Safety query for a competition format

[ovenpaa]

I am looking at setting up a competition within my club, it is directly based on the very popular Scandinavian hunting competitions, modified to suit UK ranges and comprises of ten shots taken at three distances, typically 300/200/100. The competition is open to any rifle/any sight as long as is permitted by Range Orders.

Target comprises of a 6" scoring area with a 3" 5 ring and down. Bipods, bags and crossed sticks are not permitted however two point hunting slings are allowed.

Course of fire:
300m Prone 10 shots no sighters scored when all competitors have taken all ten shots.
200m Kneeling 10 shots no sighters scored when all competitors have taken all ten shots.
100m Off hand 10 shots no sighters scored when all competitors have taken all ten shots.
Time allowed: 5 minutes for each round
End of competition.

Now here comes the awkward bit.

The Scandinavian hunting competitions have a fourth and final stage which is shot prone at 100m, CoF is 5 shots in 30 seconds. Guns are loaded, safety on and placed on the ground with competitors standing behind the rifles. At the signal the competitors drop down and shoot the 5 rounds.


This is going to have some serious safety implications and I am not sure it is suited to UK ranges, does anyone have a view on this?

[Dave 101]

Hi

What are the safety problems you forsee with the final stage ?
Provided there is suficient space between competitiors and no one crosses the forward line surely everyone remains safe .
I remeber a stage in High power comps you carried the rifle at the ready then dropped to the prone postion when the 100yd head box presented itself . I believe it was mag fitted breach empty .
Why not have a delaying tactic that mags and ammo are on the ground at the signal shooters drop to the prone load the mag then proceed to fire , this would give everyone sufficient time to get down before shooting commenced .

Dave

[ovenpaa]

It should be shot with the rifle on the ground with a round chambered and safety on. The 30 seconds allowed is from a standing position so they need to get down, sight and shoot 5 times in this period. The issue is going to be putting rounds into the stop butt or mantlet (RCO hat on)

It is good fun and doable (just)

[Robin128]

Check club insurance...Uberrima fides ... you don't want a personal claim against you, should anything go wrong.

I'm also assuming you have a danger area around the range...not all do.

:)

[Scotsgun]

I can think of quite a few places where that round would be a no-go. Why not just reduce the time by ten secs and allow them to load and put bolts in on instruction, apply safety then timer starts on RCOs call (when all are ready and lying prone).

[Alpha1]

Sounds like a no no to me. Scotsguns suggestion sounds sensible to me.

[Scotsgun]

We do something similar when meeting at an open range in Dumfries and Galloway. He do however allow bipods and sticks (single and doubles only; not those fangled tripods or worse). Laser rangefinders not allowed
Target is a roe sized deer (because one of the guys is a printer and ran us off thousands). 10pts for inner circle (2inch), 5pts outer circle 4inch. -5 pts for a gut shot and -3pts for anywhere else on body. Head and neck out of bounds (as some of the armchair stalkers were getting in a hissy fit about ethics) so that's an instant -10pts.

Course of Fire (if you can call it that and everyone has wandered over to the firing point)

1. Prone - Range unknown (can be anything between 100-800 and set out by the RCO). 5 shots.
2. Sitting with or without sticks, 200yds. 5 shots
3. Standing with or without sticks, 100yds. 5 shots
Shooters can generally take their time as we are discouraging hurried shots at real game - unless someone is taking the p*** and everyone else is standing waiting.

Occassionally we'll mix it up or change the distances, but within limits. We'd be wasting our time standing at 800yds! It can be quite humbling to those who think it's easy to shoot a deer beyond 200yds, especially when they end up with a negative total!

[Dave 101]

OK I see where your safety concerns are , its can people hit the target or not , I take it you have never been to a Lee Efield shoot where they do the mad minute , that involves firing as many rounds as possible in a minute . Ranges have been doing that up and down the country for decades . Should a round go over the butts it should still be safe in the fall out zone .

Dave

[ovenpaa]

OK I see where your safety concerns are , its can people hit the target or not , I take it you have never been to a Lee Efield shoot where they do the mad minute , that involves firing as many rounds as possible in a minute . Ranges have been doing that up and down the country for decades . Should a round go over the butts it should still be safe in the fall out zone .

Dave

Good point, and yes I have shot Service Rifle with 10 shots in 60 seconds with a compulsory reload and the mad minute with an SMLE.

Scotsgun - That sounds very similar to the way the the Danes do it in some respects. They shoot against a Roe sized target which is actually a coloured print so quite realistic, the actual scoring zone is marked in black lines so all but impossible to see which means shot placement has to be based on a good knowledge of anatomy, as it would be in the forests. Head and neck shots do not score but do not gain minus points either.

No time limit within reason is also a good idea even if the beast could wander off in the real world.

One telling thing in the final we watched in DK was a favourites for the competition aimed at the wrong end of the beast at 300m, a combination of high magnification scope and stress is my guess.

[HeatherW762]

Now here comes the awkward bit.

The Scandinavian hunting competitions have a fourth and final stage which is shot prone at 100m, CoF is 5 shots in 30 seconds. Guns are loaded, safety on and placed on the ground with competitors standing behind the rifles. At the signal the competitors drop down and shoot the 5 rounds.


This is going to have some serious safety implications and I am not sure it is suited to UK ranges, does anyone have a view on this?

Why don't you have the rounds loaded in the magazine but not one in the chamber then when they drop to shoot they just have to cycle the first round?

Heather