usairriflebenchrest.com

But THIS thread's topic was about the World's match next year. I don't THINK all the clubs need to change their game just for one match next year do they? Should this mean the World's match has to be fired under different rules? Far chance of a good attendance by other countries then.

IF I decide to attend, I will make sure my equipment conforms, but frankly, don't see much need to actually SHOOT much prior to the match at the exact metric distances, since the diff between 50y and 50M for practice isnt likely to matter much ... or am I missing something?
 
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Sorry I did not make the topic more clear. Some of us thought that having an organizing body was a good thing for air rifle benchrest. Since AGBR seemed to have disappeared, we did something about it.

The mention of world postal matches and the World Championships next year were to increase interest and hopefully, participation. There was interest in using the international target. With that in mind and the difference only being 7 feet, it was a natural to discuss 25 meters outdoors, especially if we are to compare our performances with other countries.

If the 7 feet is a problem, then clubs and match directors need to make this known.
 
But, IS there interest by Americans in the Worlds match next year? Will Americans be willing to shoot under thier existing rles, or will they clamor for changes, or what?
 
I have a question and upfront I know nothing about Air rifles.
I visited the website above.
The gun pictured looks to be the same basic style of the anschutz type guns.
Which makes me think it is shot off hand.
If all of that is correct why is it called benchrest since it is not shot from a bench?
 
Vern it is benchrest just like rim or center, propellant is air. The divisions allow for a match rifle competition (7 ft lbs) which are the Olympic style units. Just like center and rim you can not go to a mfg and purchase a true br gun off the shelf. You can come close with what is called a Field target unit, it will still need some stock work. Over seas the power limit is 12 ft lbs in a lot of the matches due to firearms rules of the various countries. Some like England are just plain Draconian.
 
Bring it on...where in South Carolina..??

50YardbenchrestJuly182010006.jpg
 
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We started with AGBR and it was a shame that it fell by the wayside. I'd be interested in starting up with this as we're about out of the old targets anyway. So, I see that the World site says targets can only be used by members. Where do we get targets on our side of the pond?

Dennis
 
Targets

There is a .pdf file on the web site you can download. Print on 11 X 17 paper of your choice, 100-125 pound paper works best, white background, black targets and gray to differentiate the sighters. We are having them printed and will be for sale shortly.
 
We in temecula use a standard NRA target that has been worknng out really well for us. I did quite a search project, and finally settled on this one because of the following reasons:

A. Large enough to fire on from 50yds with a fair chance of hitting a scoring ring of the one being aimed at. There are 12 bulls, with two delineated in a sighting area.
B. Decent central sighter area allows sighters ON the target paper, rather than elsewhere. The overall size of the card is roughly 10.5X9.5
C. Standardised (by NRA) target that is easily and economically obtained anywhere in the USA. The cost of 1000 targets was under $80 delivered!
D. Good paper, if put on a cardboard backer, scoring is fairly easy, with few tears unless very low velocity is being used.
E. The target is a good multipurpose one, allowing short range, long range, plinking, etc, and at under 8 cents per card, one can do a LOT of plinking.
F. Close enough to the 10M air rifle bull for casual practice, this NRA fifty foot rimfire target has been about my favorite for 40 years.
 
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All good points, however, in keeping in line with the format of the AGBR, it was thought that a new target should be investigated. The international target can be shot at 25 yards/meters, has a very challenging 2mm bullseye and is easy to reproduce. An "Americanized" version would be a simple modification to blue rings and a red bullseye.
 
The games of rimfire and airgun benchrest have been chronically infected by a pervasive need for each organization to have their own proprietary design of target. I feel this single fact has done as much to slow the spread of these games as any other. The need to try to preserve intellectual property and/or benefit monetarily through the sale of official targets is perhaps the underlying concern, but I have seen and experienced some of these issues firsthand over the years, and its for this reason I came to the conclusion that OUR club would do itself a disservice were we to follow suit in the universal manner.

Instead, we spent a bit of time researching whats really out there already, preferably a standard NRA model, available from more than one source of commercial target suppliers. Thus much of the political wrangling over targets can be eliminated by any wishing to give it a go.

When one can BUY good, professionally designed bulk targets for seven cents apiece that have stood the test of time and are readily available anywhere in the country, we saw little need to by proprietary, or worse yet, try to design yet ANOTHER "special". Now I had already been using this target for some while, but did the due diligence of searching for an even better one that still met the criteria. The A36 was still the choice for us.

Again, were I to show up at the World Match, I would absolutely fire on THEIR target with no qualms, as I would at the metric distances, but this really doesn;t seem to have any bearing on PRACTICING for the World's match, since firing on a tiny scoring ring is still involved (the ten ring of the A36 target we use is under a millimeter in dia) and we already shoot at 50 yards, which is close enough practicewise to fifty meters, and we could always put some temporary stands at 25M as well if we wanted.



One thing I learned many many years ago about serious practice on paper ... NEVER use common bulk printer type paper such as is mostly used when the target designs of others are copied at home, because it costs more to print them than it does to buy ready-made targets on decent stock and they don't produce cleanly punched holes unless they are literally glued to a stiff backing!
 
And that's why this is a great country. You can decide what you want to do and your club will do it.

Hopefully, we will find some consensus of opinion with a number of clubs and move forward. I wish we could make everyone happy but that will never be.

The fact that the A36 target can be had for 7 cents a copy was never a consideration. We wanted a target that was available, challenging and ready to reproduce. On 100 pound, uncoated paper, it is in line with what rimfire associations use. As far as monetary issues, any club can print these targets with a local vendor and garner the best deal.

Doing your own thing and being non-conforming is fine, however, it we are to grow, we have to appeal to a wider audience. Let me quote a line from a Star Trek movie, "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
 
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We shot the A36 at our club and it was horrible. It should not matter who makes the target as long as it is suited to what we are trying to do and the World's target fits the bill just fine if the intent is to keep things as close to what we use to shoot , 25 shots at 25 bulls.
Doug
 
Yes, I can see for sure if you must shoot 25 bulls, the A36 will never do. We normally shot thirty bulls, so we get by ok. Different strokes. We like to try different games, yet so far have found the A36 allows for quite a variety. But I see what you mean ,,, you want to change, yet stay the same.
 
Mr Lewis's original target when he tried to get this up and running was simple the rimfire target scaled to airgun distance. The world's target is very similar. So back to square one, apples to apples!. If a club wishes to use something else, more power to them, but when it comes to a registered match ( same as NRA, ISSF) those targets required for that competition rule. You can not set a National, Regional,State, or International record on a substitute target. In fact the target must be printed by an approved supplier. This is the way it has been for all of my 35 years of competition and prior which includes: National match High power, Smallbore, Air rifle, Air Pistol ,Conventional Pistol (NRA), 300 meter, Skeet , Trap, IHMSA, BPCR, and more
My point is I do not see what the big deal is about using an approved target especially an International one for registered matches.
 
Are there any caliber restrictions? I didn't see any under the "rules" section.

Also, couldn't the meters target be scaled to a yards equivalent to solve the meters/yards problem. I was told that the NRA A-50 smallbore 3P target is a 50 meter target scaled for the more common US 50 yard ranges.
 
No caliber restrictions in any class. The International class DOES have a 20 fpe limit, so using anything other than .177 will present issues.

Most targets can be scaled to shorter distances, however, in this case, the difference between 25 meters and 25 yards is only 7 feet, so a scaled down version would not be significantly smaller.
 
Using 82 feet versus 75 feet produces a 9% difference. Granted, that's not much, but it is enough to make direct comparisons between scores shot at 25 yards versus those shot at 25 meters apples and oranges.

Looks like the Unlimited class will be a .place for the big bores to shine.
 
You are correct on the apples and oranges.

With the international target at 82 feet, the bullseye is 2mm OD. At 25 yards or 91%, the bullseye becomes 1.8191mm OD, if my math is correct. Might make things tough on those printing the targets. If you touch the bullseye, it is a 10, a wipeout is an X.
 
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