Sporting Rife and Hunting Rifle - Shooting Federation of Canada

CanuckCooper said:
Sounds like it was very good then! Hey speaking of Martini’s, we’re they used much for Sporting Rifle? A friend of mine has one. He shot 20 yard with it for fun. We weren’t certain what the trigger weight was, but no way was it’s total weight over 4kg. It’s a nice shooter.

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There were two disciplines when I was shooting .22 at paper targets. Sporting Rifle was the competitive outlet for the "standard" household lightweight hunting rifle that many shooters already had. The entry rifle used to be a Cooey or Winchester or Remington, then the CILs and Anschutz models raised the bar for bette scores for better shots. They were better rifles and designed to shoot paper not squirrels with better stocks and much better sights. My Junior rifle was an Anschutz biathlon magazine fed rifle with a British back sight.

The other discipline which answers your question is Match Rifle. This was where slings and heavier jackets came into play. Heavy barrels and light triggers were the main difference. Here is were the Martini action BSAs and other more specialized rifles appeared. The Anschutz's appeared in the 70s and just knocked any hope of winning away from the old time rifles. Guys who still had them kept shooting them, but knew they'd never make an important team unless they happened to get really hot.

A third and much less popular discipline which I remember my father having was Gallery Rifle, and that is where scopes were permitted on Match Rifles. He had a 1940s technology straight tube scope with had a big coil spring around the tube, and after every shot the drill included pushing it forward against the stops. I don't remember where he went to matches with this one. But I think it was an American genre.
 
I really enjoy these anecdotes btw.
I went ahead and purchased an anschutz 1403 from EE so I'm kind of committed to learning peep sights in the near future. Not sure if it fits in the sporting rifle dimensions other than its under 4kg for sure.
 
Same here! Learning lots about the history and nuances of the sport! Congrats on you 1403 Mac! It will be a great shooter. I think it fits the tech requirements perfectly. Searching around it looks like the weight of the 1403 should be roughly 3.5kg, so you have room to spare and play around. Let’s see it when you get it. I bet it’s a beauty.
 
machohugeaxe said:
I really enjoy these anecdotes btw.
I went ahead and purchased an anschutz 1403 from EE so I'm kind of committed to learning peep sights in the near future. Not sure if it fits in the sporting rifle dimensions other than its under 4kg for sure.
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I Goofled "anschutz 1403" and got two different stocks. Apparently the same action, but one stock has a deep belly, the other is straight. The bellied stock would be newer and very likely conforms to ISSF Standard Rifle. Sporting Rifle has a lighter weight limit. Either one is probably good. Whichever one you choose, get the factory back and front sights. When I was a Junior, those were the new sights and were quite competitive. The biathlon rifle I used had British 1/4 minute my father had installed. But !!! once you have your zero, your almost never have to change the sights more than a click or two for position.
 
A brief history of Sporting Rifle added to the first post:

Sporting Rifle traces its roots back to 1935 when the program was first organized by the Dominion Ammunition Division of Canadian Industries Limited. The “Dominion Marksmen” awards Program was so successful that the “Sporting Rifle” became accepted as the standard rifle in clubs across Canada.

In 1949 the national governing body for civilian rifle shooting, the Canadian Association of Marksmen, recognized Sporting Rifle and introduced official rules, targets and competitions. Sporting Rifle competitions have since become a major part of the program of the National Sport Organization, the Shooting Federation of Canada.
 
Also, I’ve been in touch with e Rifle Chair of the SFC hoping to increase the visibility of the sport in SFC social media posts. Would any of you have any pictures of this sport or it’s participants? Particularly those that shared some really cool stories, would you or your club happen to have any older photos that might apply? Thank you.
 
Have made some progress last couple of weeks. My minimum per sheet is now 190/200. Today I scored 578x16. Would be higher if I didnt make some big trigger pull mistakes. Finding my first 8 shots per sheet are great, then progressively worsen. Going to try taking a break after first 10, then again after another 5, per sheet to see if that helps.

After next few weeks I'll probably take a quick break from prone by doing some non rifle activities then settle into learning aperture sights
 
machohugeaxe said:
Have made some progress last couple of weeks. My minimum per sheet is now 190/200. Today I scored 578x16. Would be higher if I didnt make some big trigger pull mistakes. Finding my first 8 shots per sheet are great, then progressively worsen. Going to try taking a break after first 10, then again after another 5, per sheet to see if that helps.

After next few weeks I'll probably take a quick break from prone by doing some non rifle activities then settle into learning aperture sights
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That’s awesome progress Mac! Well done! It’s good to take breaks. For your aperture sight practice, I’ll try to scan some training stuff I have and post it as soon as I get a chance. It has some cool dry practice stuff in it. Again awesome work! I’ll update your score on post #1.
 
CanuckCooper said:
That’s awesome progress Mac! Well done! It’s good to take breaks. For your aperture sight practice, I’ll try to scan some training stuff I have and post it as soon as I get a chance. It has some cool dry practice stuff in it. Again awesome work! I’ll update your score on post #1.
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I'll probably bring it to the range to get some help setting it up, but before that, just going to try here as well.
Anyone have any resources on how to set up the rear sight in terms of distance to eye or what the sight picture should be? Most of the sight picture illustrations I find online have a ring of space between the rear sight aperture and the front sight outer circle, then another ring of space between the front sight inner circle and the black part of the bull. Is that right?

i.e.
Diopter_sight_picture.jpg


I'm guessing you'll want to cheek weld in a position where the outer ring of space (between rear and front sight circles) stays consistent, and then center the bull with the inner ring of the front sight?
However, I'm guessing depending on how far the rear sight is from your eye, that outer ring of space could change in size? What's a good way of setting up?
 
machohugeaxe said:
I'll probably bring it to the range to get some help setting it up, but before that, just going to try here as well.
Anyone have any resources on how to set up the rear sight in terms of distance to eye or what the sight picture should be? Most of the sight picture illustrations I find online have a ring of space between the rear sight aperture and the front sight outer circle, then another ring of space between the front sight inner circle and the black part of the bull. Is that right?

i.e.
Diopter_sight_picture.jpg


I'm guessing you'll want to cheek weld in a position where the outer ring of space (between rear and front sight circles) stays consistent, and then center the bull with the inner ring of the front sight?
However, I'm guessing depending on how far the rear sight is from your eye, that outer ring of space could change in size? What's a good way of setting up?
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Hey Mac, just back from deer hunting and checking cgn… I still have to scan that stuff I mentioned in the post above.. but for your questions I’ll work through them from the bottom of your post up…

You’re absolutely right, the outer (white) ring of space is typically larger than what’s depicted in sight picture diagrams, adjusting the sights position on the dovetail and your length of pull can mitigate that size but I’ve still found it to be quite a bit larger no matter what. I set my rear sight mount as far pack arms possible on the rifles dovetail to maximize sight radius. I’ve relied on length of pull to refine that sight picture but, I find I can hold more steady with the lop slightly shorter then perhaps most my size would like….

Cheek weld, or rather cheek piece hight I’ve played with quite a bit. I like a very neutral, or slight positive cheek pressure to achieve my sight picture for this sport. I’ve found because we’re not using slings, and perhaps also if compared to bench rest, to much downward pressure on the cheek piece causes problems on the release of the shot and leads to fatigue a little more quickly for me. I feel with a sling this is less of a factor, and on a bench, you can put an exaggerated amount of downward pressure with the cheek to achieve your sight picture and it doesn’t quite matter as much as you’re not holding the rifle, or rather the bench rest is supporting the rifle…

The horizontal bars left and right of the final ring around the bullseye can be used to ensure your rifle is level…. This matters even at 50 meters. On the Anschutz these are adjustable, if your best hold is to keep the rifle slightly canted you can adjust these bars for that so you can achieve that consistency. On my savage they aren’t adjustable, as the they are one piece with the front iris insert.

Your assessment in your first paragraph of the diagram you posted os spot on yes. Let us know how it goes with your new rifle!!!!
 
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LSBA's kicked off for me tonight. I shot a 593x30 in Sporting Rifle Prone, and a 560x18 in Sporting Rifle 3P. I'll post the LSBA scores as a whole once they're compiled from all of the participating clubs and published.

I got some cool pictures of the sport from the fella that organizes our matches.

2016 Nationals at the Pan Am Shooting Center, Cookstown, On:
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Below you can see the MegaLink Electronic Targets on the right
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50m Hunting Rifle
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2011 Ontario Provincials 3P
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Did my first match on the aperture sights and beat my personal best from hunting rifle, it does feel easier to use with black circle targets.
I'm now facing a bit of a dilemma though. I've been enjoying prone shooting a lot due to how relaxing it is. Tried to learn some kneeling and found it to be very uncomfortable. I'm pretty heavy and my thighs are relatively large. It feels pretty painful for my knee/thigh to be putting weight on the heel. Not sure if its something I can eventually get used to. my leg still hurts after just attempting a few shots hours ago.

I can either keep enjoying prone only shooting, or try to get to that same point with the other positions through some unenjoyable practice. Maybe I'll have to lose some weight or become more flexible.
 
machohugeaxe said:
Did my first match on the aperture sights and beat my personal best from hunting rifle, it does feel easier to use with black circle targets.
I'm now facing a bit of a dilemma though. I've been enjoying prone shooting a lot due to how relaxing it is. Tried to learn some kneeling and found it to be very uncomfortable. I'm pretty heavy and my thighs are relatively large. It feels pretty painful for my knee/thigh to be putting weight on the heel. Not sure if its something I can eventually get used to. my leg still hurts after just attempting a few shots hours ago.

I can either keep enjoying prone only shooting, or try to get to that same point with the other positions through some unenjoyable practice. Maybe I'll have to lose some weight or become more flexible.
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Well done Mac! Post the score and I’ll add it to the first post.

Kneeling can be hard on the joints… You can use a kneeling roll though that might help quite a bit. Basically take a bag, or even a rolled up blanket and place it under the lower part of your shin as close to the ankle as you can of the leg that’s down (right leg for right handed shooters). You can also put a pad under the knee that’s down. That combined with a stiffer boot with ankle support should help. In the last picture of post #94 you can see the fella in red and white using a roll. I think there’s a video on YouTube that shows the kneeling roll, I’ll see if I can find it. Also don’t be afraid to take breaks during your series. I’ve put the rifle down once or twice during kneeling when I had to. I’ve even stood up once. I’ve started stretching before 3p now… that’s made a difference. Keep at it brother.
 

Here’s an SFC video on kneeling that might help. The SFC has a few good videos on their channel, but they’re unlisted. Links to them are located on their website after login under coaching.
 
Shot a 588 today for LSBA December sporting rifle prone, personal best for me. Made some new mistakes due to difference in fit between the rifles, but was able to correct after first target.
Shooting hunting rifle next week.
Score is slowly creeping up over time! Hope to hit a 590 before new years.
Also hoping shooting with a scope again wont mess me up too badly, havent done that in a few weeks

Will try some kneeling this month as well
 
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