F-Class Boards
- Thread starter gaboon
- Start date
Keith Glasscock
Gold $$ Contributor
The rule, IIRC, reads flat top and bottom. I suspect that you would face a protest if you won anything.
gaboon said:
I don't know of any rules against that. The board under the front rest is allowed and 2" spikes also in the ground. Or you can replace your rest feet with mud feet that work even better. A flat board under a front rest may rock on a high spot. The holes you want to put in will keep it from moving around. You do know that you can bolt the 2 together using the threaded leg holes if you want to.
OP are you talking about making pilot holes that your rest feet sit down into?
I would suggest using such a board for transportation but not shooting. Almost no firing line will be sufficiently level to prevent a flat board rocking. My Farley rest uses 1.5" spikes which are made from McMaster-Carr components. They are: [br]
3/8-16, grade 8, all-thread rod p/n 90322A100, 1 ea.
304 stainless disks Ø3" X 1/2" p/n 9208K51, 3 ea.
Cast iron knob p/n 3948T21, 3 ea.
3/8-16 hex nuts, 6 ea. [br]
Cut the threaded rod into 8" sections. Turn the threads from 1.5" at one end and make a blunt point. Face the disks on each side, drill the center and tap 3/8-16. Drill 1/4" hole on the disk edge for tightening. Assemble them as you see in the picture. To use, pound the spikes into the ground with a soft-faced mallet by beating on the knob until the disks are solidly grounded. The knobs are cast iron, it won't hurt them. Use a scope level on your rifle and level to that instead of the rest. That should end your rest stability problem. If your rest legs are not 3/8-16, adjust parts accordingly.
3/8-16, grade 8, all-thread rod p/n 90322A100, 1 ea.
304 stainless disks Ø3" X 1/2" p/n 9208K51, 3 ea.
Cast iron knob p/n 3948T21, 3 ea.
3/8-16 hex nuts, 6 ea. [br]
Cut the threaded rod into 8" sections. Turn the threads from 1.5" at one end and make a blunt point. Face the disks on each side, drill the center and tap 3/8-16. Drill 1/4" hole on the disk edge for tightening. Assemble them as you see in the picture. To use, pound the spikes into the ground with a soft-faced mallet by beating on the knob until the disks are solidly grounded. The knobs are cast iron, it won't hurt them. Use a scope level on your rifle and level to that instead of the rest. That should end your rest stability problem. If your rest legs are not 3/8-16, adjust parts accordingly.
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Busdriver said:
Since when does holes make it un flat.
[br]Hombre0321 said:
If you ordered a granite surface plate for your shop, specified to a given flatness, and it arrived with a hole on the middle, would you still think it is flat? Here is the rule section addressing the board. You decide how it can be interpreted. [br]
3.4.1 Rifle Rests -
(a) F-Class Open Rifle (F-O) - The rifle may be supported by any means which provide no positive mechanical method for returning it to its precise point of aim for the prior shot. Subject to:
(1) No more than two rests may be used. If two rests are employed, they may not be attached to each other.
(2) The use of any form of a table is prohibited. Separate flat boards or plates not exceeding the dimensions of the individual rests by two inches are allowed to be placed under the front and/or rear rests. See Rule 3.4.1(a)(1).
No leveling screws or protrusions are allowed on these boards or plates. They must be flat on the top and bottom.
This discipline is a modification of high power prone shooting, not a form of bench rest and should not
be construed as such.
Disabled competitors may apply to the NRA Protest Committee for appropriate dispensation.
The intent of this rule is to prevent the use of a table type device.
gaboon said:
Illegal for sure in that case, because it fails the "flat on bottom/top rule". This would be similar to folks wanting to install parallel "side rails" to contain their bipod feet so that they might recoil straight to the rear. If you want your bipod feet to just hold in place, via "pilot holes"---try shooting your feet off the grass/dirt. And, since there is no rule against what you do to the soil (and I would not recommend it), just punch your "pilot holes" into the soil?? Again, I wouldn't recommend it. Let you bipod feed have "free will"; try carpet or your favorite bathroom rug?! Plus, work on position and tenderness of hold (shoulder/hand grip)...master this and you might find that at the shot, you will experience a slight recoil and the rifle will recoil right back into battery for the next shot, with minor adjustments needed...especially if you are on the carpet, or something plyably similar.
Dan Biggs
Danny, I could be wrong, but wasn't the OP referring to a front rest?
[br]lmmike said:
Yes [br]
UPDATE - I separated F-Class from 2013 HP rules. It is attached and should be current until 2014 updates are published.
Steve Blair said:
Looks like you are right there, Steve. (I'm sorry...it's just so far fetched for me that anyone would even consider "setting their front rest on a board", instead of directly on the ground, that I just did a take off as if we were discussing "F-TR boards"!!!) Go ahead and handle it, please.
Dan
Looks like you are right there, Steve. (I'm sorry...it's just so far fetched for me that anyone would even consider "setting their front rest on a board", instead of directly on the ground, that I just did a take off as if we were discussing "F-TR boards"!!!) Go ahead and handle it, please.
Dan
[/quote]
A range that I shoot at uses pea gravel at the firing points. To get to something solid you would need 12" long legs, 6 to 8 would be needed to get through the gravel and leave 4 to 6 for adjustment.
Dan
[/quote]
A range that I shoot at uses pea gravel at the firing points. To get to something solid you would need 12" long legs, 6 to 8 would be needed to get through the gravel and leave 4 to 6 for adjustment.
It is a confusing rule no doubt if you examine it. You can use height adjustable spikes on a front rest but if you need to add height by adding a board under it then you can't use the spikes anymore. If the 2 are attached then it's okay to use the feet again. There were several homemade rests at the nationals that were inexpensive rests attached to a base plate with adjustable feet. I don't understand the design of this rule.
[br]ARshuter said:
In that case, switch to feet like those Bob Pastor makes. I have a set and they work well in the deep dust I've encountered on some ranges. Even the spiked feet work pretty well when pounded down to seat the disks. [br]
http://www.viperbench-rest.com/F%20Class%20Feet2.htm
ARshuter said:
A range that I shoot at uses pea gravel at the firing points. To get to something solid you would need 12" long legs, 6 to 8 would be needed to get through the gravel and leave 4 to 6 for adjustment.
[/quote]
Sounds like the firing lines at Sacramento Valley Shooting Center, but I see Reade range on your signature block? Although I carried my first SEB with me for the FCN held at SVSC back in 2010, knowledge of those firing lines drove me to shoot F-Open with a bipod!! A 1/4 inch thick piece of plyable rubber glued/sewn full width/length under my el-cheapo Midway prone mat front flap had already passed the F-TR "challenge test" up at the FCN held in Lodi in 2008, that I was not using a "board". On the SVSC firing lines, it performed for me as if it were a "board"...a hardwood floor! Laid out on the chat/gravel, when the reinforced flap was tapped in place with a rubber mallet, this simple, flexible load spreader became as concrete. Barrel torque was tearing up the front rest people; with every shot, rests were wallowing all over the place, and loosing their level. Should I go back to shoot F-Open at SVSC again, I'll bring the same rig. But, also I'll also consider bringing my NEO-SEB w/Pastour brass feet, a large piece of carpet (the wider, the better) with 3 holes up front for the "feet" ground penetrators to push thru and into the chat. With the carpet tapped down about the front rest area.....................................................................you get the picture?
Dan
You probably don't have any more sand than we do at Camp Pendleton or Coalinga in California, or Ben Avery in Phoenix. My Farley rest sometimes gets pretty dusty and needs cleaning but has never stopped working or been compromised in any way. I agree with Danny. Putting a board under your rest, instead of anchoring to the ground, is less than optimal. [br]
Attached image is the view from Ben Avery's 1000 yard line. Lots of sand.
Attached image is the view from Ben Avery's 1000 yard line. Lots of sand.
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Besides, we just put them in the back of the truck and take them through the carwash afterwards, right Steve?
Gaboon. where do you shoot down in the South? Not the Alabama South?
Dan
Gaboon. where do you shoot down in the South? Not the Alabama South?
Dan
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