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Several years ago the NRA toyed with allowing scopes in across the course matches, which are fired at 200, 300 and 600 yards. Finally the Tubb organization sponsored a match at the National Matches in which rifles with scopes were allowed. There would be a reduced registration fee and the winner would be awarded a Tubb rifle. The match was announced on a three year provisionial basis, with the results to be evaluated after the third year. Competitors in the "Optical Class" would only be allowed to compete for the aggregate prize, the Tubb rifle.

My shooting friend and I, both in our late 60's, jumped at the chance and proceeded to buy or build appropriate rifles. Our top loading Model 70 match rifles were clearly not usable in their present configuration.

I experimented first with a Steyr international match rifle in 7.5X55 Swiss. It shot exceptionally well with conventional Sierra Match King and Berger VLD .30 caliber bullets, but had a very stiff action, which no amount of lubrication nor honing seemed to correct.

I switched to a 40X Remington in 6mm/.250, which I fitted with an after market detachable magazine system. It worked quite well, but I was not too pleased with the cartridge.

When the opportunity presented itself, I had one of my McMillan stocked pre-War Model 70's rebuilt to accept .308 Tikka magazines, and that is the rifle I continued to use until, without warning, the third year of the provisional matches were cancelled. My friend and I were so upset by this development that we skipped Camp Perry that year, and neither of us has returned since.

Part of the reason for cancelling the third year may have been diminished participation in the second year. Considering the terms of the match, allowing only shooting for the aggegrate score, rather than competing against other Optical Class members in the individual matches, the decline was not surprising. The fact that both aggegrates were won by one of David Tubb's sons was undoubtedly another factor. Persistant efforts on my part to revive the Optical Class, if only for Seniors like myself, have been met with deaf ears by the NRA.

Before embarking on this experiment I considered carefully what kind of scope I wanted to use. Previously shooting at 1000 yards I had always used a Unertl 1 1/2" target scope. Clearly, something of this nature was out of the question. Shooting standing and rapid fire with a Unertl made no sense, and a scope with external adjustments was not robust enough to stand up under the difficulties of across the course shooting.

I have had a high opinion of Leupolds hunting scopes over the years, and the fact that their custom shop is able to make a number of changes to the production line scope was a plus. An outfit called Premier Reticles in Winchester, VA had an agreement with Leupold which allowed them to market the Leupold scopes and also make modifications which would not invalidate the Leupold lifetime warranty.

I contacted Premier Reticles and described what I wanted. I selected the VariXIII- 2 1/2-8X scope as a basis, because I liked the low profile, the 32 mm objective lens, both of which tended to minimize the "sail effect" of shooting standing with a brisk side wind, and even experienced at Camp Perry shooting sitting and prone. The winds off Lake Erie can be merciless.

I had target knobs and a 1" dot installed and shot with it through two seasons, including Camp Perry, and never had the slightest difficulty with the scope. I set the scope at 2 1/2X for shooting standing and 200 rapid, 3X for 300 rapid and 8X for 600 slow fire. The dot subtends almost exactly the X ring on the 300 and 600 yard targets and makes a clear aming point against the dark background of the bull. The scope settings on the easy to read micrometer adjustments were consistantly repeatable.

I would recommend the same scope to anyone. Although Premier Reticles is no longer in the same business, I am told the Leupold custom shop can supply the same modifications.