Head count!

[PedroS]

Mike, one thing that puzzles me is on air rifle, all power confounded, no one is using barrel tuners...
Can you comment on this?

[michaelthomas]

The muzzle blast does not allow anything that extends past the muzzle. Adding a tuner that overhangs the muzzle has destroyed accuracy for me.

Might be able to use one behind the muzzle. Have not tried one like that, yet.

Mike

[tim]

My main concern, is if the Air Rifle Participants are allowed to manufacture their own ammo, will it open up a debate by Rimfire Competitors to manufacture theirs as well?

No Fred, it won’t

[Jan Pritchard]

I don’t know anything about out the FX design. Can you machine a normal sized barrel to fit one of them?

I bought a superior heavy barrel a few months ago, but after pushing a few pellets through it I decided to send it back. It was grab and release all the way down.

Keep us posted on what you find if you can.

Thanks,

Mike

Hi Mike,

It appears that a rimfire barrel could be machined to fit an FX Impact chassis but the barrel would have to be turned down to .547" OD.

Jan

[BillBrawand]

i don’t know anything about out the fx design. Can you machine a normal sized barrel to fit one of them?

I bought a superior heavy barrel a few months ago, but after pushing a few pellets through it i decided to send it back. It was grab and release all the way down.

Keep us posted on what you find if you can.

Thanks,

mike

mike was it possible that tead changed as you forced it down barrel making tight and then loose testing maybe be done with laping poured

[michaelthomas]

I think I understand what you are asking...and No I don’t think the snaggy barrel was related to the lead used. I think it was due to it being a crudely made barrel with no hand work added to it to help it out. Never felt anything like it.

Mike

[Pete Wass]

In a proposed union with Rimfire rifles? Hand made ammo is outlawed in all of the sanctioned Rimfire orgs I'm familiar with. I'm all for innovation and really like the idea of not chasing ammo or pellet lots.

Pete

[michaelthomas]

There would be no way to shoot semi competitive against Rimfire without slugs. It’s the only way. Slugs have also been legalized for use in the USARB Unlimited division.

Mike

[Pete Wass]

There would be no way to shoot semi competitive against Rimfire without slugs. It’s the only way. Slugs have also been legalized for use in the USARB Unlimited division.

Mike

If only people could be over needing 250's we'd be a lot better off. It will be awhile before Production rifles will catch up, if they ever do.

Pete

[michaelthomas]

250 is just a number. There will always be guys that work much harder and get a little more. It’s the reason that competitions exist.

The only way to “level the playing field” is to add elements of chance to the game so the same guys can’t win all the time. If the chance element is big enough...the wins will be distributed more evenly. Adding chance also has the effect of removing the serious competitors from the game because they realize that all their work is not helping them enough. This is the way that the 100y pellet “BR” shooting has gone. It’s the plinkers game. 100y is so far beyond the reasonable capability of a pellet that you now have increased the element of chance enough that guys with little shooting skill can sometimes beat a very skilled shooter.

Guys that get absolutely stomped in real BR are suddenly competitive. But are they really?

Mike

[BillBrawand]

in a proposed union with rimfire rifles? Hand made ammo is outlawed in all of the sanctioned rimfire orgs i'm familiar with. I'm all for innovation and really like the idea of not chasing ammo or pellet lots.

Pete

rimfire ammo was never outlawed it was milt cooks decison he came to me at roanoke match and said they hade a meeting of clubs which was not true he was just scared of getting beat.

[Pete Wass]

250 is just a number. There will always be guys that work much harder and get a little more. It’s the reason that competitions exist.

The only way to “level the playing field” is to add elements of chance to the game so the same guys can’t win all the time. If the chance element is big enough...the wins will be distributed more evenly. Adding chance also has the effect of removing the serious competitors from the game because they realize that all their work is not helping them enough. This is the way that the 100y pellet “BR” shooting has gone. It’s the plinkers game. 100y is so far beyond the reasonable capability of a pellet that you now have increased the element of chance enough that guys with little shooting skill can sometimes beat a very skilled shooter.

Guys that get absolutely stomped in real BR are suddenly competitive. But are they really?

Mike

to a great extent, the person who puts the most into anything will likely prevail. I like the element of chance coming into play. It levels the field somewhat. I have long thought if equipment could be equal, like the race series was that used all the same cars, more people might come into it. A lot of any sport is ego driven. Some people MUST win to enjoy what they are doing. I've never been one of those. Mostly what I want is to be somewhat competitive and be near the top. I enjoy BEING THERE as much as I enjoy winning once in awhile. Having venues to compete in has been a challenge and remains so.

Pete

[michaelthomas]

Pete...it’s pretty difficult to take the the equipment out of a game that so heavily relies on a piece of equipment to get the job done.

If everyone dumped their ammo into a big pile and stirred it up before giving each competitor their share...that would level the field....but nobody would show up at the second match.

Mike

[Pete Wass]

Pete...it’s pretty difficult to take the the equipment out of a game that so heavily relies on a piece of equipment to get the job done.

If everyone dumped their ammo into a big pile and stirred it up before giving each competitor their share...that would level the field....but nobody would show up at the second match.

Mike

Equipment is a big factor. I guess there is no getting away from that part of it. When I first got my EV2 and was shooting it at some ranges a lot of people stopped by and asked questions about it and seemed excited about the idea of shooting Air Rifles. They were excited until I answered the question about the price of rifle. I tried to run some matches at my home club but only got one or two folks showing up. I stopped after 3 of them. I was also running RF matches weekly at the time so i didn't feel it was worth doing. I don't know what the answer is but I have fallen back to Center Fire Benchrest again so likely won't get back to Air Benchrest. I had hope the Air Rifle Benchrest would bloom but it hasn't in the Northeast that I'm aware of.

Pete

[michaelthomas]

Yes...it’s just an expensive activity when done properly. Not really different than most equipment based competitions, I suppose.

The USARB implemented a stock type class where cost of scope and gun were limited to maybe 1000$.

Nobody got on board with it and it fell by the wayside pretty quickly.

If we were to take a pointer from rimfire...we would do away with LV, HV, and open and just shoot unlimited. The ARA popularity seems way greater than the other sanctioning bodies.

Mike