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shooting competition

The National Rifle League .22 Shooting Match

The National Rifle League .22 (NRL22) Shooting Match

I’ve shot rifles my entire life and spent the last couple of years trying to learn the precision and long-range game.  Although I am still very much a beginner with a long way to go I have become interested in competing to see just how good I am compared to other shooters.  I quickly became overwhelmed and anxious with the level of competitors and competitions out there. My factory rifle, mid-range optic, and newness to the sport paled in comparison to the custom rigs topped by high-end scopes and ran by shooters with thousands of rounds of experience.  I found a couple of local matches and studied their course of fire. With the entry fee and 120+ rounds fired, a weekend could easily cost a couple of hundred dollars. All this combined to give me quite a daunting feeling and left me too intimidated to sign up for a match.

Enter NRL22.  The NRL22 is a subset of the National Rifle League and only allows the use of .22LR.  Most stages are limited to 100 yards and under. I discovered a local match just down the road that had a monthly match with only a $20 entry fee and a 50-round course of fire.  Even with better than “bulk pack” ammo I could shoot a match for well under $50. I fired off a couple of questions to the match director, he eased my fears and I signed up for the next shoot.

My first match was the October COF and happened to be on an unseasonably warm day with very little wind.  No wind was a wonderful phenomenon for a .22LR match. I showed up early to the 41 Lead Farm range to meet the other shooters and help set up for the match.  I quickly realized how great a group of people these were. Everyone made me feel very welcome and at home. Once everything was set up, the shooters were registered, and zeroes were confirmed – we were ready to shoot.

It would be far from accurate to say I cleaned the first stage.  In fact, it was the worst stage I shot. I rushed through it. The 2-minute time limit sounded extremely short when in reality it was more than enough time to calmly shoot the stage.  That was my first lesson of the day.

Lesson number two happened multiple times throughout the day, and that was that I could benefit from different gear.  My rifle and scope setup shot fine, but the ancillary pieces of equipment could make a big difference over the course of a day’s stages.  I could really benefit from knee pads (quickly learned when a large rock implanted in my knee during a kneeling stage), a different bag setup for obstacles, and a sling for positional stages.  Those can all easily be picked up before the next match. I was also offered bags and any other piece of gear I wanted from all of the other competitors. They were also quick to offer hints and strategy to help the new guy out.  What a great group of people!

There was all manner of rifle/optic combinations on the firing line from base Ruger 10/22’s, bolt action’s like my Savage MKII, and semi-custom Kidd and Volquartsen’s.  Looking at each other’s setups and discussing the advantages of each different system was a large part of the fun for a gun nut like me.

At the end of the day, I didn’t come out on top, but I came out with a new group of friends, a new appreciation of the amount of training that can be done with a .22LR rifle, and a little more confidence to shoot a match with a centerfire rifle and longer distances.  As soon as the match was over, and the placing was decided I was already thinking of what I could practice before next month’s match. I was hooked.

A couple of weeks later I was chasing a sounder of hogs across a pasture trying to catch up and get a clean shot.  When the opportunity presented itself, I had to drop to an unsupported kneeling position and quickly get lined up for the shot.  Hmm…. I’ve had to do this before, no problem!

For more information or to find a local club match, visit www.nrl22.org


Author – Ryan Curry was born and raised in West Texas.  He is an avid outdoorsman that enjoys shooting, hunting, hiking, and camping.

IDPA

Watch | Beginners guide to IDPA shooting competitions

Shooting competitions are a great way to hone the competitive edge, focus your range practice and meet like-minded people.  Getting started can be a bit daunting, so I wanted to find a good video to feature which might help open the door a bit for some shooters.

The video shown below was made by American gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co. (more commonly just Ruger), and details the basics of the IDPA: or International Defensive Pistol Association.  This shooting sport focuses on more realistic, defensive shooting scenarios while running gear that’s more “stock pick-up truck” and less “Nascar”.  For many Veterans who are done with two-way ranges but still want a way to challenge growth in an area of perishable skills, IDPA is a great choice.

-Rex Nanorum

@Rexnanorum

YouTube: Rex Nanorum

Triple Mozambique Drill

Triple Mozambique Drill Challenge

Week one is in the books and the top two are each receiving $100 each along with increasing their chances of winning the Grand Prize. This weeks challenge is a modification of one of the most popular shooting skills of all time, the Mozambique Drill. Better known in the military community as two to the chest, one to the head.

Although it may go by other names, we’ll call this the “Triple Mozambique Drill.” The shooter will use IDPA targets set at 5, 10, and 15 yards. The shooter will load three magazines of three rounds each. At the signal the shooter will fire two rounds to the body and one to the head on target 1, reload, shoot two rounds to the body and one to the head on target 2, reload, and finally shoot two rounds to the body and one to the head on target three. Time stops when the last round has been fired.

In total, you will fire 9 rounds with two reloads. As with last week, dropping rounds outside of the “0” ring will constitute -0.1 second and -0.3 second penalties. With an emphasis on accuracy and headshots, a missing headshot will result in a -0.5 second penalty. A complete miss of the target will also result in a -0.5 second penalty.

Triple Mozambique

Scores are determined by total shooting time, plus any accrued time penalties.

How to compete, record your results, and win cash and the Grand Prize SIG 320:

  1. Sign-up for CompeteNow (100% free). If you’ve already signed up and competed, thank you and best of luck.
  2. Once signed up, join the Loadout Room’s Group. – You will see the first weeks challenge and this weeks Triple Mozambique Challenge. Follow the directions above.
  3. Go out and shoot.
  4. Prove it! – Post a video to Loadout Room TV. We’re not worried if you had your buddy video you with their Iphone or you used professional equipment, just show us the goods and how fast you really are.
  5. One we’ve approved your video and made it live on the site, post your results on CompeteNow.com with the link to the video.
  6. Submission for week one will end at 11:59 EST on November 9th 2015.

*If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask us in the comments below. This is our first competition of this type and there will surly be some wrinkles to iron out. We look forward to see some very fast times. Stay tuned for announcement of winners and next weeks competition.

The Fastest Gun: FNH SLP Shotgun

The Fastest Gun: FNH SLP Shotgun

When FNH USA designs a shotgun they, don’t accept mediocrity. Instead, they make a world class product. The FNH USA Self-Loading Police (SLP) shotgun is a mature design and a great shotgun in a world full of merely good shotguns. Out of the box, it is ready to perform at the highest level to protect your family or win a 3 gun match.

I’ve shot pump shotguns at work and in competition for years. They work even when abused and they’re surprisingly fast. Several years ago, I became convinced that auto shotguns were reliable enough for serious social applications, so I began the search for the perfect gun and tested them in the arena of 3 gun.

Since that decision I’ve gone through five automatic shotguns. After getting beat in matches by guys with SLP’s, I finally got my hands on one. The SLP is by far the best of the bunch. What sets the SLP apart is the ability to shoot slug, buck, and bird shot, one after the other with near perfect reliability. This is essential in 3 gun.

The first thing you notice when you pick up the SLP is its light weight. Using an alloy receiver to save weight, the SLP is fast handling and well-balanced. When you shoot it, you wonder why it doesn’t kick like a 12 gauge. I am not overly recoil sensitive, but high recoil impulse is the enemy of the rapid follow-up shot. A lighter gun normally has more felt recoil. FNH USA is good, but they can’t change the laws of physics, so they cheated. Instead, they use a short-stroke gas system that absorbs plenty of the recoil and converts it to cycle the action.

The gas piston fits over the magazine tube and mates with the gas block on the barrel. When the SLP is fired, gas ports direct gas onto the piston, pushing the gas sleeve rearward. A rod connects the gas sleeve and the bolt assembly, pushing the bolt forward against recoil.

I have the Competition model. It’s blue hard-anodized, which makes it more festive than the other shotguns. According to FNH USA, it is the world’s fastest cycling shotgun and it comes standard with high dollar competition upgrades, which also make it a more functional weapon.

The Fastest Gun: FNH SLP Shotgun
Image courtesy: fnhusa.com

The SLP Competition Shotgun features an 8+1 round capacity and 24” back-bored vent-rib barrel.  This is long, but necessary for balance and capacity. As we say back home, “You have to bring some to get some.”

Shotgun sights are normally problematic. I am not a member of the slug community which finds it necessary to shoot slugs at 200 yards. I prefer a rifles since they perform at longer ranges better. I want the option of precise slug hits, but slug sights are slow and cover too much of the target when you are slinging buckshot at 10 yards. The SLP Competition neatly solves this problem by allowing you to configure the sights on the fly. A big bright fiber-optic front sight pulls your eye and lets you pick up the sights fast. If you have a precise slug shot, flip-up the adjustable rear sight and shoot a group.

Shotgun loads range from light field loads to heavy slugs, and the new SLP piston adapts to them all. I have fired 3 inch heavy slugs, light number 7 bird shot, and 00 buck in the same magazine with no issues. This lets you train and hunt with cheap ammo and step it up when necessary.

You can even adjust the size of your shot pattern to meet the demands of the day with the interchangeable, extended Invector-Plus choke tubes – making this shotgun ideal for 3-gun and hunting.

The weak point of the tube fed shotgun is reloading. FNH USA can’t practice quad loading for you, but they did extend the magazine tube and enlarge the loading port to help you get all the performance you can from the SLP.

In 3-gun competitions, shotgun targets are normally reactive like a clay pigeons or move like the Texas Star. Sometimes falling plates are placed at distances out to 100 yards requiring dense shot patterns or slugs. 3 gunners may go through more than 100 rounds in a match shooting and reloading as fast as humanly possible. If a shotgun works there, any other application is an easy day. The SLP thrives in this environment.

For me, a typical shotgun training session fstarts with setting up my Safariland ELS Duty belt for shotgun. With three Gunner Solutions EZ8 carriers and three Safariland Model 084-12 Shotgun Shell Holders I have 42 rounds on my belt. The Gunner Solutions loaders are the most versatile I have ever seen.  They support strong sine loading, weak side loading, dual and quad loading.  They are adjustable for shell length and have a plate which holds the rounds in even upside down.

Using my loaders, I pick up the gun and put it in the configuration I want to start, then top off my loaders. This give me more practice loading. Some competition matches like to add manipulation, so I some time start empty, sometimes with an empty chamber.  Eight plus one in the gun and two on the barrel in a 3 Gun Gear Slide Loc 2 Pac is 11 on the gun.

There are few stages which need more than 53 rounds. I set up steel, use shotgun hulls as targets and some times shoot flying skeet. I try to reload as I move and replace what I shoot before the bolt locks back. If it does, that is where the Loc 2 Pac comes in.

I normally shoot a mix of slugs and bird shot. If I have a shooting partner, we take turns setting up stages and running them on the timer trying to beat each other and better our times. After a few runs, times can often be cut in half.

In 3-gun competitions, shotgun targets are normally reactive like a clay pigeons or move like the Texas Star. Sometimes falling plates are placed at distances out to 100 yards requiring dense shot patterns or slugs. 3 gunners may go through more than 100 rounds in a match shooting and reloading as fast as humanly possible. If a shotgun works there, any other application is an easy day. The SLP thrives in this environment.

In training and matches I have put over 3000 rounds of 12 gauge through the SLP.  From the cheapest (Wolf) to 3in slug loads and I haven’t found anything that won’t run the SLP. I have had exactly three malfunctions which I attribute to not cleaning it for the first 2000 rounds and cheap ammo. I have no doubts about the reliability of this gun. Get one and step up your game.

The FN SLP (Self-Loading Police) shotgun is available in five different models: SLP Standard, SLP Mark I, SLP Tactical, and SLP Mark I Tactical and SLP competition.  One of them is right for you.

FN SLP General Specs

  • Matte black finish on all metal surfaces
  • Active valve gas system
  • Two-piece bolt
  • Gas-operated action

Receiver

  • Aircraft-grade aluminum alloy receiver
  • Top-mounted one-piece MIL-STD 1913 accessory rail

Barrel

  • Hard-chromed bore and 3-inch chamber barrel
  • Standard Invector™ interchangeable choke tubes
  • Accessory sporting barrels are available

Stock

  • Matte black synthetic
  • Checkered gripping panels on forearm and grip
  • Premium non-slip recoil pad
  • Two steel sling swivel studs

Operating Controls

  • Receiver-mounted bolt release
  • Curved operating handle
  • Crossbolt safety on rear trigger guard

Magazine

  • Extended tube
  • Aluminum tube cover

(Featured image courtesy: recoilweb.com)

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