Jim & Jeff;
              We  have to consider the possibility that Andy may be able to beat us with a Stevens Favorite. Andy's Ruger #1 has had some word done to it , He pulled the forarm once for me but I don't remember just what had been done.  How well do you guys like the #1, would you each like to trade your Miller's for a couple Ruger's.  leadball

My experience, though limited, is just the opposite.
I know of no one locally that has ANY interest in "Benchrest Schuetzen".
We have two local clubs shooting Offhand, iron sights, single shot matches at ASSRA Targets.

Funny how regional differences work, ain't it? 

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the original poster is a local shooter... I would assume he's building a rifle for our two clubs that hold no bench matches... 

Paul F.

Leadball,

I would not trade my Miller for a dozen Rugers if you threw in a couple of Winchesters to boot. However, if I was shooting a well tuned Ruger in a match, I would not feel out-gunned.

I would consider shooting my No1 Ruger in a Schuetzen match(there are two clubs here localy), but it't a 45-70 and I have already tried shooting my Shiloh Sharps 45-70 and its a little on the large side for good off hand results. So, my question now is, how does get into contact with Mr. Zika concerning one of his hammers? Mori

Quote:


Yep, funny......

We have no repeat no local interest in either benchrest or offhand Schuetzen in my area, I don't know a single soul in our 600-member club or for that matter within a 150-mile radius who would walk across the street to even witness a real Schuetzen match of any type.

22LR silhouette, OTOH, is alive and well and thriving. Both kinds.
Go figure, regards, Joe

tenx,
Please don't forget, I'm the new guy here, you guys know a lot more about this than I do. But if what you say is true, most members are "old guys" 60 years or more ( I'll be 70  next week )  a bench rest postal match may work very well, one thing for sure, no one will know unless the  ASSRA gives it a try. 

I can understand that if most of the members are old and  shaky the offhand postal matches may not do well, but what about bench rest, even my old and shaky body may have a chance shooting against other old and shaky guys, or even some that are not so old and shaky. At my age and physical condition I would shoot every bench match I could get to and every bench rest postal match ASSRA would hold. 

Of course it has to be promoted and done in an organized manner and the results has to be made known in the ASSRA Journal. If the results are not published I have no idea how one would find out how many shot the offhand postal matches this past year, or any other year if the shooting results are not published. 

As a new member maybe I've already asked way to many questions such as:

"I think it's odd that according to the ASSRA rule book the association has off hand postal matches for 25 % of the membership but for some reason does not have bench rest postal matches for the other 75 % of the membership, anyone know the reasoning behind this ???."

So far received no answer.

Also mentioned:

I'm involved in some other Associations that have postal matches ( not Schuetzen ) and we always seem to have 300 + members shooting in them every year from all parts of the country. 

Then asked the question:

Seems like it could be a win-win situation for the ASSRA and it's members if postal bench matches were allowed,   

"anyone know who to talk to about getting something like this in the rule book as official matches like the official offhand postal matches are,"   

this way maybe 75 % of the other shooters from around the country could participate in the shooting events. ???

So far no answer.

Last question, maybe:

Does anyone know if postal bench rest matches have ever been tried before ?.

  For all I know maybe they have been already tried it and no one wants to shoot, but it's very hard to believe that members of a shooting association don't want to shoot. 

Ok, now I've probably out lived my welcome as a new member
Shooter

Perhaps the avoidance of offhand shooting is reflective of a growing
tend in this country to escape and ease the pain of doing anything
that is physically and mentally demanding. Yes, we grow older, and yes,
many shooters have physical handicaps. But I
keep seeing shooters that have to use a cane to get up to the firing line
yet they still shoot offhand. There are some that have problems so severe as to preclude offhand. In shooting sports keep in mind that
your are competing not only in a match with others but with yourself.
You as a person are not judged on scores. And why not participate
in the total sport?

Long range .22 shil. is popular here; it's fun and low cost. As usual, the
match winner is often the one who shoots the most chickens at 50 yards
offhand. (This past Sunday a 35 y.o. lady nailed 11 of 15 chickens offhand shooting a light semi-auto Rugar with custom barrel)

Enjoy the sport.

Fred