New Fly Rule Book - Draft for Comment

[Anthony Hall]

Hi All,

In anticipation of the National Benchrest meeting at Easter, the Fly Rule book is up for review.  It is proposed that it be written as a complete rule book (rather than referring to the benchrest rule book in sections).  Target specifications have also been updated as well as a proposal for Hall of Fame Points calculation.  David Billinghurst has sent out a version for our comment and corrections.  I have been over this fairly quickly and made a couple of corrections.

The attached version is watermarked DRAFT. -it IS NOT an official rule book.
SSAA_BENCHREST_RULEBOOK_#9_(rev_2018)_Fly_Complete_Draft.pdf

Please email me any comments, concerns or corrections that you see as being necessary ASAP.  This is open to all shooters equally....there is no state or club separation ..... lets all get it right so that there are no problems after.  You can either email me at [e-mail] or post on here.  It will be five more years before it can be changed again !!

I will also make some printed versions of this available at the Batemans Bay Shoot Next week.

Kind regards

Anthony

[max coady]

Anthony
There is something that I was going to bring at the meeting.
The measurement of a rimfire plug should be .2205"-.2225"
I went through 8 plug to find the one that measures .222" this is the one that I carry when I do the scoring.
This is correct in the other rule books.
Max

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3.5.1 Best edge scoring. If bullet touches the border of the next highest ring, with no gap, the higher score will be awarded. All shots which cannot be scored by visual scoring will be checked in Centrefire class with a plug appropriate for the calibre used on the target. In Rimfire a .22 ISSF / USAS Inward gauge (5.60-5.65 mm or 0.2205-0.2205”) and indicated on the target with a P.
A target cannot be plugged more than once including as part of protest or score query.
_____________________________________________

[john mc quire]

Hello Max    in regards to the rim-fire plug gauge   --  have you seen the Eagle Eye  device that Anthony has  --  it is a great way of  checking .22 targets  to see if the shot has or has not touched the line   --  I think that the plugs should only be used as a last resort   seeing that you can only plug a target once  
                       regards  John Mc

[max coady]

John
Yes The eagle eye is good, but I am talking about the rule book, it only talks about plugs and there sizes.
It is a mistake is the proposed rule book, not a change.

The WBSF rules say 5.6 + .05 this is .2225" maximum.
The ISSF for international competition states the same 5.6 + .05 = .2225", for both Rifle and Pistol.

See you in the Bay
Max

[Rob_White]

Hi folks.  If the rules are up for review I guess its time to float a proposal.  In the early days of Fly shooting, getting five in the score zone was a good target.  Now you need five inside the eight or nine ring to be anywhere near the leaderboard.  Gear, knowledge and techniques have evolved rapidly.  It's now not unusual to see successful shooters competing in heavy and light class with the same rifle.  Often, light rifle dominate the first few top scores.  Have the light and heavy classes reached their use-by date?

Is it feasible to amalgamate light and heavy into a single "Custom" category with the other main competition of the day being "Factory"?   That class could open up the sport to would-be Fly shooters who just can't drop $5-6-7k on a custom rifle, but would buy in with a top shelf factory rig under a decent scope.   The custom class would need a suitable weight limit (maybe 10kg) and the factory class would have to be carefully defined.   Existing heavies would need a grace period to phase out, but a custom and factory class would better reflect the results showing up on scoresheets now, and hopefully draw more shooters to the Fly comp.

Thoughts?

[Rob V]

Hi Rob White..

And for the people who have out layed the money and the wait for custom parts to build that heavy gun will probably add more death to the sport than gain..
Any newby wanting to try fly with a factory gun is going to have to outlay thousands  for a scope good enough to see shots on  target at 500m
Hence why most clubs run a 300m factory class event for this reason.

My thoughts..!!

[Stuart Pethy]

just looking through and since you want it as a complete rule book, are you going to say about single feed ammo only eg no magazines to be used ?

[Les Fraser]

In relation to having factory rifles as a class and do away with heavy gun this is not the spirit of the fly it has and always will be LG and HG. If shooters want to buy that nice sporting rig to compete then they can depending on weight shoot that respective class. The fly is a custom no holes barred other than 17lbs for light gun weight go hard or go home sport. it's bench rest at 500m end of story.

If shooters wish to shoot their cruiser weight as a heavy power too them however those that have spent the time building big heavies over a number of years would be more than disappointed for this class to disappear.

les

[Anthony Hall]

Hi All,

Firstly Max's recommendation..... Yes will correct the text relating to the rimfire I will have the wording corrected and probably add a recommendation for eagle eye use if available.

Secondly to the Factory class suggestion.  Good train of thought and good discussion, and I believe that this pathway is currently available through the 300m format.  In my opinion 500 metres if too far for true factory class rifles to compete, especially if we want to encourage new shooters anyway.

At 300 metres, factory class is a great event, and custom class is open slather.... clubs can and do run it how they see fit ie Batemans Bay & Wagga as full events, Canberra with the bat, Melbourne with the Mozzie and Brisbane with club shoots etc.

At 300m a standard off the shelf rifle with reasonable optics can be competitive and you can see bullet holes.... great pathway into the sport.  

To give you an example, the shoot next weekend in Batemans Bay was fully booked by last week and is now over subscribed for the 300m section by Two Shooters !!  I am building a couple more frames at 300 to fit everyone in !!  That is we have 63 Entries for the 500m and now 50 entries for our supplementary 300 metre event !!

As for Light and Heavy at 500..... that is the heart and origin of the sport.... experimental, unlimited heavy gun and then a 17lb class.  That should never change.

Cheers

Anthony