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Gauging interest for a Postal Match: Outdoor NRA style high-power rifle with air

Due to winter in many parts of the country, this match wouldn’t get started until March and would run through October. I’m just wondering how many would be interested in trying this out.

My thoughts are to run monthly 80 shot matches for record with two sighting shots allowed at each of the four stages. The rules will be essentially those of the NRA high-power rifle game except that scope sighted rifles will be allowed: too few air rifles have provisions for iron sights.

I have created scaled and offset PDF targets for each of the following ranges: 50 feet, 25 yards, and 50 yards which simulate the 200 yard, 300 yard and 600 yard high-power rifle targets. The offsets are slightly different for each of .25, .22, and .177 bores.

For those not familiar with the game, it starts with two sighting shots at 200 yards (50 ft) while standing. Twenty-two minutes are allowed for the 22 shots. 

The next stage is sitting or kneeling rapid fire. Note: sitting is not the field target sitting position. Ones buttocks must be on the ground or flat mat, and the rifle may only be supported by the hands, cheek and one shoulder. The complete descriptions of the shooting positions are described in the NRA rule book.

Again, two minutes are allowed for two sighting shots. Rapid fire is characterized by the shooter sitting but the rifle must be off the shoulder, and the magazines on the ground or on the shooting stool. Upon the commence fire command, the shooter has 60 seconds to load his magazine into the rifle, shoot either two or five shots, reload, and shoot the remainder of the 10 rounds. This is repeated for a second rapid fire string.

The rapid fire sequence above is repeated at 300 yards (25 yds.) in the prone position, however, 70 seconds are allowed for each 10 round string.

Finally, 20 shots for record plus two sighting shots are fired prone at 600 yards (50 yds.) like in the slow-fire standing stage. 

The complete NRA rule book is available in PDF here:

http://competitions.nra.org/documents/pdf/compete/RuleBooks/HPR/hpr-book.pdf

The position rules are on pages 16,17, and 18. (PDF pages 11 and 12).

If there is enough interest, here and elsewhere, I’ll make the targets available, and write rules on how I’ll conduct the postal match with specifics on how you as a competitor should conduct your individual matches.
 
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If you intend for international participation (elsewhere), then the rules/format/targets are too complicated and domestic and peculiar to USA and NRA. I doubt there would be much if any international participation.
A now familiar domestic and international starting point for a postal shoot would be a BR shoot along the WRABF rules; there are some 30 countries now involved and familiar with the format. ... But all things have a beginning. 3 and 4 position shooting is undertaken in some countries but rules do vary. So gauge the interest and go from there. ... Kind regards, Harry.

 
American Highpower is a marksmanship tour de force and not so complicated once you get on the range. We shoot a shortened version (32 shot) and have for 20+ years. Over those years, a lot of forks have shot with us who had never been on a high power range.

We do shoot a 50 yard version that became popular after the ammo shortage cut into out attendance. We got the Idea of the reduced range from a high power club in London England. It works great with air rifles. 

One club rule we have is that we don’t start until everyone is ready. If a new shooter needs help to be ready just before commence fire, it happens. It is very interesting to note that our scores are about the same between 100 y with centerfire rifles and 50 yards with rimfires and air rifles. Ronhttp://blueflaxairguns.blogspot.com/
 
Here are some images of sample targets that would be used for the game. Also, there is a view of what the target boards should look like from the perspective of the shooter. The multiple targets per lane is to simulate the spacing you would see at a big match like at Camp Perry. Finally there is an example of how the scoring rings are offset from the scaled target. The aiming black is kept true to scale and its edge is not a scoring ring on the offset targets.

First the 50 foot target to simulate 200 yards.
viewFile.html


Next is the 25 yard target to simulate 300 yards.
viewFile.html


Third is the 50 yard target to simulate 600 yards.
viewFile.html


This is what the shooter sees. The 50 foot targets are shown in target frames 1 and 2, while the 25 yard targets are shown in frames 11 and 12. The rest are 50 yard targets. The shooting lane is 7--1/2 feet wide which is what you normally get at a highpower rifle match.
viewFile.html


Finally an example of the offsets on the 50 yard target. This is based on a .22 caliber bullet touching the scoring rings, then scaled down 1/12th then the radius of the pellet is subtracted. The radial offset for the .25 is calculated as follows: .11" / 12 - .125" = .116" (rounded). For .22 it is .101", while .177 is .079"
viewFile.html
 
NorthLand,

Both shooting coats and slings are allowed, just like the real game. If you send me your e-mail, I can send you the PDFs of the targets. These images will probably not print to scale. You can make your own if you have a suitable drawing program. Just take the dimensions from the NRA rule book, scale by 1/12th and then apply the offsets. Leave the black bull scaled only to 1/12th.

I have found that one can score five shots on a target easily, but the whole 20 can be impossible. I'm still working on an easy target carrier system that one can build where a pull of a string a new bull is presented. Once I have that done, it will be part of the download package.