Target Sports

.22 RIMFIRE BENCHREST: RULES AND EQUIPMENT

Created on 29th May 2009

CARL BOSWELL explains the rules for air rifle classes

OVER THE last two months I have shown you rules and equipment related to all the classes within rimfire benchrest. This month we have the last focus area, which is about the fast-growing air rifle benchrest section.

(The rules are needed to describe the types of rifles and equipment used. This also gives those new to the sport, or to the Benchrest disciplines, a good chance to see how easy it is to enter this sector of shooting sports). The rules for all air rifle classes are set out below.

(e) Sporter Air Rifle Class: This class includes any unmodified factory model with the manufacturer's name or logo stamped into the metal of the barrel or breech. The rifle must have a safe manually and mechanically operated firing mechanism. This must weigh under 10.5lb including the sight, and a minimum of 1,000 of these rifles must have already been produced. You may use factory stock that meets the stock clarification rules (see appendix C). The action can be either spring or pneumatic, but neither the barrel nor the action can be glued in. You are allowed an air regulator, muzzle brakes and silencers of specific manufacture and design. You may change the barrel, calibre and air cylinder, as long as it is provided by the manufacturer as an option or spare to that model. Any scope may be used, with a maximum magnification of 12X, but scopes with more power must be taped in position for the duration of the match. The barrel can be bedded and the trigger can be reworked. If it needs to be re-crowned, it can be no shorter than 0.5″ from the original factory barrel length. It is your responsibility to document the rifle's original length. Return to battery is not permitted, and power is restricted to 16.27J or 12ft/lb maximum.

(f) International Sporter Air Rifle Class:
This is the same as the above, but with a maximum magnification of 6.5X. Scopes with more power must be taped in position for the duration of the match. The power level limit in this class is restricted to 8.13J, or 6ft/lb maximum.

(g) Hunter Air Rifle Class:
This class includes any unmodified factory model with the manufacturer's name or logo stamped into the metal of the barrel or breech. It must have a safe manually and mechanically operated firing mechanism, which must weigh under 10.5lb (4,762 kg) including the sight. A minimum of at least 1,000 of these rifles must have already been produced. Factory stock that meets stock clarification rules may be used (see appendix C). The action can be either spring or pneumatic, and neither the barrel nor the action can be glued in. You are allowed an air regulator, muzzle brakes and silencers of specific manufacture and design. You may change the barrel, calibre and air cylinder, providing the rifle manufacturer offers them as an option or spare to that model. You may use any magnification scope, and the barrel can be bedded and have the trigger reworked (or replaced). If it needs to be re-crowned, it can be no shorter than 0.5" from the original factory barrel length for that model. It is your responsibility to document the rifle's original length. Return to battery is not permitted, and power is restricted to 16.27J or 12ft/lb maximum.

(h) Unlimited Air Rifle Class A:
This class covers any rifle with a safe manually and mechanically operated firing mechanism, with no weight limit. Any air regulator can be used as long as it is integral within the air cylinder. You may make any modification to the rifle and you may use any magnification scope. Factory stock that meets the stock clarification rules may be used (see appendix C). Return to battery is not permitted but muzzle brakes, compensators, barrel weights and harmonic tuners are allowed. There is no restriction on cylinder size or capacity as long as 8.13J or 6ft/lb maximum power is not exceeded. Separate air cylinders are not allowed - the cylinder must be part of the rifle and the overall weight.

(i) Unlimited Air Rifle Class B:
This is the same as Class A, but with a maximum power limit of 16.27J or 12ft/lb.

(j) Unlimited Air Rifle Class C (50M only)
This applies to any rifle which has a safe manually and mechanically operated firing mechanism. There is no weight limit. You may use any air regulator as long as it is integral within the air cylinder. You may make any modification to the rifle and any magnification scope may be used. Factory stock that meets the stock clarification rules may be used (see appendix C). Return to battery is not permitted but muzzle brakes, compensators, barrel weights or harmonic tuners are allowed. There is no restriction on cylinder size or capacity as long as a maximum power level limit of 27.12J or 20ft/lb is maintained. Separate air cylinders are not allowed; the cylinder must be part of the rifle and the overall weight.

NB: Clarification on separate cylinders - this refers to ‘Diver Type bottles' that sit below the bench and are connected to the rifle by a tube. Separate air cylinders do not refer to air rifles that have detachable cylinders, for example Anschutz where the cylinder is removed to refill or change for a replenished cylinder.

Appendix C: stocks clarification

For 10.5lb Light Varmint and Unlimited Weight Classes (including Air Rifles), the stock forearm must be either convex or flat, maximum 76.2mm (3") or under at its widest point. This can be a specialist stock or a flat plate attached to the bottom of the stock, and any material can be used. The bottom of the butt of the stock that comes into contact with the rear sandbag must be either convex or flat. If flat, the bottom of the butt of the stock must be 25mm (0.98") or under in width.

Air rifle sporter stocks must be an unmodified factory stock or good equivalent, conforming to the manufacturer's original design (this means form and equal dimension). They must be convex on all bottom surfaces unless the manufactured item is flat (for example, Air Arms S200, S200T). The stock must be 2.25" (57.2mm) or less at its widest point. There's a lot of classes here! At present it's still being decided which of these classes will be shot at the World Championship next year. At least one Unlimited class will be, but Sporter and Hunter classes are also being asked for by shooting groups. (Up-to-date information about the World Championship will be available shortly on both the UKBR22 and the European Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Shooting Federation (ERABSF) websites: www.benchrest22.org and www.erabsf.org). Air rifle benchrest is shot predominantly at 25yd, as this is an effective range where accuracy can be maintained. One class noted above obviously competes up to the 50m range, but the rifles used here would be classed as firearms under UK law, being over 12ft/lb. There are a number of these types of rifles used in the UK, but they are mostly used for hunting. The other classes all shoot within the 12ft/lb range and so stay ‘off ticket', under UK law: a saving grace, as this fact alone makes air rifle benchrest accessible by all.

As the benchrest equipment is the same as that used for rimfire, it is easy to change from one form of shooting to another. You will recognise by now that the stock clarification rules also have the same sizes for both rimfire and air rifle, making this easy to set up if you are shooting a variety of rifles, whether they are rimfire or air rifle.

As the laws governing air rifles are very different within Europe (and the rest of the world) we have a lot of issues with keeping standardisation simple.

Obviously, looking at the rules above, you can see that most fit into UK rifle standards that are off-ticket. However, if going abroad, it does mean that you may have to put your air rifle on a temporary FAC and European firearms pass if you travel within Europe, or elsewhere, to attend one of the championships. With air rifle benchrest becoming very popular in the USA and now Australia, this is a very fast developing area in benchrest. Russia has just joined the international postal side of the competition, and with more people shooting air rifles in this postal in some of the African states, we expect air rifle benchrest to progress a great deal in the next two years. So those of you who currently shoot field target, or even just ‘plink' down at your local range, why not try something just a little bit different in the future? You never know, you might end up thoroughly enjoying it. You might even win a trophy... but you won't know unless you give it a try.

I have kept the information here concise so that it provides all thebasics necessary to help explain what the sport offers without getting bogged down in detail. Fuller explanations of all rules can be found on the .22BR website at www.benchrest22.org. Until next time!

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.22 RIMFIRE BENCHREST: RULES AND EQUIPMENT

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.22 RIMFIRE BENCHREST: RULES AND EQUIPMENT

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