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+--- Thread: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR (/showthread.php?tid=496)
Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - Thelaststraw - 12-10-2021
I went to my first match last week at 7 Foxtrot outside of San Antonio with my little franken-gun. For those who are not familiar with Guardian matches, they are a charity type match and many big names in the industry support one way or another. The entry 'fee' is on par with a 2 day national match but it's a donation. The first day is the individual match and the only divisions are LE/Mil , Lady , Junior and Open. This leads to day 2 where the team match happens and first is teamed with last place from day 1 , second with second to last , etc.
Now that that's out of the way I'll get to the action. We all know there are a lot of negative feelings toward the 6ARC, but we have a few converts now. There was a teenage girl in my day1 squad with a 6BR and our dope was near identical out to 1000. I was running 95s pretty hard compared to her 105s though. Everything was going great and I was looking at a high midpack finish in the upper 60% area until my scope tracking took a dump. The second to last stage I took a zero while spotters tried to make a call for me and it was toast. Went to re-zero my scope and it was .6 mil low at 100. Somehow it went below my zero stop so I had to reset that and the turrets and try to get some points on the last stage. First target was in the upper 400s and the others were staggered as far as 600-something, a random troop line. Dialed for first and impact a full 5 mil low.....thanks Vortex. Anyway, Finished 47 out of 66 with two painful zero stages. If I just hit half the targets on the last two it would have been high 50 to mid 60% finish, not bad for a gas gun in a PRS match.
Here is where it gets good, sorry for the long intro. My teammate was a seasoned mid pack shooter who finished 17 with a serious bolt rig (placed higher than he normally does too he told me). I'm mean top shelf...Foundation stock, Bartlein left gain twist barrel, ZCO, Area 419 can, etc, etc....in 6GT. It's a for-fun match but who doesn't want to win and I could see the look in his eyes...lol. Our third stage was a tag team stage where we shoot each other's rifles and he has only shot a semi a time or two before and I never shot a bolt. After walking him through my gear he shot and reported back in pure amazement " I had no idea an AR could run that smooth!"
Oh and did I mention the wind? If ya push a 95VLD fast enough you can not only run with a 6BR, you can run with a 6GT!!! We were calling wind for each other and both dropped a few shots but in the end a home brew 6ARC gas gun was running with a $5k bolt rig...In the end we ended up in second place on the team match and I had people asking questions both days all day long.
Let me get back to the scope real quick and wrap this up. Since I couldn't dial, my plan was rezero and just use holds the next day for the team match. This is what amazed me of the rifle community, I had multiple people I have never met before this match offering up loaner scopes...in the Tangent Theta and Zero Compromise variety! Amazing how nice people can be. I was going to continue with my plan though, I want to be proficient with my equipment and it was my first match so no biggie. That night at the awards banquet, a few of the sponsors and guys I had met this year simply GAVE me a scope and rings just so I would be able to shoot AND dial.
My apologies for the long post but the performance of the 6ARC and a gas gun in general is looked down on, but it's there. I know it can do a lot better than people give gas guns and the cartridge credit for. I saw it last weekend. Also, the kindness and help people offer in the rifle community is something everyone should be proud of. Everyone here has been very helpful getting me lined out on some simple things to get me going and it's appreciated greatly. Thank you.
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - grayfox - 12-10-2021
Great report and glad to hear it went so well for you!
Bummer on the scope but it's nice to see the graciousness of the crowd there too.
Myself I'm sort of settling in to the 95's for my 20" gas gun also. I like the MV they can get.
Don't feel as agile as I used to be though (age and aches/pains), so comp's are not really in my schedule.
But good to hear all this, thanks for posting!!!
And keep going!
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - Old Bob - 12-10-2021
thelaststraw... A big "Thumbs UP" for your report! Not surprised by the generosity of your fellow shooters. I used to see that a lot when I was doing 3 gun, blackpowder cartridge & muzzleloader comps.
grayfox... My comp days are over as well. But, if there's no running involved, I may give some comps a shot...
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - r.tenorio671 - 12-11-2021
...nice AAR !! ...mind listing what your load consisted of and the specifics of the rifle? It's unfortunate that your scope failed, but if anything it was a "learning experience" for future contingency planning.
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - Thelaststraw - 12-11-2021
Well the rifle has been a work in progress but have not really changed anything major except projectile and powder....and optic now. Lucky for me the free scope I picked up worked great even though it was a 12x hunting scope with only .5 mil graduations on the reticle. Thankfully the wind was easy to read and predictable that day. I recently switched to 95gr VLDs from the 105 VLDs after seeing their performance at 900+. Our little 6ARC case needs to work pretty hard to get the speed needed to maximize BC at distance and I didn't want to risk a case head separation or break a bolt doing so. The 95gr VLDs can get some pretty good speed and it makes up for the lower BC from what I've been seeing.
Current load:
Berger 95gr VLD Target
VV N 140 28.7 gr
CCI Mag Primers
0.020 jump
2890 fps
Was and 8 SD and 17 ES when I chrono'd before the match
The rifle:
Aero M4E1 Enhanced upper, lower and handguard
CLE Criterion Varmint barrel 24" +2 RLGS
CLE matched/headspaced bolt
SA gas block
Armaspec SCS with Carbine weight
Form 1 Suppressor 7" Ti tube and all HT Stainless baffles(single clip)
Hiperfire X2s Mod 3 Trigger 2 stage 1.5lbs
Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25 <<<Broken>>>
***New glass TBD--currently deciding my new plan of action
A bunch of other doo dads like ARCA rail and Atlas CAL bipod, etc, etc
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - r.tenorio671 - 12-11-2021
...any idea what specifically is "broken" on your scope?
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - Thelaststraw - 12-11-2021
Tracking went nuts. My second to last stage was 5 targets from 5 something out to 1200. First target was no call from both me and spotter and when I got to the 800 and I didn't see anything in the dirt either I went to re zero. My data was good all day so for it to not even be in field of view, something was way off. I dialed back to zero stop and shot at 100yds. and actually had to dial my scope down below the zero stop to get POI to hit within and inch or so of POA. All I wanted was a rough zero to try and get some points on my last stage, an easy one, two silhouettes, one at 460 ish and one somewhere near 600 with a 3 mph mover at 400. When I dialed for my first shot it hit the dirt 5 full mils low on a 1.5-2 mil dial. WAY WAY off after a re zero. How can that even happen? Needless to say Vortex said something went bonkers in there.
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - r.tenorio671 - 12-11-2021
...sounds like something in the erector mechanism failed. If you had been able to re-verify your zero @100 and never dialed after that, do you think just using the reticle tree for holds might have made a difference in your results? I'm assuming that manipulating your power zoom would not have affected anything...
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - Thelaststraw - 12-11-2021
That was my plan after it failed me a second time....if it was going to return to zero again. I was going to try and just hold on Sunday for the team match since a small percentage of shots required more than 4.5-5 mil elevation. It would have made the switch gun stage interesting with my partner using my rifle with a 'no-dial' scope...lol
Shoulda, coulda, woulda....just 5 points on each of the last two stages (10 point stages) would have been a 55% and 8 on each a 66% finish. A very valuable learning experience for me. I will have a back up scope in my car from now on. It may even be a backup rifle at my wife's suggestion! Why would I argue with that?
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - grayfox - 12-11-2021
Don't worry about troubleshooting any further, just send it back to Vortex. They are great at service and lifetime, no matter who owns it.
They will fix or replace.
Been there twice with them and they did fine. (2 diff scopes, one was actually no problem).
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - Thelaststraw - 12-11-2021
I talked with them the other day and plan to re install in re zero just to double check myself. They helped reassure me that nothing stood out as user error and a few other guys looked at it at the match but I want to make sure. It's most likely going back to them and being turned into a standby scope from now on. I got an offer I couldn't refuse and will be switching my primary to another manufacturer.
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - popgun - 12-15-2021
Thanks for the great write up! To bad about the scope. I'm very happy with my CLE Criterion barrel as well.?
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - Thelaststraw - 12-15-2021
(12-15-2021, 01:47 AM)popgun Wrote: Thanks for the great write up! To bad about the scope. I'm very happy with my CLE Criterion barrel as well.?
I'm super happy with my CLE Barrel, I cant imagine that it could get better with a Bartlien! My Monster barrel is a shooter too but at 20" and longer strings of fire in Louisiana, it got super hot fast. I didn't want to burn it out unnecessarily. It's going on a build for my wife.
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - Biodsl - 12-22-2021
What a great report.
RE: Guardian Long Range Comp AAR - Newmexican - 02-18-2022
I agree with Biodsl and thank you for the report. That sounds like the match challenged both shooter and equipment, so congratulations on your team finish!