What You Need to Get Started in PRS Competition
Report by Craig Arnzen, Area419.com
It’s easy to think about shooting your first precision rifle match and worry about all of the gear and trinkets that you may need to make it through. In reality, the old rules apply — keep it simple.
We wanted to put together for you a no-nonsense list of the Top Five Gear Items you need for your first match. This list focuses on the “must-have” items you’ll need for PRS-Style competitions.
1. A Rifle (That is Reliable and Sub-MOA Accurate)
Your rifle is the most obvious piece of kit, but we can give you a little more information. Most of the guys you’ll find out there are shooting 6.5 Creedmoor. Yeah, there are guys using .308 Wins and 6mm Dashers, but the 6.5 Creedmoor makes up more than half of the rounds shot in PRS competition, when looking at both national and club matches. Your comp rig needs to be mag-fed and shoot better than 1 MOA. It DOESN’T need to be better than 0.5 MOA (half-MOA). With most targets being 2-3 MOA in size, a half-MOA gun will do just fine. More accuracy is better of course, but you don’t need an exotic quarter-MOA rig to win.
[Editor’s NOTE: PRS does offer a Gas Gun division, but most guys start out with a bolt-action rifle, which will be less maintenance-intensive than an AR-platform rig.]
Muzzle brakes, like our Area 419 Hellfire, are also very popular as much of the PRS game is recoil management. If you can’t see your misses, you’re sure to have more of them.
The rifle also needs an optic with repeatable clicks and a reticle with Mil- or MOA-based hashmarks. The clicks can be either Mil system or MOA system (Mil is more common), so long as the click values match the reticle (i.e. you don’t want 1/4-moa clicks with a Mil-marked reticle). How much power do you need? Anything that zooms in the mid-teens will suffice. I could shoot a match with a fixed 12X scope and not feel disadvantaged. We love the Kahles K624i, if you’re looking for a suggestion.
Oh, and you’ll want a bipod — but the choice in bipod deserves a whole separate article by itself. Nothing wrong with starting out with a Harris swivel. Then you might look at different bipods on other competitors’ rifles for comparison.
2. Ammunition — Factory Ammo and Hand-loads
Good ammo is important, but as we discuss above, 0.5 MOA is good enough. Also, speed is great but it matters FAR less than you’d think. Drop can be calculated with precision, and distances are normally known, so a slightly flatter trajectory doesn’t really matter. Wind matters, but the difference you’ll find when eeking out that last 50 fps is very, very small.
Federal, Hornady, and Prime all make quality ammo that is widely used by shooters from local to national matches. Facebook photo by CReece.
Precision Handloads
If you want to run down the rabbit hole of finding that perfect ammo that shoots in the “twos” (0.2 MOA), get yourself an AutoTrickler and some of our billet aluminum accessories — you’ll love the setup.
3. A Versatile Support Bag
There are countless bag options. But there is ONE bag you’ll see everywhere, and for good reason. The Game-Changer from Armageddon Gear is aptly named. Many shooters use it as a barricade bag as well as a rear bag, meaning a guy could get away with using only this bag for an entire match. If you need another bag when you get there, ask someone in your squad, they’ll share. I promise.
4. DOPE (Reliable Ballistics Info)
We’re not talking the kind of Dope you may find in a match outside Denver — we are talking about the kind that feeds you ballistic solutions. The software-enabled Kestrel is a very common item on the range, but you’ll also see lots of guys using mobile Apps such as Shooter or Applied Ballistics Mobile, and they have great results.
It’s also handy to have an armband or an item like the Hawk Hill data card holder for stages with various targets at differing ranges. Once the RO says “engage” and your mind stops working, you’ll appreciate having it written down.
5. Hearing Protection
PRS Competitors shoot with brakes and sometimes in enclosed spaces. That’s why you need serious hearing protection. We recommend NRR 33 earplugs, doubled up with Electronic Muffs to hear range commands. I have used the 33 dB NRR Mack’s foamies at matches for most of the last year, and the Howard Leight NRR 33 Max-1s are also very effective. The budget-priced (under $50) Howard Leight Impact Sport Electronic muffs work well, but premium electronic muffs may be more comfortable.
Growing in popularity are high-tech, in-ear digital units like the ESP Stealth. I have a set of linked ESP Steaths on the way and hope to evaluate them soon. These are supposed to be very good, but the ESP Stealths cost $2100.00 per pair!
Think we missed something? Have more questions? Let us know.
Contact: Team@Area419.com
Similar Posts:
- Five Key Gear Items to Get Started in the PRS/NRL Game
- Gear Guide — Getting Started in PRS and NRL Competition
- SHOT Show Optics Reports from the 6.5 Guys
- PRS 101: Getting Started in Practical/Tactical Competition
- Vortex Flip-Up Scope Caps with Dope Disk
Tags: 6.5 Creedmoor, Area 419, Craig Arnzen, ESP Stealth, hearing Protection, Hornady Ammo, Kahles Scope, PRS, Tactical
It is imperative to have the ESP’s properly fitted by a professional.
I’ve learned that you want a smooth cycling action… not like an RPR.
If you have to wrestle the gun to cycle the bolt you will lose time while trying to re-aquire the target between shots. Make sure you can cycle the rifle and remain on target while you do it with no undue chalenges.
Second, the balance point of the rifle is best about 3 inches forward of mag well (using AI style mags) That way you can balance the rifle on the Gamechanger bag on the obstacle and not need to steer the rifle with your shoulder. The more you steel the worse you will shoot.
Now a flat bottom rifle has a certain advantage here because you can balance under the mag well.
That funny MH. MIke over at mile high shooting accessories won a match with a RPR. Frank Galil recommends a RPR for PRS. I have no problems with mine either.
I shot my buddy’s RPR. It is not as smooth as my Tikka LITe or a Tac A-1. Can it get the job done, by someone very talented? Yes. better options out there? Yes.
Well Matt, What can I say? I have 2 RPRs and feel I know them very well. I have a Gen 1 and Gen 2. I also have other rifles to compare and I am adamant that smooth cycling is one thing the RPR is NOT. I will be selling both of my RPRs soon to be replaced by a one Defiance Action in a Cadex Chasis.
Why?
Because the Defiance action is what I personnaly call smooth.
Can a guy use an RPR for PRS? Sure, but that does not make it an ideal rifle.
Frank Gali’s RPR is certainly not a standard RPR BTW.
Editor: Agree with what you say about the RPR. I find it difficult to cycle RPRs quickly without “hitches”. The Defiance is a fine action, but at the opposite end of the price spectrum, we’ve been impressed with the Howa 1500 action. You can buy a barreled action for around $300, keep original barrel for hunting, and get a pre-fit from Criterion for PRS. Good solution.
Well MH. Anybody can come on here and say they own anything but that doesn’t make it a fact. Why would someone buy two rifles they don’t like? Doesn’t make sense to me. Anyway I showed one example of someone winning a PRS match which proves my point the RPR is capable of winning with the right person running it. You can also go over to Snipers hide and see that others have won PRS matches with the Ruger Precision. Those are facts anyone can look at the published standings online. MH do you have a YouTube channel? BTW I never said the RPR Is a ideal rifle. BTW I knew Frank RPR was not a standard RPR I never said that either neither is Frank Tikka standard he changed his barrel and chassis out but that’s neither here nor there. You get way off topic dude. The facts is the RPR will get it done period end of conversation.