Thread: F-Class

Would be really keen to get into f open shooting, sadly I haven't got the 5000$ to set up a rig, and all the reloading gear and then travel to shoots during the summer months. In terms of shooting my interests lie mainly aside from hunting are in advanced reloading ,wind reading and shooting/positional techniques like the field shoots I've been to. I'd be keen to do the odd 3 and 6 at trentham for a bit of wind reading practise but in some ways I'd rather spend my hard earned dollars and get out hunting. Never really been fussed shooting target rifle class, tried small bore and shooting with a sling and jacket wasn't me, I'm not keen on the 308 either really in my opinion it's just pissing into the wind if it wasn't a nato round it wouldn't be near as popular.

From the sidelines as a few others might of said yes there may be a demise of target shooting in nz however I see little advertising or promotion to get into the sport probably to do with the country's interior politics in the nra along with a local joker here who is mad set on getting rid of trentham as a shooting facility. Obviously I'm not just going to show up to a club shoot and walk up to some random and ask if I can have a go sort of thing if clubs want shooters then maybe it's time they get off their arse and show what the great sport it is . for example the national champs at trentham this year I didn't see that many spectators and I was thinking to myself how many of these crack shot shooters have actually tipped over a deer.

But hey just my opinion as everyone does, you gotta accept people move on and maybe the sport is not meant to be. Most young guys or people getting into hunting would be more likely to get into long range or God forbid 3 gun, pistol and the like rather than shooting paper

Originally Posted by scoped

Would be really keen to get into f open shooting, sadly I haven't got the 5000$ to set up a rig, and all the reloading gear and then travel to shoots during the summer months. In terms of shooting my interests lie mainly aside from hunting are in advanced reloading ,wind reading and shooting/positional techniques like the field shoots I've been to. I'd be keen to do the odd 3 and 6 at trentham for a bit of wind reading practise but in some ways I'd rather spend my hard earned dollars and get out hunting. Never really been fussed shooting target rifle class, tried small bore and shooting with a sling and jacket wasn't me, I'm not keen on the 308 either really in my opinion it's just pissing into the wind if it wasn't a nato round it wouldn't be near as popular.

From the sidelines as a few others might of said yes there may be a demise of target shooting in nz however I see little advertising or promotion to get into the sport probably to do with the country's interior politics in the nra along with a local joker here who is mad set on getting rid of trentham as a shooting facility. Obviously I'm not just going to show up to a club shoot and walk up to some random and ask if I can have a go sort of thing if clubs want shooters then maybe it's time they get off their arse and show what the great sport it is . for example the national champs at trentham this year I didn't see that many spectators and I was thinking to myself how many of these crack shot shooters have actually tipped over a deer.

But hey just my opinion as everyone does, you gotta accept people move on and maybe the sport is not meant to be. Most young guys or people getting into hunting would be more likely to get into long range or God forbid 3 gun, pistol and the like rather than shooting paper

Two good examples of the difficulties facing the NRA. I guarantee you that if you rock up to Trentham with your hunting gun and 24 rounds of ammo (actually you may need more to get onto the target if longrange) the guys will welcome you onto the range, help you with getting onto the target and you will leave with a marked score. Because that’s exactly how I got involved I took my 308 along with its Tasco scope and approached the first person I saw they directed me to the Petone president he was helpful and arranged some one to help me and the range officer gave me a bit of a briefing. No prior contact with any of them at all. I shot 800y I didn’t care about my score I was amazed I hit the very big black bit in the middle. The only requirement for a better rig is that hunting guns despite all the shit you read here are not competitive. We can all fluke a .3moa 3 shot group occasionally. That said a heavy barrel varmint gun may do alright but the guys currently shooting would put anyone right on the thought.

If you want to gain experience with your hunting gun you can shoot it every weekend at Trentham and no one will care about your score but you. By all means join a club and have ago. You will learn heaps and meet some good people.


As for the deer remark I guess shooting animals is a relevant to them as shooting targets to most of the guys here. Each to there own.

Originally Posted by Bugger That

As for the deer remark I guess shooting animals is a relevant to them as shooting targets to most of the guys here. Each to there own.

Agreeing on this, the firearm culture in Nz is too hunting-centric, even down to the licensing process - questions about "what would you do if you were hunting on private land?" etc. There are other legitimate uses of firearms than hunting.

Originally Posted by Bugger That

That said a heavy barrel varmint gun may do alright but the guys currently shooting would put anyone right on the thought.

I started shooting F-TR in Decmeber with a Rem 700 varmint after not shooting at all for about 8 years, once I started reloading and sorted a good load for it I was reasonably competitive, 4th of 14 at Cheltenham at my last shoot

Originally Posted by Kurt

I started shooting F-TR in Decmeber with a Rem 700 varmint after not shooting at all for about 8 years, once I started reloading and sorted a good load for it I was reasonably competitive, 4th of 14 at Cheltenham at my last shoot

The interesting thing is, both Matt and Micheal have expensive top end FTR rifles. Ewan probably had the Petone club FTR also top end and @ebf correct me if Im wrong, is rocking along with an Omark gun he bought for $400 and worked on himself (plus a new barrel?), So $400 v $5000+ and showing similar scores.



I am so looking forward to September.

Originally Posted by steven

The interesting thing is, both Matt and Micheal have expensive top end FTR rifles. Ewan probably had the Petone club FTR also top end and @ebf correct me if Im wrong, is rocking along with an Omark gun he bought for $400 and worked on himself (plus a new barrel?), So $400 v $5000+ and showing similar scores.



I am so looking forward to September.

Those top 3 had a pretty good lead over the rest of us though!

Rem 700 Varmint dropped in a B&C stock on a Harris bipod and $600 scope here. I only shoot those 155gn Dyer's, because they're (I'm) cheap

Originally Posted by Kurt

Those top 3 had a pretty good lead over the rest of us though!

Rem 700 Varmint dropped in a B&C stock on a Harris bipod and $600 scope here. I only shoot those 155gn Dyer's, because they're (I'm) cheap

Selling this rifle now but in stock configuration + Badger Ordnance 20MOA rail. Will post in the For Sale section soon

Originally Posted by scoped

Obviously I'm not just going to show up to a club shoot and walk up to some random and ask if I can have a go sort of thing.

Why the hell not? There isn't a golden ticket or lucrative membership hazing.

I had the Secretary's rear bag and shooting mat and the President laying next to me reading the wind at Cheltenham during my first shoot. I brought along my $600 Marlin and factory Corelokt rounds, shooting off a Chinese bi-pod and not one shit was given. Even surprised myself with a couple of V's. Spent the rest of the afternoon chatting to F, F/tr and FO shooters, all willing to share knowledge.

Late in 2013 my (then) 14 year old said he wanted to try target shooting.
We went to a local range where I knew someone. A lot of help was offered to my son to get him started and hooked.

Once I was sure he'd continue advice was ask for and given about the next step and what might a good learner rifle - a heavy barrelled Savage Varmit rifle in 223.

Don't be afraid to approach your nearest club at your nearest range as almost all will offer you great help to get you hitting the target. After that it's up to you.

We went to the Nationals in January 2014 and received even more helpful advice from people we didn't know. Great people, very helpful.


We still get helpful advice - now it's about how to build up a FTR rifle in 308 around a Barnard action.

Originally Posted by Hades

Why the hell not? There isn't a golden ticket or lucrative membership hazing.

I had the Secretary's rear bag and shooting mat and the President laying next to me reading the wind at Cheltenham during my first shoot. I brought along my $600 Marlin and factory Corelokt rounds, shooting off a Chinese bi-pod and not one shit was given. Even surprised myself with a couple of V's. Spent the rest of the afternoon chatting to F, F/tr and FO shooters, all willing to share knowledge.

didn't mean it like that, more of a personal thing I guess especially when these are people you don't know and are all dealing with firearms! l.. I don't doubt that clubs are helpful for new shooters and stuff, its just stink that there is little publicity or more of an effort to get people into the sport. if they ran a hunter class????

at the mo I have occasional access to a farm which we can scrape 950 metres on a bit of steel, but if worst comes to worst then I would probably try trentham!

Cheltenham runs a hunters class on occasion and also invites the local DeerStalkers to stretch their legs from time to time.

Remember that the majority of the club members (from my experience) are over 50 and have not heard of or use Facetube or Youbook. Modern forms of publicity will catch up when modern people make it accessible. The old school way of finding info is to talk to someone. That would work spectacularly in this situation.