by Gwion » 17 Aug 2017, 1:42 pm
To aRTe2017:
Safety is paramount in any shooting discipline so I totally understand your stance on people complying to your protocols or taking a hike. As president of our local full bore club, I can totally relate. However, I'd like to encourage you to reconsider the growth limiting attitude toward sporting rifles for new comers. Here is a relevant anecdote: last season, our club secretary sold his Savage (f110 or what ever they are called) to finance a new rifle built on a Barnard action with a Bartlien barrel and his own custom vblock bedded stock. While waiting for the build, he shot with his older Sako hunter in 6.5x55 against Barnard, Musgrave and various other dedicated f-class rifles. He consistently shot high in the rankings and occasionally registered highest score. All this with a hunting weight rifle on a versipod hunting bi-pod. Was this the ideal rig? No. Is he shooting better with his new Barnard 6.5x55? Well, obviously so. The point is, though, that had we ruled him ineligible to shoot with a hunter weight rifle we would have driven him away. Same with new shooters. Our attitude is let them have a go. They will soon figure out what they need and if they enjoy the challenge enough to invest the money in updating the gear. Not everyone wants to be world champion and not everyone with custom target rigs can keep up with a good shooter with a 'lower quality' rifle.
That said, we have also initiated a new "comp" or "category" known in the 'states' as F-class Practical. The 'Cyclist & Torrans' club in Sth Aus started using this discipline a few years back, calling it their 'hunter class'. Taking a leaf from their book, we started running this at 300yds about once a month in Jan 2017. It has proven quite popular, bringing in new members and giving them a chance to try the sport with their existing gear on a level playing field. A few of these guys are now looking to invest in fclass rigs but are keen to continue with 'hunter class' as well. Both myself and the Secretary also shoot this category as well as f-class and it is more of a challenge than you may expect. This season we will also be shooting it out at 500yd.
Just something to think about. Full-bore is rapidly shrinking with very few younger shooters choosing this discipline due to overly strict or snobby attitudes in the existing fraternity. With out some forward thinking there will be no-one to shoot against in future, as judging by the average age on the mound at prize meets, this is literally a dying sport! I have been in touch with NRAA chairman, Bob Pederson, about this after our club's January Prize Meet and he has been supportive of the initiative.
If you'd like more info, send me a Private Message.
Cheers