Long Range Rifle Competition

Aka Palma in the United States

A primer

 by Leo Cebula

In 1995 the United States Palma Team traveled to New Zealand to participate in the quad annual Palma Team Championship, also know as the World Long Range Championship. At the completion of that competition they had garnered the Silver Medal for their performance.  Although, the team from Great Britain beat the United States that Silver Medal heralded the beginning of a new interest in the sport of Long Range Rifle Shooting in the U.S. 

My purpose in this document is to provide an overview of the sport, and how one would participate.  I don't write this to provide a means to become a spectator of this sport (frankly, watching a rifle match is akin to watching paint dry), but to show the interested how to become involved.

In the United States long range is defined by the National Rifle Association (NRA) as beginning at 600 yards, and extending to 1000 yards.  The NRA defines three common classes of firearms that can be used (Service, Palma, and Any), and provides the rules for the pursuit of the sport.  All of the competitions are fired using the prone position, and the majority, but not all are fired with metallic sights (no optics).  With that as background, lets jump into the specifics:

Classes of rifles:

Service: the U.S. military defines this as a rifle that is in or has been in active use.  Typical are the M-1 Garand, the M-14 or its civilian counterpart the M1A, and the M-16 or its civilian variants like the AR-15.  Although these rifles have performed well in across the course competitions the newcomer is recommended to avoid them.  They require significantly more effort to accurize, have crude sights, and do not provide the performance at longer ranges that allows them to be competitive.  You service rifle competitors may complain at your leisure (click this link for an explanation).  However, this is not the place to start, if you want to pursue long range shooting.

Palma:  The NRA defines the Palma rifle as one that is chambered for .308 Winchester (7.62 mm NATO), and has metallic sights.  The NRA does not define any explicit weight for the rifle and sights or the trigger.  However, the Palma rifle is regulated by an international standard (set by the Palma Council).  This organization requires that the rifle weight no more than 6.5 Kg (about 14.3 lbs.), and the trigger must lift a weight of at least 1.5 Kg (about 3.2 lbs).  Moreover, this group limits the available bullets to one:  the 155 gr Sierra Match King Palma bullet.  The U.S. NRA does not make any restriction.

Any:  Just like you might expect this class has limited restrictions, the cartridge must fire a projectile of less than .338 and must be safe.  Common cartridges used for this competition are wildcats such as the 6.5/284; the .300 Winchester Magnum, and others having good performance at 1000 yards.

Courses of fire:

600 yard:  Typically 600-yard matches (the beginning of long range) are fired with three twenty shot courses.  Each course is allowed two sighters.  Commonly the first would be an any sight match (remember I said the majority of the matches were metallic sight, not all), followed by two metallic sight matches.  These are typically one-day events, and are conducted in Michigan at the Washtenaw Sportsman Club in Ypsilanti, Fort Custer in Battle Creek and at the Cadillac Sportsman's Club. 

1000 yard: Typically a 1000-yard match is held at Camp Grayling, and occupies a two-day weekend.  The typical course of fire is two any sight matches, and three metallic sight matches.  All of the matches are twenty rounds and unlimited sighters.  As indicated before all matches are fired prone.  

Palma:  The Palma course of fire is 15 shots at 800 yards, 15 shots at 900 yards, and 15 shots at 1000 yards.  Unlimited sighters precede the 800-yard stage and the 900 and 1000-yard stages are allowed two sighters.

Details about the rifles

After eliminating the service rifles as a bad idea, we move onto the Palma and Any rifles.  These typically look alike; in fact it is not uncommon to have a single rifle that has two barrels chambered for .308 Winchester, and 65/284.   Lets talk about specifics:

Action:  In the past the Winchester Model 70, and the Remington 700 were used as the basis of long-range rifles, and performed well.  Moreover, they still perform well.  Many of the benchrest actions Kelby, Nesika Bay, Wichita, Gilkes perform well.  Additionally, there are a number of foreign actions that are commonly used:  RPA, Barnard, Musgrave.  You can take your pick, any of them could be the basis of a medal winner.  However, note that you typically get what you pay for.  A factory action might be less expensive, but to be competitive you must true the action.  By the time that you have completed that task the price may be as much as one of the custom actions.  Additionally, some of the actions have more than two locking lugs.  It has been empirically demonstrated (Creighton Audette) that four lugged actions will provide better performance with lower quality ammunition than two luggers.  However, for handloads there appears to be no difference.

 

Barrels Any Rifle:  The Any Rifle barrel is up to the competitor and the cartridge.  It is best to select a cartridge and barrel combination that has been used by others.  Avoiding mistakes already made is an important idea.  Good barrel makers are:  Hart, Krieger, Lilja, Obermeyer, Pac-Nor, and others.

Barrels Palma:  The Palma rifle barrel requires some explanation.  Due to the requirement by the Palma council that the 155 gr Sierra be used we can provide some real specific specifications for the barrel:  It must be a minimum of 29" long in order to ensure that the 155 is supersonic at 1000 yards.  Additionally, the rate of twist should be in the 1-13 to 1-14 range, and the internal dimensions must be in the .3065 - .3075 grove diameter with a .298 land diameter.  Barrel makers such as Krieger and Obermeyer have demonstrated a track record in producing quality barrels for Palma.  Do yourself a favor; resist the temptation to chase a barrel maker not mentioned.   The initial outlay of funds to get into long range shooting is relatively high.  After you are a High Master and have several barrels chambered for your action you can experiment (and you will, while trying to find that next advantage).

Triggers:  Good quality triggers are available from Jewell (works best at light weights, not the Palma weight), Anschutz (requires an action modified to accept it, not for the fait of heart),  Davies (from Australia) and the action manufacturers, such as RPA.  For true Palma it is tough to beat the RPA and Davies triggers. 

Sights optical:  Good scopes from Leupold, Weaver, Burris, Nikon, and Bausch and Lomb all can be used effectively.  A variable from 6 – 20 is a good choice.  The reticule should be of your choice. 

Sights Metallic – Rear:  Good sights are available from Warner, RPA, and Zelnek.  Besides the sight you need a rear iris that can be opened and/or closed.  These are available from Gehmann, and Anschutz.  The use of the iris allows you to benefit from the "keyhole effect", which is the ability of your eye to resolve more detail looking through a small hole, than without.  Moreover, it allows you to adjust the opening to allow your eye to almost see the target and the front sight in the same focal plane.

Sights Metallic – Front:  The two most common front sights are the RPA ladder and the Anschutz.  Both are available in both 18 mm and 22 mm sizes (either is very effective).  The RPA ladder can be adjusted for elevation, which is to say that you can place it in specific detents that can be zeroed for various ranges.  The advantage to this is that you can leave your rear sight at almost the same position as you move back in range. In addition to the sight, you need apertures for it.  In my opinion the adjustable ones are best.  Just like for the rear sight these are commonly available from Gehmann or Anschutz. 

Hand stops:  These can be elaborate, or simple and are available from the supply houses listed at the end of the presentation.  Pick one, and be happy.  These are required, but the design doesn't mean much. 

Slings:  Good slings are available from a variety of manufacturers:  Jensen, Anschutz, Gehmann, and others.  They are all good.  Pick one of the better ones, and use it for your lifetime.

A competition

Competitions are run by a variety of different clubs, but all are sanctioned by the NRA, and all follow a typical pattern.   In Michigan an effort is made to list all competitions on the Michigan Rifle and Pistol Association web site (www.Michrpa.com).  After you have found a competition you should contact the sponsor for a program and other information.  As a rule, sponsors will go out of their way to answer your questions, and provide you with the information that you need to compete.

After finding a competition, you should enter it by notifying the sponsor that you intend to attend.  Some will require that you pay up front; others defer the payment until your arrival.  

On the morning of the match ensure that you arrive at the range at least an hour before the scheduled start.  This will give you time to find the statistics office, fill out any necessary paperwork, pay, and receive your squadding.  The typical match will squad you in relays, and assign you a target within a relay.  Commonly relays three and four (in a four relay system) will go to the pits to operate the targets first (it is way too far to see the bullet holes in a spotting scope).  Relays one and two will go to the line.  From there matches will differ as to how the relays take turns in shooting, scoring and operating the targets.   

If you don't know what to do, get guidance from the sponsor (realize that he or she may be really busy with checking in competitors, so be patient).  Better yet, ask the person that you are sharing pit or line duty with.  Competitive shooters will be happy to share information. 

Helpful hints

You can gain experience in long range shooting by practicing at 100 or 200 yards to develop your position and techniques.  Things such as sling adjustment, hand stop adjustment; rear sight relief should all be worked out prior to attending a match.  

For beginning shooters (and some experienced shooters, too) it is recommended that you maintain good records of your sight settings and other information.  For an experienced shooter this may be as simple as the beginning and ending sight adjustments, but could include the front sight opening (important for varying ranges), the wind used, and zero corrections and the like.     Beginners might be advised to purchase a scorebook and to follow the directions, until they develop sufficient experience to dispense with it.

How do I get started?

Start with the NRA; get a membership (if you don't already have one).  Find a club that offers clinics.  The SEMNO High Masters Club has offered clinics at the Washtenaw Sportsman's Club in the past, and will probably offer them again in the future.  The NRA offers a Long Range Shooting School as part of the U.S. National Championships at Camp Perry, Ohio each year. 

Find a mentor, many clubs have interested shooters that would be willing to help you out.  Enter a league, the SEMNO High Masters have run low cost, informal leagues at the Washtenaw Sportsman's Club in the past, and hopefully will do so in the future.  These are low stress ways to get into Long Range Competition.

Where does it lead?  

I am typing this primer at about 35,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean on a flight back from England.  I have just spent the previous two weeks competing in the "Millennium Meeting" the British National Championships for the year 2000.  Almost sixteen hundred competitors from around the world attended this match.  For two weeks I shot every day (including the day that I arrived!).  It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my adult life.  

Moreover, I don't have to travel to exotic places to shoot (I've shot in Canada, the U.K. and South Africa, as well as at least ten states).  There are a variety of competitions during the year locally.  They provide me with an interesting hobby that keeps me active, and doing what I like best:  Shooting.  

Good luck, and I hope to see you at a match.