Thread: practical rifle/2-gun info?

I am interested in taking my AR to practical rifle at tri-county, but I can't seem to find much information about it. I haven't done any practical long-gun competitions before, but I've been shooting IPSC/USPSA for the past 6 months. Who should I get in touch with? Is there any safety training I have to do beforehand or is it enough that I do IPSC? How much ammo should I bring? Any other tips or suggestions?

Also, if anyone knows of any 2-gun competitions around Oregon, I would definitely be interested in that as well.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by spengo

I am interested in taking my AR to practical rifle at tri-county, but I can't seem to find much information about it. I haven't done any practical long-gun competitions before, but I've been shooting IPSC/USPSA for the past 6 months. Who should I get in touch with? Is there any safety training I have to do beforehand or is it enough that I do IPSC? How much ammo should I bring? Any other tips or suggestions?

Also, if anyone knows of any 2-gun competitions around Oregon, I would definitely be interested in that as well.

Thanks!

Hi,
You should show up with your AR on the 2nd Saturday of every month except December...that month is the Night Match where no new shooters (TYROs) are allowed to participate. You'll need about 100- 150 rounds of lead-core ammo. No steel core is allowed and , if you're caught with it, you'll be DQ'd on the spot and made fun of...
You will need to bring a soft or hard rile case, a chamber flag (available when you sign up before the match for about $1) and ear and eye protection. There are usually only two categories, iron sights and optical sights.
For your first match, you'll be paired with an "experienced" shooter and he/she will help you through each of the four (usually) stages.
I usually show up with elbow and knee pads, clothing appropriate for the weather, water and lunch.
The new shooter orientation happens at about 0830 and you must attend this to shoot....bring your gear!- dont waste time by coming to observe, folks will help you out to understand the best ways to shoot a particular stage...your IPSC training will help but as they say before each match, "This isn't IPSC!"
And plan on being there from 0830 to 3 or 4PM. Sometimes they are shorter, sometimes they are longer...
Go to the TCGC website, shoot them an e-mail and see if they can locate a # for Randy Schleining- he's usually in charge of these matches.
Otherwise ping us before the November match and we'll talk you in....
Im sure some of the other wall-flowers will chime in.
Cheers,
Jorge

practical rifle is the shizzy!! Be prepared to shoot out to 300yds. I have seen some tyro's be quite unprepared for that and they had a hard time.

Sounds fun......I've got an AR that sits around too much and needs to get used more. Where are you supposed to meet in the morning...at the stat shack like for IPSC matches?

I don't think i've even shot my AR out to 300 yards so i guess i'll be in that group of frustrated folks.

What kind of gear do you need besides the rifle (and safey equipment of course)? Mainly asking about holding magazines...will just a single mag holder do the job or do you need a full on chest rig?

A single mag holder will do. Its not common to do more than one mag change. but I would have at least three mags just in case. I just stick them in my back pocket cuz I'm too cheap to buy a mag holder. I dont look as cool thoght. I wouldn't worry about the long distance that much. Its not typical but it does happen.

Originally Posted by PDXGS

Hi,
You should show up with your AR on the 2nd Saturday of every month except December...that month is the Night Match where no new shooters (TYROs) are allowed to participate. You'll need about 100- 150 rounds of lead-core ammo. No steel core is allowed and , if you're caught with it, you'll be DQ'd on the spot and made fun of...
You will need to bring a soft or hard rile case, a chamber flag (available when you sign up before the match for about $1) and ear and eye protection. There are usually only two categories, iron sights and optical sights.
For your first match, you'll be paired with an "experienced" shooter and he/she will help you through each of the four (usually) stages.
I usually show up with elbow and knee pads, clothing appropriate for the weather, water and lunch.
The new shooter orientation happens at about 0830 and you must attend this to shoot....bring your gear!- dont waste time by coming to observe, folks will help you out to understand the best ways to shoot a particular stage...your IPSC training will help but as they say before each match, "This isn't IPSC!"
And plan on being there from 0830 to 3 or 4PM. Sometimes they are shorter, sometimes they are longer...
Go to the TCGC website, shoot them an e-mail and see if they can locate a # for Randy Schleining- he's usually in charge of these matches.
Otherwise ping us before the November match and we'll talk you in....
Im sure some of the other wall-flowers will chime in.
Cheers,
Jorge

Ok thanks! The email page on http://www.tcgc.org/contactus.htm seems to be broken though.

where exactly are new shooters (or tyros it would seem) supposed to meet at? Stat shack?

any suggestions on brands of knee pads?

tyro's meet at the conex. any knee pad will do. I use home Home Depot plastic cheepo's

hey finch, what upper are you using for practical rifle? Open sights?

man i just looked at the calender and for November practical rifle and IPSC happen on the same weekend. Sounds like a fun two days.

I am going to try to be there with my 30-30

There is lots of info about this topic at AR!5.com. Go to the hometown section, then to Oregon. Under that will be a bunch of threads about practical rifle.

Well, the match is tomorrow. Hope to see some of you guys there!

Great match yesterday!

are these practical rifle matches available to non-members?

can I use a bolt action, or are they limited to semi-autos?

Is there a pistol component, or is it all rifle?

Thanks, -C

Originally Posted by speelyei

are these practical rifle matches available to non-members?

can I use a bolt action, or are they limited to semi-autos?

Is there a pistol component, or is it all rifle?

Thanks, -C

Non members are welcome.

You can use anything you want. There have been people that showed with a bolt gun, lever actions. It's actually pretty cool to see a Marlin 336 beat an AR-15 due to shooter skill.

However, due to the speed some of the courses are, most people do well with semi-autos.

I'm not sure of the limitations on caliber. Up to .308/.30-06 is okay. Beyond that into hunting calibers, I don't know. I would check beforehand if you have something else.

There is no pistol component. It is rifle only.

thanks for the quick response!

Regarding rifle power levels: Randy has said that the upper limit is the 30-06 and similar cartridges. I would imagine that the standard 8mm military load would be OK as long as the bullets are non magnetic. NO MAGNETIC AMMO OF ANY KIND IS ALLOWED AS IT RUINS TARGETS. The more powerful cartridges like the 300 win mag really beats the **** out of the targets and causes lots of expensive damage to the steel. That is the only reason I have heard for limiting the power level.

It is suggested (not required though) that you bring a knife..If there is going to be a stage requiring a knife or pistol, it is announced in advance. If you get onto the practical rifle email list, you will automatically get match announcements and match results via email.

Unlike some other types of action shooting sports, new shooters are welcomed, and are even assigned a "mentor" for the first match just to make sure there is someone there to answer questions, make sure they are safe, and to coach them through the first match.