Thread: My mate has bought a Service Rifle, bugger!

Originally Posted by 00buck

Horses for courses- study the rules, they vary widely for most clubs who run casual/fun service shoots. My ex club allowed in the end sported rifles as long as they didnt have aftermarket stocks, sights etc. That immediately bought a lot more shooters out to play. No disadvantage to the more serious shooters who had set up their full wood rifles properly. Ammo rules were also relaxed to allow for reloads as milsurp ammo was getting much harder to get. A top shooter ran no4 with 123gr pulled 7.62x39 pils in lighter loads. I hammered away with 174 gr hornady in full house loads- 2-1/4" groups from prone at 100. Was some really accurate swedes there but I won quite a few shoots, the key was fitness and flexibility to adopt steady positional shooting, eyesight (get some good glasses sorted) and the big one- practice! In casual and competition shoots it was the guys that actually practiced shooting standing and kneeling on range days that always did well. Get a no4, suss the sights, find a load that is economical for practice, come up trumps!

Ok thanks for the advice. I suspect any decent rifle will be able to shoot better than me. I would certainly be keen to shoot my own reloads so if there is flexibility there then I'll be happy. Have downloaded the rules this morning.

Finally I am likely not a national level competitor, just local Club. So yeah, probably a bit more relaxed.