Cactus Classic Benchrest Match in Phoenix This Weekend
With all the interest in F-Class, PRS, and ELR, we sometimes forget that plenty of folks are still competiting in Short-Range Benchrest disciplines, with standards of accuracy we can only envy. For a PRS shooter, a good 100-yard, five-shot group would be half-MOA. For a benchrest shooter, a good group at 100 would be in the “Ones”. That’s smaller than 0.200″ center to center for five shots. And the small group of a Relay is often in the “Zeros”.
One of the best matches of the year, the Cactus Classic, is underway now at the Ben Avery Range in Phoenix, with 156 competitors. Many of the nation’s top “point-blank” shooters are competing with their 10.5-lb Light Varmint and 13.5-lb Heavy Varmint rifles. Many shooters run their LVs in HV classes as well, for simplicity (and to save money — one rifle costs less than two). In this game, the vast majority of shooters load at the range between relays. That lets them tune their loads to the condition — something that can help when you’re trying to shoot tiny dots.
