.22 Rifle Competitions

[Bearlodge10]

Good day Roksliders,
I wonder if anyone here has entered the realm of competition rifle shooting with .22lr? I recently shot a couple of the NRA light rifle format in both bench and standing positions. It was pretty enjoyable and now I’m looking at continuing these shoots as well as the NRL22 and precision competitions.
I’m just wondering if those of you, who have done these could provide some insight toward sone hints and share what rifles and optics you are shooting.

 

[Megalodon]

Are you looking to be competitive? Or just some practice here and there?

 

[Bearlodge10]

Are you looking to be competitive? Or just some practice here and there?

More of the practice end of things and getting my kids involved but I don’t want to be a
Slouch either.

 

[BLJ]

This will be the fifth year my wife and I have shot NRL/PRS 22 style matches.
We have CZ 457 barreled actions.
Mine is a 16” barrels Pro Varmint action in an XRS stock. 6-24 Athlon Midas Tac.
Hers is a 16” barreled Pro Varmint in the factory Pro Varmint stock. 5-25 Athlon Midas Tac.
Both of us shoot SK+.

IMO I would start with a CZ/Bergara/Tikka, FFP scope, bipod and maybe a rear bag.
I say maybe on the bag because everyone there will let you borrows their bags until you get a feel for what you want.

I think you can grow quite a bit with these rifles before taking the plunge in the custom guns.

Another option for the sake of modularity (you mentioned getting the kids involved) would be a Ruger American Precision Rimfire.
Adjustable stock that is similar to an AR15 and not very heavy. Comes with a 30MOA rail and takes 10/22 mags.
I’ve seen them for $375ish.
I’ve had 3 in the past and never had any function issues and they definitely shot well enough to have a good time.

This is all IMO.

Feel free to PM or post more questions here. I’ll do what I can.

 

[BLJ]

I’ll also add that finding an ammo that your rifle likes is probably as important as the rifle itself.

 

[Megalodon]

BLJ said it very well. If you wanted to be competitive, you'd be looking at a ~$3k gun, a ~$3-4k scope, ~$1-2k of gear, and sending your gun off to be lot tested and buying 5k or 10k rounds at upwards of 25c a round.


To have fun I don't think you could go wrong with either a T1x or CZ and drop it in a KRG Bravo. FFP scope in the 5-25 mag range and the lower the parallax the better.

 

[BLJ]

A couple other things.
The guys who consistently do well, shoot a lot. A LOT.
They may shoot one venue Saturday and another Sunday. Basically year around.
If there’s a match, they are there.

My point of this is that it’s a hobby that may not leave a lot of time for other hobbies. If you’re looking to be competitive.
As practice, I think it’s an amazing tool.

I’ll also add to what @Megalodon said about expensive rifles and the people you will meet.

There were 5 of us that had never shot a match.
A highly experienced and competitive shooter volunteered to be in our squad to help us out.
We were checking out his rifle/scope combo (I believe RimX and ZCO if memory serves me) as new people do.
When he walks over I say “Nice setup”.
His response “Shoot it today. I get to shoot it all the time”. I had known him ten minutes.
I didn’t shoot it but this scenario has been my experience with 98% of the people you will meet.

For a practice tool it’s amazing. I killed a deer kneeling off of my tripod last season and I was completely comfortable.
I attribute being successful with that shot to NRL/PRS 22 matches.

 

[Bearlodge10]

Thanks for the insight so far. I am somewhere between a hobbiest and an enthusiast. Meaning to say that I would have good gear to get the job done but not the best of the best. My youngest son is getting into it so we might go down the rabbit hole a bit to purchase a universal setup that can be used by all of us.
I agree on the ammo but I have been around competitive shooting enough to know when shooting ability trumps the fancy guns and ammo.

 

[Macintosh]

For rimfire prs-type games (nrl hunter, prs, etc) the difference between a really good basic setup, and a top-shelf customish setup, is not measurable by anyone other than an exceptionally good shooter, and maybe not even most of them. Thats different than benchrest type matches that are more of an arms race. A really good basic setup is still not cheap, but its not stratospheric, some have already been mentioned. Best bet is to go to a match and see if they have a loaner gun, and try it. Where I shoot guys trip over themselves to get a new shooter involved, so its just a matter of getting in touch and seeing whats possible. Its just so much easier to do in person than read about, you really do just have to go and do it ti learn.

Its fun.

 

[BLJ]

I agree with the shooting ability aspect completely.
But with rimfire, an ammo that shoots well in your particular rifle is extremely important.

 

[BLJ]

Agree with @Macintosh above. There are usually more rifles than shooters.

 

[Bearlodge10]

In your opinion, how important is a scope that has hold over marks as part of the retical? I have a scope that has adjustable turrets but I also see some COFs with restrictions on making adjustments other than objective.

 

[BLJ]

I shot a 10 stage match today and used the hold overs in the reticle in some capacity on 6 stages.
If you’re buying something, I would recommend it. IMO.