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!

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.

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.

As usual James your command of the obvious is exemplary!

DirtRacer151 wrote:Then you have guys like Kerr who beat Chase with 6 creedmoors loading rookie level reloads beating everyone including Chase in the finale.

Absolutely, and at both Surefire matches and before I asked many of the same questions of Ryan, but his secret is more in his personal zen master thing, so not much more I can really glean there.

DirtRacer151 wrote: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!!

Yes, I agree completely! But many of us have professional, familial and financial obligations that keep us from practicing every day of the week, so we have little choice other than to practice when we can and try to make whatever gear or ammo changes that might in some way help us improve.

DirtRacer151 wrote: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)

Again, you're not bringing any new info into the conversation here, nowhere above did I state that if I had used different gear I would have had an advantage, in fact the opposite. I would have done better if I had not changed my gear last year and had instead stuck to what I knew and just worked on my technique. My excuse is I don't have one, I just couldn't get my head squared away for some reason, big match jitters, too much steak, who the fuck knows. But I want to figure it out cause although I don't expect to shoot like Chase or Ryan, I do think I did not shoot to my actual ability.

DirtRacer151 wrote: 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.

In the end my disappointment in my performance is completely about unforced mental errors. I counted at least 20 if not 30 points I dropped between both days that were from stupid simple shit that I just couldn't get control of (for instance shooting the Bus in the wrong order). When I was on my game, for the couple of stages that I was, I was able to clean them or in one instance beat Chase, the obvious difference is consistency. So if I'm talking ES, SD or any number of other technical details it's because these things help me quiet the voices in my head and concentrate on the shit that really does make a difference, not making stupid mental errors, going too fast or shooting before I have a solid position.

peerless wrote: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.

I 100% agree with you Ray.

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.

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.

evo wrote: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.

+1 to this.

buffybuster wrote: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.

This^^^^

evo wrote:But many of us have professional, familial and financial obligations that keep us from practicing every day of the week

Build your own props so you can go dry fire in your back yard.
If you spent 20 minutes every other day (1hr a week) dry firing from props and from standard unsupported positions, you would see a huge improvement after a few months.

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"?

khw9mm wrote:Why is the thread subject titled "Shit 'my' Chase said"?

I was wondering the same thing.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612578/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

evo wrote:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612578/

Guess I should watch more TV!

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.

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


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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

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

LOL!!!!! pretty much....