Rules

V

VinceB

New member
Guys,

I'm sure I could find the answer to this by wading through the IBS/NBRSA rule book but perhaps one of you could help.

It's a 1000 yard BR shoot and the 'commence fire' command has just been given.
Everyone loads a round and closes the bolt. Suddenly a strong wind gusts across the range and no one fires. We all wait and wait - aware that our rounds are cooking in the breech.

Opening the bolt risks pulling a bullet but are we allowed to shoot that 'cooked' round into the backstop and then shoot another five when the wind comes back to normal?

Thanks in advance
Vince (UK)
 
No you are not allowed to shoot any more than the 5/10 intended for the record target. If you waited, that's your choice. I guess we'll get to see your real wind reading ability now.
 
4mesh,

On the range which I've shot 600 there is very little "wind reading ability" because there are only 1 set of flags at prox 300, and exactly what does the question have to do with wind reading? His round is cooked and he doesn't want to pull the bolt.......... or is there some secret to "reading the wind with a cooked round"??

al
 
you CAN remove it from the chamber...

if your rounds are loaded so that they can be removed withourt pulling the bullet and spilling powder in the action....you are only allowed to fire five shots....but if you have a dud or cooked round you can remove it and use another...Roger
 
Vince
If however there is a cease fire called before the 10 minutes of regulation time is up and the range needs to be made safe the range officer can give you the option to dump the round into the berm. Of course that is only going to happen if it is safe for you to do so and you could be required to pull the bolt and dump the powder in your action if your bullet is pulled when you remove the case and bolt.
I always load my rounds so that I am confident that I can pull a round without the bullet sticking in the barrel just for the reason you posted.

James
 
Al, fyi,

I do not believe in wind reading. Waiting at the line is a chance you take. I've done it. Won some lost some. Lost more than won but I loose more than I win so I guess the odds are about equal.

Never in my years of shooting have I ever waited, and been in the center of the target.

What you feel on the bench doesn't mean squat on the target. Waiting will burn you virtually every time. I see you've figured out there's not much wisdom in the clouds. Many others will have stories of how they waited and won. YadaYadaYada. Yea, I've had my gun break and won too and it wasn't me, it was pure bs and I and everyone who ever did it knows that.

I suppose I could just as easily said, don't ever wait and been questioned on that too. I'll just steal your sig line now and say, "Opinions By Phil".
 
I'm not about to try & change Phil's mind, but the rest of you consider this: When you wait, you essentially give up on score, and are shooting for group. As long as you stay on paper, you can still shoot for group. If you see something that looks passing bad when the record time is called, you an take a chance that you'll get steadier conditions, wait, then run them fast and contend for group. I remember Regan Green doing this at the IBS Nats. Day one he had a good group & passing score. There was a 20+ mph wind both days, but on day 2 he saw something he didn't like, waited about three minutes, ran off 10 fast shots, and had a 5-inch group and a 50 score -- that's 50 out of 100. But he also won HG group for the Nationals.

When you see the mirage pick up dramatically, it is often time to hold off. One of my best groups was a 10-incher (10-shot HG) in such conditions. Everybody else was a lot bigger.

If long range shooting is just putting the sight on the dot & shooting as fast as you can, winning is equipment & luck only. That's a large part of it, but not all. Or at least, not all in my book.
 
Very well said Charles, and I agree 100%. I also watched Reagan do that and felt that was a great choice, though it certainly could have backfired. He wasn't in it for score and wasn't interested in second place group so he tried to work with what he was given. Chance favored the well prepared I guess you could say.

As you say though, unless of course a miracle occurs, you pretty much give up on score. It's amazing how many places there are at 1000 yards where the 10 ring isn't.

His situation was full of mitigating circumstances tho, and is not a typical match situation, nor a season agg match situation. Almost certainly, his 82/4/?? score the day before sealed his decision long before he went to the bench. That and the sighters he saw at the end of the sighter period. Shooting for group, that bad score the day before could be considered a blessing in disquise.

As you say though, you basically give up on score. That's generally not an option in 600/1000 yard shooting when you're trying to do well in an aggregate. If you wait around and shoot a 10 shot 50, or worse yet, off the target, your season just ended. It's almost always better to do damage control and not make things worse than they already are by waiting around.

A good analogy here would be, you're the coach of the team in the SuperBowl. It's 4th and 4 on the 15 in the red zone with 25 seconds to go in the 1st half. You're down by 4, do you go for it or kick the FG?

Well, the second half will tell you if you made a good call or not, eh? hehe.

Same situation, second half. Hmm, not so hard a decision any more huh. Nobody's gonna second guess you when you decide to go for it now, will they? An armchair coach though, might now second guess your earlier decision to go for it in the first half when the pass was incomplete.

Just the choices we make... Welcome to shooting in conditions. Sometimes you get in a tough spot.
 
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I thought you could only have your 5 or 10 record rounds on the bench when the comence fire command was given.

To pump that cooked round in the berm, in essence, would be a free sighter.

Al
 
Vinny
I have another scenario for you? What if you just put that round in the rifle and an Emergency cease fire was called which I haven't seen in years, but could happen. you would be asked to remove your bolt and move away from the bench. Now what!:cool:
Joe
 
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