9lb SB hunter rifle

[Varn]

At last year's nationals there was a petition and talk of raising the weight limit for SB Hunter rifle from 8.5lb to 9lb. Does anyone know the outcome of this? I'm not advocating either way I'm just curious about the outcome.

[acorneau]

Dustin Flint had the petition and I'm assuming he turned it in to Aaron Farmer at NRA Competitions... and I'm guessing you know how responsive they've been these days.

[Grantmac]

Would make 700 platform builds a lot easier which I see as a good thing.

[Emietenkorte]

I submitted the petition to the NRA Competition Division back in August and had a recent conversation with them, we should have a ruling by the end of January.

[Emietenkorte]

Would make 700 platform builds a lot easier which I see as a good thing.

I believe implementing this change would be a meaningful step forward for our rules, especially if we aim to make the sport more inclusive and accessible. In other shooting disciplines, like PRS, competitors have the ability to build smallbore rifles that precisely replicate their centerfire counterparts. I’m fortunate to have the tools and skills to build my own competition rifles, but I recognize this is the exception, not the norm. This has allowed me to fine-tune the weight of my barrels and adapt the Vudoo single-shot Remington 700-pattern action to meet our current 8.5 lb. rule. With this rule change, these types of actions would become much more accessible to those looking to build a silhouette rifle, eliminating the need to compromise on barrel contours to make weight or to rely on costly custom machining, special barrel dimensions, or fluting from manufacturers. Additionally, it would allow shooters to train for centerfire silhouette using a smallbore rifle that balances and feels identical, ultimately leading to greater success for competitors.

[Varn]

Erich brings up a good point. The need for custom machining or custom parts. I would add that even with factory rifles( wood stocked Anschutz 1710) it is somewhat difficult to make weight if not using a lightweight Leupold scope and light rings and bases.

[Grantmac]

The other rule I'd like to see is allowing a separate cheek rest so long as it meets the height requirements. Would let people get competitive with factory stocks.
Especially with another 1/2# to let wood stocks be more possible.

[c4p6t7r188]

The other rule I'd like to see is allowing a separate cheek rest so long as it meets the height requirements. Would let people get competitive with factory stocks.
Especially with another 1/2# to let wood stocks be more possible.

I'm with you on this...the fact that a lot of shooters especially those with high scores in hunter class are already using a custom wooster/pharr stock, so what's the point of not allowing adjustable parts if people are just going around it to get a custom stock...something not everyone can do or have to wait.

Hopefully in the near future you guys can take a poll on how many people want the rules to be less vague or remove most of the pointless rules that don't even give any kind of advantage.

Hunter ...any stock mass produced 22lr rifle with a 2lb trigger. Possible allowance to change the stock trigger.
Open/Standard ...any 22lr rifle...custom stock, custom action, custom barrel,

"wow it's so simple to get in to silhouette, before I had to read a mini booklet that I had to turn and flip upside down to make sure I wasn't reading it in another language!"

Who really cares about weight? I know it can help, but if people want to bring their PRS 22lr clone that weighs 20lbs and they win Nationals...good for them, no way in hell do I ever want to hold a 20lb rifle.

[DavidABQ]

I am a big fan of raisinfg the weight limit to that of centerfire silhouette rifles. One point Erich didn't touch upon that I saw is rifle scopes. Rifle scopes are getting larger maintubes and are becoming heavier. A 9.0 lb weight gives competitors great options when it comes time to find an optic.

[thauglor]

You change this rule you will have to change standard as well. A 1 lb 2oz difference between the 2 isn't much so why even have standard then.

Everyone has been building 8.5 lb rifles for over a decade, maybe even over 20 years., we know what contours work. And anyone building a custom rifle is already into silhouette so don't give me that easier to introduce new people into it excuse.

Hell, your contour and cost argument can be used to say why even stop at 9lbs? Why is 9lbs okay for centerfire, lets make it 10lbs all across so an MTU standard prefit barrel can be used.

The rule of not allowing any barrel attachments prevents just adding a weight, which would also make the barrels longer than 26". You will make the people with 8.5 lb rifles have to spend ~$700+ to put on a new barrel to fit these new rules.

So much for saving money, just admit that is not your true goal

[SqHunter]

The other rule I'd like to see is allowing a separate cheek rest so long as it meets the height requirements. Would let people get competitive with factory stocks.
Especially with another 1/2# to let wood stocks be more possible.

I'm with you on this...the fact that a lot of shooters especially those with high scores in hunter class are already using a custom wooster/pharr stock, so what's the point of not allowing adjustable parts if people are just going around it to get a custom stock...something not everyone can do or have to wait.

Hopefully in the near future you guys can take a poll on how many people want the rules to be less vague or remove most of the pointless rules that don't even give any kind of advantage.

Hunter ...any stock mass produced 22lr rifle with a 2lb trigger. Possible allowance to change the stock trigger.
Open/Standard ...any 22lr rifle...custom stock, custom action, custom barrel,

"wow it's so simple to get in to silhouette, before I had to read a mini booklet that I had to turn and flip upside down to make sure I wasn't reading it in another language!"

Who really cares about weight? I know it can help, but if people want to bring their PRS 22lr clone that weighs 20lbs and they win Nationals...good for them, no way in hell do I ever want to hold a 20lb rifle.

Are you saying you would advocate banning custom rifles from Hunter class?

[thauglor]

Or you can just build your hunter centerfire to 8.5 lbs so no need to change the rules

[c4p6t7r188]

The other rule I'd like to see is allowing a separate cheek rest so long as it meets the height requirements. Would let people get competitive with factory stocks.
Especially with another 1/2# to let wood stocks be more possible.

I'm with you on this...the fact that a lot of shooters especially those with high scores in hunter class are already using a custom wooster/pharr stock, so what's the point of not allowing adjustable parts if people are just going around it to get a custom stock...something not everyone can do or have to wait.

Hopefully in the near future you guys can take a poll on how many people want the rules to be less vague or remove most of the pointless rules that don't even give any kind of advantage.

Hunter ...any stock mass produced 22lr rifle with a 2lb trigger. Possible allowance to change the stock trigger.
Open/Standard ...any 22lr rifle...custom stock, custom action, custom barrel,

"wow it's so simple to get in to silhouette, before I had to read a mini booklet that I had to turn and flip upside down to make sure I wasn't reading it in another language!"

Who really cares about weight? I know it can help, but if people want to bring their PRS 22lr clone that weighs 20lbs and they win Nationals...good for them, no way in hell do I ever want to hold a 20lb rifle.

Are you saying you would advocate banning custom rifles from Hunter class?

Yes.

[375Short]

It seems logical that if SB is the scaled down version of HP that the rifles be allowed to replicate each other.

It’s also a case that each class of rifle has become so close to each other that one offers little advantage over the other. So close, that the majority of competitors shoot one rifle in both classes. Other than the fear of change, are two classes even warranted. Maybe just modernize a single definition of a Silhouette rifle. The other class is called Open Sight Sporter.

[SqHunter]

I'm with you on this...the fact that a lot of shooters especially those with high scores in hunter class are already using a custom wooster/pharr stock, so what's the point of not allowing adjustable parts if people are just going around it to get a custom stock...something not everyone can do or have to wait.

Hopefully in the near future you guys can take a poll on how many people want the rules to be less vague or remove most of the pointless rules that don't even give any kind of advantage.

Hunter ...any stock mass produced 22lr rifle with a 2lb trigger. Possible allowance to change the stock trigger.
Open/Standard ...any 22lr rifle...custom stock, custom action, custom barrel,

"wow it's so simple to get in to silhouette, before I had to read a mini booklet that I had to turn and flip upside down to make sure I wasn't reading it in another language!"

Who really cares about weight? I know it can help, but if people want to bring their PRS 22lr clone that weighs 20lbs and they win Nationals...good for them, no way in hell do I ever want to hold a 20lb rifle.

Are you saying you would advocate banning custom rifles from Hunter class?

Yes.

In that case, I will say No to any change.