How important is this

Bill Wynne

Bill Wynne

Active member
I need some advice. We are in the process of redoing our range at the club which I belong.

Is there any problem in having a centerfire range slope about 5 feet, more or less, from the firing line to the 100 yard targets?
My thinking is that it matters not at all in competition where everyone has equal conditions but I shoot rimfire, so what do I know.

What do you think?

Bill Wynne
 
i got no clue, but if you shoot registered matches,
do the governing bodies have requirements ??
 
Some ranges

Bill Wynne said:
I need some advice. We are in the process of redoing our range at the club which I belong.

Is there any problem in having a centerfire range slope about 5 feet, more or less, from the firing line to the 100 yard targets?
My thinking is that it matters not at all in competition where everyone has equal conditions but I shoot rimfire, so what do I know.

What do you think?

Bill Wynne
Click to expand...

like the old Palmissano and the Mainville ranges in PA slope upward quite a bit, but that's the lay of the land and short of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bull dozer and excavator work that isn't going to change. Nothing in the IBS rule book about sloping ranges.

One that is flat is obviously better for flag setters as one doesn't need excessively tall or short poles, especially if all the yardages are in alignment with each bench.
 
Bill Wynne said:
I need some advice. We are in the process of redoing our range at the club which I belong.

Is there any problem in having a centerfire range slope about 5 feet, more or less, from the firing line to the 100 yard targets?
My thinking is that it matters not at all in competition where everyone has equal conditions but I shoot rimfire, so what do I know.

What do you think?

Bill Wynne
Click to expand...

Bill
You can off-set this some by raising the targets/target boards--providing you have a safe berm/back stop.
Otherwise no problem except for the flag setters.
We have this same problem at our local range and we just shoot down hill.
CLP
 
The new Walker a County Range in Hunstville has a downhill slope, No problem as far as I can tell. I have shot really good scores there, and really bad scores.


Raton is uphill, so bad that a rail gun will drift back off of the stop. They hold big Matchs there, including National Events.
 
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Doesn't matter Bill.

If the slope, or ditch, or anything involved is by any means too much for now, the competitors will figure it out in a couple of matches and all will be well. I remember having to put guy wires (guy strings) on a couple of really tall flag poles at Reidsville, NC to keep them from breaking. They filled in that ditch some (if I remember correctly) but it still needed a fairly tall flag pole. I'm using past tense here because that's all I know....
 
Slope

If you shoot 300 Yds. at Mainville, Pa. don't leave your rifle unattended on the front rest. It will probably be on the concrete deck when you return.
 
Biggest problem with sloping down is getting your front rest low enough or your rear bag high enough. My practice range slopes down slightly and I sloped the benches to compensate, but my slope is only about 4 degrees down. 5 feet over 100 yards is about 9.5 degrees and may be a bit too much. If possible you may want to raise the targets but you may need to build up a stepped berm to keep them from being too high to reach.
 
Bill Wynne said:
I need some advice. We are in the process of redoing our range at the club which I belong.

Is there any problem in having a centerfire range slope about 5 feet, more or less, from the firing line to the 100 yard targets?
My thinking is that it matters not at all in competition where everyone has equal conditions but I shoot rimfire, so what do I know.

What do you think?

Bill Wynne
Click to expand...
Bill:
You may want to be thinking ahead? (Think outside the "BOX")
Start developing a supply of rear bag spacers.
Different materials for those that are particular/picky(sand filled/various rubber thickness and hardness, various thickness or wood spacers, etc

You might be able to profit enough from those without spacers to pay for a bag of patches or a bottle of Butches.
May want to sell towels for the bench to catch the rifles that are unattended (extra source of cash).

All of this profit might help buy some real nice trophies for the contestants.
I can envision your range being the envy of all match directors in NBRSA and IBS

Come to think of it about every other match raise the shooting benches 6" along with the stools, forcing everyone to buy another spacer.
I think the possibilities are endless for your range.

Just keep thinking Outside the "BOX"

CLP
 
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C.L. Peterson said:
Bill:
You may want to be thinking ahead? (Think outside the "BOX")
Start developing a supply of rear bag spacers.
Different materials for those that are particular/picky(sand filled/various rubber thickness and hardness, various thickness or wood spacers, etc

You might be able to profit enough from those without spacers to pay for a bag of patches or a bottle of Butches.
May want to sell towels for the bench to catch the rifles that are unattended (extra source of cash).


Just keep thinking Outside the "BOX"

CLP
Click to expand...

Skippy Otto made and sold a bunch of rear bag spacers. He gave some away as door prizes. I think I still have a couple of his made out of suede leather.

.
 
That's why I didn't win at Roanoke....didn't have my Skip Otto rear bag stabilizer! I'll go look for it right now.
 
Steve Lee has a decimal place error. 5 feet at 100 yd (300 ft) is 0.95 degrees (ATan of 5/300). The slope is 1.67% which is not enough to worry about (approximately 57 MOA of vertical adjustment for your front rest).
 
GreyFox asked what it would be like to shoot on a dead flat range. Well, before BR ended on the Tri-County range in Sherwood, Or. in 2007, we shot dead flat out to 300 yards. The firing line was raised about 3 feet above the floor of the range, which was no problem, and man could you see your flags. A real shame BR ended there. 28 benches, covered firing line with lots of space to load. It was a vast improvement from when I started shooting there in 1981. Now it's used for HP over the course and plinking, I think.

FWIW,

Steve Kostanich
 
I suppose a nice perfectly level range , flat all the way to the farthest target frames. No berms on either side. Enough shade to prevent mirage. Benches not facing the sun and with nice soft ground with no rocks for setting flags would be an ideal range. I have done a fair amount of shooting in the Eastern half of this fine country and never found such a range. Perhaps in the Western half. A constant 3-5 mph wind from same direction all day would be nice too. Dull but nice.
 
Dick,

Dick Grosbier said:
I suppose a nice perfectly level range , flat all the way to the farthest target frames. No berms on either side. Enough shade to prevent mirage. Benches not facing the sun and with nice soft ground with no rocks for setting flags would be an ideal range. I have done a fair amount of shooting in the Eastern half of this fine country and never found such a range. Perhaps in the Western half. A constant 3-5 mph wind from same direction all day would be nice too. Dull but nice.
Click to expand...

you described 90% of the conditions at Webster City.
David
 
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