What Gear?

When we first start shooting practical precision we have a lot of choices to make about what gear we want to use. For a lot of folks it's an aggravating process trying to figure out what they want to spend their hard earned money on.

Don't fall into the trap of buying gear without knowing if it fits your needs. Get to a match and let them know you are new so they can squad you up with folks that can and will help you. Every match I've been to, I've seen good folks sharing gear and methods with each other. If you can get out and try these things prior to your purchase, you'll know what fits your style or what style you want to build towards. If you can't make it to a match before you are ready to buy gear, at least get with the club you will shoot with or other local shooters so you can see gear, try gear, and get good recommendations.

I'm going to cover a lot of different types of gear, but I won't cover many of the brands available for each type. The goal here isn't to talk someone into using the same gear I do, but is to get folks some idea of what all can be useful at a match. There are plenty of brands to choose from with more coming out all the time. You may see things listed here that you'll never carry or you may carry things you don't see listed here.

You are only limited by your own imagination.  The best gear in the world won't make up for a lack of practice, training, and understanding of all pertinent data. Get out and shoot some club level matches and get to know other shooters. You'll be amazed what you can learn at a match and by calling and talking to other good people. A lot of good shooters make their own gear and many alter products to fit their needs, so always be thinking about what will work best for you as you see gear choices. Some gear isn't used as often as others, but when it's needed it makes a huge difference.

Rifles:

This is a huge topic, worthy of its own blog entry, but I'll skim over the gear side of things. If you want to read about caliber choices, I have another blog entry covering that.

The rifle needs to fit you. Some folks will prefer a stock and others will prefer a chassis. If you purchase a chassis or stock you can purchase one that either fits you properly or one that allows you to adjust the cheek weld and length of pull. There are ways to alter some stocks for better fitment with cheek weld and length of pull, if needed.  You'll want a detachable mag for practical precision matches and you'll shoot 5 to 10 rounds per stage normally and sometimes as many as 15 to 20.

Most practical precision shooters will make use of either a brake or a suppressor. This is another huge topic that will be left for another day. Just keep in mind that you'll most likely want a brake or a suppressor for a few different reasons. Being able to watch your own shots land is important for practical precision.

Many shooters will use a 2 round holder that is attached to the rifle. There are a few different brands on the market currently. The two I've used are the Short Action Precision and the Hoptic Quiver. The SAP 2 Round holder is very easy to attach and stays on by way of very good hook and loop. I see the SAP used the most. The Hoptic is metal and takes more work to install if one of the adapters doesn't fit your rifle, but it holds the rounds very securely and keeps the projectile protected. There is a photo below with a shooter behind the rifle, that shows the Hoptic 2 round holder.

Scopes are another big topic that will be covered in detail in a future blog. Get a good scope that has good glass, good mechanics, and the reticle you prefer. You need a good reticle that will allow you t properly measure and also for holding wind. It's better to save than to settle, when it comes to reliable and repeatable scopes.  

 

Pack:

There are a lot of good packs on the market to choose from. Some folks use a small pack and carry very little and others use a big pack and carry more. That's up to you, just remember you have to carry it around out there.

I prefer a pack that has a lot of pockets so I can put different gear in different pockets, making it quicker to find an item when needed. When I used a pack that only had a few pockets I ended up digging through the main compartment way too often to find what I needed. When you get to a stage you don't have much time to prepare so you need to be quick on the easy parts so you have more time to study the wind, listen to the stage brief, identify targets, and pay attention to other important factors.

Get a good pack that fits you well and is comfortable with nice straps. You'll have all of your gear, ammo, water, snacks, toilet paper, and possibly tools and a medical kit to carry. It gets heavy fast. Again, some folks only carry the most essential items and others carry all sorts of different items. It's up to you to choose.

On the front of the pack shown in the photo is a drop bag for brass, a pen, and a grease pen. In that photo my support bags (all 5 shown in the photo below) are all in the main compartment of the pack and that's generally how I store and transport my pack and gear. Once I'm at a match or in the field hunting, I get the bags out of the compartment and, using a carabiner, I attach them to that top handle for easy access.

Carry sunblock if you need it and use other good clothing to cover up your skin. Often, I can get covered up most places except for my hands (see photo above). At a club level match this isn't as big of a deal for me as it is when I go to a two or three day match. Same goes for cold weather and wet weather gear. Prepare for the elements.

Support Bags:

There are a lot of good bags on the market. Some folks use a lot of them and others use very few. Many shooters use bags to support their body for less movement and for placing the rifle on to steady up a shooting position. Most of these bags are extremely light weight. They take up space, but they don't weigh much.

As an example, in this video clip you can see how I make use of a rear bag for getting my arm steady against my body and how I use a medium sized bag under the rifle to get steady on the uneven posts of the barricades.

The biggest bag in the upper left of the photo is generally one I use under an arm, or to sit or stand on. The big bag is also useful under the butt-stock when shooting from a rooftop. The bag in the lower left (also shown in a pic on its own) is a medium sized bag and is one I use very often. I use it everywhere. That medium sized bag is my favorite and gets used under my arms, under the chassis, as a rear bag, and is just an all-around good 'catch all' bag. The medium sized bag is the the one under the chassis in the video above. The two smallest bags are rear bags for under the butt-stock. Each of those smaller bags gets used from time to time under the front of the chassis as well. One of the smaller bags is heavy and sturdy and the other is light weight. I choose the one to use by the stage design and if the ground is easy to maneuver on (if applicable). The bag at the upper right of the photo is a specialty bag. It's heavy, but very useful. The 'v' shape will lay over a pole or other small item like plywood and then gives a nice platform for shooting from. These are certainly not all needed or necessary and you may end up with all or none of these.

Sticks, Tripods, and Bipods:

There are a few different styles of sticks I see around.  The only set of sticks I've owned are the LuckettSticks (upper left of photo).  These sticks are easy to use, but take a little practice like many good tools.   The sticks cradle the front and rear of the rifle, getting rid of side to side muzzle movement.  You are left with movement up and down to contend with and there are many good methods used to get extremely steady from these sticks.  These are excellent for hunting and for practical precision matches.  

I don't use a tripod often, but I see them used a lot.  The most I've used mine was at a team match called Team Safari.  We used it a lot there.  Mine doesn't even make the trip with me when I go to a regular match, so far.  The carbon fiber tripod shown standing up is very light weight.  I've considered carrying it at all matches for helping spot and possibly for rear support on barricades.  The Bog Pod shown laying down is a bipod that I like, but haven't made use of in a match at all.  It's very fast, but I believe the LuckettSticks are serving the purpose I originally had in mind for the Bog Pod.

There are two main bipods I see used for practical precision, the Atlas and the Harris.  I like both and believe each has an upside.  Currently I carry two Harris Bipods, one much taller than the other.  The Atlas can lock legs into different angles, making it nice for using against some barricades or spanning shorter or longer gaps.  I mainly use a 6-9 inch Harris with swivel and leg notches.  I have added a part to allow me to make use of the Atlas feet and most often I use the spikes during a match.  I set my bipods up with quick detach devices because they will be in the way on some barricades and need to be removed quickly or for when I swap to the taller bipod.  There are some other great bipods on the market as well.  The two I've used most are the Atlas and the Harris.  Some folks like the ability to lock the Atlas legs into other angles, but I never made much use of that function when I used an Atlas.  I tend to use bags where others will use their Atlas angled.

Slings:

There are a lot of good slings on the market. The slings I see most often at matches are the SAP, Armageddon Gear, and the TAB Gear. The SAP sling is the sling at the top of the pic and it has an arm cuff. I don't use the arm cuff very often any more, but I do still use it, especially if I'm shooting sling only in unsupported positions. The Armageddon Gear sling uses bungee and a lot of folks prefer that method for building tension. 

More and more shooters are starting to use an adjustable sling that attaches to the belt. This is a method I like and use, especially from a tripod. The sling attaches at the front attachment point on the rifle and then attaches to the belt. It needs to be a good adjustable sling so you can pull the slack out to put tension in the right place to get steady.  These days I use the Wiebad Rip Cord sling most (not shown in the photo).  It is very fast to adjust and has a ton of adjustment available, to help in different positions.  It's also great for those that want to be able to attach their sling to their belt for use on obstacles or tripods.

Many matches require a sling for transport from one stage to the next. Some shooters use a sling on a lot of stages and others may only use the sling to carry the rifle.

Loaded Ammo Holders:

There are a lot of good ammo holders available. A lot of folks like the ammo holders that open up like a book and hold each round individually to ensure the ammo is well protected. A friend gave me a pencil bag to hold ammo and that's what I used first. Later on I got the bag shown in the photo and now I throw all of my ammo for the match (for that day) in that bag loose (same for pencil holder). Some people use the same plastic cases that they put their ammo in as they reload it.

Binoculars and Laser Range Finders: 

Some folks don't carry binoculars. I find it a lot easier to identify targets by first looking with my naked eyes and then moving to binoculars. I like 8x magnification, but would also be fine with 10x. Good clear binoculars really help with spotting targets and also for spotting hits/misses for other shooters.

There are some matches where you don't need a laser range finder and others where you do. Most of the practical precision matches I shoot are known distance target matches. Sometimes there will be a stage or even just a target within a stage that is an unknown distance. There are entire matches built around finding and ranging targets prior to engaging, if you find that more interesting. Competition Dynamics puts on these sorts of matches and I shot the Team Safari in that manner and plan to do so again each year. Some LRFs (laser range finders) aren't very helpful for practical precision. You'll find that many popular LRFs are only useful out to 500-700 yards and that just won't cut it for practical precision. There seems to be some very good competition in the LRF market with new models coming out. Hopefully we will see more and more good models available at good prices.

I currently carry a set of LRF binos from Steiner (M830R) that I've been happy with and I have the Sig Kilo 2200 as a back up.  I've used the Leica HD-B LRF binos a good bit and would also own those.  The LRF topic is very similar to scopes and will be covered in more detail in the future. 

Data:

There are a lot of shooters that don't understand how environmentals effect our long range shooting. Most folks understand wind and drop, but there are still a good number of people that don't understand how much DA (density altitude) and temperature can alter our point of impact.

There are many good fast ways to get your solution for targets at different ranges and different DA. The methods I use most are shown in the photo above. Most often, up to this point, I use my Kestrel for data during a match. I also have backups for that. I have Applied Ballistics on my phone, a Whiz Wheel for each rifle, and I build data cards for each rifle, for every 1000' of DA.

There are a lot of different phone apps for getting good solutions. I use and prefer Applied Ballistics with custom curves.  Geo Ballistics has a good program and weather meter at a very good price, for anyone that doesn't want to buy a Kestrel.  The apps I've used most are Applied Ballistics, Ballistics ARC (Geo Ballistics), TRASOL, Strelok Pro, and the Hornady app (listed in order of my personal preference). 

At times we may need to range without a LRF. It may be due to a stage where the rules don't allow a LRF, or just because we want to practice and be up to par without electronics. This gets into reticle choice some and I cover this more in depth in the 'MOA or Mil' blog if you want to read more about that. I keep the MilDot Master, a 3x5 card with my Mil Ranging math, and AB Toolbox on my phone for easy mil ranging.

Most shooters use some method for keeping data on them in an easy to see manner. I sometimes use a wrist coach (shown in the lower right of the photo). I carry 3x5 cards to write my data on and then put in the wrist coach for each stage. I also keep a grease pen for writing on the plastic cover of the wrist coach, if needed. Some people just use white medical tape or a cheap wrist coach from the sporting goods store and all of that is equally good. These days I mostly use a product that attaches to my rifle that you can write on and they can sit next to your scope for easy viewing.  Most versions are either flexible or have a joint that allows them to fold in, out of the way, when you don't need it.  Mine makes use of hook and loop so I can attach a small white board or a sleeve to hold cards. 

A lot of the best shooters I know only use their Kestrel to get DA and they do the rest with data cards. I still spend a lot of time on my Kestrel, but I can certainly see where that time could be better used reading wind and studying different land features.



There are so many different gear choices and ways to go about making your data and gear useful. The best ways I've found to learn other methods are to take a professional course and get to multiple matches. Get out and shoot some club level matches. Watch and learn. Talk to others and get involved. Borrow a bag for a stage and see if it fits for your style. Get out there and get shooting!






There will be more blog entries in the future covering more long range topics. Thanks for reading and feel free to share this or my other blog entries if you think it will help someone.