M14 Forum

JMGlasgow

I recently attended an NRA High Power match and am a little confused about some rules.

#1 Aren't service rifles and match rifles supposed to be scored for rank separately?

#2 Are triggers for service rifle supposed to be weighed? And is the minimum 4.5 lbs?

davecampperry

1. Yes
2. Yes. Yes.
Howsomever, some ranges simply don't have enough manpower to check weights. Some ranges don't have enough competitors to segregate. Some range operators don't know the rules. Some ranges claim to be NRA or DCM, but aren't strict. And some take the money and run. One range here doesn't report to NRA and charges $5, another does report and charges $20.

JMGlasgow

So we had 12 shooter's and half of them had match rifles of all sorts. And in the scoring they combined the match shooter's with service rifle. Seems to me that that is very unfair. Especially when it comes to prize money. I payed $20 to compete and half of the entry fee was given in prizes.

I asked the match director about segregating the match rifles and he said he wasn't going to.

How can I compete when I don't stand a chance shooting against match rifles and exotic calibers such as 6mm-250 and .260.

Kinda seems like benchrest. Whoever has the most money wins.

timrb

What was the match-winning score? Full distance?

Match rifle vs service rifle doesn't seem to make much difference until you get into the very highest levels of competition. For instance, the winning scores at this year's California high power rifle championships (match rifles allowed) were 790-34, 787-31, 786-29. The scores for the service rifle championships the previous month were 790-25, 782-29, 774-17.

Tim

JMGlasgow

The match winning score was 798-25X. It was a full across the course 80 round match.

Slow Sitting 200 yard
Rapid Sitting 200 yard
Rapid Prone 300 yard
Slow Prone 600 yard

30Caliber

Hate to burst your bubble, but it's the archer, not the arrow that wins the match. Spend all you want, but unless you're shooting harder than woodpecker lips, you'll be hard-pressed to make it into the top quarter. It's very crowded up at the top.

It's weird that they'd award cash at a match with less than 40 shooters. I wouldn't expect match/service to be split out either. I've shot 300+ matches and have my trigger weighed on 3 occasions. Twice at Camp Perry and once at a state championship.

Hang in there and have fun. If you want to win, you need to put your shots in the center virtually every time.

JMGlasgow

I still have fun at the matches. I just wanted some rule clarification.

geeck

Just show up and shoot in the top 5 or 10% at some of these "friendly matches" and you'll see some of those "local" top shooters demand a trigger weight verification and a body cavity search.

davecampperry

My policy is if it ain't fun, don't do it, but I'm old, crotchety, been there, done that, got the gold (and silver), but unlike most old f@rts, I remember what it was like. I hated sandbaggers, and guys who's gun cost more than my car. It's all in your mind. If a guy shows up with a $5,000 rifle, he has already won a lot, because MOST people will be falsely impressed. Only the two guys in the corner (you and me) won't pay him any mind. And it will drive him nuts, perhaps enough to make him dump a couple of points. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. For you non smokers, put an egg in your shoe and beat it.

timrb

Well, there you have it. There are not many shooters in the country who could show up and win against someone who can shoot like that. I would also bet good money that the winning shooter could have traded rifles with any other shooter and won.

Tim

gulliver62

I understand your point. As others have said, I shoot to have fun since even if I won the match it probably wouldn't pay for the ammo fired.

Costs usually have several components at the bigger clubs:

NRA will take a fee that I think is in the $5-7 range if it is an approved match. I don't know if your scores for classification will reflect service rifle or match rifle (someone can chime in).
There is usually a base fee for targets etc.
The club as a whole gets a %, and what's left goes to the match director to use for awards, brats, beers whatever.
All of those components support the sport and gun rights in some way so I am OK with it.

We are lucky in that there is a mixture down here and you can shoot every weekend, we are not so lucky (well, I am a bit of a wussy) in that it has been 90+ degrees and high humidity since May so I hung up the shooting coat and pulled out the Bullseye gear.

FICK_USMC

Why no standing slowfire ? If the COF isn't by the book then the match wasn't NRA approved or sanctioned which would explain no class difference for service rifle.
Without the standing slowfire the scores should not be counted for classification.

timrb

I didn't notice that. A master or high master would certainly clean a slowfire sitting stage at 200 yards, and it's common for those guys to clean rapids as well, so even if he gave up his two points at 600, that would be outstanding shooting.

Tim

rgary

I shot that match also (but with my poodle shooter). The match was the standard 80 shot course of fire. 200 Off-hand and sitting, 300 rapid prone and 600 yrd slow prone.

Was a pretty standard day at CRC, switching winds going from a boil to 10+ mph from the time you scoped the shot till you got on the trigger. Full 180 degree switches, the standard stuff for this time of year. At least we had a great mirage to keep track of it.

The aggregate match winner actually came out of the Master class. He was shooting a .223 AR based space gun. I finished 1st Master with a 753 shooting a service rifle. We did have 1 High Master shooting his Tubb gun in 6XC and a few others with match rifles, mostly in the Master class. Everyone just shot thier NRA classification. However, due to low numbers Marksman, Sharpshooter and Expert were grouped together. There really were not enough shooters of either type to break out seperate categories for MR vs SR.

The matches at CRC are a lot of fun and yes we do pay out virtually every match. Only time I have seen that we do not pay out is if we have too few shooters to make it worth it, then we only charge enough to cover targets and we do not turn in the scores for classification (kinda like a practice match). But that usually only happens on bad weather days.

Our next XTC match is the Colorado Regional Championship on 24 Sept with a Team and CMP Leg match on the 25th.

Come on out and have some fun!
check out http://www.crci.org for range information and points of contact.

Russ

JMGlasgow

Oops! I need to check my tying before posting. There was a standing slowfire stage. Sorry for the typo.