USA Air Rifle Benchrest On-Line Match?

[TCups]

Some of you are aware that I am not only interested in air rifles, but also, in rimfire.  Recently, I have been "dabbling" in the RBA rimfire benchrest matches at my local club, the Mid Carolinas Rifle Club, most recently with my Winchester 52-C target rifle.  For those of you not familiar with competitive benchrest shooting, it is one of the most technically demanding disciplines in shooting.  Furthermore, I am finding that rimfire shooting is, perhaps more demanding in some ways than high-power.  Lower velocity 22LR rounds are more affected by wind conditions, and at 50 yards, you have to be able to accurately read and compensate for wind to shoot good scores. 

That, plus the cost of equipment (ie, high quality rest, custom rifles, high end optics, wind flags) and certainly not least, the cost of match-grade ammo ($8 - $15 bucks per 50 rounds, if you shoot Lapua or Eley Match) makes competitive BR shooting a sport for the "affluent" shooter, and even more expensive still, if you are just learning and want to practice a lot.  To become even a moderately good BR shooter, and to learn all the subtleties of adjusting for variable wind conditions, you do have to practice a lot to become proficient. 

For example, in rimfire BR at 50 yards, you could, effectively, shoot MOA with what would be 5 x 5-shot,  groups at a single 50 yard target, all less than 1/2 inch CTC and still have a relatively miserable score (like 200-220/250 on a 25-bull match target).  In short, the skill required to shoot 25 individual targets with a score of 240-250 is all about accuracy, and it is like the difference between a 5-shot 1/2 inch group at 50 yards, and a 25 shot 1/4 inch group at 50 yards.  Challenging!  My best "beginners" effort pretty much not worthy (232/250, 9X, and that is only one of the three 25-shot scores combined for the aggregate score.  Don't ask me what my other scores were.



The 15 of the next 20 points of improvement will be due to a single skill -- learning to read the wind, and that takes lots and lots of serious practice.

Air rifle bench rest shooting is a financially attractive alternative in that the cost of ammo is, what, 1/10th of match grade rimfire ammo, and that with even relatively inexpensive pellets, if you take the time and effort to weigh and sort pellets, you can have pretty cheap, match-grade ammo.  The USA Air Rifle Bench Rest organization uses a 25-bull BR target scaled to a standard 25-meter match distance, and printed in 8.5 x 11 inch format.  See:

http://www.usairriflebenchrest.com/25mworldtarget.pdf

Also, check out the air rifle BR sub-forum on Benchrest Central:

http://benchrest.com/forum.php

A match would be the aggregate score of 3 x 25-bull targets.  In match shooting, you can shoot as many sighters as you want (the extra targets at the right and left), but only the 25 numbered bulls count toward score.  The time limit (at least in rimfire) is 20 minutes for each 25-bull target, or an aggregate time of 60 minutes of actual shooting time for each match.  Competitors in the "unlimited" class use some very sophisticated gear, including one-piece rifle rests that cost more than most will ever spend on a firearm in their life, let alone a rest.  But for air rifle shooting, the norm is a front rest and rear bag with the only provision being that the rifle has to "rest" on both, not be attached (for example, a bi-pod would not be allowed).  Any sights are OK including the best glass you can afford.  There are 2 classes for air rifles, the "unlimited" which for our purposes will be HPA (PCP's, single and multi-pumpers, & CO2) and "springers" including spring guns and gas ram guns.  HPA is limited to no more than 20 FPE, I believe, and though it wasn't stated in what I read, I believe the air rifle discipline is strictly .177 cal.

So, if you have take the time to read this far, the question is this:  How many of you might be interested in an on-line air rifle bench rest match, once per month, using the above target and rules stated?  I think for our "informal" on line matches, we could have both .22 and .177 categories in both the springer and HPA classes to accommodate anyone who wants to shoot some more serious air rifle BR matches and start working on the fine points of shooting off a bench for the best scores.

I will be interested to hear your responses.  If there is enough interest, then I will get with Big Bill and make it a formal addition to the matches.  If not, no big deal -- I will just shoot on my own.  After all, we only compete against ourselves, even though having several other to compare scores with in a friendly competition does make it more fun.

[skycomag]

will it be mandatory to rest the ag's on a bag in the rear, as stated above,or can it be shouldered while the front is rested?  at the uas rifle benchrest (http://www.usairriflebenchrest.com/2594.html) their rule states:. "One piece rests are allowed."

what will the distances be? since some indoor range my be limited on distance.

when printing out the targets at what percentage do one needs to get a legal size target 100% on more?

i can only shoot at a local private indoor range with a 50 ft distance.there are no outdoor ranges in my area (Rhode Island) that will accept pellets. besides winter (BRRRRRRRRRR) is coming upon some of us from the northern states.

thank you,

[TCups]

Print the target at "fit to 1 page" in the landscape orientation, or if you don't have that option, scale it to around 66% and it should just fit an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet in landscape. Depending on your printer you may have to play with that 66% number a bit - up or down.

Well . . . the official distance for ARBR is 25 meters (or 25 yards + 7 ft), and the whole purpose of the proposed exercise of the match, at least for me, will be to shoot outdoors at a long enough distance to have a measurable effect of wind and weather on the POI in order for the air rifle BR practice to be of value in learning to "dope" the wind and adjust to changing conditions, and translate those learned skills to rimfire BR.

As for rear bags, no, I don't suppose you have to use a rear bag, but at least with the HPA rifles, you will be at a serious disadvantage if you don't.

[Big_Bill]

It looks "Very Interesting" Tommy !

I believe that I will have a Go at trying AirGun Bench Rest Shooting !

By the way,,, When I fired Target Rifle Rimfire, I found that Eley Practice Match, which is much cheaper, half the price, fired better in my rifle that the Eley Rifle Match. I took D.E. in Four Position Rimfire Shooting using it !

Bill

[timegoat]

I gotta say I'm kinda into the idea. The only thing I'm not a big fan of is the time limit. I'd love to shoot this, but I do want to take my sweet time with it. However, I'll definitely give it a shot by the book and see how it goes. My "benchrest" is the windowsill in my profile pic, so it would be a good winter match for me.

Gonna print out a couple of those targets and see what I think about it. Speaking of, my software say that the 'fit to printable area' is 65%. The 5 ring on my printout seems to be almost exactly 1".

- Mark

p.s. I've got a match to propose as well, but I guess I should start a new thread for it.

[skycomag]

thank you for you explanation but since i can't shoot at 25 yd. i'm not interested.
i'll just do the match here at 10m.

[TCups]

here's a pic of Dan Brown's recent 248/13X target:



See the link:
http://benchrest.com/showthread.php?71238-Dan-the-Man-Brown-Cleans-House-at-Pinnacle-Mtn.-but-there-s-more.....

Looks like these shooters are definitely using custom BR air rifles, as well as the very same high-end rests used in rimfire. Note the wind flags being used.  BTW, if you want nice windflags for $25 ea, with stand, contact Richard, aka "Deadwood Dick" at Northwind Fiags:

http://sites.google.com/a/wildblue.net/northwind-flags/

[Rocker1]

Tommy I am going to give this a try, seems I can use a rest on both ends of the rifle?? Thanks David

[TCups]

yes, any rest, front rear, one piece, as long as it isn't attached to the rifle.

[timegoat]

Just gave this match a test drive, but mistakenly did it at 25yd, not meters, d'oh! Gonna be a real tough one but I'm game. Made the mistake of switching pellets for the last column. Note to self: Don't do that.

- Mark