303 Rifle Events

At the Phoenix Meeting there are events specifically for the .303 rifle.

The .303 Rifle class is at present ‘Any .303 Rifle’. Its probably hard to justify the fact that it is fair to have people shooting ‘As issued Rifles‘ competing alongside  shooters who have fitted telescopic sights and bipods.

In fact it  seems grossly unfair…….

So – one suggestion is to split the current .303 class into three.

  • Class 1 would be ‘As issued‘ using the issued sights and sling. In other words the old NRA Classification of Service Rifle A.
  • Class 2 would be any iron sights. So a shooter could fit a target rear sight and sling and would be in accordance with Service Rifle B.
  • Class 3 would be ‘Open Class‘.  This would enable the use of telescopic sights and bipods/sandbag to support the supporting hand.

OK – this is fine in theory but the obvious problem here is the event is now being sliced into three and this may be a bit thin. The HBSA declares two classes – issued sights and the rest.  Another option is to widen slightly this and separate into two classes of any iron sights (shot using a sling and no other support) and any rifle using any sights and any type of support – bipods/sandbags/axle stands etc.

There is also a request to consider a .303 aggregate. What do people think? Is the .303 being ringfenced a little too much here? Can’t the .303 just be lumped in with any other legacy military calibre rather than kept separate and isolated?  This would solve the potential salami slicing of the event too thinly if nothing else!

Any comments on these points or anything else?

Print Friendly, PDF & Email