Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Competitive Shooting Gear question...

At what point does the competetive shooters gear become irrelevant? Are the guys' that shoot and win consistantly
better equipped than the middle of the pack shooter?
I understand that every shooter has good days and bad.
But how much does "gear" play into winning?
Bart

I think an experienced competitor has two things going for them. 1) They have their gear refined to fit their shooting style. 2) Experience. They've shot under all types of conditions that a rookie might not have seen. A rookie will do better with the best gear available and may even win one or two matches. Over the course of a shooting season the inexperience will throw the rookie a curve.

Then you have the shooter that shows up just to hang out. For what ever reason they seem to be satisfied with what ever score/ group aggergate they shoot. I don't know if their equipment isn't up to speed or they personally don't have the ability to shoot well.

You have to have good gear. Well an accurate rifle and ammo for highpower anyway. I have gear for differing matches. Sometimes I pack it all along, other times I pack almost nothing other than rifle, scope, ammo, stool and mat.(and related clothing). I've never bought a new shooting coat. I prefer a certain glove that feels right and isn't cheap. I prefer a certain sling thats not cheap. Some things are very personal. Know a top shooter that does not wash her(yes, HER) sweatshirt all season long for superstition. Had the same thing one time with my shooting and an old pair of jump boots. Till I felt bad one morning and put on new boots, ate a huge breakfast, drank a bunch of coffee. Had too many beers the nite before. And went out to set a new range record. You can see that some of it means something. But a top line competitor in highpower, given a solid 1 moa or less rifle, and borrowing gear will still win normally.

Jeff

AJ has it right too-- experience is the key. There is nothing you can throw at me anymore that makes me nervous(except for offhand to an extent). I may know somedays my score won't look right, but I know it'll still be the winning score.

BTW haven't heard from ya lately. Feb is sneaking up on us quickly. I wished I had enough ammo to shoot my 6mm woa upper. But the more it looks like I'll have to grab one of 2 practice uppers and hope I can find a decent box of ammo somewhere.... You ready? Need anything??