Sporter Rack Safety?

[atomicbrh]

I have just started Air Rifle Matches that follow our Smallbore Matches. I only have experince with PCP Target and Open class rifles. We have not had many Sporter class shooters show up but the numbers are increasing rapidly. How do the break barrel, underlever, and sidelever(in target class, the Walther LGR, FWB 300S and so on) shooters put their rifles in a vertical rack with their action open and their empty chamber indicator in place? Do the Sporter shooters just recase their rifles when it is time to go down range to repaint? My local range has no specific safety rules about vertical racks but I want adhere to accepted safety procedures as closely as possible. What do other Match Directors do to provide a vertical rack that will hold a break barrel (especially like the HW's that I believe do not have a anti-beartrap device) with the muzzle up and the action open?

Bobby R. Huddleston

[slowstdy]

At FTR&PA and all the other clubs in the NE i have shot at, we just get them to rack the rifles closed and fired, as is, they are more dangerous 1/2 cocked with barrels or cocking arms out at all sorts of angles, and unstable. Besides leaving a spring gun 1/2 cocked or open, means they have to close it and then the gun is fully cocked and live for them walking to the line. The way we do it they don't cock and load until the ready command is given.
Again making target guns open their actions is not a good idea, because there is no safety on a target gun, so when the action is closed that gun is live, regardless of if loaded or not. Rules for Power burners are in fact dangerous for Air guns. ISSU rules are better, you have a small flag that is installed in the chamber and the chamber is closed with the trigger pressed. But as the NRA do not supply these, and most silhouette shooters do not shoot International competitions.... FWB do supply these flags with their guns. But they will only work with a target gun.
I think Bobby you are making something out of nothing, use common sense. A gun securely racked in a rack can do no harm, if when it is removed from the rack it is still in a safe mode then it can do no harm.
We shoot about 70 air rifle matches a year and this works for us.
You should try Air Pistol, same animals and it is a blast.

[richard]

Dave(aka Limey) is correct and air rifles are exempt from the open bolt indicator requirement anyway and we have a letter from the silhouette committee so stating. We shoot air rifle at Delran, Falls, and Harrisburg and have no problems. We've also shot at Delaware County and Square circle at non NRA approved matches and we all do the same thing. Even in Field Target the shooters walk thru the course and don't carry their guns with actions open BUT no one cocks or loads until at the firing position.
At ALL matches range control is important and we usually don't let folks tinker with their guns unless they are up on the firing line.

[atomicbrh]

Thanks for the replies. That is exactly the information I needed. Just wanted to make sure I was conforming to standard safety practices since I am not very familiar with the Air Rifle Match procedures.

Slowstdy, we have IZH46M's both scoped and Taco hold iron-sighted to shoot Air Pistol Silhouette. If I had shot Air Pistol first I would have never bought the first Silhouette Rifle. I have been crazy enough to drive 14 hours round trip to shoot Indoor Air Pistol on a Tuesday night at Haltom City, TX. since that is the closest match. I want to run Air Pistol Silhouette on a weekday night at our local gun club but the Board of Directors are not smart enough to give me permission. They say there are already too many matches being held. I have a maximum of 20 yards that I can shoot airguns in the backyard and it always amazes me that I can set up any kind of full NRA match course in such a small yard.

Bobby R. Huddleston

[Bob259]

Thanks for the replies. That is exactly the information I needed. Just wanted to make sure I was conforming to standard safety practices since I am not very familiar with the Air Rifle Match procedures.

Slowstdy, we have IZH46M's both scoped and Taco hold iron-sighted to shoot Air Pistol Silhouette. If I had shot Air Pistol first I would have never bought the first Silhouette Rifle. I have been crazy enough to drive 14 hours round trip to shoot Indoor Air Pistol on a Tuesday night at Haltom City, TX. since that is the closest match. I want to run Air Pistol Silhouette on a weekday night at our local gun club but the Board of Directors are not smart enough to give me permission. They say there are already too many matches being held. I have a maximum of 20 yards that I can shoot airguns in the backyard and it always amazes me that I can set up any kind of full NRA match course in such a small yard.

Bobby R. Huddleston

This kind of thinking only serves to hurt the sport. If there are available times and someone willing to run the matches why would anyone be so close minded to 1) limit shooting events at a shooting facility; 2) turn away revenue & 3) loose out on possible new members. Some time people elected to thse boards have personal agendas that get in the way of positive promotion of our sport. Maybe these guys shoud consider running for the NRA Silhouette committee as they sometimes have the same thought process, like not giving Winnsboro a Nationals Air Silhouette date.... Sometimes we are our own worse enemy.

[atomicbrh]

Bob259, You "hit the nail on the head". The folks in power here have their own agenda and that agenda is IPSC/USPSA pistol. We are actually getting a few converts from that discipline who have seen what all of us are experiencing in standing Silhouette. The thing is Air Silhouette(Pistol and Rifle) is not costing them a thing because I had already purchased targets for my own use and use them at the matches. They won't even list Air Rifle on the official Club schedule as part of the Rifle Silhouette program that I put on. If a member of our board of Directors ever shoots a high quality air pistol or rifle they will be hooked.

I can give them credit for several things though. They paid for a tremendous amount of dirt work to move berms out to 100 meters and create berms for the other 3 distances. The club also paid for all the Ray Schafer targets we needed. They paid for all the rails and the IPSC/USPSA core group helped me install the rails. They knew I did not have anybody to help me because nobody at our range was shooting Smallbore Rifle Silhouette. The board also bought a used CZ452 in great shape with a good scope and a case of Eley Sport ammo for people who wanted to try the sport but did not have the proper equipment. The first match season I did not have to pay the club anything but now I have to pay them $1.50 for each person that shoots. With the cost of paint, prizes and pins we just barely break even.

The sad thing is that our club has enough money to easily concrete our firing line(we have a nice firing line cover) but will not do that because the board says shooters will not sweep off their brass and someone will fall on the brass and get hurt. We have to stand on uneven, shifting, sandy soil to shoot. The other irony is that a family member has a large, well-known, three generation old concrete business and I think he will do the concrete work at his cost.

My wife and I will not give up. We will keep putting on matches because it is the right thing to do. This sport has given my family a awful lot and it was time for us to give something back to it.

Bobby R. Huddleston