Getting into PRS Shooting – An Amateur’s Story
By: Kyle Ponce
The Precision Rifle Series sport is growing significantly year after year. A record numbers of rifles are being manufactured and outfitted with equipment and accessories from a countless number of innovative companies and plastered all over social media. That’s how I got into shooting PRS not too long ago. I want to share my story of how I ended up shooting PRS because some of the details of my journey I feel will be helpful or even comforting to other newcomers.
Until 5 years ago I didn’t even own my own firearm. When I got my first pistol, I had to show it off somehow; I made an Instagram and started following every gun page I could find. Without having any close friends that were into firearms, the internet is where I found all the latest and greatest information on new guns, accessories, various shooting sports, and instructional information. I was following cerakote pages, custom Glock pages, competitive pistol shooters, gunsmiths—you name it…I followed them. Then I bought my first bolt action rifle and went from shooting no further than 100 yards to a 1,000 yard hit 5 months later.
Glock 19 Gen 3. My first firearm purchase.
I was hooked! Almost immediately I didn’t care about any of those other Instagram pages; I found myself following all the big name rifle companies, then the custom shop guys, then that led to following the shooters who used all those companies’ products. Before long, my feed was littered with people just as obsessed with long range shooting as I was. I bring this up because without exposure from Instagram to this corner of the shooting community, I don’t think I would have ever gained any interest in it. I just flat out didn’t even know it existed.
I ended up finding a buddy that shared the same passion. We both started where most beginners start. I bought a Savage .308 Winchester and he a Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. We were fortunate enough to have access to one of the biggest farms left in our county where we could stretch out to 1,000 yards. We shot here for roughly a year before we got…well…bored. Shooting prone, side by side and only on nice days when we felt like going out wasn’t challenging us. To keep ourselves interested, we just kept dumping money into our rifles. The idea to try PRS style shooting started surfacing. I researched all the local matches and was disappointed to find they were all 3-4 hours away. I was immediately discouraged from trying it.
Our Rifles the first time we connected at 1,000 Yards
We went the remainder of the fall, winter, and spring doing our same routine. I joined a long range shooting forum and began interacting with more shooters to keep myself entertained and try to learn more. Not two days after making an account and explaining my story, I was bombarded with “JUST SIGN UP FOR A MATCH, JUST DO IT, JUST DO IT”. There were shooters jealous that I was only 3-4 hours from four different club matches. The next day I was signed up for my first match and I was able to talk my shooting pal into signing up too.
Where the obsession began. This was our typical set up for shooting 1,000 yards.
We were nervous. Up until now we felt confident in our knowledge of long range shooting. Before we even got to Match Day, we realized we were going be surrounded by guys (and gals) with more superior levels of knowledge than us. It was intimidating. “We are going to look like IDIOTS in front of these people” is all we kept thinking. We were wrong. Everyone at the match was incredibly nice and helpful. We had guys helping us with wind calls, donating barricade bags, and giving us tips on building positions. It was a humbling, yet awesome experience. Out of 75 shooters, we placed 61st and 64th. We didn’t care though. We knew we could only get better and it drove us to practice more and prepare for another match.
Shots from our first PRS match at Pigg River Precision in Rocky Mount, Virginia.
Now that you’ve heard the story leading up to my first Precision Rifle Series match, I want to summarize a few points to take away:
1) If you don’t know what PRS is, but you enjoy long range shooting – look into it. There is no better way to find your weaknesses than to put yourself in a competitive environment surrounded by experienced shooters.
2) Find a Shooting Buddy if you don’t have one. I wouldn’t have realized how deep my passion for shooting was if I didn’t have someone to talk to and actually shoot with regularly. Not everyone is born automatically surrounded by people who love guns. Another benefit to this is: long range shooting is EXPENSIVE. Range finders, chronographs, spotting scopes, tripods, shooting bags, shooting mats, binoculars…are all things most shooters end up with at some point. If you have a regular shooting partner, you can take turns buying some of these items and share them when you are at the range. In my case, 99% of the time I shoot I’m with my shooting buddy, so we don’t need two of everything. I bought the chronograph; he bought a tripod and spotting scope. We also share shooting bags at matches because only one of us is shooting at a time.
3) Join a shooting forum. Every hobby I’ve had I joined a forum for. It is a great way to continue to surround yourself with like-minded people who you can share knowledge and experience with. It is also a fantastic way to buy, sell, and trade equipment to keep cost down if you are on a budget. You will always end up meeting great people and expand your Shooting Buddy circle.
4) Try not to get caught up in the Gear Race. I know this is hard, because I’m a gear head myself, but you don’t need the latest and greatest thing to participate in PRS. Bring a rifle with a decent scope that tracks reliably, that you are comfortable shooting, and is decently accurate (MOA or better will get you by just fine to participate). Shoot until you find something that limits you, then upgrade or add on.
5) JUST DO IT – If you are on the fence about any competitive shooting sport: Just do it. Don’t just go and watch—you’ll immediately regret it and wish you had just signed up. Don’t get discouraged if the matches seem too far away. Find a Shooting Buddy and make a weekend out of it. I promise you’ll learn more at your first match than in one year of shooting on your own by yourself lying on your belly.
I look forward to continuing shooting matches and sharing my experiences, gear reviews, rifle builds, reloading adventures and more.
