The truth about how tuners came to the NBRSA !!

gbukys

New member
There seems to be a lot going on here lately about tuners and how they came to be accepted by the NBRSA, and I find it quite interesting that most of it is not true and a complete fabrication in somebody’s mind, So because of the apparent interest in it, I thought I would post the truth of how it all came about.

There was never any agenda item, either written or verbal, by anybody to present the idea of tuners to the NBRSA board. The tuner proposal did not come from anybody in the Gulf Coast Region. There was never anything approved by the Gulf Coast Region membership concerning tuners, because there never was any need for Gulf Coast Region members to approve anything, Scott Hunter did not take an agenda item concerning Tuners to the NBRSA board. He could not have as he was not a director at the time. There was no proposal made at Raton. The IBS did not approve tuners of any type ahead of the NBRSA approving them. The IBS did follow the lead of the NBRSA and did approve a tuner that had to stay within the barrel contour restrictions after the NBRSA passed its rule. The IBS has since dropped the contour business and is for the most part, following the NBRSA rules about tuners

Below is a section that I copied from the NBRSA Board of Directors meeting minutes that are posted on this web site in the NBRSA area of Benchrest Central. I didn’t bother to copy the middle part of the minutes because it is not revenant to the discussion on how Tuners came to be accepted by the NBRSA —These meeting minutes are posted in their entirety on this web site under the NBRSA section, if anybody want’s to read it all.

NATIONAL BENCH REST SHOOTERS ASSOCIATION, INC.
ANNUAL BOARD MEETING MINUTES
October 4, 2003
The annual meeting of the NBRSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS was called to order by President Don Creach at 12:00 PM on Saturday, October 4, 2003, in Meeting Room #1014 of the Premier Inn located in Phoenix, Arizona. In attendance were:

Don Creach, President
Pat Ferrell, Business Manager
Bob Dodd, Vice President
Perry Morton, Eastern Region Director
Gene Bukys, Gulf Coast Region Director
Chet Whitebread, Mid-Continent Region Director Bud Mundy, Mississippi Valley Region Director Ron Miller, North Central Region Director
Tom Cole, Northeastern Region Director
Cody Haslett, Northwest Region Director Wilbur Harris, Southeastern Region Director
Bob Dodd, Southwestern Region Director
Scott Hunter, Incoming Gulf Coast Region Director Butch Fjoser, Incoming Mid-Continent Region Director Jim Erickson, NBRSA Financial Officer

[ Skip to the relevant part ]

“Bukys exhibited a muzzle attachment that is being used as a muzzle-tuning device by some competitors. Bukys moved to allow that tuning devices may be attached to the muzzle of a barrel to serve as a muzzle- tuning device. The rifle, with the attachment in place, must still meet rifle weight requirements. Whitebread seconded. The motion carried with 5 in favor (Morton, Bukys, Whitebread, Mundy, and Miller) and 4 opposing (Cole, Haslett, Harris, and Mellor). It was noted that the General Membership Meeting at next year’s Nationals must also approve this equipment change rule before it will actually become a rule.”

Now, I’m not taking the credit for having the Idea of bringing Tuners to the Board of Directors. The Idea was in fact hatched by Dwight Scott. Dwight and I were talking in Phoenix, before the directors meeting and Dwight asked me if I Thought I could get Tuning devices approved. He had an under-barrel type of device with him to show to the board. I thought it was a good Idea and so I took it to the board of directors for approval —- There never was an agenda Item by anyone, anywhere, concerning Tuners!!
The Board did approve all muzzle tuning devices with the restriction that they couldn’t be adjusted during a match. This restriction has since been lifted.
After the Boards approval of Tuners the only way they could be banned was by a majority vote of the membership at the following years Nationals. This did not happened and Tuners have been with us since.

This is copied from the 2004 Board Of Directors meeting in Kansas the following year with regard to the vote of the membership. It was not a close vote at all !!!

"Creach stated that there needs to be a vote of the 2004 General Membership regarding the acceptance of using a muzzle attachment as a muzzle-tuning device. The rifle, with the attachment in place, must still meet rifle weight requirements. This proposal was approved by the 2003 Board and, if it is approved at the upcoming 2004 General Membership Meeting, will become a rule beginning January 1, 2005. (Later, at the 2004 General Membership Meeting, a vote was taken. With 72 in favor and 18 against, it was approved that a muzzle attachment may be used as a muzzle-tuning device.) This will be added to “Official Rulebook and By-Laws, Revised Edition No. 36”, on page 3 as 7. Muzzle Attachments. It will then read: 7. Muzzle Attachments. A muzzle attachment may be attached to a rifle barrel when used as a tuning device. The rifle, with the attachment in place, must still meet rifle weight requirements. "

I also did spend a lot of time at the Old Lake Houston Gun Club and I don’t remember anybody shooting or experimenting with tuners prior to them getting approved by the NBRSA Board Of Directors.

It’s a shame that some people are more than willing to take credit for the hard work of others and for accomplishments that they had nothing to do with.

But the above is true and it’s recorded in the Board of Directors meeting minutes and in the minds of the people that actually did do these things!!

Gene Bukys
Former Gulf Coast Region Director
 
Last edited:
I agree 100 percent with Gene's post and take back everything I said about being officially involved in having tuners adopted by the NBRSA for use in Registered Competition.
While I used this Forum to push the issue and garner support, I had no part in the official process that resulted in Tuners being adopted.

My apologies to anyone that felt slighted by the remarks I made in my previous post concerning my involvement. My part was simply that of a very enthusiastic shooter who openly campaigned for the adoption of barrel attachments meant to be used as a tuner.
 
Last edited:
Tuners

Thank you Gene for clearing up the history of tuners. As an avid and long standing supporter and user of them I always wondered how they evolved into the very popular way they are used today. I would like to seriously thank you and all connected with the development and refinement of them over the years. Tuners have changed Benchrest and the way we shoot as much as Doc & Ferris did with the PPC, in my humble opinion. Gene Beggs did introduce me to them about 10 years ago and spent a lot of time teaching me what he knew about them which not only made me a believer but helped me improve my shooting. I have not shot a barrel since without one.

So, once again, THANKS to ALL the pioneers who helped the rest of us with the tuner concept.

Al Blackwell
 
Thank you Gene for clearing this issue up. In another Thread concerning innovation in BR I posted that sanctioning organizations are very resistant to new ideas and change because they oppose the existing orthodoxy. I couldn't help but notice the two excellent examples in your post that prove that. The first was the vote of 5 for and 4 against the use of tuners. Almost 1/2 of the board opposed the change (!) even thought it was a significant step forward for BR, and tuners were widely available to anyone who wanted one.

The other one was even better, and I'll quote: "The Board did approve all muzzle tuning devices with the restriction that they couldn't be adjusted during a Match." The WHOLE POINT of a tuner is to be able to adjust it when its current setting is no longer keeping the rifle "in tune." As you quoted, this restriction was later removed, but it again shows just how opposed to change rule-making bodies are! Thanks again for the information.

Z-dog (Chris Mitchell)


Chris,

Thanks for the reply; and I understand how it can appear, to many, that the board is a bunch of dinosaurs that can't be moved.

But -- let me say a few things about your comments, and I don't want to sound confrontational or have this look negative in any way -I'm just wanting to express my thoughts.

With regard to your first item -- The boards resistance to change I'll say this.--I find the board very open to changes that makes any kind of sense. The tuner thing was not an agenda item for that meeting, so nobody in that meeting knew in advance that I was going to bring it in for approval. They did not have an opportunity to think about it or discuss it's negatives, benefits or usefulness. Hind sight is a good thing and now we all know a lot more about tuners and what they can do, but at the time nobody in centerfire benchrest was working with tuners and nobody knew that they might actually be helpful. So given all that, in my opinion the board acted very swiftly and positively to the proposed change not really knowing anything about it and in effect getting blind sided by me with the proposal.

With regard to the thing about making an adjustment at the firing line during a match the Board saw it as a potential safety issue. They felt that a competitor getting up from the bench and making adjustments at the muzzle, of a potentially loaded rifle, during the heat of competition was not a good thing, also the problem of a competitor getting up from his bench during a match could, and would bother the other shooters around him. So they put the no adjustment thing in place not to restrict development but to keep the sport as safe as they could. Of course, since then the rules have evolved to what we have now.


Gene
 
Winner! Winner!

Kudos to Gene and Dwight for bringing tuners to our sport. Let us not forget, however, those unsung shooters who have submitted ideas that never made it into benchrest.
Screamer girls: bikini models who strut around the firing line carrying signs stating Match... Relay..., just like in pro boxing. Shot down by Scott "the prude" Hunter director Gulf Coast.
Mike Stinnett match director Denton often shouts out when giving out trophies. "Winner, winner, chicken dinner". We have yet to see that first drumstick.
Condoms in the shape of a 6PPC with "grow benchrest" printed on the sides.
Hip Hop gimme caps with bills on the front and sides.
Wind powered moving backers, rocket powered golf carts for the target crews, valet parking and unloading of equipment at the nationals. The list goes on. Of course not all ideas are well thought out. The movable, styrofoam, shooting bench comes to mind. Myself, I am taking the boxes of hats and condoms and giving them out in a place blessed by those in power: the local high school. Tim
 
Last edited:
Gene - Thanks for telling folks how the tuners got in the rule book. I don't think there was any opposition but rather the item appeared from nowhere and those that voted against the item likely did so because they had to. I know I voted opposed simply because I had no Southeast Region member input concerning the item. Didn't matter at all what I thought. I don't actually know how the item passed given the circumstances. I kinda do know but that's better left unsaid.

All is well that ends well!
 
It's pretty easy for a group to focus on the standardization on a national basis the entire benchrest shooting program so that targets, ranges, scoring methods, records and match procedure will be uniform and comparable and ignore the development and encouragement of extreme rifle accuracy in rifles, ammunition, equipment and shooting methods. We become focused on the standardized competition and not so much on the primary goal of the pursuit of striving for extreme accuracy. The tuner is a tool that helps focus on the objective of striving for extreme accuracy as well as the changes that were made to the sporter class. How we choose to use either is up to the individual competitor. There are innovators and there are followers in this sport and always has been. Thanks to Gene for getting the tuner rule passed and thanks to Jackie as being one of the first to campaign the tuner effectively in competition.
 
Mike hit the nail on the head

Mike, That was well thought out and eloquently presented. It, in fact, was downright profound. I am very happy that those Alzheimer's drugs are working out for you. Tim
 
Mike, That was well thought out and eloquently presented. It, in fact, was downright profound. I am very happy that those Alzheimer's drugs are working out for you. Tim

Tim, for the most part it was copied straight out of the first page of the NBRSA rule book. I couldn't come up with that much verbiage on my own. The rule book is pretty good about that.
 
Truth be told...

C'mon now we all know it was Al Gore who invented and instituted the use of tuners in this sport...geeez :D
 
No No No,Pat,Your Confused !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Al Gore instituted the directional arrow that can be applied to the rifle stock to indicate the path of travel of the bullet, another safety feature. I'm not sure if he invented it before or after he invented the internet and the melting of the polar caps.
 
I thought the directional arrows were on wind flags to remind the shooter which way the wind was going to blow their bullet.
 
Now Mike, that IS a fine idea.... I bet there are many experienced shooters who have held the wrong way during a reverse or pick up !
 
Back
Top