Made in Norway by GRS, the new Kelbly “X-Eater” stock combines an ergonomic grip with the superior tracking ability of the latest, low-profile designs. Height-adjustable cheek-piece and length-adjustable buttpad allow the shooter to tailor the stock to his preferences. The ergonomic grip/wrist helps the shooter steer the rifle precisely with greater control. The low-profile design aids tracking and helps tame the torque generated by the large 7mm and .30-cal cartridges favored by top F-Open competitors.
CLICK PHOTOS to See Full-Size Versions
The fore-end is made with the same twin-runner (catamaran-style) design as the previous GRS F-Class Open stock. (On the underside of the fore-end there are left/right rails with a relieved area in the center). The big change is that this new stock sits lower on the front bag compared to the first F-Class stock from GRS. The rear of the stock is designed for a two-stitch rear bag. Initially the stock will only be offered in Right Hand versions in black/blue and red/blue laminate.
CLICK PHOTOS to See Full-Size Versions
STOCK SPECIFICATIONS
Stratabond Laminate with lacquer finish
Adjustable Length of Pull (from 13.8 to 15.0 inches)
Height-Adjustable cheek-piece
Cushy 0.5″-thick Limbsaver/GRS recoil pad
Stock (by itself) weighs 4.07 pounds (with Rem 40X inlet)
Need a high-quality front rest at an affordable price? Here are some of the best deals we’ve seen in years. Bullets.com just announced a massive price cut on its Bald Eagle brand front rests. Both the regular rests and the deluxe rests with flex-shaft windage adjustments are on sale. (These windage-adjustable rests are great for F-Class shooting.) Windage-adjustable rests start at just $215.00, while the conventional rests are marked down to $179.95 (less than half the original price!) Choose from Cast Iron or Aluminum bases, triangle or slingshot (wishbone) footprints. These are high-quality rests, with CNC-machined parts. They have been used successfully by many top F-Class and benchrest shooters.
Bullets.com tells us: “These rests were originally designed by a Benchrest shooter and refined by a member of the U.S F-Class Open Rifle Team. The rests have been thoroughly tested and proven to be reliable and capable of quick and accurate adjustments during string shooting.”
Bald Eagle Shooting Rests with Windage System ON SALE
BE1004 – Triangle, Aluminum, Reg. $425.00 — SALE $215.00
BE1005 – Slingshot, Aluminum, Reg. $425.00 — SALE $215.00
BE1006 – Slingshot, Cast Iron, Reg. $475.00 — SALE $235.00
Bald Eagle Shooting Rests without Windage System ON SALE
BE1128 – Triangle, Aluminum, Reg. $375.00 — SALE $179.95
BE1130 – Slingshot, Cast Iron, Reg. $399.95 — SALE $179.95
BE1129 – Slingshot, Aluminum, Reg. $375.00 — SALE $179.95
Along with offering super deals on front rests, Bullets.com has also slashed prices on its front and rear sand bags. Front Bags are marked dow to $27.50, while Rear Bags are on sale from $52.50 – $64.50. Large-diameter F-Class rest feet are also on sale currently. Get more details at Bullets.com.
We first ran this story a year ago. Since then, many readers asked us: “Is there a good article that explains how to get started in F-Class?” Indeed there is… Rod Vigstol provides tips for F-Class rookies, plus a checklist of items to bring to the range.
How Easy it is to Have Fun with Rifles and Equipment You Probably Already Have….
Forum member Rod Vigstol (aka Nodak7mm) has written a great Introduction to F-Class for shooters getting started in this rewarding discipline. Rod’s article, which appears in German Salazar’s Rifleman’s Journal website, covers F-Class basics and addresses concerns that “newbies” may have when trying a new shooting sport. Rod stresses that most guys who own a varmint-hunting or tactical rig likely have nearly all the gear they need to give F-Class competition a try.
Rod explains: “If you’re reading this, you have more than just a general interest in the shooting sports and in the awesome rifles that shoot tiny groups at insane distances. You probably even have friends that enjoy shooting as much as you do. The quandary you may find yourself in is your friends haven’t quite jumped into it head-first like you have and they haven’t spent a lot of money and time obtaining the equipment you have to go shoot these matches. But you know what? Your prairie-dog shooting buddy or coyote-hunter friend can attend these matches and shoot alongside with you. He or she more than likely already has the basic equipment needed to shoot a match.” Most varmint shooters already have a suitable, accurate rifle and the following equipment:
• A variable-power scope in the 4.5-14x range or higher.
• A front bipod like the trusty old Harris 9″-13″, or maybe even a basic pedestal front rest.
• A rear sand-bag or similar sand-sock to rest the butt stock.
• A basic shooting mat from Midway or at least a piece of carpet or canvas to lay on.
Rod also provides a handy checklist of items to bring to the range. These include: Canvas or carpet strip (to set under bipod), Notebook, Kitchen Timer, Cleaning Rod, Camp Chair, Elbow Pads, Shooting Hat, and Open Bolt Indicator (OBI). Along with rifle, bipod (or front rest), rear bag, and ammo, that’s pretty much all you need.
Rod encourages all shooters to give F-Class a try — even novices. Rod explains: “We have all been rookies, newbies, new kids on the block or whatever. So we all have a good idea of what may be going on in your mind, the questions and concerns you may have. I’m telling you this sport is full of fantastic people who deep down find it far more fulfilling to help a new shooter get started than running a clean target. You just have to take the first step to get involved.”
At long range, small bullet holes are much easier to see in the white than in the black. When you’re practicing at long range on high power targets, one way to enhance your ability to see your bullet holes is to print a “negative” version of the regulation bullseye target.
How do you create a “negative” of a target image? Many image programs, including the FREE Irfanview software, have a “Negative” function in the pull-down menu. If you don’t see a “Negative” menu option in your program, look for a “substitute colors” option. Many printers also have a “reverse colors” function. If you can’t find a solution with your computer or printer, just take a normal bullseye target to a copy shop, and the staff can easily print you a set of targets with white centers in black fields.
Forum member Watercam uses a Pentax PF-80ED spotting scope. With his 80mm Pentax he can see 6mm bullet holes in the white at 600 yards (in very good conditions), but holes in the black are only visible out to 400 yards or so. Accordingly, Watercam uses a modified “reversed” black-to-white target for 600-yard practice.
Watercam told us: “The view through the Pentax is very sharp and contrasty with great color. Eye relief with the Pentax 10-60 power zoom is 18-22mm (much more than the Kowa zoom), so I can use glasses with no problem. With my 6mm and limited mirage I’m seeing defined, 6mm holes in the white out to 600. In the black, I can see bullets holes at about 400 with my eyes. I am printing reverse-color targets for training without a pit partner at the 600-yard line.”
Brits Use New White-Field Target for F-Class
In the UK, ranges are now using a “reverse-style” target with a mostly white area. Laurie Holland says this allows shooters to see shots much more easily. Laurie reports: “Here’s a photo of the 500/600 yard F-Class match target we use in PSSA comps at Diggle Ranges with club members Chris Hull (L) and Terry Mann (R). We now use this target form at all ranges up to 1K for F-Class, and, yes you can often see your hits at 600 on the target before the markers pull it. Regards from England — Laurie”.
Day-Glo Stick-on Targets
If you’re not concerned with official scoring rings, you can use an all-white target with a bright, fluorescent target dot in the middle. A 2″- or 3″-diameter stick-on target dot is highly visible at 600 yards. With a high-quality scope, you can use the small black diamonds in the center for precise aiming. The Birchwood Casey Target Spots® assortment (item #33928-TSA) offers neon orange target dots in 1″, 2″, and 3″ diameters. This “value pack” includes 72-1″, 36-2″, and 24-3″ self-adhesive circles.
Wishing all our friends and fellow-shooters at home in Ireland and around the Globe all the very best. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Beannachtai na Féile Phádraig! Hope you all … enjoy the festivities wherever you may be, whether be you Irish by birth, heritage, or aspiration!
Big May Match at Midlands in Ireland
The NRA of Ireland (NRAI) invites shooters to the inaugural F-Class Emerald & Ireland Long Range Challenge, to be held at the Midlands National Shooting Centre of Ireland (MNSCI), May 30 through June 1, 2014. The Long Range Challenge will be shot at 1100 and 1200 yards on May 30, followed by the Emerald match on May 31 – June 1. The Emerald will be shot at 800, 900, and 1000 yards, complete with a shoot-off for the top 10 competitors.
Guns of EIRE
Here are the custom guns crafted for the FCWC 2013 F-TR Team Ireland. Compliments to Francie McFadden of NGSS and Edi Graeff of PSE Composites for the work. (Photo courtesy of the UK Varminting website.)
Sebastian (“Seb”) Lambang is a really smart guy, a gifted machinist/fabricator, and a very innovative designer. If Seb worked in the auto industry, we’d probably all be driving flying cars by now.
Seb has just invented another really good product — a heavy, sand-filled mat for bipod use. We’ve christened this the ‘Pod-Pad™, and we think a lot of folks will want one. While the ‘Pod-Pad was designed for use with the SEB Joystick Bipod (“Joy-Pod”), it will work with other modern bipods (such as the Remple, the Sinclair, and the EVO). Inside the green fabric cover is sand plus a thin layer of neoprene. This allows the bipod feet to slide easily during recoil, and it also provides damping (and energy absorption) to reduce hop and torque.
Seb reports: “This is still a prototype mat, but I believe it works great. The carrying handle is the black belt in the middle of the mat, so it is easy to haul. There is a layer of 1/4″ thick neoprene under the slick microfiber on the top. This way the feet will slide smoothly and won’t sink, helping the rifle to maintain elevation. This heavy mat should be legal under the rules. It is not a rigid board, it can be folded.”
Watch Joystick Bipod (Joy-Pod) Used with NEW Sand-filled ‘Pod-Pad:
Seb tells us: “In this video, I am shooting my friend’s tactical rifle with the new Joy-pod, just to check how the bipod and mat work under recoil. The bipod and mat combo should work much better with a true F-TR gun. The new-generation Joy-pod has better internals and it’s more rigid. We should have the next shipment of Joy-pods ready around mid-April 2014″. Seb notes that the new Joy-pod has longer feet — more like actual skis. These can also be adjusted slightly for tilt/angle. The longer feet do seem to slide smoothly on recoil with much less hop.
The new generation Joy-pod will have a quick-detach (QD) option for mounting on a Picatinny rail. The quick-detach lever can be located on the right hand side (as shown above) or left hand side, tightening either forward or rearward as the shooter prefers.
For USA price list and more information, please contact:
Ernie Bishop
Gillette, WY
ernieemily @ yahoo.com
Phone: 307-257-7431
Here’s a handy training option for F-Class shooters. Forum member SleepyGator is an F-Class competitor, but it’s not convenient for him to shoot at long ranges close to home. Accordingly, he wanted some “reduced-distance” targets he could use at 300 yards for practice. There is an official reduced-distanced standard for 300-yard F-Class matches. This utilizes the NRA No. MR-63FC – F-Class Target Center which is pasted over the MR-63 target. It provides a 1.42″ X-Ring, 2.85″ 10-Ring, and 5.85″ Nine-Ring. (The dimensions of F-Class targets are found in the NRA High Power Rules, Sec. 22, part 4, page 70 — see sample below.)
To duplicate the 300-yard target, SleepyGator has prepared a printable version of the MR-63FC Target Center, along with a pair of training targets with two bulls and five bulls. The two-bull and five-bull targets mirror the scoring rings on the MR-63FC, but they display only the innermost three rings and two rings respectively. All three targets are Adobe Acrobat files that can be easily printed. You may need to adjust the scale (sizing) on your printer to get the dimensions exactly correct. As noted above, when printed, the 10-Ring on all three targets should measure 2.85″. This should provide some handy practice targets you can use between matches. Thanks to SleepyGator for providing these targets. You can download all three as a .Zip archive. After downloading the .Zip file, just click on the .Zip archive to extract the individual targets.
At the Berger Southwest Nationals, innovative F-Class hardware was on display. In F-TR, bipods are continuing to evolve, with new variations at every match. (We saw the Flex bipod in action and it operates very differently than anything else out there). But with F-TR bipods and F-Open front rests having evolved to such a high level, the weak link in the rifle support chain may now be at the rear.
In both F-TR and F-Open, it seems that shooters are turning their attention rearward — devising new ways to stabilize (and elevate) the rear sandbags. We saw a variety of “sub-platforms” designed to give rear bags more lateral stability, and also raise the bags up off the ground. A few shooters have moved away from a conventional rear sandbag to a hybrid support that almost looks more like a front bag attached to a rigid block. Here are a couple rear bag set-ups we saw at Ben Avery in Phoenix. These should give you guys some ideas:
Check out this simple but effective Do-It-Yourself rear rest. The “base” is a large, flat piece of particle board. Above that is a sizable block of wood with carpet tacked to the base. It appears that the carpet may be affixed to small velcro squares on the flat base. The most clever feature is on top. A V-style leather front bag has been adapted to support the rear of the rifle. This solution looks both effective and affordable.
Over the past few years, interest in F-Class competition has grown dramatically. At the 2013 SHOT Show we had a chance to talk about F-TR competition with U.S. National F-TR Team members Mike Miller and Stan Pate, two of America’s top F-TR shooters. We are reprising this interview for readers who may have missed it the first time around. If you shoot F-TR (even if you’re a High Master), we think you’ll learn a few things from this interview.
In this interview, Mike and Stan agreed to share their vast store of knowledge about long-range shooting. In a wide-ranging dialog, we discussed many topics of interest to F-Class shooters: position set-up, bipod shooting techniques (and hardware), gun-handling, and bullet selection. In addition, Mike and Stan offer some great advice on wind reading and precision reloading. These general tips will benefit all competitors, no matter what their discipline.
If you shoot F-TR or you are considering getting involved in this fast-growing shooting sport, definitely watch this 14-minute video interview from start to finish. Mike and Stan are true F-TR gurus whose knowledge of the F-TR game has been gleaned from years of top-level competition. If you shoot a .308 from a bipod, we guarantee you can learn much from Mike and Stan. If you follow their advice, we bet you’ll see your scores improve in future matches.
Watch Video for Tips from U.S. National F-TR Team Members Mike Miller and Stan Pate
Need a comp scope with serious magnification, but have a limited budget? Then check out the new XTR II 8-40x50mm from Burris. Priced at $1199.00 (MSRP), this new scope offers 40X max magnification, and a lifetime, bumper-to-bumper warranty. The scope weighs 31.4 ounces, has 1/8th-MOA clicks, and 10 MOA per turret revolution. With a 34mm main tube, the scope delivers 70 MOA of elevation adjustment and 30 MOA of windage adjustment. New this year, this FFP scope should be available by the end of March 2014. Learn more in the video preview below:
Learn about Features of 8-40x50mm Burris XTR 11:
Innovative F-Class MOA Reticle with Multiple Center Dots
Burris offers this First Focal Plane (FFP) scope with an F-Class MOA Reticle, the only reticle of its kind to feature multiple illuminated center dots (on the vertical line), the Front Focal Plane reticle keeps the 1/2 MOA grid design constant (relative to target) at any magnification. A second 20 MOA offset 1/2 MOA grid allow shooters to obtain an extra 20 MOA of elevation beyond the capability of the turret adjustments and still have horizontal wind hold-off references. At each 10 MOA section you’ll find an ultra-fine crosshair with 1/8 MOA illuminated dot for maximum versatility.
At long range, small bullet holes are much easier to see in the white than in the black. When you’re practicing at long range on high power targets, one way to enhance your ability to see your bullet holes is to print a “negative” version of the regulation bullseye target.
The folks at 
Over the past few years, interest in F-Class competition has grown dramatically. At the 2013 SHOT Show we had a chance to talk about F-TR competition with U.S. National F-TR Team members Mike Miller and Stan Pate, two of America’s top F-TR shooters. We are reprising this interview for readers who may have missed it the first time around. If you shoot F-TR (even if you’re a High Master), we think you’ll learn a few things from this interview.
