20yd/25yd benchrest

[pennineway.fswo]

My club members have been shooting 25 yard benchrest for the past 2 years now and we have found that a good pre-charged air rifle such as the AA400 in .177 will almost match the accuracy of a .22 rimfire rifle off the bench at 25 yards. On the 25 yard NSRA rimfire target a good air rifle can average 99+ as long as the correct ammo. is used and a good high mag scope
The Midland Shooting League is considering introducing 20 yard/25yard bench rest for next winter, beginning September 2009
However they will only do so if there is a demand for the discipline
For ranges that only have a 20 yard facility, a scaled down version of the target will be used

If any BBS readers are members of a rimfire or airgun club which does not already shoot in the midland league and would like to field teams of 3 for the winter season, please let me know

LATEST UPDATE 3.7.09
THE COMPETITION IS TO GO AHEAD. RULES HAVE BEEN FIRMED UP
PLEASE SEE POST 38 OF THIS THREAD


 .. .. .

[Powderfinger]

Hi, John

Sutton Coldfield R&PC would definitely be interested. We could field at least one team and possibly two. Please keep us updated and let me know when you will need confirmation of the teams. Many thanks.

[pennineway.fswo]

Hi, John

Sutton Coldfield R&PC would definitely be interested. We could field at least one team and possibly two. Please keep us updated and let me know when you will need confirmation of the teams. Many thanks.

Many thanks
Will do
ATB
John

[simmmo]

Is this just an invite for Midland clubs or nation wide.

Andy

[pennineway.fswo]

Is this just an invite for Midland clubs or nation wide.

Andy

Hi Andy
This is a good question. I posted the above to try and get clubs in the Midlands interested

However I do know that county boundaries are not rigidly applied by several regional shooting associations/bodies

I will therefore discuss with the leagues chairman the option of opening up the proposed benchrest league to clubs that are outside of the Midlands region
I will post his preference/views
ATB
John

[lwebster]

looks interesting, however rule 1.3 means that rests suitable for NSRA competitions would not be allowed. Could I suggest that the NSRA or uk 22 br specs are adopted, therefore allowing more people to compete without having to obtain another rest.

Love to discuss further.

I'm at the british air champs this weekend if youre there. If not drop me a line.

Liam

[pennineway.fswo]

The main difference between the NSRA and the UK22 Benchrest rules is the exclusion of the rear rest for NSRA competitions



We are proposing at this stage to allow the shooter to use a rear rest in accordance with UK22Benchrest rules

Some clubs may feel that they wish to shoot under NSRA rules and not UK22BR

This will be discussed by committee
John

[lwebster]

The specifications of the front rest are also very different.

[himself]

Hi
Sounds Good. If other counties can enter ,then we would be interested in entering one team at least,Inter club competition can only improve the sport.
Himself

[Powderfinger]

I don't mind what the rules are, John. Sutton will put a team or two together. I assume that you want to confine it to the current Midland league at first but maybe an intercounty competition might be feasible at a later date. Maybe even a shoulder-to-shoulder match one day. Many thanks for proposing this idea. I'll start practising.

[pennineway.fswo]

I don't mind what the rules are, John. Sutton will put a team or two together. I assume that you want to confine it to the current Midland league at first but maybe an intercounty competition might be feasible at a later date. Maybe even a shoulder-to-shoulder match one day. Many thanks for proposing this idea. I'll start practising.

Many thanks Charlie

One of the problems at present is that the NSRA do not take the discipline that seriously and their rules are different to UK22BR
Also county associations have their rules for benchrest that again differ to both NSRA and UK22BR

Some of the county rules have not been carefully thought through

For example Yorkshire allow .22 rimfire to compete against air rifle but they further handicap the poor air rifle shooter by specifying wadcutters only despite all holes being probed with a .22 guage - Why?

Extensive testing of 18 members PCP .177 rifles at our club show that all of these rifles consistently achieve tighter groups with top quality round nosed pellets such as AA/JSB/Daystate rather than the match wadcutters on offer

With quality ammunition the best 3 air rifles in our club (all AA400 Classics) give group sizes at 25 yards that are only 1.5mm - 2mm greater CTC than an Anschutz rimfire target rifle

Our Winter league club shoot (which is over 9 rounds - 20 shots/round) has been won with a AA400 Classic (2nd to 6th places were however .22 rimfire).
So the airgun shooter has a good chance of competing as long as he/she does the hard work of testing different makes and head sizes of pellets.

We have 2 shooters who use recoiling spring air rifles for benchrest. Again Yorkshire league rules state that the top of the front rest must be solid (eg wood)and shooting a springer off a block of wood is not conducive to tight groups

So the proposed rules are to be as fair as possible to everyone and at least consistent with one of the bigger associations (UK22BR)

Rear rests are very cheap to buy or very easy to make at minimal cost. So there is no substantial saving to the shooter in excluding them

The real cost to benchrest is the purchase or manufacture of the tables and the adjustable front rest (if deemed necessary by the shooter).
Again many of our shooters have home made excellent front rests. Height adjustment of the muzzle (between top and bottom rows of diagrams) is achieved by sliding the bottom sloping rear part of the rifle stock along the rear rest.

Thanks again for your input and i will keep you informed of progress

ATB
John

[pennineway.fswo]

Hi
Sounds Good. If other counties can enter ,then we would be interested in entering one team at least,Inter club competition can only improve the sport.
Himself

Thanks mate - i will keep you informed

The letters to all the Midland league clubs went out today
I will start chasing up replies in 2 weeks or so

If this really gets off the ground i may run an open shoot at our club on our new 25 yard indoor range (as suggested by Rockphoon)or perhaps our new 50 metre range(just completed thanks to lottery grant body - Awards for All)
Regards
John

[simmmo]

I think it is a great idea to get some sort of Benchrest League going within the UK however in previous posts it is obvious that there are too many different rules going about.

At Buxted we shoot UKBR22 and find them accommodating towards air rifle shooting.

As the first World Championships took place last year using these rules and the new World rules are currently being drafted (based largely on these) so as to standardise it in the World arena don't you think it would be sensible in an effort to get the sport to grow that the country as a whole adopt the same set of rules. This years nationals will be using these rules.

I appreciate that there are current regional leagues in existence using their own rules. I would love to enter another competition other than the UKBR22 ones that I currently do each month but I would suggest a different target would be the best way to go with a standardising of the rules across the country.

If you want to do benchrest seriously then you can spend a lot of money and time sorting your kit. Front rests can be as cheap or as expensive as you want. If you are shooting different classes you need different bags unless you have an adjustable top. This part of the rules could be a major stumbling block nationally. You must I feel go for the most liberal view so as to encompass most people because what we want is competition. The most competitive shooter at Buxted at the moment is using a bipod.

Equally classes and divisions let like shoot against like equipment and ability wise, so don’t be afraid to have air competing against air and live fire against live fire. I think if you study the UKBR22 scores section you will see that the rimfire scores are on their targets predominantly more consistent. Don’t read this as more accurate because I don’t think there is much in it. But what they have is an advantage in their propulsion at the standard of Tennex and the like is much more easier to control than in an airgun with power curves and fill pressures etc..

Even UKBR22 has daft rules like .177 and .22 competing against each other plugged with calibre specific gauges, still cannot get my head around that one.

I'm sure we could put 3 or 4 teams into such a competition.

Good luck with whatever you achieve.

Andy

[BigAl]

IEqually classes and divisions let like shoot against like equipment and ability wise, so don’t be afraid to have air competing against air and live fire against live fire. I think if you study the UKBR22 scores section you will see that the rimfire scores are on their targets predominantly more consistent. Don’t read this as more accurate because I don’t think there is much in it. But what they have is an advantage in their propulsion at the standard of Tennex and the like is much more easier to control than in an airgun with power curves and fill pressures etc..
Andy

Andy I think that part of the vairablity that you see in the scores for Air gun classes in the UKBR22 is that quite a lot of clubs are actually shooting outdoor. If you compare the scores for the equivalent classes but with the .22LR at 50m the scores are reasonably comparable. Shooting Air at 25 outdoors is as challenging as rim at 50 when you have a breeze to contend with in my opinion.

Al

[Romah]

Even UKBR22 has daft rules like .177 and .22 competing against each other plugged with calibre specific gauges, still cannot get my head around that one.


Andy

Hi Andy, working on this one mate. As said above, world rules are in the proccess of being draughted, when this is completed and agreed the UKBR22 rulebook will be updated.
Cheers,
Robb H