BPTR midrange reminder

[Don McDowell]

Well sort of maybe. But if you look at the roster in BPCR most of them are seniors...


True it is silhouette ranges are easier to put together, take less ground and I would hate to think of the cost of putting in a decent set of pits, along with good level firing lines.

They are also different animals. Silhouette you shoot your 5-10 shots for record, then either go set the targets or watch the target setters set them. Then set back behind the lines and watch the next relay. Silhouette is usually shot under a cover, Target rifle you're out in the open. Nothing tests your stamina quite like shooting on the Whittington range with the temps running 130 degrees at barrel level Target rifle when your relay comes to an end it's off to the pits you go to pull targets for the next relay, sometimes two. It's a bunch more work shooting target rifle. Target rifles by their very nature are harder on the shooter, usually heavier, and shooting cartridges with about half again as much powder. Recoil wears on a fella pretty well by the time you get to the end of the day.
Silhouette isn't quite as touchy about a rain storm as target rifle. Rain in target rifle means the targets have to come down and go under cover to keep from getting wet and melting the target off the backer, or getting so damp the shot pasters won't stick.

And we need to keep in mind that about 3 maybe 4 years ago had it not been for the Australian contingent coming over to shoot silhouette, the numbers would of fallen below the NRA's 50 competitor limit. And even the last couple of years the total numbers of both scope and irons only comes to about half of the entries when silhouette was in it's hay day.

Still the best advice is if you want to shoot target rifle, better get to the closest match, they are dying like flies, and unless the NRA gets their stuff together, the last true national match was this past October. Without a national championship, target rifle is liable to die.