S Class shooting - a discussion

[Sim G]

One class. and yes, 15lbs is too heavy.....

[Hauptman]

What about a Blaser 308 LRS with a Mil-Sak (or Sak-Mil) bipod? Not exactly a "Harris type", but "in the spirit of" ie two legs and a bit wobbly.
I think the whole rig scrapes in at under 15lbs in single shot mode.

Pete

[Sim G]

I think that's too heavy. When ovenpaa came up with the concept, he stated 5kgs maximum, all up. I whined....... Sandgroper backed me up and ovenpaa crumbled!! :lol: :lol: Looking at it all again, 15lbs really is too heavy.....

[ovenpaa]

I would not say crumbled :55:

I am more interested in people shooting the class than getting hung up on rifle weights in the first year, I still stand by the 5Kgs/12X/Harris spirit of shooting however I also appreciate that not everyone will have rifles that fall into this category and the last thing I want to see is people being penalised for something minor like a 14X so right now it is nearly an 'anything goes' thing.

I am sure we will all enter into the spirit of the class and deep down if someone has a rifle that is not in the spirit of the class they will know it. Remember what we called it 'Hunter Class' So all you have to ask yourself is could I walk this rifle for a day across the hills? So turning up with a 7Kg, inch and a half profiled barrel with a 24X sitting on top and no swivels is not in the spirit of things.

[Dangermouse]

I have liked the look of these for a while but they did not fit in to my current repertoire, I was hoping that this would be a good excuse to buy a Tikka T3 Sporter which the Sportsman Gun Centre is currently selling at £1300
http://www.sportsmanguncentre.co.uk/pro ... +Blued'29/

But I am not convinced that it would be accepted on the day - what do YOU THINK?

DM

[M99]

I have liked the look of these for a while but they did not fit in to my current repertoire, I was hoping that this would be a good excuse to buy a Tikka T3 Sporter which the Sportsman Gun Centre is currently selling at £1300
http://www.sportsmanguncentre.co.uk/pro ... +Blued'29/

But I am not convinced that it would be accepted on the day - what do YOU THINK?

DM

Don't do it!! - I've just sent mine back (well last week) and replaced it with a T3 Varmint. I have the GRS stock on order from Jackson's for it. Very disappointed (in the Sporter not the Varmint). So much so, my RFD would not hand it over to me, as in his opinion it was not fit for purpose!!

Mike

[ovenpaa]

Accepted

ACCEPTED

ACCEPTED!!

EDIT - Wow Mike, what was wrong with it? You are going to be impressed with the GRS Stock, I have seen them in the flesh boxed up and ready to go to Italy with S&L Actions and barrels and they were some of the lightest rifles I have ever handled.

[Sandgroper]

At 4.1kg it doesn't leave a lot of room, if you're aiming to go under 5kg mark, once you add the bi-pod and scope.

Mike,
What problems did you have with yours and in what calibre?

[Dangermouse]

Shall we start a new tikka thread ?

[Scotsgun]

I've been following this one with interest. A great idea; especially the possibility of a postal league. Some of us don't have ready access to a formal range but stalkers and pest controllers often shoot over thousands of acres. I myself regularly shoot over a hillside approx 1350yds.

My 2pence worth:
Intent - deliberately stearing away from the state that F class has gone can only be a good thing. The rifles are increasingly less recognisable as such and most of use couldn't afford the regular re-barrelling, never mind the additional gadgets!

Scope - the traditional variable hunting type scope is the 3-9x40 which is perfectly capable in these distances. Also, every manufacturer stocks a 3-9x magnification. I personally think a 14x mag is more applicable to ranges beyond 600yds but its hardly a deal breaker.
Please don't go down the route of allowing scopes larger than 14. If i had a quid for every 'hunter' with a huge great scope on their rifle which has never been shot as quarry above 9-12x mag.......... You will find the occassional 'varmint' hunter who'll use the scopes full potential out in clear fields and hillsides, but its just not practicle in forrests, brush and overgrowth. There's also the cost implication to consider in that a scope with a decent sight picture beyond a 14xmag would be about a grand. This will exclude many from entering.
Personally i'd wait for the final answer and then get a fixed mag of that magnification or near

Weight - 15lbs is way too heavy. I went into the gun room and compared some rifle weights. My Steyr SSG69 in 308 with harris bipod, kahles scope, t8 moderator and sling only came in at 13lbs. With that big cold forged barrel i could sit behind it all day, shooting strings of 5 shots without ever fear of the barrel shifting point of aim. Hardly fair if competing against guys with T3s, rem700s, etc. In contrast, my Tikka M65 in 2506 with harris bipod, DM2 moderator, Zeiss Conquest scope and sling came in just under 12lbs. A more level playing field. My rem700 varmint in 22-250 with long fluted barrel, Swarovski scope, predator moderator, bipod and sling also came in around 12lbs.

I'm interested in the outcome. It's been ages since i've gotten excited about shooting.