Inver Grove Heights, MN –-(Ammoland.com)- Want to test your skills with a high-power rifle? Enter an NRA High Power Rifle competition.
One of the most popular is the National Match Course. Here, you’ll shoot 10 to 20 slow- and rapid-fire rounds while standing, sitting, kneeling and prone.
Shooting Slow and Rapid Fire
When shooting in slow fire, you’ll take your position and be given 60 seconds for each shot until you complete all 10 or 20. In rapid-fire, you’ll be allowed a certain time to prepare for your firing position and to transition to another position. You’ll be allowed to load two or five rounds and take your position. When you hear the command to open fire, you’ll start shooting and reload until you reach your allotted 10 rounds.
Reduced Distance & Long Range Competitions
High power rifle competitions call for standard distances of 200, 300, and 600 yards. When competing in long-range, slow fire events, you’ll be shooting at distances up to 1,000 yards. Here, you may be able to use telescopic sights.
Rifle Specs
If you want to compete in an NRA National Match Course, you’ll need the right rifle. The firearm you’ll need for the High Power Rifle competition must have a metallic sight. It should hold a minimum of five rounds and be a rapid reloading firearm. Depending on the tournament, you can bring either a Service Rifle or Match Rifle. Service Rifles are firearms like the M1, M14, or M16. Match rifles are commercially made firearms suitable for these types of matches and have rapid reloading capabilities. As far as rifle rear sights, your rifle should have an aperture site with a repeatable 1/2-minute fine-tune. Your front sight can be a post or aperture configuration.
Ammunition
Your ammo can be commercially prepared and out of the box. But if you compete on a regular basis, you’ll probably start using hand-loaded ammo. Hand-loaded ammo is more economical and delivers greater accuracy. If you have tracer and incendiary ammo, leave it at home. NRA prohibits their use in these competitions. The same goes for armor-piercing ammo.
Comfort, Control, and other Accessories
There are a number of comfort and rifle control accessories that will take the strain off you as you compete in these matches. Consider getting a spotting scope, which can aid in scoring. The best scopes to use in these competitions will have a 25 power with a 50 mm objective lens and a 45- to 90-degree eyepiece. You should also invest in a shooting sling, which can steady your position and help keep the recoil under control. And by all means, bring a shooting jacket with padding on the shoulder, elbow, and sling. You’ll be a lot more comfortable as the competition wears on. Speaking of comfort, you might also invest in a shooting glove, which will protect your front hand from sling pressure while shooting. If your front sight is exposed, you’ll need to blacken it with either a carbide lamp or “sight black,” which you can get in a spray can. Bring a scorebook, too, so you can keep track of each sight and slight setting, light and windage conditions, and the ammo you used.
For more information, call the NRA High-Power Rifle Department: (703) 267-1479. or https://www.nrahq.org/compete/highpower.asp
About Gun Safe Store
Adam Enright works at the Gun Safe Store, where he teaches how to handle guns properly. The Gun safe store specializes in gun safes and pistol safes for convenient and safe storage.
