2016 Vegas Precision Rifle Challenge

The 6.5 Guys had the opportunity to compete in the 2016 Vegas Precision Rifle Challenge hosted by Sin City Precision. Having filmed the prior year’s event, actually competing provided us with valuable lessons learned which we look forward to sharing with our audience.

Before we launch into the details, we want to give a big shout out to Tyler Frehner and Jose Bonilla who were the key organizers. We also want to thank the range officers who were all volunteers and chose to spend their weekend facilitating the match. Nothing would be possible without the sponsors so please be sure to patronize them. Finally, we want to thank Nellis AFB for allowing us to use their facility.  You can find the full list of sponsors, stage by stage descriptions and other useful information in the 2016 VPRC Booklet. Match results can be found here.

We recommend that you have the match booklet open as you read the article and watch the video. Following are stages where we have observations regarding technique and what we can do to improve:

6-2 Mystery Safari

This stage provided an unanticipated challenge for the left hand shooter as Ed has to place his body slightly uphill. Leaning down and into the rifle made recoil control and target acquisition unexpectedly challenging so this is something we need to practice. There was also a very small popper target which gave the illusion of a high miss while in reality the misses were to the side. Instead of trusting his gear and dope, Ed decided to hold low which made the target even more difficult to hit. In situations like this, especially when the yardage is verified, don’t freak out and start making gross adjustments.

6-1 Pull Your Weight, Dammit!

This stage required both strong and weak side shooting. While Steve didn’t have any issues getting a good sight picture, he did short stroke the bolt leading to a mis-feed. We can’t emphasize the importance of practicing weak side. Routine functions like bolt manipulation can be compromised when shooting weak side so take your time to make sure the bolt is coming all the way back – this can be a challenge as your hand comes very close to your face. Also, nobody’s face is totally symmetrical so you might want to lower your cheek piece slightly if you are having trouble getting a good site picture when shooting weak side (this is something Ed struggled with in a recent match). In a stage that requires moving something, look for opportunities to be as efficient as possible in your movements.

7-1 Mile High Club

Ed’s unfamiliarity with equipment really hurt him on this stage. With many scopes featuring 10 mils per revolution turrets, rarely do you have to go much beyond one revolution. Since we had to shoot targets out to a mile, Ed had to go beyond two revolutions and since he was not familiar with the revolution indicator on his scope he quickly got lost. If you have a revolution indicator on your scope, crank that turret all the way out and get familiar with it!

If you have to go first on a stage, which was Ed’s situation, take your time to get ready. While RO’s want to move shooters through at a reasonable pace, they will understand the need for you to get ready. If you are a newer shooter, don’t be shy about asking for more time. The RO’s and your squad mates will accommodate you. If you’re really in a bad spot, one of the more experienced shooters will likely volunteer to go ahead of you.

7-3 Speed Goats from Hell

With all our practice shooting from barricades, we were surprised how poorly we both did. When we built our barricades over two years ago, we utilized old world craftsmanship to produce a barricade that would survive a nuclear blast. Unfortunately, the barricades that we have encountered at matches tend to be made from plywood and have quite a bit of wobble.  While we were used to leaning into a barricade, the wobbly plywood variety require that you pull them into you. As our practice barricades are made with 2×4 construction we also have the option of balancing the rifle – something that is very difficult (and some would say impractical) when shooting from a plywood barricade. The successful shooters on this stage utilized a sling similar to the technique that we discuss here.

If you are looking to build a barricade, we suggest you utilize the plans outlined for the PRS Skills Stages (see Appendix V). Each PRS match will be incorporating these skills stages, some using standardized barricade designs, so it only makes sense to incorporate them into your practice.

1-1 Go home Leeroy, you’re drunk!

Similar to stage 6-1, it pays to think about how you are going to utilize props. In this stage, a number of shooters dragged “Leroy” to the shoot house and stood on him. This made for a more stable platform.

On the plus side, we both used seated positions in the shoot house while a number of shooters opted to stand. Our seated position involves placing two bags in our lap and is very stable. It has become a go to position for us especially when we have to get high enough to clear obstacles. While we used two bags on this stage, many matches are adopting a “one bag” or “no bag” rule. Knowing that we will run into such a restriction down the road, we plan to practice our seated and high prone positions using only one bag and no bag.

1-2 Up Yours!

This stage represents some of the creativity one can encounter during a match. In this case, shots had to be fired from a ladder. After discussing this stage with other shooters, some strategically rushed their shots from the ladder in order to get to the following (and more stable) prone position. This is where we could use some help from the audience: Is there a good technique while shooting from a ladder? Or is shooting from a ladder one of those “throw away” positions where you are better off using your time elsewhere?

2-1 Take a poke!

We both did quite well on this stage which gave us confidence that our dope was spot on. This stage was shot when there was hardly any wind so it was more of a test of fundamentals and equipment. Steve fired extra rounds at two of the targets which cost him some points, and it illustrates the importance of counting your rounds. It’s really easy to get into a zen like stage and keep the rounds flying. If you are allowed four rounds on a target, trying counting one, two, three, four as you fire your shots.

In order to more easily identify targets, we’ve started to note terrain features associated with each target. It’s easy to find a target when the RO points it out, but very difficult unless you note its context within the landscape. This is particularly important if you can’t see the target with the naked eye – instead you can crank down the power, look over your scope, point the rifle to the terrain feature and more often than not you will find the target in your scope.

We were required to shoot from the concrete and the Tactical Supply Talons did a very good job. They are made from aluminum and the softer metal doesn’t skip around on the concrete. If you decide to order a pair, please tell them the 6.5 Guys sent you.

2-2 Around the World

Another stage requiring weak side, fortunately it was from the prone position. This stage presented some unique challenges as the shooter had to rest their rifle on the top of each leg of the tank trap. If you were a bit on the taller side, you could do a reverse kneeling for a decently stable position – for others this proved very difficult.

2-3 Swivel Me This…

During this stage, shooters got to try an innovative piece of kit by Kopfjager Industries. Despite the advice of RO’s to play around with the Reaper Grip ahead of time, not every shooter took their advice. If there is any lesson to take away from this stage, when an RO tells you to get familiar with a piece of equipment do it! Most of the time, you don’t get the heads up.

3-1 PRS Skill Stage 2

This was pretty much a wash, rinse and repeat of stage 7-3 and a disastrous stage for both of us. The “Skills Stages” will start to appear not only at PRS matches, but also club matches. Read the PRS rules book and by all means invest some time mastering the PRS Skills Stages.

Ed tried to balance the rifle and it really didn’t work out that well. If he could shoot this stage again, he would use the “one leg up one leg down” method utilizing the bipod. That technique works well for Harris bipods but may give mixed results with the other bipods.

3-2 Spool’s Delight

We’re seeing more cable spools showing up at matches. They are very similar to shooting off a horizontal barrel. If you can get into a seated position and lean into one of the flanges, you have the making of a very stable position. Second best is a reverse kneeling position. Whether you deploy the bipod legs or rest the rifle on the spool is personal preference. Steve extended his bipod legs at an angle, Ed rested his rifle directly on the spool. In general, the lower you can get your overall position, the more stable it is. Our advice is to procure a plastic (lighter weight) rain barrel and practice.

3-3 Tantrum

This was the most challenging stage of the match as the shooter was not allowed to use any ancillary equipment and the targets were really small. The strategy of many shooters was to rush through the positional elements of the stage in the hope of getting a couple of prone shots near the end. This stage probably produced more “zeros” than any other stage. If we were to redesign the stage, we’d go with more generous targets so the choice of whether to rush to get to the prone shots would not be so obvious. But you shoot your stages as they are presented to you…

3-4 Turn Down for What?

This stage had an unlimited round count, and for those who were on target they racked up a lot of points. If you waited to confirm your impact on target, you might get 10 shots off (8 seconds per shot). However, there were some shooters who were on target and they managed to rack up in excess of 20 hits. If we were to shoot this stage over again, we would remember our hold from the previous target and make adjustments the next time we had to shoot it. Of course this would require a degree of intuition – did you hold too much wind to too little? Another illustration of the importance of stage strategy and a very challenging stage overall.

4-1 Look at that little spinner

Given our practice shooting spinner targets, we were very confident going into this stage. We employed the techniques outlined in our article and associated video. Steve unfortunately lost some points because he fired more than the proscribed 8 shots. If you are not confident that you can count your shots, and if you risk losing points or a stage DQ by firing an extra shot, only load the number of rounds you need – the odds of a squib round or feeding issue are pretty remote.

It was interesting to see the bi-modal performance on this stage: some folks did really well and others floundered. For those doing well on this stage, the points originally awarded in the match book would have disproportionately skewed the results.  As a result, the point value was adjusted as the match directors didn’t want performance on one stage to disproportionately skew one’s overall placement in the match.

4-3 Aloha snackbar, muther sucker!!!!

This stage allowed 65 seconds for 8 shots and it included moving from one position to another. Performance on this stage was dictated in large part by one’s athletic ability. Older and less athletic shooters were better served focusing on targets during the prone position and perhaps picking up a target or two at the second position. Another example of how important it is to execute a stage in a strategic manner.

5-3 Lazy W

This stage is a good example of how important it is to communicate with the RO. Ed would have cleaned this stage had he communicated properly. Ed asked if he was to shoot at the left target and the RO responded “right”. Ed interpreted “right” to mean “correct” and therefore unnecessarily lost points by firing at the left target. Be sure to communicate with the RO in an unambiguous manner.

This stage also required that the shooter only use hold overs. As we’ve learned from other more experienced shooters, dial for the smallest target and hold over for the larger target.

5-4 T-posts and roof tops

This was a very challenging stage where you had to shoot a 2″ target from supported standing and a rooftop. We decided to take our time on the first half of the stage utilizing a tripod for rear support. We took what shots we could from the rooftop but hitting the target proved challenging. After we whipped out our tripod, a number of shooters in our squad and the following squad did the same. I get the sense that a number of shooters believed they could not use their tripod given some of the equipment restrictions on previous stages. This just goes to show that it always pays to ask at each stage if you can use a particular piece of equipment.

Conclusion

Hopefully you’ve come away with a better understanding of what goes on at a top tier match. Whether it’s a club match or a national level match, there are many valuables lessons that you can incorporate into a training plan.

Whether you are getting in to the sport or consider yourself an experienced shooter, please consider signing up as an Range Officer. Not only will you play a key role, but you will learn a lot. The 6.5 Guys plan to RO a number of events next year given the valuable learning experience.