I just got back from the match Friday, dallying a bit along the way. I really didn't want to return to the weather on the Texas Gulf Coast at this time of year!
I had a great time overall. While it was frustrating at times, I learned a lot and will be better prepared for next year. I need to build a good set of tall shooting sticks to start with. When they said you can shoot from either sitting or prone, I assumed sitting meant with my ample posterior planted on the ground. Little did I know that you could use a stool to shoot on! That made things much easier, but, of course, that requires taller shooting sticks, too. Fortunately, I had some friends in attendance I could borrow a stool from and the really nice folks at the match had extra tall shooting sticks to loan.
Dealing with the wind on the prairie at 1,000 yards was also a humbling experience, as well as shot calling when there was no berm behind the target. However, I did learn a lot and managed to place 29th out of 71 shooters. I wasn't skunked on any of the targets and managed to shoot the 200 meter offhand clean, which made me feel much better.
One thing I really noticed was the lack of a set trigger on my rifle. While I've had Lee Shaver work on, and greatly improve my Browning BPCR, there were a lot of times on the longer ranges where a lighter set trigger would have helped me break the shot more precisely.
Oh well, next year I'll have my new 1874 C Sharps set up just the way I want it, and hopefully have had plenty of time to work up a good load and get comfortable with it.