Results : Muscle Power League 2018, Autumn/Winter Series

[PhatMan]

Hello to All,

Scores updated Sunday, 20181216.

I think Sunbeam must have shredded wheat for breakfast, as he has now finished the Supported Rifle cards (with a most excellent score) !!

Have fun & a good Sunday

Best regards

Russ

[zooma]

I have just completed all of my MPL rifle and SAR targets for this current MPL season.

I used my faithful FWB red alloy P70 for the Supported Air Rifle competition and it performed flawlessly (as usual) and was even able to help this old pensioner knock up a good score to finish the season with.

To be honest when I have used my blue/green/red laminated P70 in the same competition it has been every bit as good - these P70 rifles have the perfect ergonomics for SAR shooting and have impressed everyone who has shot them at the club.

After I finished shooting my MPL rifle targets I decided to give my HW 99S a trial on the Supported Air Rifle stand just to see how a kicker would work when balanced on the hard 50mm diameter bar - and I was pleasantly surprised.

As long as the rifle fore stock was not actually "held" firmly but allowed to 'float" after the trigger was released it really worked surprisingly well!. The two best achieved scores were a 46 and a 47 - not at all bad in a discipline that we all regard as being the exclusive domain of the recoilless match rifle!.

Naturally I had a fair few disappointments too - especially as I was working-out the best way to hold the supported "kicker" (or "not" to hold it as it turned-out!) but after some practice this little springer really began to earn itself some serious respect from me and made me think that including "kickers" in this supported shooting competition could be a realistic possibility.

If we get enough interest it would be really good to include the spring powered "kickers" in this SAR class - and if they had a points premium (per card) added to their scores they could compete well against their more expensive recoilless rivals making this new shooting class even more interesting!

[PhatMan]

Hello to All,

Scores updated Sunday 20181223.

And a tie in the SARS category !

Bob - I think you have something there with the kickers & SARS

I think that if the contact point is chosen correctly, then there will be consistency of the impact point (which may or may not match that from the shoulder).

It would certainly reward good and consistent holding.

I would be very interested in seeing how a kicker pistol - say a Diana/Original Model 5 - would fare in SAPS ?

Have fun & a good Sunday

Best regards

Russ

[zooma]

Hi Russ,

We could offer the SARS kicker option with a "points per card" premium when we draw-up the entry for the next MPL competition and see how many actually enter. We could deduct the premium from the recoilless scores or add it to the "kicker" scores.

The effect would be the same whichever way we apply the premium. The "kicker" shooter would be able to see what they had to score to match the recoilless rivals.

My guess would be that using a recoiling (kicker) rifle in the SARS competition would give a greater diversity of scores as it is bound to be harder to be as consistent, but that could just add to the fun, and it would encourage the use of less expensive air rifles again - and that was one of the primary aims of the MPL competition when we first started!

The score "premium" would have to be "worked-out" between kickers and recoilless air rifles, but it could work as follows ( assuming we agreed to deduct the premium from the recoilless scores):-

-3 would give a 300 ex 300 shot with a recoilless an "adjusted" score of 282. (6 x3 = 18 points deducted) needing 47 per target shot by a "kicker" to give the same score.

-4 would give a 300 ex 300 shot with a recoilless an "adjusted" score of 276. (6 x 4 = 24 points deducted) needing 46 per target shot by a "kicker" to give the same score.

-5 would give a 300 ex 300 shot with a recoilless an "adjusted" score of 270. ( 6x 5 = 30 points deducted) needing 45 per target shot by a "kicker" to give the same score.

My opinion is that it would be just as difficult to score 45 points per card with a kicker than it would be to score a "possible" 50 with a recoilless when shot from the hard 50mm bar.

Hopefully other's will give this a try and see what they come up with, but as long as we agree what premium is needed to make a working adjustment before the first targets of the new season are scored we have plenty of time to work out a value that brings the two score closer together.

The other option is not to bother - just carry on as now but with a different class for the "kickers" and the recoilless.

Personally I would like to see the two combined as it would be good fun for the "kickers" to chase the recoilless shooters to see how close they can get. It would also be interesting to see what recoiling rifles are the most successful when shot from a hard bar rest.

CAPPED SCORES. We could also consider putting a CAP on the "kicker" scores so that it would not be possible to score more than a 50 ex 50 if we should get a remarkably talented Kicker shooter with an exceptionally good recoiling rifle. - or just a freak good score !

Plenty to discuss and think about - please let me have your thoughts......

[MrChipShoulder]

People don't seem to want the MPL to change or evolve, so I'd be inclined to leave it as it is.
Plus I've just spent a 'kings ransom' for an SSP !

[zooma]

People don't seem to want the MPL to change or evolve, so I'd be inclined to leave it as it is.
Plus I've just spent a 'kings ransom' for an SSP !

Happy New Year Rob,

The MPL has a fine history of changing and evolving.

When I first came up with the MPL idea and wrote the rules for the competition it was a 10 meter inter-club air pistol competition that was devised to help newcomers get into target shooting without fearing the high costs that "being competitive" would incur (physiologically at least !).

For the first time we had beginners happy to take part in target pistol shooting with inexpensive kit knowing that they could not be "out-shot" by anyone with deeper pockets as the rules only allowed the use of spring powered target pistols that could ( and still can) be bought at a relatively moderate price.

This competition is responsible for bringing many newcomers into target shooting, many of whom have now "moved-on" to shoot more seriously in competitions at 10 meters - and some of us have been happy to also help perpetuate the original and classic British 6 yard shooting distance and still enjoy shooting at this shorter range (often as well at at the "international" 10 meters distance).

In more recent years the MPL postal competition was devised to help those who wanted to enjoy target shooting from home. This was evolved from the original MPL competition and shared most of the same original rules - but could be enjoyed by those who for various reasons were unable to shoot in a club that was local to them.

Air rifles were also added to the MPL competition some years ago and long the way we have also catered for those who wanted to try target shooting with their .22 air pistols and those who wanted to shoot at 6 yards with their PCP air pistols too!

Both classes were supported by the MPL and both classes ran for a full season - even though they both failed miserably to attract the numbers of supporters who said that it was something that was "needed" to be included in this competition.

More recently the MPL has been the first to include and promote the "new to the UK" Supported Shooting classes in air pistol and air rifle - when nobody else seemed to be making the effort to take on this new class that has already been so successful in Germany for a number of years.

In short - the MPL's history has been one of accommodating just about anything that can be sensibly and safely shot from home at a distance that most people can accommodate or make available in an average sized house (or garden/cellar/garage etc etc).

Newcomers may not be aware of the full MPL history - but most of it can be tracked through the BBS history by anyone who would like to take the time to do so and it will show the tremendous amount of flexibility that has been shown to at least try out new ideas that people have thought would be worth a try.

We have also learnt from our experience over the years that the competitions that we currently run are the ones that have achieved the most support to date - but in fine MPL style we still have "ears" and listen to what people would like to see the competition include and we are unlikely to ever close the door on any good idea that has the chance of helping shooters enjoy their target shooting from home.

We know that the 6 yard MPL competition works really well for owners of classic air guns and those who enjoy the extra skills required to shoot a spring powered airgun accurately at an official 6 yard target. Most only see their scores as something to relate to their own progress to from season to season, or to see if they can "master" their latest addition to their armoury as many basic airguns have vastly differing requirements to get the best out of them.

Any good ideas will be given a fair airing, but the best distance for shooting from home will always be 6 yards as it is probably the only distance that just about anyone can include and has been successfully shot from lots of imaginative places including canal barges, static caravans, down a hallway and into a kitchen, from one bedroom across the landing into another, as well as the more usual gardens, garages and cellars - something that 10 meters would be much harder to accommodate!

[PhatMan]

Bob,

Nicely summarised

In addition, I feel that it also allows shooters who do not have dedicated target rifles to enter, and not be at a great dis-advantage.

A lot of the 'modern', as well as 'vintage' recoiling 'sporter' springers can shoot small 'one-hole' groups and 'possibles' on the 6 yard targets.

There is a lot of satisfaction to using such rifles in the MPL.

Have fun

Best regards

Russ

[MrChipShoulder]

Plenty to discuss and think about - please let me have your thoughts......

Hi,

Obviously I was coming from a point of view of total ignorance in regards to the MPL's history having only shot in it for the last few weeks. You did ask for peoples thoughts and I was responding based on the comments made to me by others about the MPL in the last few days. With the best will in the world, I can't go trawling through years worth of BBS threads before I make a comment. But I now have a very clear understanding that the MPL has a rich history and has tried many things over time.

I am sorry if I have offended anybody, that was not my intention. I'm just an enthusiastic beginner looking for more options.

Thanks,
Rob.