NRL Hunter

[ECK]

I’m still trying to figure it out myself. I’ve been shooting enough PRS and NRL22 matches that I’m feeling pretty good about my ability to range targets and shoot from all kinds of positions. I practice a fair amount shooting off a tripod. Initially it was off a bag but more recently I’ve been clipping into the arca rail on my rifle. For me, the most stable is using bipod and rear bag. Next most stable is extending my bipod (double pull Cyke-pod) and using the tripod for rear support. Next is resting the front of the rifle on a bag if there is a big rock or fork in a tree and using the tripod for rear support. Then last is shooting off the tripod itself. Since the last position is the most unstable I’ve been practicing it the most, either daily dry-fire or live fire at the range. Some stages lure you into shooting prone on the first target/position, but then when you move you realize that you need to shoot off a tripod to clear veg or terrain in front of you.

My weak point is finding the targets and it’s harder to practice that. I mainly look for shapes since the targets are rarely freshly painted and the greyed out steel often blends in with the background. One thing I was told was to make sure I’m glassing directly above the sighting pin and use the left and right indicators to help me narrow down the search. One of my stages at my last match I was having difficulty finding my last target. I glanced down at the right indicator flag and realized that I wasn’t looking far enough to the right. I lined up on that flag and it led me right to the last target. Go figure.

At my last match in Idaho the slope where the majority of the targets were on was fairly open, a few scattered trees, some clumps of brush, and a lot of scree slopes. So not as much vegetation for the targets to hide in. But the rock screes were damn near the same color as greyed out steel, and a number of them were hiding in the rocks.

My next match (in central Oregon) is in the junipers and reputed to be hard to find targets, so I’m a little apprehensive about that. Good news is, the rules say the first target is supposed to be within 10 yds of the stage placard, so generally the first target shouldn’t be too hard to find.

[ECK]

I don’t have anything to contribute but am interested and want to learn.

So I'll second the motion!

They also have what they call NRL Hunter Games, which are one-day club-level matches. Currently there aren’t that many of them but hopefully interest will help grow the number of them. You can find them on the NRL Hunter website.

Compared to PRS, I’d say NRL Hunter matches are more about the process of finding the targets, ranging them, and then engaging. With less difficulty on the engaging/shooting part. Which is to say, the NRL targets are a little more forgiving in size or at least windage than most of the PRS matches I’ve shot. I’d say if you can hit a 12” plate at 500-600 yds fairly consistently from various positions then you should be good to go.

As far as gear, 10x42 binos with laser range finder in them is critical. Bonus if it has on-board ballistics calculator or ability to blue tooth to a Kestrel (time savings). Next up is tripod. I used my tripod on every stage, sometimes it was just to rest my binos on them when ranging targets, but I also used it for rear support or to shoot off of. I only carried one shooting bag with me, a Schmedium with Git-lite fill. The bag served as a rest for my binos, rear support, or a few times to rest the front of the rifle on if shooting off a big rock or log.

Rifle, bi-pod, mags, extra ammo, something to write your dope on, and a pack to carry everything. Nice thing about these matches is the max you can shoot on a stage is 8 rnds, and you typically shoot 10 stages a day, so 80 rnds ought to be plenty (if you get a lot of first round impacts you may only shoot 4 rnds per stage). There’s a little more hiking involved in NRL Hunter matches. Sometimes you’re only moving 50 yds between stages but quite often you have to hike a ways to get to where the stages are from the parking lot. Not including rifle, my pack was around 25 lbs (with water and snacks).

[Bergeron]

Some stages lure you into shooting prone on the first target/position, but then when you move you realize that you need to shoot off a tripod to clear veg or terrain in front of you.

Good news is, the rules say the first target is supposed to be within 10 yds of the stage placard, so generally the first target shouldn’t be too hard to find.

I hear ya on that first one, I've had multiple experiences now of building a prone position like I was gonna just slay steel left and right but- whoops- can't clear veg/terrain. Good times.

Your practice is very admirable. I'm learning to make more use of my unaided vision than I had originally thought. It's fun when there are multiple placards out there, and you've gotta find the one that's associated with the stage you're trying to shoot.

[msstate56]

They also have what they call NRL Hunter Games, which are one-day club-level matches. Currently there aren’t that many of them but hopefully interest will help grow the number of them. You can find them on the NRL Hunter website.

Compared to PRS, I’d say NRL Hunter matches are more about the process of finding the targets, ranging them, and then engaging. With less difficulty on the engaging/shooting part. Which is to say, the NRL targets are a little more forgiving in size or at least windage than most of the PRS matches I’ve shot. I’d say if you can hit a 12” plate at 500-600 yds fairly consistently from various positions then you should be good to go.

As far as gear, 10x42 binos with laser range finder in them is critical. Bonus if it has on-board ballistics calculator or ability to blue tooth to a Kestrel (time savings). Next up is tripod. I used my tripod on every stage, sometimes it was just to rest my binos on them when ranging targets, but I also used it for rear support or to shoot off of. I only carried one shooting bag with me, a Schmedium with Git-lite fill. The bag served as a rest for my binos, rear support, or a few times to rest the front of the rifle on if shooting off a big rock or log.

Rifle, bi-pod, mags, extra ammo, something to write your dope on, and a pack to carry everything. Nice thing about these matches is the max you can shoot on a stage is 8 rnds, and you typically shoot 10 stages a day, so 80 rnds ought to be plenty (if you get a lot of first round impacts you may only shoot 4 rnds per stage). There’s a little more hiking involved in NRL Hunter matches. Sometimes you’re only moving 50 yds between stages but quite often you have to hike a ways to get to where the stages are from the parking lot. Not including rifle, my pack was around 25 lbs (with water and snacks).

This is what I want. 1 day cheaper NRL Hunter type matches. I gave up on PRS after years of shooting them because I refused to give in and shoot a 25# 6 Dasher (my gun is a 16# 6.5 CM). Also, nobody wants to do NRL Hunter in the South.

[Bergeron]

Having some one day match options would be pretty cool.

I wonder if NRL couldn't become more popular here in the South? Everybody's got a deer rifle, and the matches are more "field" than "square range" feeling.

[ECK]

This is what I want. 1 day cheaper NRL Hunter type matches. I gave up on PRS after years of shooting them because I refused to give in and shoot a 25# 6 Dasher (my gun is a 16# 6.5 CM). Also, nobody wants to do NRL Hunter in the South.

Full disclosure, my PRS rifle in 6GT weighs in around 21 lbs w/ bipod. Heck, my .22 Vudoo that I shoot in PRS22 and NRL22 tips the scales around 17-18 lbs…. But yeah, my 14.8 lb 6.5CM I shoot for NRL Hunter is a joy to carry. I may yank the weights from my 6GT to get it down to 18 lbs.

[ECK]

Having some one day match options would be pretty cool.

I wonder if NRL couldn't become more popular here in the South? Everybody's got a deer rifle, and the matches are more "field" than "square range" feeling.

The one-day Hunter Games match I shot last winter was totally newbie friendly. It was a run whatcha brung and basically everyone shot in Skills division. If you wanted assistance finding targets the RO would help you, and you could even watch the person ahead of you. For those that wanted the match to be practice for NRL Hunter series they just faced the other way while waiting their turn and didn’t watch. Setting up the stages to be truly “blind” takes some work and distance between stages to pull off, and probably not worth the effort for a one-day club match unless the MD is really dedicated.

Targets were easier to find compared to the 2-day match I shot in April, and distances may have been a little easier as well. But it was a great way to dip my toe into the NRL Hunter scene to see if I liked it.

Like everything else I think it just takes somebody to step up and volunteer to make it happen.

[Bergeron]

I love your last line, there.

I'd like to keep the thread going, so how about a rifle discussion. My only non-small frame AR centerfire rifle is my PRS-style .308- it's a fabulous rifle, I love it so much, it doesn't fit any NRL Hunter division except Skills (way too heavy). And hey, that's cool, I am happy shooting Skills, but at some point in late '24 or early '23, I'd like to be able to enter in a competitor division, and given the totality of the situation, I won't have the same budget in that timeframe that I had for the PRS rig.

My thought is that if I'm going to be a bit more budget-minded than a all-out custom rifle, then I might want to consider Factory division.

https://trustyourammo.com/blog/how-t...tory-division/

The link above seems like the best guide I've seen so far for selecting a rifle. I don't have any decisions made yet, but I am curious to learn about anybody else's experiences. I'm particularly interested in the Begara and the Christensen chassis guns, and in the Savage Tactical and Browning X-Bolt2 in the traditional stocks. There's also the Weatherby 307, which is itself pretty close to something I could see myself building as a custom Open Light gun.

[ECK]

I saw a bunch of Seekins PH2 rifles at my last match. I’m about to shoot and RO a 2-day NRL Hunter match in Central Oregon in a couple days so will report back on what I see there.

I’ve only handled the Seekins at Sheels, and without optic mounted, but it seems like a decent rifle.

I picked up a cert off a prize table in 2023 for 50% off an action from Zermatt Arms (Bighorn). So last fall I built a rifle around the Origin action. Sourced a CF Proof barrel, XLR chassis, and A419 comp during last year’s Black Friday sales for 25-30% off everything and I had an extra TT trigger laying around that got used. So all in, my rifle didn’t cost as much as it could have and was pretty close to the MSRP of a higher-end factory rifle like the Seekins.

As far as optic, seems like one of the most popular scopes in NRL Hunter is the Leupold Mk 5 in 5-25x56 with the PR2 reticle (1/4 mil) due to the 30 oz weight. So I got one and shot it for a few hundred rounds, but I ended up trading it to a buddy who had a Burris XTR Pro w/ the SCR2 reticle (.2 mil). I’ve got the same Burris on my PRS 6GT and NRL22/PRS22 Vudoo, and switching back made my brain happy. The Burris weighs about 5 oz more than the Leupold, but I’m shooting in Open Heavy and my setup even w/ double pull Cykepod weighs in at 14.7 lbs, so I have some room to spare.

[Bergeron]

As I continue to think, my heart says that one Browning X-Bolt model, but my head says Savage 110 Tactical- 24" .308, same ballistics and ammo as my PRS rig.. And then maybe later the Weatherby 280AI if I wanted to "circle back" on the Factory gun concept.

Either way, I would put the Bushnell that's on the PRS rig onto the factory gun.

My smith also has a blueprinted-and-rebuilt 700 with a Proof 20" in 6.5CM. That plus a stock/chassis, and as long as I was shooting factory ammo, would be a OL gun, or a OH with room to grow, weight-wise.

I looked through some of the stuff at NRAAM, and I think having some extra ounces or even pounds available on a precision hunting rifle will be of benefit. The guys running gun-mounted laser rangefinders seem very pleased.

The XLR seems like such a great choice for OL or OH- how has your experience with the chassis been?