PETITCODIAC BENCHREST SHOOTING RULES FOR 2013

Petitcodiac Sportsman's Club - Benchrest Shooting Rules

1.     Safety first. Control muzzle direction at all times. Treat every firearm as if it was loaded. Safety eye and hearing protection is mandatory.

2.     All range safety rules and commands must be followed. Obey your range officer at all times. Failure to obey range rules, Range Officers, or Match Directors could result in a competitor being expelled from the current and/or all matches.

3.     All actions are to be kept open and all firearms placed into the rifle racks until they are permitted/directed to be brought onto the firing line/shooting bench.

 

4.     All shooting must be done from separate front or rear rests on sandbags. A standard front rest shall have a "sandbag of 1/2 inch minimum"only making contact with the rifle. The rear rest shall be of a sandbag type only and may not be attached to the rifle or front rest. No clamping, cradling or return-to-battery rest allowed. Rifles must be capable of being lifted straight up from the sandbags with no resistance.

5.     Rifles must be of standard or conventional benchrest design (no platforms or block type rifles). There are no weight restrictions to rifles or rests.

6.     Only .22lr rimfire rifles may be used in the .22 rimfire BR matches. Barrel tuners are permitted. Shooters using semi-auto actions shall have brass catchers attached or shall be assigned to a shooting table that does not affect adjacent competitors from ejected brass casings.

7.     Any caliber smokeless centerfire rifle may be used for Centerfire BR matches but less than 50 caliber. Muzzle brakes or similar type devices that cause increased muzzle blast/noise are not permitted. Any optical scope without restriction to power may be used.

8.     Only one rifle/scope combination is permitted during the match, unless there is an equipment failure, safety, or otherwise, requiring the equipment to be replaced in order for the shooter to continue. Unsafe equipment will be removed from the match/range.

9.     Competitors may set up and use wind indicators on the range as long as they do not interfere with shooting or obstruct the targets.

10.    The shooting time allowed for .22lr will be 30 minutes per 25 bull target including sighters. This allows shooters some time to address wind issues that may occur during their relay, since this is outdoors etc. For Centerfire the time is 15 minutes per match target, including sighters.

11.    No coaching is permitted on the firing line. This includes advice on shooting/ when to shoot etc. An exception is permitted in the case of a Junior shooter being directly supervised by an adult person fully qualified to handle and shoot firearms, or in the case of a senior shooter requiring assistance from another qualified adult shooter. 

12.    There shall be no interference by other competitors on the shooting line, be it verbal or otherwise. Nonshooters/spectators to the shoot shall remain seated inside the shooting hut during active firing so as not to disturb the match/shooters or must exit the shooting hut.

13.    Any questionable equipment or disputes will be settled by the Match Director(s) and/or the Match Committee and the decision will be final.

14.    Equipment that contravenes the rules and has been overlooked in the past does not mean it has been approved for further use.

15.    All scoring will be done by the Match Scorer and his(her) decision will be final. It is the final responsibility of affected shooters to advise the Match Scorer of any arithmetic errors with their targets.

16.    Scores of a non-arithmetic nature may be disputed at a cost of $2.00 per challenge, which will be refunded if there is a revision to the score. The challenge will be reviewed by the scorer and two of the Match Committee members with a majority decision being made amongst the three members.

17.    Scoring:

                  (1)  Scoring will be based on best edge. An optical scoring gauge may be used to decide difficult shots to determine score value. The use of a bullet is not approved. If a non-optical gauge is used in the absence of an optical gauge, then the non-optical gauge must only be inserted once in the bullet hole.

                  (2)  Any first shot on the target that goes anywhere but on the sighter can be called by notifying the Range Officer. The RO will inform the Scorer and it will not be scored.

                  (3)  When an identifiable cross-fire occurs on another competitor's target the low value or identifiable shot shall be transfered to the offender's target and a penalty of one point deducted. A competitor who shoots a crossfire must not fire on his or her record bull. To do so may result in disqualification if it is determined that this was an attempt to conceal a cross-fire.

                  (4)  If no identifiable cross-fire has occured, an empty bull is scored as a "0" and is not a disqualification.

                  (5)  If there is an extra shot(s) on the record bull, and  no identifiable crossfire has occured, the lowest shots on the bull will be scored and one point penalty applied for each excessive shot.

                  (6)  Any shot that touches the sighter bounding box is to be counted as a sighter shot.

18.    Match Ties:

                  (1) Match winners are to be decided by score, then score plus "X" count.

                  (2) If a tie still exists between competitors, after the "X" count, then the winner will be determined by a 'sudden death' shoot off. Each competitor will fire one shot at a bull until one shoots a lower score than the other(s), etc.

NOTE: These BR rules apply only to the .22lr BR and Centerfire BR Matches and not to
             Sharps   and Levers, Fun Shoots, nor the .22lr CB Series, etc.

contact bertdevink@gmail.com if there are errors or omissions