VINTAGE RIMFIRE BENCHREST

Goals (In order of importance)

SAFETY
Affordable to participate
FUN
Attract more people to competitive shooting (Especially females & juniors)
Not turn away shooters due to equipment rules
Use minimal range resources


Equipment Rules

Common to all rifle classes


1) No one piece rests are allowed.
Two configurations are allowed:
A) Two piece rest set up using a front rest with separate rear sand filled sand bag. If the shooter uses a two piece set up, the gun must be supported by sand filled bags at both front and rear. No hard surface supports are allowed and the rear sand bag can range in shape from a simple shot bag filled with sand to a traditional design made of leather or synthetic fabric (e.g. Protektor, Caldwell, Sinclair, Edgewood, etc.).
B) The term “sand bag” as used within these rules is a generic term. The material used to fill ”sand bags” can be most any granular type material such as rice, plastic pellets, corn cob media, etc.
C) Bi-pods can be used to replace front rests and if used with a rear support it must be a filled “sand bag” as described in (A &B) above.

2) No Wind Flags
No flags, propellers, wind probes, ribbon or any other device or material judged to aid in the determination of wind movement.

3) No barrel tuners allowed

4) 22 Long Rifle Rimfire ammo only

5) Ammunition will be shooter supplied. Ammo is limited to either SK jag or Wolf brand ammo. Any .22 cal ammo in either of these product lines is acceptable except ammo previously marketed under the “Gold” label. Modification to approved ammo is allowed.

6) All iron sights and scopes are legal

7) Free floating the barrel and glass/pillar bedding is allowed.

8) Upward pressure on the barrel with shims/glass is allowed.

9) Rebarreling is permitted if barrel remains close to factory contour (i.e. sporters cannot be rebarreled with target contour barrels not offered by the factory even if the rifle still makes weight.)

10) Triggers must be safe (must pass the bump test).

11) After market triggers are allowed (must adhere to rule#10).



Class specific rules

Sporter Class


Weight must not exceed 9.0 lbs with scope or iron sights attached. Bi-pod weight is not included in weight of the rifle.

Too keep this class affordable; rifle cost must be under $800 per recognized values. Internet/catalog pricing is recognized as standard value. This class is specifically tailored for entry and mid-priced sporting class guns. Accordingly, higher end guns such as Cooper, Kimber, ULA, and Anschutz do not qualify for this class. Valuation of discontinued or older models of current guns will fall under the discretion of the match director with guidance from recognized sources including, but not limited to, the latest edition of the “Blue Book of Gun Values”. It is beyond the scope of these written rules to attempt to specify every make and model of gun that might possibly qualify for this class beyond the general guidance described above. It remains the responsibility of the shooter to inquire of the match director before the match regarding any questions as to whether a gun qualifies for this class.

Barrel tuners are not allowed. This includes any means to modify the barrels harmonics including but not limited to weights added to the barrel and or any screw or spring adjustable means to add pressure or up-force to the barrel. As mentioned earlier, shims or a nonadjustable pressure point is acceptable. After market triggers or parts are allowed if the cost stays within this limit. Triggers must be safe.

Any labor charge by a gunsmith will not be included in the $800.00 limit.

No metal, wood, or composite accuracy assets (flat forend enhancements) may be attached to the forend of stocks in this class.

Auto Loaders
Class to include Ruger 10/22’s, Remington 597’s, Thompson/Center R-55’s and similar.
Exempt from cost, weight and stock shape limits.
Any stock can be used.
No stock tape allowed.

Given the unrestricted nature of this class, auto loaders are restricted to competing within the sporter class only not against vintage target class guns.

Bolt Action Sporters
Stock must be 2.25" or under at its widest point. No stock tape allowed. Any area of the stock that comes in contact with front and rear sandbags must be convex. (Convex will be determined by placing a penny on the stock where convex shaping is required. The outer edges of the penny can not come in contact with the stock in the dimension being measured). There must be visible space underneath the outer edges of the penny. If the outer edges of the penny exceed the width of the dimension in question the area must be clearly convex. The underside of the forend that contacts the sandbag must be convex across the entire width.

To further clarify the sporting nature of this class, sporters should have the provision to be either clip fed or tube fed. Single feed clips are allowable, however the gun should be able capable of shooting from a multi round clip or tube. Modification to this provision may be granted at the discretion of the match directors if the shooter contacts the match directors prior to the match to discuss the gun in question.

Target Class


This class is intended to encourage the use of Small Bore Prone Vintage rifles such as the Remington 40x, Winchester 52, H & R Model 12, Anschutz Super Match 54, Suhl 150’s, Cooper Rifles, Vostock’s and CM-2’s. Some factory composite stocks such as the Cooper Jackson Hunter are allowed in this class.

In keeping with the vintage spirit of this game, purpose built benchrest models with flat forearms such as the Anschutz BR50 in either 2013, 1907, or 64 action models as well as Cooper TRP model actions are prohibited. The 64 Action Anschutz MPR will be allowed.

Guns should be stocked in factory configuration wooden stock. Re-stocking is permitted if the wooden stock is clearly designed for position shooting (e.g. fore end rail, round or contoured to fit the hand, and no flat benchrest style forearms).

Barrel tuners are not allowed. This includes any means to modify barrel harmonics including but not limited to weights added to the barrel and or any screw or spring adjustable means to add pressure or up force to the barrel. As mentioned earlier, shims or a non-adjustable pressure point is acceptable. Some vintage guns were supplied from the factory with barrel tuning screws mounted in the forend of the stock. If your gun came from the factory with barrel tuning screws they are allowable.

Guns may have trigger jobs and/or replacement triggers. All triggers must be safe.


Results

Sorted by class only. Never sorted overall.

Targets

Target Rifle: 25 bulls per target. Unlimited sighters.
20 minutes per card. Target worth 250 points.
Target rifle will use the RBA target.

Sporter rifle/Autoloader: 25 bulls per target. Unlimited sighters.
20 minutes per card. Target worth 250 points.
Sporter/autoloader will use the IBS Rimfire 50yd target.


Scoring Procedure

Each Target Block is worth ten points. The inner most ring counts ten points, the next ring out counts nine points, and each succeeding ring counts one point less. If a bullet hole touches a line or X, the shooter receives the highest point (best edge scoring). On the Target rifle target the score (or points lost) is to be written in the block provided in the lower right corner of the target square. If a plug is used, the letter (P) will be written in the block provided in the upper right hand corner of the target square.

If a shot is in the target square but misses the largest ring, the score is four (minus 6) on the target rifle target and a score of 2 (minus 8) on the Sporter IBS target. If a target is not shot at all the score is zero (minus 10). If more than one shot appears in a target square, the shooter receives the lowest score minus (1) point. Perfect score: 250 and 25X. If the first shot on target unintentionally hits a record target, the shooter must notify the match director before the second shot is fired who will make a notation on the target upon completion of the match before it is officially scored and the shooter will not be charged for that shot. Any shot touching the target squares inside or outside border lines will be counted in that block. A plug is to be used if visible determination cannot be made by the scorer. Any bullet hole between blocks shall be plugged. The block that contains the majority of the plug shall be charged with the shot.

Scoring protest.

After targets are scored, targets will be handed out for competitor review. Targets are not to be handled by shooters until the targets scored. Upon completion of scoring the final match, the match director will allow ten minutes for competitors to file any scoring protests with the scoring team.

Ties

If after the protest period is concluded a tie exists (same score and x count) the referees will check the targets starting with the #1 target block of the first match target. The first target block with the higher points shot wins. If a tie still exists after checking target blocks 1 through 25, go to # 1 target block and check X’s. The first one who gets an X and the other does not, wins.




Match Schedule

Matches will be shot at night.

A Complete Match will consist of 4 cards

The course of fire will be two targets shot back to back which are totaled for a possible 500 points. Shooters may choose to shoot 2 cards in 2 different classes. They may also choose to shoot 2 cards within the same class. If a shooter is shooting only one class, the highest individual 2 card score will be used for ranking purposes within the match. Winners will be recognized in each class individually.



Season Champion Rankings

Points awarded by how the shooter places.
Points will be awarded to the top ten places regardless of the actual number of participants. For Example: 1st place = 10 points, 2nd = 9 points, 3rd = 8 points, etc. Total points awarded thru the season will determine the club champion for Sporter Bolt, Sporter Autoloader and Target Rifle classes. For this calculation the shooter who attended all 6 matches will have the 2 lowest scoring matches drop out. A shooter who attended 4 matches could still compete for the championship. In this case, all four matches would be counted.

In the event of a tie in points at the end of the season, the shooter with the highest aggregate score for their top 4 matches will be declared the class champion.

The emphasis of these matches is fun and low cost. Even when having a great time, safety is the highest priority.

To keep these matches affordable each shooter will help with some of the work. These duties are pretty mundane such sweeping up our own brass and cleaning up the club house before we depart. If every one chips in, these tasks are accomplished very quickly and easily.

Attitude


Maintaining a friendly and family oriented atmosphere is very important to this game. There is no official sanctioning. Despite the competitive nature of the events, results are for bragging rights only at our club level. With that in mind, please be respectful of the scorers. They always give the scoring their best effort and our game depends upon their continued support. Although it remains rare, the match directors retain ultimate discretion in handling any displays of poor sportsmanship or offensive behavior in general. This discretion can range from an informal chat with the party(S) involved to, in serious cases, and unconditional ban from the game.


Match protocol - Some nuts and bolts

At the beginning of the first relay, before the actual 20 minute time limit commences, the match director will ask everyone to shoot one shot in the sighter section of their target. Shooters will then confirm that they have one and only one shot showing on the sighter section of their target. This will confirm that all shooters are on the correct target and minimize the chance of a crossfire once the official match commences. This only needs to be done once per class.

When the command “Cease Fire, Unload your Weapons and Make the line safe” is given, magazines will be removed from the shooters rifle, bolts will be removed if easily removable. In the instance of autoloaders and guns with non-removable bolts, these guns will require an empty chamber indicator. A small light or lamp is required for night matches. An expected etiquette is to cross check your neighbors on the left and the right. We have repeaters and autoloaders on the line, so we will borrow some rules from our High Power brothers.



Food and Fellowship

After those mundane work duties on the line, it is customary that competitors and visitors assemble in the clubhouse to wait for the final scoring. A simple spread of light food, snacks and beverages is provided as part of the match fee. The gathering provides the opportunity to share experiences and frustrations, make some new friends and commiserate with old ones. Once the scores are finalized, winners and top finishers in each class are recognized.