I decided to get into 3-gun/tactical carbine/sniper challenge competition about 4 months ago. Over the last several months, I have been very busy getting my gear together. Here’s what I’ve spent to date. My first sniper challenge match is on April 3rd. It’s time to practice…
Is it just me or is this hobby expensive?
Custom Ar-15 Build Specifications:
LaRue Billet Lower $250
LaRue Tactical Stealth Sniper System (18" SS barrel/IonBond finish/12" hand guard) $1,200
That a lot of nice gear, but I think you could or should break it down into gotta and wanna have lists.
Looks like you are going to shoot open class, or at least are gearing up to do so? Might be a stage to start out in tactical and move to open.
I have a Sig Tactical X-five pistol and LOVE it. If you have one, shoot it, if you don’t get an STI in 40SW, and Edge w/o and a Tactical w/rail if you want to cross over between game/HD. If you are going to shoot open, you’d could use a dot on the pistol too IIRC.
If it is for gaming, I’d go with a JP rifle with a rifle length stock to take max advantage of the LMOS, adjustable, and brake. Round handguard would obviate the need for the AFG. I don’t think you’d go wronf with a Larue, I just went the JP route instead of the Larue/Noveske to save weight complexity with add on rails and more.
MORE MAGS!
Don’t know about the scope and tripod, I might spend that cash on ammo and reloading equipement.
I’d start with a standard 700 actioned rifle (Check out decodediesels posts about his rifle for the magpul dynamic precision rifle class). You can send it to GAP and restock it later.
I really like the snipershide WTS forum. Lots of good rifles and awesome glass. For a few hundred more you could pick up a used S&B over the Nightforce F1, or I even got a Premier used for less than the $2200 you budget. Kind of the thrill of the hunt, plus I feel that if you buy something at a good used price, you can probably get rid of it for little loss.
Kudos for looking to buy top gear, and all the stuff that you need from the start. Budget a few grand for new ammo the first year to shoot and practice and I think you are there. I have boxes of parts around as I went this way and that.
I’ve read a lot of GotM4s and AlaskaPoPo posts, and I’ve been really lucky to have M4fundi to help me get started. Check out Zak Smiths Demigod website abotu glass and long range shooting.
For bolt guns, I love the savage platform… arguably one of the most accurate mid grade bolt guns out of the box. They can be had for sub $400 prices if you shop, too.
Ask and you shall receive. Here’s a few pics of my AR-15 and a few accessories. It is only about 75% complete at this time. The remaining parts are on order. I should have the build complete by this Wednesday:
Like stick said, not my bag but if it floats your boat have at it. Seems like there’s some redundancy in the optics in a lot of cases, and I’m not sure I’d want to sling that gun on that sling.
I agree with your comment on the sling. When I complete the build, I plan on weighing each rifle setup. I ordered a Vickers Combat sling also in case there is not enough padding on the Magpul MS2 sling.
Here the Vicker’s combat sling:
Regarding the optics, I purchased a Trijicon TA33R-8 ACOG scope and a Leupold Mark IV 1.5x5x20mm scope. I will opt for the scope I like best for 3-gun competition. Any comments on the scope selection?
You know call me crazy but if you start cutting out the stuff you don’t need, say something like three different optics for one carbine. I pretty much stopped reading your post after that so I don’t even know what you were going to have on your sniper rifle. Call me crazy again but you might actually want to try the sport out before dropping 25k. Also remember being spendy doesn’t make you any good. It just gives people something to laugh at during the match. Learn the sport, learn what you need, and buy what you need. Spend the extra money on ammo and range time. You will be a much better competitor in the end.
Thank you for your comments. I was expecting a few comments like yours and they are valid ones. Please understand, I know what kind of practice it will take to be competitive. I have an Aimpoint micro T-1 as a third scope so that I can use it for Tactical Carbine matches. You can use two optics as long as you run the same optics the entire match. Target ranges are from 10 yards to 300 yards at unknown distances. For the Sniper Challenge matches, target distances are from 100 to 600 yards at unknown distances. Range finders and wind meters are not allowed. Therefore, I need a first focal plane scope on my Remington 700 so I can accurately range distances throughout the entire magnification range. I chose mil/mil so it would make it easier to communicate with my spotter. My spotter is currently stationed in Iraq and will be returning from his tour of duty in a couple of days. Fortunately, I will have him by my side in my first Sniper Challenge match.
“Also remember being spendy doesn’t make you any good. It just gives people something to laugh at during the match. Learn the sport, learn what you need, and buy what you need. Spend the extra money on ammo and range time. You will be a much better competitor in the end.”
Well, with the exception to practice, I’ve already been there, done that… Practice is on my horizon as soon as I get my gear together. My major weakness right now is milling distances. I hope to solve that problem in the near future.
I went down this road two years ago beginning with my first IDPA match. Prior to trying out IDPA competition, I studied the sport on the internet (trying to teach myself the mental side of the game) before purchasing equipment. I also ordered five shooting videos from Matt Burkett. I practiced my draws, tactical reloads, emergency reloads, double taps, etc. I shot thousands of rounds practicing trying to teach myself practical shooting.
Regardless of my preparations, my first IDPA match was a disaster.
I must point out that so many people were very nice and more than willing to help me out, but there was this one guy in our group with 26 years of shooting experience that just wanted to make my life miserable. While I was waiting behind the current shooter, this same guy said the following to me: "Wow, that’s a nice handgun you have there. Can I see it? Knowing it was unloaded, my immediate reaction was to unholster it, rack it back and show it to him. Once I unholstered my handgun, he pointed at me and yelled out to everyone “Hey, he’s got his gun out!” The safety officer got on my ass. Being a newbie, I took it in good stride.
During my first stage, I had a double feed failure shooting lousy ammo. The Master (tournament director) in our league beat me by like 2 minutes. I made many mistakes and proceeded to take last place. The same jerk that was messing with me before my first stage whispered to me after i screwed up my first stage: “You know, when you carry a nice handgun like that, everyone thinks you know how to shoot.” Again, I took this in good stride.
I took these comments in good stride because its people like that guy that drive me to practice and become a better shooter. Five months later, I beat that jerk three weeks in a row. Six months later I beat the master for the first time. Therefore, I know what it takes to be able to compete. Everytime I got my butt kicked, I practiced even more. I would imagine I am going to get my butt kicked in my first sniper challenge match, but that is ok. I like the challenge and I will be back at it the following week.
Regarding buying gear… I have been through three Sig 556’s and an ArmaLite AR-15 prior to choosing the parts to my build. My buddy Ron has every assault rifle on the planet. Therefore, I’ve had the pleasure of tryiing out many assault rifles. I have studied the rules for each type of competition I will be shooting in and have developed the specifications of the rifle build to match my competition needs.
I can promise you that I have screwed up many times in the past purchasing firearms and it will not be my last. I do strongly believe in “Buy once, cry once!”. Therefore, I try to buy the correct equipment on the first attempt.
I hope everyone knows that I was mearly jesting when I came up with the title to my post…
Thanks for all of your comments.
Here’s my handgun setup for 3-gun competition. My first handgun I ever purchased was a Sig X-Five Tactical. After putting 12,000 rounds through it, I made the mistake of selling it. I’ve run the gauntlet of Sigs, CZ’s and Berettas since then before coming back full circle to the X-Five Tactical. It’s my favorite.
The X5 is a nice pistol but the magazine capacity sucks for our game. Its 14+1 in 40. which means you might as well shoot limited 10. A friend of mine has one and he has to reload as much as the limited 10 shooters since most target arrays are 8 round affairs.
Pat
While I was waiting behind the current shooter, this same guy said the following to me: "Wow, that’s a nice handgun you have there. Can I see it? Knowing it was unloaded, my immediate reaction was to unholster it, rack it back and show it to him. Once I unholstered my handgun, he pointed at me and yelled out to everyone “Hey, he’s got his gun out!”
If I had been a Range Officer at that match, I would have instantly disqualified that guy for unsportsmanlike conduct, and not invited him back until he made a formal apology. That kind of behavior is shockingly low class.
Your gear will work fine. It’s not what I would have chosen for my own shooting, but that’s me. There’s a lot of personal opinion and individual style that goes into a shooter’s competition rig.
Oh, and if you think that this game is expensive now, just wait until you start traveling to some of the major matches…
Aimpoint Micro T-1 with LT-724 Angled QD mount $625
Saw that and I thought you might be shooting Open class. I still get confused with all the different classes and limitations between IDPA, USPSA and 3-Gun (seems like a lot of local rules?). Major and minor, etc.
Crap always breaks on the range, I don’t know why, I think gremlins like to sleep at night in spent brass.
Have fun shooting. Where abouts are you looking to shoot matches?
