The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - What types of competitive shooting sports are there?

Cheapo · August 2, 1999, 10:48 PM

Gee, are there nothing but pistols in our world any more?

Rifle:
NRA Highpower: .22 centerfire and above, no limit on Magnums. The pure form is fired 200 yds standing slow fire, 2 sighters plus 20 shots for record (regional match) in 22 minutes. Next is sitting sustained-fire at 200 yds--begin with 2 slow fire sighters before the string. Then start standing up with rifle in hand, sit down when the targets come up--2 shots, reload, then 8 shots in 60 seconds (5 and 5 if you're shooting a bolt gun). Repeat without the sighters for the second 10-round string.

This target has a 7-inch 10-ring, IIRC.

Go back to 300 yards, same target but with the aiming black out to the 8-ring, standing to prone sustained fire, same drill but you have 70 seconds.

Go back to 600 yards, prone slow fire, same setup as 200-yard slow fire. The target is bigger, and is called the MR for medium range. 10-ring is about 24 inches.

Cut the first three stages to 10 shots each, and eliminate the sighters, and you have the "National Match Course" governed by the Director of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM).

This discipline has been dominated by M1A/M14s in .308 but is now seeing great success by AR-15 shooters using heavy bullets and 1:9 or 1:7 twist barrels. Both of those "one size fits all" rifles qualify as "service rifles" if essentially unmodified on the outside, while bolt guns are "NRA Match rifles." Iron sights for most competitions, but the occasional any sight NRA Match rifle competition will allow scopes. These are still frequently won by shooters using iron sights (I've seen it more than once).

Then there's Highpower Silhouette--2, 5-shot strings at each of four "iron critter" steel animal outlines: chicken, 200 meters; pig, 300 meters; turkey (the hard one), 385 meters; and ram, 500 meters. 2.5 minutes per string, all shots from standing, targets must fall to count, and non-Magnums of 6.5 mm or larger are allowed. There's also a blackpowder cartridge rifle variation which allows use of crossed sticks as a rifle rest for firing. 40 shots total per match.

There's more, but I get too complete in my descriptions...

[This message has been edited by Cheapo (edited August 02, 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Cheapo (edited August 03, 1999).]

August 2, 1999, 10:48 PM	#4
Cheapo Senior Member Join Date: November 19, 1998 Posts: 986	Gee, are there nothing but pistols in our world any more? Rifle: NRA Highpower: .22 centerfire and above, no limit on Magnums. The pure form is fired 200 yds standing slow fire, 2 sighters plus 20 shots for record (regional match) in 22 minutes. Next is sitting sustained-fire at 200 yds--begin with 2 slow fire sighters before the string. Then start standing up with rifle in hand, sit down when the targets come up--2 shots, reload, then 8 shots in 60 seconds (5 and 5 if you're shooting a bolt gun). Repeat without the sighters for the second 10-round string. This target has a 7-inch 10-ring, IIRC. Go back to 300 yards, same target but with the aiming black out to the 8-ring, standing to prone sustained fire, same drill but you have 70 seconds. Go back to 600 yards, prone slow fire, same setup as 200-yard slow fire. The target is bigger, and is called the MR for medium range. 10-ring is about 24 inches. Cut the first three stages to 10 shots each, and eliminate the sighters, and you have the "National Match Course" governed by the Director of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM). This discipline has been dominated by M1A/M14s in .308 but is now seeing great success by AR-15 shooters using heavy bullets and 1:9 or 1:7 twist barrels. Both of those "one size fits all" rifles qualify as "service rifles" if essentially unmodified on the outside, while bolt guns are "NRA Match rifles." Iron sights for most competitions, but the occasional any sight NRA Match rifle competition will allow scopes. These are still frequently won by shooters using iron sights (I've seen it more than once). Then there's Highpower Silhouette--2, 5-shot strings at each of four "iron critter" steel animal outlines: chicken, 200 meters; pig, 300 meters; turkey (the hard one), 385 meters; and ram, 500 meters. 2.5 minutes per string, all shots from standing, targets must fall to count, and non-Magnums of 6.5 mm or larger are allowed. There's also a blackpowder cartridge rifle variation which allows use of crossed sticks as a rifle rest for firing. 40 shots total per match. There's more, but I get too complete in my descriptions... [This message has been edited by Cheapo (edited August 02, 1999).] [This message has been edited by Cheapo (edited August 03, 1999).]