Benchrest Air Pistol - Some Thoughts and a Trial
Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:34 pm
I spent today having a go on the target, and looking at how to actually rest the pistol.
I chose my Weihrauch HW40 for the trial, and used RWS R10 pellets.
I used the target previously posted.
Proposed Target
I thought the roundals might be too big at first, but at 6 yards the front sight blade of the HW40 is actually wider than the black portion of the target.
As such, I think it is correctly sized.
Scoring
My initial thoughts on scoring is to use the honour system, with upwards scoring.
I have prepared some examples to make sure everybody understands my ramblings.
A Miss
Needs no explaining, a miss is a miss.
Scoring the Bonus
The small centre circle is completely gone.
I was thinking this would be worth 10.5 as opposed to 10 as below.
Scoring a 10
Upward Scoring
This scores an 8
This scores a 6
This is quite standard really.
The "Hold"
I shot two targets, using the HW40 and my Fat Bag benchrest bag.
The first method was to hold the pistol one handed, then to rest the butt of the pistol and my forearm along the length of the bag.
I was sitting, but there is no reason why the shooter can't stand.
I found this very comfortable, with no strain on my person.
I did have quite few "wild" shots thought, scoring 72 out of a possible 105 (using the above mentioned 10.5 bonus method).
I then tried a second target, where I turned my bag sideways, again seated and one handed.
This time, however, I rested the pistol on the bag. The poitn of contact was between the end of the muzzle and the front of the trigger guard.
This time I scored 83 ouf a possible 105, and found this method much better.
As such, my suggestion is that the pistol may be supported at a single point between the muzzle and the front of the trigger guard.
The shooter may, if they choose, also rest their elbow on the shooting platform.
Alternative Scoring
As I never actually completely obliterated the centre circle, we could say that any contact of the small centre circle would score the bonus 10.5
That means both:-
or
would score the 10.5
My highest scoring target is here:-
I photographed it on a red background to try and show up the pellet holes, but they haven't shown up too clearly on each roundal, so I have highlighted the hits:-
However, I do own an Intershoot Eagle Eye scoring gauge, which makes scoring a breeze.
These are a bit pricey, but well recommended.
Gun Categories
Given the distance, and the point of support, I am not sure whether there will be any advantages/disadvantages in choice of pistol, so I would say not to have seaparate categories at this stage.
The competition can always be tweaked in the future if one particular type of gun far out shoots another.
Whilst all this might sound a bit complicated, I think it can be summed up quite simply:-
1 - Shooter may stand or be seated.
2 - The pistol must be shot one handed.
3 - There can only be one point of contact between the pistol and the chosen support. This can be anywhere between the muzzle and the front of the trigger guard.
4 - The shooter may, if they choose, rest their shooting arm elbow on the support platfrom.
5 - There are a total of 10 shots, one at each roundal.
6 - Any roundal with more than one hit automatically scores zero.
And that, I think, is all the rules that are needed.
Kind regards,
Phil
I chose my Weihrauch HW40 for the trial, and used RWS R10 pellets.
I used the target previously posted.
Proposed Target
I thought the roundals might be too big at first, but at 6 yards the front sight blade of the HW40 is actually wider than the black portion of the target.
As such, I think it is correctly sized.
Scoring
My initial thoughts on scoring is to use the honour system, with upwards scoring.
I have prepared some examples to make sure everybody understands my ramblings.
A Miss
Needs no explaining, a miss is a miss.
Scoring the Bonus
The small centre circle is completely gone.
I was thinking this would be worth 10.5 as opposed to 10 as below.
Scoring a 10
Upward Scoring
This scores an 8
This scores a 6
This is quite standard really.
The "Hold"
I shot two targets, using the HW40 and my Fat Bag benchrest bag.
The first method was to hold the pistol one handed, then to rest the butt of the pistol and my forearm along the length of the bag.
I was sitting, but there is no reason why the shooter can't stand.
I found this very comfortable, with no strain on my person.
I did have quite few "wild" shots thought, scoring 72 out of a possible 105 (using the above mentioned 10.5 bonus method).
I then tried a second target, where I turned my bag sideways, again seated and one handed.
This time, however, I rested the pistol on the bag. The poitn of contact was between the end of the muzzle and the front of the trigger guard.
This time I scored 83 ouf a possible 105, and found this method much better.
As such, my suggestion is that the pistol may be supported at a single point between the muzzle and the front of the trigger guard.
The shooter may, if they choose, also rest their elbow on the shooting platform.
Alternative Scoring
As I never actually completely obliterated the centre circle, we could say that any contact of the small centre circle would score the bonus 10.5
That means both:-
or
would score the 10.5
My highest scoring target is here:-
I photographed it on a red background to try and show up the pellet holes, but they haven't shown up too clearly on each roundal, so I have highlighted the hits:-
However, I do own an Intershoot Eagle Eye scoring gauge, which makes scoring a breeze.
These are a bit pricey, but well recommended.
Gun Categories
Given the distance, and the point of support, I am not sure whether there will be any advantages/disadvantages in choice of pistol, so I would say not to have seaparate categories at this stage.
The competition can always be tweaked in the future if one particular type of gun far out shoots another.
Whilst all this might sound a bit complicated, I think it can be summed up quite simply:-
1 - Shooter may stand or be seated.
2 - The pistol must be shot one handed.
3 - There can only be one point of contact between the pistol and the chosen support. This can be anywhere between the muzzle and the front of the trigger guard.
4 - The shooter may, if they choose, rest their shooting arm elbow on the support platfrom.
5 - There are a total of 10 shots, one at each roundal.
6 - Any roundal with more than one hit automatically scores zero.
And that, I think, is all the rules that are needed.
Kind regards,
Phil