F-TR arms race

[fiveeight]

I was reading the S class thread and there are a couple of references there to F-TR being an arms race. I was wondering what's the main cost/problem, is it rifles or scopes or loading or F class specific kit like bipods?

I can see there's potentially a lot of cost in F-Open with the hot calibres changing each year but I thought F-TR cost was more reasonable. I went to the training weekend in Feb but I haven't competed at all.

I thought I'd better put this in a new thread rather than derail the S class thread.

[spud]

Its all about the Bipod

[Dangermouse]

I would suggest 3 areas in F/TR draw more expense than the Sunday shooter is comfortable spending.

Firstly is the Barrel, only the Savage F/TR rifle comes to mind when thinking about a off the peg rifle that has sufficiently long enough barrel to reach the fps required to be competitive and the Savage (last time a I looked) was above £1700. So most shooters are looking at the cost of adding a custom barrel 30" or longer to their set up - which will quickly add £600 to whatever was already spent.
Of course we are seeing several shooters who are deciding to convert old TR rifles, how this is turning out I do not know.

Secondly, you need a good scope. Not just one that can see where your cross hairs/dot is in the V Bull but one that can be wound up and down all day long and still return to point of aim. There are many high power scopes on the market which are relatively cheap, sub £300, but few of them can handle the constant turning of the turrets etc. So you can easily spend £1000 on a scope, Sightron being a favourite as it has good glass, is relatively light and can still be picked up for around the £1000 mark unlike the Nighforce etc.

Thirdly is the cost of reloading for the sport. I doubt any of the top shooters are using Lee dies with SMK 155 grain projectiles. They will all be using the latest projectiles, probably relatively heavy ones with Berger's offerings being popular. Will be doing a reasonable amount of testing, at the cost of barrel life, to get the fastest most accurate loads they can. Easily resulting in nearly a £1 a round even for hand loading it turns a weekend comp into an expensive venture.

We have covered the subject of cost and F Class shooting before and I was not the only one who got into F/TR thinking that it was the cheaper option with standard kit. It is not, it is a sport to push the development of what is possible with what is available and to try new things which may or may not work ie .223 at 1000 yards. It is not a sport for those with small pockets but hopefully at a club level shooters can still have fun with their standard Rem 700's etc

DM

[20series]

It is true that a quality set up will help, a 30/32 inch barrel is really a must to give a chance of getting velocities but at the end of the day its about how well you shoot.

I have shot in the league and I have seen many people doing well with fairly modest setups. I have also seen the "All the gear and no idea" types :roll:

Alan

[IainWR]

Is the rule permitting any bullet weight an issue - it used to be 155gr max?

Iain

[Dangermouse]

In both the F Class league's there are no rules re bullet weight, only the energy aspect which you will be familiar with at Bisley,

DM

[IainWR]

Yes, but I understand that F-R or F-TR used to have a rule limiting bullet weight to 155gr, and that was rescinded about three years back?

Iain

[Dangermouse]

I don't know about that there sir, I have a feeling that was a Bisley rule for the Imperial but I can really not say. I did shoot the F Class league 3 years back with 175's and that was considered a light projectile. Mik Mak, Vince or Stuart will know for definite,

DM

[20series]

FTR has no bullet weight restrictions I personally shoot 200gn SMK.

I know that traditional TR uses a 155 limit