05-07-2020, 06:44 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-08-2020, 10:43 PM by lazyengineer.)
It's hard to find good youtube videos on HighPower and Midrange matches. Here are a few more videos for you:
[video=youtube;2MTI1E0TcZk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MTI1E0TcZk[/video]
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXeDj-ELiqw
Main difference between HighPower and Midrange, is high power is done 3-position at 200, 300, and 600 yards, while Mid-Range is generally only done at 600 yards, and only fired prone; 1 shot at a time). In High Power, there is Service Rifle (AR15 20" A2 or A4), and Match Rifle (everything else). No brakes allowed, and have to shoot using a sling and muscle (no bipods - so no F-Class). Which means shooting standing (200 yards), sitting (200 yards), rapid prone (300 yards), and slow prone (600 yards), and you have to move your gear between those distances. It takes up the day.
Mid-Range is 3 strings all at 600 yards slow-prone only (with nuances like 500 yards, for ranges so limited). F-class only fires mid-range, and they do it all slow prone. F-class allows high power optics, and bipods. Match and Service rifle class still must be done with a sling. They also shoot at a conventional 600 yard Service rifle target, whereas F-class shoots at the 600 yard F-class target, with tighter rings on F-Class targets.
AR-Tactical can be done with a tactical style bipod (i.e. not one of those 20# 3' wide mount "bipods" some F-class shooters use), scope up to 15X, but no break, and max BBL is 20"; and is fired on a Service rifle target (i.e. the larger more forgiving scoring rings; hence the appeal).
For me - I shoot High Power predominantly. Most clubs do Saturday High-Power (200,300,600 of standing, sitting, prone shooting), followed by Sunday Midrange, where midrange is 3-strings all at 600 yards exclusive. Attendance between the two in my experience has been about the same; with about half the shooters on Sunday (Mid-range) still shooting Match or Service rifle, and only about half shooting F-Class; and is consistently that way of the 3 clubs I shoot at.
And the Camp Perry National matches, which are Service Rifle High Power (200, 300, 600 - no F-class), there are thousands of contestants competing over that week. with each match-day drawing between 1000 and 1500 shooters a day. (they have over 200 active firing points all going consecutively; it's quite a facility). They, and the NRA, host Mid-Range national matches as well, which barely break into the 100's of competitors. The big reason for this is that the US Military still issues and honors High Power awards, where the Distinguished Rifleman badge, and the Presidents 100 tabs, become part of a soldiers uniform and ribbons. That's not going away, so I wouldn't say High Power is necessarily "dying", though it's certainly not the big growth-sport like PRS and 3-gun. But there are no military badges or awards for F-class or Midrange.
In general, Service Rifle and Mid-range F-class shooters at times eye-roll each other over nuances; as it is in all similar cross-over human endevours. I tend to hold my tounge, as typically Mid-Range is a maturation sport for when the eye's and body aren't so good anymore at standing and shooting via iron sights - a day that may come for me as well! The shift to allowing optics in Service Rifle is an abomination to purists, but as one now on the wrong side of 40, I'm kinda OK with it! That, and it's relevant, as the entire original intent of High-Power was to encourage civilian proficiency with the modern military issued rifle; and it's typical for the modern US military rifle today to have optics.
Personally, I find High Power more my sport than Mid-Range; though I do enjoy them both. MidRange is just HighPower, but skipping 3 of the 4 stages. I like shooting at 600 yards, but my favorite position is the 300 yard rapid prone stage; as that's where one really gets to the use the Semi-Automatic AR-15 to it's true full potential. That's only done in High-Power, not MidRange.
And my absolute favorite is something called NTIT, which does so even more. NTIT is only done at Camp Perry, and consists of a 6 man fire-team engaging 8 silhouette targets at 600 yards; with a set amount of starting ammo. Fired as fast as you can fire in 50 seconds. It's a total rush. Thing is hits count 4 points, misses count zero. BUT, whatever ammo you have left over, you march as a team to 500 yards, and repeat, now for 3X points. And so forth marching down the range as a team until you finally exhaust your ammo. There's strategy to how fast you fire, since misses cost you the chance for lesser value points down range. For me, and how I roll - it is the single funnest shooting sport event of everything I've done; is the true test of what an AR-15 semi-auto rifle really can do.
I will say, knowing how to use a sling has helped me in open-field 3-gun and PRS. In PRS they set up goofy support opportunities by design, and at times, if you know how to just use a sling, you can shoot better, than if you uses the awkward support the set up for that shot. I thought I'd like PRS more, but it's more odd-position-yoga-with-rifles, than I was expecting.
[video=youtube;2MTI1E0TcZk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MTI1E0TcZk[/video]
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXeDj-ELiqw
Main difference between HighPower and Midrange, is high power is done 3-position at 200, 300, and 600 yards, while Mid-Range is generally only done at 600 yards, and only fired prone; 1 shot at a time). In High Power, there is Service Rifle (AR15 20" A2 or A4), and Match Rifle (everything else). No brakes allowed, and have to shoot using a sling and muscle (no bipods - so no F-Class). Which means shooting standing (200 yards), sitting (200 yards), rapid prone (300 yards), and slow prone (600 yards), and you have to move your gear between those distances. It takes up the day.
Mid-Range is 3 strings all at 600 yards slow-prone only (with nuances like 500 yards, for ranges so limited). F-class only fires mid-range, and they do it all slow prone. F-class allows high power optics, and bipods. Match and Service rifle class still must be done with a sling. They also shoot at a conventional 600 yard Service rifle target, whereas F-class shoots at the 600 yard F-class target, with tighter rings on F-Class targets.
AR-Tactical can be done with a tactical style bipod (i.e. not one of those 20# 3' wide mount "bipods" some F-class shooters use), scope up to 15X, but no break, and max BBL is 20"; and is fired on a Service rifle target (i.e. the larger more forgiving scoring rings; hence the appeal).
For me - I shoot High Power predominantly. Most clubs do Saturday High-Power (200,300,600 of standing, sitting, prone shooting), followed by Sunday Midrange, where midrange is 3-strings all at 600 yards exclusive. Attendance between the two in my experience has been about the same; with about half the shooters on Sunday (Mid-range) still shooting Match or Service rifle, and only about half shooting F-Class; and is consistently that way of the 3 clubs I shoot at.
And the Camp Perry National matches, which are Service Rifle High Power (200, 300, 600 - no F-class), there are thousands of contestants competing over that week. with each match-day drawing between 1000 and 1500 shooters a day. (they have over 200 active firing points all going consecutively; it's quite a facility). They, and the NRA, host Mid-Range national matches as well, which barely break into the 100's of competitors. The big reason for this is that the US Military still issues and honors High Power awards, where the Distinguished Rifleman badge, and the Presidents 100 tabs, become part of a soldiers uniform and ribbons. That's not going away, so I wouldn't say High Power is necessarily "dying", though it's certainly not the big growth-sport like PRS and 3-gun. But there are no military badges or awards for F-class or Midrange.
In general, Service Rifle and Mid-range F-class shooters at times eye-roll each other over nuances; as it is in all similar cross-over human endevours. I tend to hold my tounge, as typically Mid-Range is a maturation sport for when the eye's and body aren't so good anymore at standing and shooting via iron sights - a day that may come for me as well! The shift to allowing optics in Service Rifle is an abomination to purists, but as one now on the wrong side of 40, I'm kinda OK with it! That, and it's relevant, as the entire original intent of High-Power was to encourage civilian proficiency with the modern military issued rifle; and it's typical for the modern US military rifle today to have optics.
Personally, I find High Power more my sport than Mid-Range; though I do enjoy them both. MidRange is just HighPower, but skipping 3 of the 4 stages. I like shooting at 600 yards, but my favorite position is the 300 yard rapid prone stage; as that's where one really gets to the use the Semi-Automatic AR-15 to it's true full potential. That's only done in High-Power, not MidRange.
And my absolute favorite is something called NTIT, which does so even more. NTIT is only done at Camp Perry, and consists of a 6 man fire-team engaging 8 silhouette targets at 600 yards; with a set amount of starting ammo. Fired as fast as you can fire in 50 seconds. It's a total rush. Thing is hits count 4 points, misses count zero. BUT, whatever ammo you have left over, you march as a team to 500 yards, and repeat, now for 3X points. And so forth marching down the range as a team until you finally exhaust your ammo. There's strategy to how fast you fire, since misses cost you the chance for lesser value points down range. For me, and how I roll - it is the single funnest shooting sport event of everything I've done; is the true test of what an AR-15 semi-auto rifle really can do.
I will say, knowing how to use a sling has helped me in open-field 3-gun and PRS. In PRS they set up goofy support opportunities by design, and at times, if you know how to just use a sling, you can shoot better, than if you uses the awkward support the set up for that shot. I thought I'd like PRS more, but it's more odd-position-yoga-with-rifles, than I was expecting.