How’s your competitive spirit? Do you go wild over any sports team on TV, or do you have to be involved in the action to get fired up? Do you feel driven by any type of competition, or only the ones relating to certain interests? Whatever your style, if you’ve recently decided it’s time to give competitive shooting a try, it’s time to get fired up! Before you get lost in the competitive craze, however, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re prepped and ready. Here’s what you should keep in mind when preparing for your first shooting competition.
Start With The Essentials
Safety
Every competition will have different rules about what is permitted during the competition, what’s limited, and what’s restricted entirely. There are a few things that you can reasonably expect to be permitted (or required) across the board, so let’s start with the essentials. There will be a lot of rounds fired throughout the course of the competition. Make sure you’re suitably prepared with the right ear and eye protection. If you don’t already have quality over the ear protection, now is the time to invest. Just make sure you grab them early enough that you can practice with them and ensure they won’t interfere with your stance.
Tools
The other things you’ll likely want to have on hand are a portable cleaning kit, a screwdriver, and an Allen/hex key set. You probably won’t want to haul around the full cleaning kit and tool box you keep at home, but you may need to do some last minute emergency cleaning or adjusting. A portable gun cleaning kit won’t break the bank, and it’ll be enough to get you through the day without damaging your firearm. In addition, keeping a small tool set on hand should be common sense for any AR 15 owner. So many parts of the AR upper are made to be easily swapped, from the carrier group to the handguard and everything in between. Keep a small set of your essential tools on hand to ensure you can swap between different accessories or custom AR parts as needed.
Basic Materials
It’s a shooting competition, so it stands to reason you’ll need to have the requisite ammo or you won’t have anything to fire. Before competition day, grab the ammo you’ll need. While you’re at it, it may be time to replace that old mag that struggles to clip in properly. Take the time to stock up on the basic necessities before the competition. You’ll need ammo, mags, and targets — though, many ranges will have targets, but we put this in the necessity category to remind you to stock up on your preferred options. While you’re at it, make sure your first aid kit is stocked up
Storage
You don’t necessarily need a ton of accoutrements during a shooting competition, but there will be enough bits and bobs to go along with your firearm and any custom AR parts or accessories you intend to swap between that you’ll want to have a good way to carry everything. If you don’t already have them, now is a great time to invest in a sturdy ammo box and a durable range bag.
Beyond The Basics
Once you’ve got all the necessities at hand, it’s time to dig into the best AR accessories and other items you may want for the competition. Choosing AR accessories will depend on your preferred setup and what type of competition you’ve chosen, so you’ll want to do a little research if you’re not sure which options will work best. If you’re on the hunt for the best AR accessories for a shooting competition, or just for day to day life, Bootleg, Inc. has you covered. Explore our specially-designed upper assembly parts, like our carrier group options or our PicMod and PicLok handguard rails. Shop online today!