting up your co-workers in a rage.
Shooters in different parts of the country compete against each other in a contest of marksmanship. Shooters are mailed numbered targets which they shoot. The targets are returned via the mail (hence "postal") and scored. Obviously, the honor system comes into play here.
The rules (up to this point) for this match are as follows:
1> A rimfire and a centerfire rifle are required. You will need 30 rounds for each weapon.
2> Iron sights only. No scopes, red-dots, lasers, etc.
3> Diatance is 100 yards.
4> Ten shots each position; standing, sitting, and prone for each type of rifle.
5> Ten minutes for ten shots, each position.
6> The following are not allowed:
...a> match rifles
...b> match ammo
...b> use of spotting scopes between shots
...c> compitition type "cuffed" slings
...d> shooting jackest
You can see the result of the First Freeper Postal Match here: First Freeper Postal Match Results!
There are 6 targets total, all type SR-21, that you will receive in the mail. We have 8 confirmed for this match so far, and need 7 more to fill it out, 15 total. To date I have snail mail addresses for:
Shooter 2.5
NY.SS-Bar9
ctdonath2
umgud
KG9 Kid
chookter
M1911
CapandBall
Freep mail me with a mailing address if you are interested. We had some problems using regular mail in the last match, so I'll probley use priority mail. First come first serve.
It makes me wonder how many of these old .22 rifles are still out there. I wish I knew what kind of .22's I used in the Boy Scouts back in 1963. I think there was one where I had to pull a knob at the back of the receiver to cock the firing pin.
About this rock throwing contest, are we going to allow river rocks? I dont think we should allow competition rock throwing gloves if we do ;^)
Doc says my vision will probably be OK, but I have to go to opthamalogist Monday. I think I remember being able to see thru the blood, but I can't remember for sure. My big hurt now is that it is impossible to keep the eyelid or the eyeball from moving around, even with the patch.
When I set up this morning and started to sight in the Nagant, I fired several shots and never hit paper. I couldn't believe this. So I set up a 25 yd target and fired two shots. I missed the target on the first shot, and when I took the second, the muzzle brake blew apart. It landed about 20 yards away and according to my boy, almost hit the target. This unit slides on the end of the barrel and makes one turn behind the front sight and is then held in place via an allen screw. I checked this morning to see that it was tight. Looking at it now, it appears it was somehow out of line, which threw off my aim. The last bullit must have really grabbed it.
If (and I'll let you know) I recover in time, I'll borrow another centerfire and try to shoot the match. All my others have scopes only, except for my 45-70 levergun, which ain't real accurate at 100 yds. I thought I read that a few others were sooting Nagants. If so, they might want to go sans muzzle brakes.
Seriously, I am praying for your full & swift recovery. Take it easy and don't sweat this shoot, there will be others.
You're one tough guy to be able to let us know like this and still think about the match. Thank you for letting us know and please keep us informed about your progress.
Last match, I removed my safety glasses for the second string of the 600 prone. Sweat was in my eyes, I was tired, and was having trouble getting a proper sight picture.
Never again.
But - how did it go? above or below your average? And of course, what did you shoot with, I cant remember if you already said what you would be using. How was it without using any "gear" (scope, jacket, etc.)?
I used a Bushmaster AR15 and South African Milsurp ammo. The .22 is an old (as in 1940's) Remington "scoremaster". Don't let the name mislead you. It is a very simple, light barreled gun with open sights. I'll be lucky to hit paper at 100.
The really tough part is going to be shooting the .22 without using a sling in the sitting and prone position. There is no provision for one on the gun, and I'm not inclined to drill holes in the stock.
Tell you what, 100 yards is a "fair piece" to shoot non-match .22's! I don't know whether I have ever shot a .22 at that distance before, most of the time sticking to 50 yds. or less.
Even though I barely beat chookter offhand in the rimfire portion, he shot much better than me in both sitting and prone. In fact, I would be surprised if anyone (adhering to the rules) beats his prone score, since it was an 87. This was a very impressive target.
He is no slouch either with the .308, and fired an L1A battle rifle with no sling using mil surplus ammo right out of a battle pack. It was fun to watch.
We had a good time, and I will need to go out either some evening or possibly on the 4th to finish up. At least I know what I am up against.
Good luck to everyone, if nothing else, you will have fun and learn a thing or two.
I go out to do the rimfire segment of the match, I am in a bit of a hurry so I set the targets out at two positions.
Position one has a sighting target, and the offhand - two has sitting and prone. My plan - sight the rifle off the bench with the scope on the first target, and fire the rest of the match without stopping to look.
Good plan, right?
Well if I was shooting a target rifle with peep sights front and rear, my plan would have worked.
The .22 I was using had very simple open sights. So simple, that my sight alignment varied from position to position.
Net result - a very tight group (on one target at least) all centered on the "Clark Brothers" in the upper right corner of the paper!
I did much better with the centerfire but my name won't be appearing on the leaderboard here.
I've still yet to shoot, I think I'll be doing it at after my monthly HP match, first weekend in July.
I know shooting the rimfire is going to be a doozy. I've even got a sling on my 22, but doubt I'll score much over 50 on the standing.
Have a good one.
I'm sending my targets in tomorrow.
Did you find the info. on your source for the L1A1s?
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