I haven't shot the sport in about eight years. I read an on-line version of what I think are the current rules and there is nothing about a time limit. There was a post on here awhile back that says something about a score or two above your class expiring after a certain about of time (2 years?), but I didn't see that in the rules either.

I might to be able to find the last score book, though I seem to remember tearing some pages out to send to CMP as shooting evidence when I got a Garand. Anyway, I was A class in SB Standard, with two AA scores. I was AA SB Hunter with no AAA scores, and B HP Standard with no A scores.

What do I put in the book I buy for this year? I think my Swedish Mauser in a sporter stock now falls in Hunter. Should I shoot my first match in HP Hunter in B, or must I be unclassified?

The NRA's got the current rules on their website. The two highest scores from your last year fired will be entered at the top of the page of your new book. You will be classified in the same class in which you last competed, as you do not lose your classification. And those two old scores will count towards being reclassified upward, if applicable. You can only be moved down a class if you shoot 12 scores in a row below your current classification, and then only by petition the NRA silhouette department. And, if after moving down a class, you fire a single score that falls into the previous higher class, you're back in that class after that tournament.

Basically, you're picking up where you left off, regardless of how long it's been. And if you're worse now, you'll have to prove it a dozen times, and keep on proving it. ;)

12 scores lower hmmm.. Sounds like trying to get unemployment.. By the time you actually get it you likely already found another job.. Maybe they are hoping 12 matches would be plenty enough to get back up to snuff.

You like me still on the low end of classifications so just go shoot and enjoy again Good luck..


Dee

Whoops, skipped over the HP hunter part of the question. Well, if you haven't shot in HP hunter before then I guess you're not classified. But that doesn't mean you have to shoot in HP hunter. A gun that qualifies for hunter can be shot in standard, so, you could go right back to HP standard. Or you could start fresh in HP hunter if you wanted, of course.

If you have not shot for 8 years and can't find your book then show up to a match and tell them you do not have a classification book and explain to them the circumstances. By the rules they will sell you a book and put you in the highest classification offered and by the end of the match you will be classified again.

The deal with dropping your scores that are higher than your current classification only happen if you shoot every year and do not get more of them because we put the two highest scores fired on the previous year on the new book, so in your case you could have dropped both AA scores if you had kept active and not gotten more AA scores.

I'm not 100% sure but I agree with Shorty. You don't get to be reclassified because you haven't shot in awhile. I believe a master shooter coming back after a few years layoff still comes back to master class. You don't get the opportunity to shoot a 'B' score your first time back and get reclassified down... going back to shooting 12 lower scores, petitioning, etc.

lone ringer wrote:If you have not shot for 8 years and can't find your book then show up to a match and tell them you do not have a classification book and explain to them the circumstances. By the rules they will sell you a book and put you in the highest classification offered and by the end of the match you will be classified again.

The deal with dropping your scores that are higher than your current classification only happen if you shoot every year and do not get more of them because we put the two highest scores fired on the previous year on the new book, so in your case you could have dropped both AA scores if you had kept active and not gotten more AA scores.

Here are the relevant rules, assuming what is on Michigan R&P is current..

19.5 NRA Silhouette Classification Books - Silhouette Classification Books are to be sold on a calendar year basis, by NRA Affiliated Clubs sponsoring NRA Sanctioned Tournaments. NRA Classification Books are not to be used to record scores fired in non-NRA sanctioned tournaments. The two highest scores from the last year fired in each discipline will be entered at the top of the appropriate page. The competitor's classification will be carried forward from the last year fired to the current year. Scores fired in Sanctioned Tournaments are to be recorded in each competitor's book at the conclusion of the tournament by the Tournament Statistical Officer. Any required classification change will also be noted by the Statistical Officer at that time on the Classification record. A competitor will not be required to purchase more than one Classification Book per calendar year, unless the originally purchased book is lost by the competitor. Classification Books lost by a sponsoring Club must be replaced by the Club at no cost to the Competitor.

19.16.1 Retaining Classification - Classification, once achieved, shall not change until reclassification criteria has been followed as in Rule 19.17 or 19.17.1.

19.17 Reclassification - Competitors will be reclassified to a higher classification when they fire two scores in any higher classification to go from B class upward or three scores in any higher classification to go from A, AA, or AAA upward. If the two or three higher scores are in different classifications, reclassification shall be to the lower of the one or two; the higher scores will also be used toward any subsequent reclassification. Previously carried forward high scores will be used to reclassify upward. Reclassification to a lower classification will occur only by petition to the NRA Silhouette Department, and only if a competitor has fired 12 consecutive scores in a lower classification. Such downward reclassification may take place only once every two years. No competitor may be reclassified downward more than one class at a time. Also, if a shooter, once reclassified downward (example: AAA to AA), fires a score which falls into the previous higher class (AAA), that shooter will return to the previous higher class (AAA) at the conclusion of that tournament. No competitor will be changed in classification during the course of a tournament, except under the conditions listed in Rule 19.17.1.

The competitor's classification in a State, Regional or National Championship will be the highest held in the 6 months prior to the first day of the Championship.

19.17.1 Reclassification during a Registered Match. If a competitor shoots a score which is two or more classes above the currently held classification, that competitor shall be reclassified to one class below the class in which such high score falls, for that match and thereafter. Example: If a Class A competitor shoots a AAA score, that competitor will immediately be reclassified to AA for that match and thereafter.

****************************************************
The way I read this is that a year of poor shooting doesn't erase the scores over class from the previous year as "Previously carried forward high scores will be used to reclassify upward". Is the only allowed definition of previously carried forward scores the two highest scores from the last year of shooting? If so, and if I don't shoot a AA Standard score this year, next year I start in A with zero AA scores?

With the information that you provided here, if you have the books to prove it, in SB Standard rifle you are A and have tow legs in AA, if you fire a third AA score this year you will be AA until you upgrade or downgrade to another class.

Next year if you are still an A shooter you will carry over the two highest scores fired this year and whatever you shot before does not count.

Also read rule 19.7 in case you do not have or can't find classification evidence.

Please note that I am not suggesting that you start over as an unclassified shooter in SB Standard rifle only pointing out some things regarding our rules.

There is another way to think about this topic. I have heard this said at matches many times "I am AAA and I have got to get at least one Master class score this year to move up to Master this year. I shot two Master class scores last year and this year is the best opportunity I have ever had to make Master. So far I have not been able to shoot three Master class scores in a consecutive two year period." Is this statement true or false?

Bobby R. Huddleston

I don't like sandbagging but the truest thing i can think of about that statement is if master scores are that hard to come by you probably don't want to move up!

dave imas wrote:I don't like sandbagging but the truest thing i can think of about that statement is if master scores are that hard to come by you probably don't want to move up!

And the people said, "Amen"!

lone ringer wrote:With the information that you provided here, if you have the books to prove it, in SB Standard rifle you are A and have tow legs in AA, if you fire a third AA score this year you will be AA until you upgrade or downgrade to another class.

Next year if you are still an A shooter you will carry over the two highest scores fired this year and whatever you shot before does not count.

Also read rule 19.7 in case you do not have or can't find classification evidence.

Please note that I am not suggesting that you start over as an unclassified shooter in SB Standard rifle only pointing out some things regarding our rules.

I just want to follow the rules properly. Most of the match directors and many of the shooters are the same from when I was active.

I just found what I think was my last book last book. In 2000, I shot one SB Std match in the A class, and got a B score. That was the only match that year in any category. I can check with the two possible clubs I would have shot at in 2001, if I had, to see if they have any score that year. In 2002 I was sick and found out I have cancer, so I know for sure I wasn't shooting then. Anyway, it appears to me that the one match shot in 2000 removes the two scores toward AA I previously had.

Exactly. Scores are only carried forward from the last year you shot any scores. And only scores shot in that last year are subject to being carried forward to the next year you shoot. Scores are only carried forward once, and only scores shot in that current year will be subject to being carried forward to the next year you compete.

Quonset Hut wrote:Anyway, it appears to me that the one match shot in 2000 removes the two scores toward AA I previously had.

atomicbrh wrote:There is another way to think about this topic. I have heard this said at matches many times "I am AAA and I have got to get at least one Master class score this year to move up to Master this year. I shot two Master class scores last year and this year is the best opportunity I have ever had to make Master. So far I have not been able to shoot three Master class scores in a consecutive two year period." Is this statement true or false?

Bobby R. Huddleston

That is a true statement.

Yep, the two high scores in the last year you shot apply for the next year you shoot. And if they happen to be consecutive years, so be it.