< PreviousBR Clarification V04 9 8.16.3.7 Shooting clothing may be worn according to Rule 8.8. This allows the use of a shooting jacket which is made of flexible material. Any pads, lining or reinforcements of the jacket must also be flexible. The jacket does not have to be to ISSF specification, but must not have reinforcements that support the shooter. You can wear strap-on elbow pads instead of a jacket but not as well as one. In theory, you could wear shooting trousers and boots but they confer little (or no) advantage for benchrest shooting. 8.16.4.1 Bench. The bench may be of any height to suit the shooter. The bench top may be shaped so as to form an extension to support the right elbow (or left elbow if left- handed), but must in no way control the elbow’s position. Any bench may be and it may be shaped like the ones shown above. However, the top must be flat and not have any blocks, protrusions or indentations that give location to the shooter or his equipment. 8.16.4.2 The shooter may cover all or part of the bench with a material to give elbow comfort. The material must not have a thickness of more than 20 mm uncompressed. This allows a shooter to put a mat on the top of the bench. This can be any sort of rubber, carpet or other covering. As an example, a standard shooting mat could be used. The shooter may also use a piece of material that doesn’t cover the whole top of the bench to give comfort to the elbows. BR Clarification V04 10 8.16.5 Rest 8.16.5.1 The rest may be of any type of material, may be adjustable for height and may only support the fore-end of the rifle. It may not be fixed to the bench or the fore-end, but must be free to move in relation to both. It must not control the rifle in any way. Basically the rest used in NSRA Benchrest Shooting should be a flat platform that supports the weight of the rifle but provides no further control. This may be an adjustable type shooting rest or a simple block of wood or other material. The important part is the portion of the rest that is in contacts with the rifle. This part of the rest must be flat. In the NSRA Rules it states: 8.16.5.2 The area of the rest that supports the fore-end of the rifle: 8.16.5.2.1 Must be flat in the horizontal plane at right angles to the rifle barrel where it contacts the rifle stock; This means that the area that is in contact with the stock has nothing that would control the rifle sideways. This allows the use of a flat plate as in the diagram below. You can also use a rounded surface (like a cylindrical one in the diagram below) so long as it is flat in the direction perpendicular to the stock of the rifle as shown. 90° Line of Barrel Must be flat in this direc tion 90° Line of Barrel Must be flat in this direc tion X BR Clarification V04 11 Many commercial rests have vertical extensions (either fixed or adjustable) that are made to control sideways movement. To maintain a flat platform these may not be used when shooting. To this end In the NSRA Rules it states: 8.16.5.2.2 must be made of a non-pliable material, such as metal or wood; 8.16.5.2.3 may have a thin, soft covering, such as cloth, carpet or leather, but the covering must be sufficiently thin that no support is given to either side of the fore-end. This ensures the surface of the rest isn’t modified by the weight of the rifle and gain sideways support. Other factors must be taken into account when ensuring the rest only supports the rifle. Back to the rule that states: 8.16.5.3 The rest may have vertical extensions at its sides projecting upwards to prevent the rifle falling off the rest between shots and when re-loading, but the fore-end must be visibly clear of these extensions when the shooter is in the firing position. This means that the extensions must be removed or a clearly visible gap is maintained on either side of the stock whilst shooting to ensure the forend of the gun receives no further support other than the flat platform indicated earlier. X Indentations support side of rifle BR Clarification V04 12 To ensure that there is a sufficient gap that is visible to a range officer whilst shooting is taking place the gap should be maintained at greater than 10mm on both sides of the rifle stock. In addition to this the rules futher define elements that ensure that the rifle is not controlled. In the rules the rest: 8.16.5.1 The rest may be of any type of material, may be adjustable for height and may only support the fore-end of the rifle. It may not be fixed to the bench or the fore-end, but must be free to move in relation to both. It must not control the rifle in any way. The contact area of the stock and the rest would be affected by this rule. If a very long contact area was used, say the full length of the fore-end, it would give undue control to the whole rifle The base of the rest itself may be of any size but the contact area with the rifle must be less than 20.5cm long Some commercial rests are fitted with a forend stop. This limits the forward movement of the stock on the rest and provides a reference point to return the stock to its original position after firing. As such this can also be considered adding further control to the rifle and is prohibited. Gap must be greater than 10mm on both sides 20.5 cm (maximum) Line of rifle stock BR Clarification V04 13 8.16.5.5 Neither the rest nor the rifle shall be fitted with any form of stop device that impedes, or forms a buffer to, the front or rear movement of the rifle over the rest. Any forend stop must be removed from the rest or turned so that it can play no part in shooting. 8.16.5.4 A sandbag may be used to provide the height, but must have a piece of material conforming to 8.16.5.2 interposed between it and the fore-end. The sandbag may not provide any sideways support to the fore-end. This allows the use of a sandbag but a flat resilient surface must be put on top of it. This could be a piece of wood or a metal plate. The idea is prevent the sandbag deforming under the weight of the rifle and supporting the sides of it and giving the shooter an inappropriate advantage. X X BR Clarification V04 14 8.16.6 Seat. The seat or chair may be of any height or design and may be adjustable for height. In shoulder to shoulder competition the benches are provided by the organisers and are not of a specified, standard height. This rule allows the shooter to use their own seat which can be adjusted for height to suit the bench provided. There is nothing to stop the seat being part of the bench. However, many people feel that is not a very flexible solution and makes it difficult to compensate for the stature of different shooters. It can also transmit movement to the rifle. BR Clarification V04 15 8.16.7 Shooting Distance. No part of the rifle receiver may be in front of the front marked edge of the firing point (Rule 1.10.2), which must be marked on the bench. As a line for the feet or elbow is inappropriate in benchrest shooting, the means of making sure all shoot from the same distance is worked out using the front of the receiver. This point can be considered to be where the barrel meets the mechanism on any type of small-bore or air rifle. For this reason the bench must be marked with the firing line’s position to help shooters and Range Officers. Front of receiver behind firing line Next >