PSR design emphasis shift in the wind?

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

With little kids I haven't been able to shoot 3-gun and 'sniper' matches much, but with my son turning 10 I've started to get him into shooting with 22lr rifle comps. Not having paid attention since a few years ago to 'snipershide' type stuff, since AIs with suppressors and S&B scopes seemed to rule the roost and .308 was still being used, I find it interesting a couple of trends. There are a lot more scopes available- I used the Europtics website to select FFP scopes with at least 25x and it comes up with pages. Everything now is 6.5 or 6mm and long barrels with brakes it seems. Proprietary 700 actions in McMillian type stocks seem to be the most favorite over AIs. An emphasis on the ultimate performance possible. Lots of generalizations but just interesting to see. It seems like SR/AR platforms were making inroads in those games, but it seems they are out of favor?

What I think I see now is a backing off on 'ultimate' set-ups and a move towards 'good-enough'? You have Bushnell coming out with a scope that people can be competitive with, that is half the cost of 'standard' fare. You have LowLight running a comparo between an AI rifle and Ruger PSR- and while admitting the AI is better the Ruger is pretty close. He also ran a 6.5 with an 18inch barrel and deems it good enough. Is it just a rationalization of what the PRB determined about what affects accuracy and hits?

http://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/06/09/how-much-does-it-matter-overall-summary/

And they didn't even factor in shooting skill. LowLight's video about WTF- Wind, trajectory and fundamentals is also interesting. I feel like Hellen Keller trying to read a comic book when it comes to reading the wind... My son thought I was daft when I told him to stand there and watch the tape blow and correlate it with the Kestrel.

Just interesting to see the ebb and flow in gear goes as I was peeking at what I might want to put together over the next couple of years if my son keeps up with the shooting.

[masan]

I think a lot of what you mention has been efforts on the part of PRS (and similar type) competitors trying to grow their sport. Ruger's PSR was a homerun in that regard in my opinion. Hopefully these efforts are successful, there is not a lot of PRS type shooting near me.

Best of luck with your son's 22lr shooting!

[taliv]

s&b shot themselves in the foot and people moved to something that works better (or just works). i heard that 11 of the top 15 competitors in the PRS finale last weekend were using vortex and there were no S&B in the mix.

6 and 6.5 are better than 308, not just "good enough"

AIs are still popular, but there are a LOT of options now

nobody uses 18" barrels that i know of

[Dist. Expert 26]

I'm glad to see the influx of new, affordable technology to the PSR side of things. My Bushnell XRS is on par with top end scopes that are literally double the price, I got a chassis for my rifle that didn't cost me over a grand and I can get quality match ammo out of the box. I just wish there was somewhere to shoot near me.

[Koshinn]

There are few niches in life that are so clouded in hearsay and superstition than the shooting world. And in precision shooting, even more so than other types.

What Bryan Litz, the guys at the Precision Rifle Blog, and others are doing is bringing precision/long range shooting voodoo into the modern era, using objective analysis for what is and isn't worth your time.

Accuracy and velocity only matter so much when even a 0 MOA gun, ammo with 1.0 BC, and literally the exact same MV for each round would still miss because your wind reading is off.


Know your limiting factors (often wind reading) and don't chase diminishing returns (ridiculously long procedures for hand loading ammo, amazingly expensive optics and barrels, etc). Those are the two key things you need to keep in mind if you aren't made of money and don't have a surplus of time on your hands.



What I think I see now is a backing off on 'ultimate' set-ups and a move towards 'good-enough'? You have Bushnell coming out with a scope that people can be competitive with, that is half the cost of 'standard' fare. You have LowLight running a comparo between an AI rifle and Ruger PSR- and while admitting the AI is better the Ruger is pretty close.

The idea is, if a Bushnell Elite scope, Ruger PSR, Harris bipod and sandbag can get you, in terms of gear, 95%+ of the way towards the overall best possible setup in the world at a tiny fraction of the price, your money and time would be much better spent at getting good at shooting and shooting-related skills than upgrading to an AI/GAP/Surgeon and S&B.