Equipment Related Questions?
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The Jacket
A good shooting jacket is the most important piece of equipment next to a sling and the rifle itself. Equally important is a proper fit. A poorly fitting jacket serves only as a vehicle to hold the rubber in place. A properly fitted jacket will have a good draw across the shoulders or to better illustrate the fit, it should feel like its at least one size too small.
This draw will help you hold steady as it reinforces or braces your position in the standing position. The bottom 2 straps should be very tight but allow you to breathe. Normally in the sitting and prone positions, only the top 2 straps are fastened to allow you to sit and to shoot from the prone position. The material should be leather or cordura nylon. The cordura material has pretty much replaced leather as it is lighter, offers the same support, cooler, more waterproof and costs less.
The rubber (neoprene) pads help keep the rifle in place and also protect the elbows and keep them from slipping in rapid fire. By far the best jackets available are made by Creedmoor Sports. Creedmoor has a hard back version that gives even greater support along with ventilated armpit panels and a very clever removable terry cloth collar that velcros in place. The collar can be removed later and tossed in the washing machine. This also keeps the collar area from discoloring or rotting from perspiration.
Be warned, it can get good and hot in these jackets. While they are not cheap, they are made very well in America by people who compete. A lot of thought goes into a Creedmoor shooting jacket and they are worth every penny, I recommend them without reservation.
The Sling
A good sling is also needed. There is no value in buying a cheap sling, not only will it not work well but it will stretch and not last. Richard Turner makes high quality affordable heavy leather slings. The correct length for the AR-15 is 54" for the Garand or M1-A the 52" If you have very long arms you will want the 54" which works well with all of the service rifles.
More recently Turner has pioneered a synthetic sling which is made of a polyester type material bonded in vinyl. Its called Biothane. This sling called the AWS (all weather sling) will outlast leather slings and I would heartily recommend it.
A low cost alternative for a sling is a USGI M1 web sling. They can be had for 5.00 to 7.00 at your local gun show. They have the benefit of being easier for a new competitor to use. They are legal for competition use and one can always upgrade latter which you no doubt will want to. Below you can see the correct way to configure the national match sling. It can be put on the rifle with the claws facing the rifle (Marine style) or away from the rifle. General suggested hole settings for a beginner would be #4 or #5 in the sitting, #5 or #6 in the rapid prone and #6 or #7 in the slowfire prone. The individual needs to determine which holes and levels of tightness works best for him in each position. For more on the slings use, please see: The National Match Sling
The Glove
A glove is needed to protect the hand from the front sling swivel on the rifle. When properly used, the sling is very tight and pulls the swivel into the hand. The glove also isolates the rifle from any pulse from the shooter. There are two basic types of glove. One is a full fingered glove and the other is a mitt style where the fingers are exposed. The gloves are padded to protect the hand from the sling and to keep pulse from being transmitted to the rifle. Many gloves also have textured neoprene or kevlar to give it a non slip surface which aids in gripping the rifle.
The Stool
The stool is used to carry all your gear back and forth from the line and to rest your rifle on between shots in the offhand stage. It is also useful to sit on while waiting to be called to the line.
The Mat
The mat is used to lay on in the slow and rapid fire positions and to sit on in the sitting rapid. It will have non slip rubber or neoprene surfaces to aid in your prone positions as well as being padded for comfort and shielding you from wet ground or grass.