Two more competitions in the books over the last two weekends. These were NRL Hunter matches. The first I've shot and they were a blast. Targets ranged from about 300 yards to just over 1000 yards.
Here's the timeline for the last two weekends.
Friday, 5/27
Check-in and velocity verification for the match at Blue Ridge in Eastern WA. I fired 16 rounds to check speeds, and my zero. No adjustments were needed and I verified to just over 1000 yards.
Saturday, 5/28
I put the rifle in the soft scabbard in the back of the SxS and drove about 3 miles through rough farmland. Throughout the course of the day, I fired 55 rounds and the scope performed perfectly.
Sunday, 5/29
Was basically a repeat of day one with 52 rounds fired and the rifle and scope continuing to perform perfectly. I ended up 20th place out of about 75 shooters (not sure exactly the total but that is what I was told). I definitely should have shot better but this was new to me and I made plenty of mistakes. Very satisfied with how the scope performed throughout.
As soon as the match was finished I headed to Idaho for four days of bear hunting before the match the following weekend. I didn't shoot the rifle during the week but it bounced around in my camper the whole trip in a soft case.
Friday, 6/3
Back in eastern WA for another NRL Hunter match at Rock Lake Rifle Range. I fired 12 rounds for another velocity check and a few at some long-range targets for fun. The rifle was still zeroed and verified to 1000 yards.
Saturday, 6/4
I put the rifle in the back of the SxS and headed out for the match. I fired 65 rounds over 12 different stages with perfect scope performance.
Sunday, 6/5
We only had six stages and I fired 33 rounds. Again, the scope was perfectly zeroed and dialed perfectly. I ended up in 35th place overall out of about 128 shooters. Would have liked to do better but I saw some improvement over the match before so I was happy about that.
After not having to adjust my zero before or throughout both matches, I'm satisfied that this scope is very reliable and will continue using it. The only real complaint I have at this point is that it's heavier than most scopes which hurts in the NRL Hunter matches due to weight limits, and I still think it should have come with quality, flip-up scope caps.
