So, as Henry S. noted in the LVPRC thread, Chase Stroud, internet celebrity, ex-team GAP member and all around badass match winner was in squad three with Henry G., Ben, Danny, Esteban, Ray, Henry S. and myself. I've heard people talk shit about him in the past, but at least to our crew he was truly a nice guy and one of the most knowledgable shooters I've ever met. I had the chance to talk to him about a few different techniques and gear related topics and I think this would be a good place to share what we can, not just from him but from any of the other really talented shooters we had the chance to compete with this weekend.

I'll go first... One of the most interesting things Chase mentioned is that he cleans his barrel after every match or practice. This is pretty contrary to what I've mostly considered the settled dogma of "clean when your groups open up". He said the Key difference is to only clean carbon and don't touch the copper, he says 1000Y cold bore shots are no problem (for him) doing this. His preferred method is Mpro7 and a bronze brush, 25 strokes and you should feel it get much easier to push the rod. A few dry patches after and you should be GTG.

Next was specific to the 6.5x47 Lapua cartridge, this is the cartridge I shot for the last 2 years before the 6Creed and is what Chase as well as Rich Emmons was shooting I believe. Chase has apparently been getting around 4000 rounds out of his barrels shooting 40.4g of H4350 behind a 140g pill. He mixes Berger VLD, Hybrid and BTHP LR depending on availability. I miss this round, and despite the speed of the 6creed I'm probably going to go back to it afterward. My old 5R has a new 6.5x47L barrel on it chambered by Randall and I remember shooting 40.4g through the chrono when I was working it up and I just looked at it again...

Series,16, Shots:, 4
Min,2751, Max,2759
Avg,2754
S-D, 3
ES , 8

Series,Shot,Speed
16, 1, 2754, ft/sec
16, 2, 2751, ft/sec
16, 3, 2759, ft/sec
16, 4, 2753, ft/sec

Check out that ES! I dismissed it at the time because it seemed too slow, but man.
Chase's load is 40.4g H4350 behind a 140g seated to .015 off the lands, I'm certainly going to give it a try.

Lastly I know it's the indian not the arrow for most of this stuff but I still find it interesting, I think the biggest lesson I've taken away from this match (and Surefire) is find what works for you and then stop fucking around with it.

Henry G., I know you talked to Chase about the wind affecting shots at 1000Y+ post it below if you're so inclined, thanks!

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"Gentlemen you can't fight in here this is the war room!"

Then you have guys like Kerr who beat Chase with 6 creedmoors loading rookie level reloads beating everyone including Chase in the finale.

I'm not saying that trusting your gear isn't important or the SD isn't beneficial or being familiar with your caliber isn't necessary.

I'm just saying you're a long way from being a Chase even with a true laser beam. The difference isn't caliber...or cleaning techniques....or anything even close to that. The difference is practice!!

Let's be real here. The Nellis range was % 90 positional. I can only recall 3 stages where we went prone. That's a minor percentage of the total shots taken as most stages that did have prone ALSO had positional in them as well. It's my belief that a 1 moa rifle would have been sufficient for the Nellis range. What's your excuse?

The CATM range had a bit more prone but still very few shots at long range. (1k and beyond)

What WILL turn you in to chase is shooting dang near every day like him. He could be comfortable with anything just as you or I could. Spend more time behind the rifle and the caliber and get to know it then stop worrying about chasing the next best thing.

While you're sitting at home analyzing how you can make your rifle make more hits next time....the guys who beat you are at home using anything in their safe to figure out how they can make themselves get more hit's next time.

The biggest "Take Away" from our squad and the match was "Practice, Practice, Practice".

Chase, Tate, Jim, Rich; they all shoot nearly EVERYDAY, practicing LR and all the positional (barricades, tank trap, etc.) They literally have a range and the apparatus in their backyard. Speaking with Wade, after the match, he finished below where he typically would and he said he had not shot consistently the last 6 months, getting his smithing business going and got rusty. Just 6 months off took him out of the running. Mentally these guys have already got it figured out, so no prep time is no problem.

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In the face of a crisis, a failure to act is the first act of failure.
There are no stupid questions, just stupid people asking questions.
Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, but brains saves both.

evin,
It is not so much as the caliber ,it is the practice part of it, you give any of the top shooter other caliber rifles,with a little practice they would come on top,if you can not get behind the rifle and keep it steady, all that extreme spread and standard deviation you are talking about will not help you much , you will get as much as you put in ,don't expect more.

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"One of the secrets to mastery in any field is to forever be a student."

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"Gentlemen you can't fight in here this is the war room!"

I really think you guys are misunderstanding this post, it's not that the SD/ES or any of the caliber stuff matters that much to winning, just that it's good information.
For me personally I was doing better as a shooter when I was shooting the 6.5x47L, not because of any inherent accuracy or ballistic advantage but because I was comfortable with it, I knew it and trusted it, and didn't need to go OCD to get consistent results. That let me concentrate on my game, but honesty my primary limiting factor is having 2 toddlers in the house, this has left me almost no time for practice, even dry firing is nearly impossible. Hopefully this will get better once they are a bit older, but for now they are more important than a rifle match.

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"Gentlemen you can't fight in here this is the war room!"

Chase was a cool guy, he practices a lot. That is definitely a contributing factor to his success. I just want to be badass like James and Solomon....

Here's something I took away from the match even though I wasn't there.

Don't fuck up......mentally.

Oh and practice more.

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Kevin H.

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Tomorrow's Battle Is Won During Today's Practice!

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God shoots a Remington 700, drives a Chevy Truck and carries a Glock 19.
I don't do any of those things.

Things I really need to work on if I'm going to shoot another big match.
1. Losing weight
2. Getting back on my bicycle
3. Positional practice (building steady positions)
4. Shooting my .22lr a lot more
5. Getting a card holder for my arm.
( sports tape sucks )
6. Last would be get something besides .308. (When your wind dope is different than everyone else it makes it harder on you.)

Why is the thread subject titled "Shit 'my' Chase said"?

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Kevin H.

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"Gentlemen you can't fight in here this is the war room!"

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Kevin H.

I also had some time to talk to Chase. He told me that he dry fires more that you can possibly imagine. I think the fact that he shoots every single day is also part to the reason why is so good. It was amazing to see him shoot and walk a stage before hand. Watching him was a definite highlight of the weekend.

^^^dude are you guys gay? I know....I'm a dick

Between the 2008 Olympics and the following 2 World Cup events Keith Sanderson live fired 500 rounds in practice but dry fired in excess of 100,000 times. This required several battery changes for the electronic trigger in his rapid fire pistol during that 7 month period. He was ranked #1 in the world at the end of the second World Cup, which really drives home the importance of good dry practice.

Weeks prior to a match I start holding my rifle to build muscle memory. 10-15 each position. Standing kneeling, sitting, and prone. I did well on the positional stages in Vegas.

I had been doing off hand dry firing every other day leading up to the match and that did help, I got about 30% of my off hand shots which is better than my normal %. Practicing off a barricade in my yard is a bad idea with my neighbors being able to see me. I'm going to have to come up with something indoors after the kids are in bed. The IOTA works well for this.

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"Gentlemen you can't fight in here this is the war room!"

Lol Chase is the guy that said he spots his own impacts at 3700 yards. Just saying -


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Team GAP, Shooter #7
Draining squares and banging steel

3700 yards! Well why not, shoot, get up, mosey to spotting scope, spot impact!

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