One thing I keep hearing is the problem of not enough shooters to keep competition alive in many of the shooting sports. Locally, I have found no organized rimfire competition that I could join, which has class divisions allowing me to compete with a rifle I could afford or even with a single rifle of any kind. All I see are multi-rifle competitions or multi-position rifle shoots. As a retired disabled shooter, only able to shoot from a bench, without the cash flow to afford more than one competition quality rimfire benchrest rifle, there is no where for me to shoot. There certainly is no place for me to take my Martini 12/15 with it's Unertl 10X scope and shoot against fair competition. Because of it's weight, it would be designated as an unlimited in the following story:
This spring, my shooting partner started formal competition. She assumed she could show up at a shoot with one rifle and shoot in an equivalent class. Her only rifle is an Anschutz bench rifle with a Fecker scope that weighs in at 11 lbs 5 oz. What she found was that either of two different shooting organizations require each shooter to shoot in three different classes, based on rifle weight and with some scope restrictions. There is the sporter class, the mid-weight class and the unlimited class. Her Anschutz at 11 lbs 5 oz puts her in the unlimited class with either organization.
At one competition, she was handed a rifle to shoot in the sporter class with the words," we need to make you legal." In other words, if she did not shoot in all three classes, her unlimited class score would not be valid. So, with a borrowed sporter rifle, she shot in the sporter class and the mid-weight class. Of course the result of her shooting an unfamiliar rifle was not a competitive score.
Because we cannot afford multiple competitition quality rifles, I pulled out my old Savage Model 19 NRA and mounted a qualifying scope (taken off my inexpensive 17HMR rifle) on it for her next competition. While it is no tack driver, at least she has been able to put in some trigger time to get familiar with it. She will have to use it in the sporter and mid-weight classes. As you can imagine, it will certainly drag down her scores.
I believe, the lack of single rifle single position competition with class divisions allowing people like me to shoot skill against skill, rather than dollar against dollar is certainly contributing to the low turnouts at many local and regional competitions.
This spring, my shooting partner started formal competition. She assumed she could show up at a shoot with one rifle and shoot in an equivalent class. Her only rifle is an Anschutz bench rifle with a Fecker scope that weighs in at 11 lbs 5 oz. What she found was that either of two different shooting organizations require each shooter to shoot in three different classes, based on rifle weight and with some scope restrictions. There is the sporter class, the mid-weight class and the unlimited class. Her Anschutz at 11 lbs 5 oz puts her in the unlimited class with either organization.
At one competition, she was handed a rifle to shoot in the sporter class with the words," we need to make you legal." In other words, if she did not shoot in all three classes, her unlimited class score would not be valid. So, with a borrowed sporter rifle, she shot in the sporter class and the mid-weight class. Of course the result of her shooting an unfamiliar rifle was not a competitive score.
Because we cannot afford multiple competitition quality rifles, I pulled out my old Savage Model 19 NRA and mounted a qualifying scope (taken off my inexpensive 17HMR rifle) on it for her next competition. While it is no tack driver, at least she has been able to put in some trigger time to get familiar with it. She will have to use it in the sporter and mid-weight classes. As you can imagine, it will certainly drag down her scores.
I believe, the lack of single rifle single position competition with class divisions allowing people like me to shoot skill against skill, rather than dollar against dollar is certainly contributing to the low turnouts at many local and regional competitions.
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