hunter class rifle for a lefty

[greghud]

just how much modification can you do to a rifle and still be eligible to compete in hunter class?
shorten barrel?
cut flutes into barrel?
bed action into stock?
add weight(into stock)?
reduce weight (bore out wood etc from stock)?
add recoil pad?
the ssaa web site states

Quote
Centerfire Hunting Rifle: only allows for
commercially available sporting and hunting-
style rifles without modification.
as that states im screwed im a lefty and i want to compete but have a very limited range of options available. i want to use the .308 as the cal i have the only available remington model but it is a sps varment, as supplied it gos over weight(just). but a couple inches off the barrel would solve this issue.
the other options as i see are,
a remington in sps or cdl but not in the cal i want. 270. or 7.08 if i go for a sps
savage, no recoil pad and a bit on the light side, unless i can add weight
ruger, long action cals only. and its a ruger
tikka, a bit light aswell but shouldnt need a bedding job

for the right hand shooter there is lots more options so you can buy exactly what you want in a factory rifle. but it seems every option i look at i would want to atleast do some modification.
any tips?
greg

[daisy]

hi Greg,

The rule books between Australia and the US can vary a little. I believe in the US they review theirs every year and in Oz it's every 5 years.

Daisy

[Innocent]

Daisy, we may review every year but forget trying to get something changed!

Innocent

[Gator]

Daisy, we may review every year but forget trying to get something changed!

Innocent

Unless you happen to be one of the "Chosen".

The committee will not listen to the average shooter that in fact is the "norm". They consider the top 20 or so of the 100 +/- at Nationals to be representative of the Silhouette Community as a whole.

The “committee” is pretty much run as a dictatorship and conversations are limited pretty much to what they want to discuss. They usually don‘t appear to have time for discussions from the “floor”.

It is a fact that somewhere in the neighborhood of 5000 classification books are sold each year and the majority of the competitors are NOT Master or even AAA shooters. It has been my experience at Competitor's Meetings that the Committee has no clue how much we Average, Weekend shooters put into recruiting new shooters and the hurdle they present with the "custom" rifles in the Hunter class. Nothing was wrong with the old Hunter Rules (Factory stock, trigger, barrel contour, etc) but it don’t sell stocks and gunsmithing. Remember the old sayin” “Ya dance with the one what brung ya”.

What is (was) a Hunter Rifle originally intended to be? It was simply Plain-Jane, K-Mart rifles that most of the "average" new shooters already have and can shoot with us without the intimidation of a rack of "custom" and relatively expensive guns. We have all heard the comment "Well, I don’t have a fancy gun like this so I probably can't compete". It is not hard to document that the results are determined more by the shooter than the rifle but unfortunately it appears, in this game, that appearances ARE everything. We now have two classes of guns and basically the Hunter Rifle is a Standard Rifle with less weight and a 2 # trigger.

2 cents from "the Gator"

[BlauBear]

I've learned about enough to know that a decent factory rifle worked over by a skilled gunsmith is all the rifle I really need, plus more practice. Please don't ask how much I've spent arriving at that conclusion. If the rules were changed back I would continue shooting the same rifle for both classes, although it might be a tuned Anschutz 1712 (or Remington 504 ) in small bore and a tuned Remington 700 in 260 for high power.

Greg, as for your original question, your weight budget in high power hunter class is 9 pounds, and yes, you can hollow out the stock, change the recoil pad, use lighter rings (Talley is great), flute the barrel and even shorten the barrel to make weight. There must be some taper in the barrel, and since that rule is vague and subject to match director interpretation I recommend making sure the taper is visible, not just measurable.

[Bob259]

The problem started when the 'factory off the shelf' rifles started being doctored with new triggers, rebarreled etc. etc. etc. No match director, unless he was a gun smith had any idea if a rifle was indeed truly stock and in most cases were 'custom rifles' in a standard stock to look off the shelf, this has gotten us to where we are at today.

I have no problem with anyone shooting a stock or ‘custom’ rifle as it's all in the shooter, in fact my rifle posted a sign on it "New shooter wanted". Unfortunately if they now decide to change the rules back they will lose more shooters, remember the chin guns... some never did come back after they allowed the chin guns, then after people had went out and built one only to have them banned. What next??? custom optics.. after all putting a $500+ scope on a $200 rifle doesn’t make sense now does it, so let’s limit them to a 6 power under $150 scope too truly make it ‘affordable’ for everyone and maybe they should also consider 'FACTORY AMMO' only for hunter class as well, seeing most new folks don't re-load and the majority of 'Hunters' use factory ammo for hunting too. But guess what, the same people will be winning… You see where it starts to go when you try and regulate everything... lets live by what we got and not try to complicate it even more as the recent rule changes made it easier for the match directors and it's still all about the shooter shooting off hand.

Today’s lack of new shooters is not due to 'custom equipment' and that’s a poor excuse, it is because kids have a multitude of other sports to compete in and the fact that our sport, even with a factory stock rifle, has gotten to be expensive with the price of good optics ($500+) and ammo has made it difficult to get new shooters. Look at what case of 'good' .22's is now; it’s in the $400-$500 price range and the best around $1,500, who can afford that with the job situation. Also, let's not forget the hotel costs for several days and gas to get there. With less and less families and parents being shooters, all of which has nothing to do with a 'custom rifle', as the reason you have less and less young shooters coming on board. I'd bet if you said tomorrow no more custom rifles, ‘sealed’ stock off the shelf rifles only accepted that we would be out of business in less than 5 years, it has nothing to do with the rifle used it's just the trend and that we have less people involved and interest change. Our youth programs have club donor rifles so the only expense is the ammo and in some cases that is donated too, but we struggle to get new young shooters because of the parents thinking on guns, it’s not like when we grew up and everyone hunted and had a gun. Do you want the sport to grow... take out a neighborhood kid (with the parents’ permission of course) and introduce them to the sport and how to safely handle a firearm... that's how we'll grow again. I know my parents were not hunters or gun lovers if it wasn't for a neighbor getting me involved I would have missed out on a life time’s worth of enjoyment.

As long as you got me on the soapbox… I have a bigger problem with Lever Action where they now allow fiber optics for your dot and semi autos with tube feeds, but do not allow 'period' single shot rifles like the Winchester 1885. More and more SB and HP shooters are leaving the regular silhouette matches and shooting lever action because it's a lot of fun, but it to is changing rapidly.

[greghud]

thanks for the replys
i got a copy of the ozzie rules and this is what it says

2.4.5 Barrel: Any replacement barrel shall conform to the dimensions and configurations
of the factory original but may vary in material. Only chamberings available
in the factory model will be permitted. Re-crowning of barrels is permitted,
as is the removal of a section of barrel to correct damage to the muzze,
provided that the removal of that section of barrel does not alter the weight
of the rifle to the extent of allowing it to fit into a weight class that it would
not otherwise fit, had the barrel length not been altered.

unfortunatly that was exactly what i wanted to do
whilst on the subject of new shooters i will add my 2c worth
when i first partisapated in a sillouette comp i went down to see what it was all about. it was a local comp and i was armed with my .308 the guys down there welcomed me warmly and encouraged me to partisapate.
after seeing the chickens at 200mtrs i was dumb struck. how the hell are you supposed to hit a target that small at that distance, but shooting free hand! you have to be jokeing!!!
i shot 20 rounds at the chickens, none were within a mile of hitting it. and i had had enough.
there is a MASSIVE diference between a nubie shooter and someone who is compettitive in sillouette.
i am still a complete nubie to sillouette but i have been practiceing and atleast i think i will hit a few targets this time.
there would have to be some difficulty in getting new compettitors to the sport due to the difficulty when you are a new shooter. ammo is expencive and when 99% of it is missing the target it leaves you a little "dissatisfied"
maby a newby comp where the ranges are shorter will help to attract shooters to the sport and as they become better they will want to try the longer range comp?
as i say, im a nube so you probabaly think im an idiot but thats my 2c
thanks
greg

[BlauBear]

I started in small bore silhouette where the ammunition is (or was ) cheaper, and our club runs parallel matches where one group shoots 1/3 scale targets while the other shoots regulation 1/5 scale targets. So you're absolutely right on those points - it gets new shooters hooked... ;)