let's talk shooting mats for F-class

[03fatboy]

I'm a bit overwhelmed on all the choices out there,

What's good,bad,to cheap, to expensive?
What's needed and what's not?

Want to find out what everybody is using, thanks for any information you can give.

 

[jwrowland77]

I started with the basic Midway mat. Recently I upgraded to the Midway Pro mat though. It's definitely a lot more comfortable.

 

[03fatboy]

Is something padded the way to go?

Does the size matter much?

Will be shooting in grass/dirt

 

[jwrowland77]

Yes. The padded just makes it comfortable. You want comfort if you're going to be laying there for up to 60 minutes. 20 minutes at a time.

 

[03fatboy]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with me.

 

[taliv]

just about anything is fine. even no mat. i'd say the one thing you want to do is not get a color that gets hot in the sun, like black. you won't want to lay on the mat.

 

[jwrowland77]

just about anything is fine. even no mat. i'd say the one thing you want to do is not get a color that gets hot in the sun, like black. you won't want to lay on the mat.

Amen to that! That's another reason I upgraded to mat from the black to the olive drab green. That black got hot in the sun in Memphis, Tulsa and Arkansas. Lol

 

[03fatboy]

Ok no black,Has to have padding.

Does how wide or how long matter?

 

[jwrowland77]

It doesn't HAVE to have padding, but you'll like it a whole lot more if it does. It just makes the experience so much better.

I don't know how long mine is, but I'm pretty short so the Midway one did just fine. It's wide enough that I can put a notepad on it and it's not going to get wet or dirty and I can make my notes, but I mean there's no certain width it needs to be.

The midway pro mat will serve you well.

 

[03fatboy]

The midway pro is on the top of my list so far.

 

[jwrowland77]

The midway pro is on the top of my list so far.

Keep an eye on Midway. This time of year they tend to have them on sale.

It's normally $102. I picked mine up for $40 this time of year.

 

[Walkalong]

Yep, hard to beat the Midway one on sale. That is what I did. They are dark colored though.

 

[03fatboy]

The mat from midway is a olive drab color,has padding and on sale for 49.99, but of course it's backordered.
Going to get a notification when they come in,I'm going to order it when that happens and go from there.
Thanks for all of your information.

 

[Trent]

+1 on Midway Pro mat.

Absolutely fantastic.

Our last f-class event;

 

[03fatboy]

Trent
That's dedication, Don't know if the matches here will run into winter,haven't received the official schedule.
But it nice to know the mat will work in that kinda weather.

 

[jwrowland77]

Nah, Trent's just partially crazy. LOL.

 

[Trent]

The worst part was when is I knocked my damn box of ammo over in to the snow on the last string.

The snow immediately froze to the ice-cold ammo.

I couldn't chamber iced up ammo, so each round, I had to stick the projectile in my mouth to melt the snow, then wipe it off on my leg, chamber, and fire.

Meanwhile no glove on that trigger hand so my hand is freezing.

And I'm shivering.

By the 18th shot, my mouth had grown so cold that the saliva was no longer warm enough just to melt snow.

That's right!

I was "that guy" who got a 300 win mag round stuck RIGHT AND GOOD on his tongue!


I lost some flesh tearing that off and was so angry I just jammed it in and shot it, flesh-coated bullet and all.

I don't shoot as good when it's cold. I keep pics of my targets, this was the last of the 3 strings in January match. 194-7x if I recall.




I do slightly better (although not by much) when I'm not freezing my ass off.

I'm the nutty guy closest to the camera on the end, serving as a wind break for the other guys.



(The guys standing are shooting across the course, slowfire standing @ 200, 20 shots, while we were doing f-class. Takes the same amount of time and we have the berms available at each range, so we multi-task the line)

 

[Trent]

Also the good parts about that shooting mat;

it's got a pocket for notes
it's got a strap sewn in to stick your bipod up in to, to preload it.
it has flaps with reinforced metal circles, so you can stake it down in the wind
It's very nicely padded, with no-slip pieces stitched in the right spots
very compact and easy to roll up.

It's really a perfect shooting mat.

 

[03fatboy]

I think we all have to be alittle crazy to obsess over the small stuff.

I ordered the pro mat ,it's still on backorder hopefully not to long,
That's the last piece of the puzzle.

I still have to finalize my load that l'll be using, but other that that I can't wait .
Thanks for your help.

 

[another pake]

Late last month I also ordered the Pro Mat from Midway, largely from hearing the good reviews here. Sale price and Birthday Pricing really made an attractive deal.

 

[taliv]

Trent that's the funniest thing I've read all year. I hate to laugh at you man but picturing you with a bullet frozen to your tongue is just hilarious. Omg I'm rolling laughing

 

[Trent]

Dude, it's perfetly OK and you don't have to apologize or feel bad.

*I* was laughing at myself - and with that 300 win mag round stuck frozen to my tongue while I'm trying to be all serious and shoot, everyone at the range was frigging laughing at me.

I may have won the match but I lost my pride somewhere along the way.

 

[Hardtarget]

When Trent told about the frozen bullet...I thought about "Christmas Story" and the kids tongue stuck to the pole.

My wife thought I'd sorta lost it...

I've got to say, that is some good shooting. I wish my target would look that good just every once in a while!

Glad to see this thread. I've been thinking about a mat for a while. Our range has heavy gravel and we just cannot shoot prone without some padding. Very timely info...thanks!

Mark

 

[taliv]

what range you shoot at in nashville? i'm an hour east of you

 

[jlr1962]

The worst part was when is I knocked my damn box of ammo over in to the snow on the last string.

The snow immediately froze to the ice-cold ammo.

I couldn't chamber iced up ammo, so each round, I had to stick the projectile in my mouth to melt the snow, then wipe it off on my leg, chamber, and fire.

Meanwhile no glove on that trigger hand so my hand is freezing.

And I'm shivering.

By the 18th shot, my mouth had grown so cold that the saliva was no longer warm enough just to melt snow.

That's right!

I was "that guy" who got a 300 win mag round stuck RIGHT AND GOOD on his tongue!


I lost some flesh tearing that off and was so angry I just jammed it in and shot it, flesh-coated bullet and all.

I don't shoot as good when it's cold. I keep pics of my targets, this was the last of the 3 strings in January match. 194-7x if I recall.




I do slightly better (although not by much) when I'm not freezing my ass off.

I'm the nutty guy closest to the camera on the end, serving as a wind break for the other guys.



(The guys standing are shooting across the course, slowfire standing @ 200, 20 shots, while we were doing f-class. Takes the same amount of time and we have the berms available at each range, so we multi-task the line)

Looks like fun for a short day. By chance, did you get the frozen bullet to tounge on video?