How many registered F-Class shooters in the USA?

[ThunderDownUnder]

I wonder if anyone could tell how many registered F-Class shooters there are in the US of A. We are collecting stats downunder on how many FC shooters we have nationally and it would be interesting to see how we compare per head of population.

Can anyone help or point me in the right direction to contact someone who might know?

Ian

 

[p scully]

check with the national rifle association. if anyone knows they do.

 

[Taildrag15X]

Here's the link to the NRA Directory:

http://www.nrahq.org/compete/directory.asp

If I were you (knowing first hand how hard it is to get through to the High Power office) I would call or email the Tournament Reporting Office and direct your questions to Don Ide, he works well with everyone! If you don't get what you need from them, go to the top and talk to Mike Krei the Competition Director he'll make sure you get what you need.

 

[280man]

The NRA should be able to tell you how many people have classification cards. Trying to figure out how that number translates into active competitors is another question. My guess is no one knows how many we have. I know in the short time I've have run the matches at my club we have seen around a 75 percent turnover. Our F-Class numbers are consistently up at our club but it seems like its a new group all the time. F-Class is very difficult, competitive, and expensive. I think guys get into it for a season or two and figure that out and move on to something else.

 

[ThunderDownUnder]

Thanks for your help guys! I have emailed the NRA highpower address and I hope i get a reply. I'm guessing in a country the size of the USA, F-Class membership would be in the 10s of thousands but I really just dont know how popular it is over there.

Ian

 

[Taildrag15X]

In the last 3 years we lost 11 regular monthly NRA F-Class Match competitors due to the economy (lost there jobs, moved, etc....and some had real high end equipment and traveled to the Nationals) only to have the spots filled with new faces in F-class, Service Rifle and Match Rifle. We have been seeing 28-34 shooters at each NRA Registered Match over the last year or so, not bad for this little corner of nowhere in the Northeast.

 

[ThunderDownUnder]

F-Class is really starting to grow in Australia and local and interstate competitions are hotly contested. My local club has 20 F-Class shooters and they make up about half the high power membership.

Ian

 

[scaxeman]

Ian,

As of Friday, the US has 4218 classified F-Class shooters registered (based on a phone call I made to the NRA competitions dept.). This number is split between long-range classifications and mid-range classifications. A few more than "1400" LOL...

Hope this helps,

Darrell Buell

 

[ThunderDownUnder]

Thank you Darrell, an answer direct from the USA F T/R Team Captain!
Is that a combined number for F-Open and F T/R?
Maybe one day we will meet out on the range, I would really look forward to that, thanks again!

Ian

 

[Jeffvn]

Yeah the numbers will not be anywhere near accurate. I have two of the classifications: one for long range (1,000 yard) and one for mid-range (600). My brother is the same.

At the monthly 600 yard match that I run, we have roughly 2 non-classified shooters for every classified shooter.

The long range matches tend to be more like 1 to 1 classified to nonclassified.

Jeffvn

 

[ThunderDownUnder]

Yeah the numbers will not be anywhere near accurate. I have two of the classifications: one for long range (1,000 yard) and one for mid-range (600). My brother is the same.

At the monthly 600 yard match that I run, we have roughly 2 non-classified shooters for every classified shooter.

The long range matches tend to be more like 1 to 1 classified to nonclassified.

Jeffvn

So the numbers are really only ballpark figures. I guess if I pick up on your point about non-registered FC shooters, then the numbers would be quite a bit higher.

Can non-registered FC shooters compete in open competitions or just in local club matches?

Ian

 

[Lbart]

Ian,
Darrell's numbers are for F-O and F/TR combined. We don't have separate classification cards for the two types of rifles. Classified means they shot in an NRA approved or registered tournaments. This gets their score recorded nationally. So until someone shoots in NRA matches they have no card. A good number of matches are not approved or registered.

There are five levels of Classification. Awards are given at matches are based on classification. When I last looked High Master (HM), the highest class consisted of only 2% of the shooters in Long ranges and 7% in Mid-range. As you can see it is a lot easier to shoot good scores at the shorter distance.

A non-classified shooter can enter an approved or registered match, but he is lumped in with the masters or if there are enough unclassified shooters (usually at least 5), in a class of their own for that match. A shooter can get a temporary classification book to track his scores until he fires 120 shots in approved or registered matches, after which the NRA will send him an appropriate card the next time they run their classification program.

Larry Bartholome

 

[1000yardstare]

Ian..........if you don`t mind a response from a larger land mass north of the U.S. border with 1/10 the population I have to say that there is no organized record keeping by the DCRA for F Class shooters.

Classification systems are highly organized for the traditional TR/sling/aperture sight/.308/Bisley type of shooter who would prefer that F Class didn`t even exist. F Classers are not even allowed to sit at the Palma dinner table in Canada House at Bisley.

This is very ironic because the "F" in F Class is derived from the first letter in Farquharson, a DCRA shooter who convinced the powers-that-be in the mid 1990s that he be allowed to shoot with a scope and bipod/pedestal at the Canadian Championships because his arms and eyes could no longer handle the Palma regimen.

I have seen the "F" refered to as Free Class on some web sites which is totally inaccurate.

So there is no way to determine the number of F Class shooters in the Great White North. We are starting to outnumber Palma shooters on the Provincial and National level. One can only speculate where this is headed.

 

[ThunderDownUnder]

A very big thank you to everyone who has helped me out with info on this thread. Downunder we have a successful F-Standard class based on TR and F-Class and we are currently divided in opinion on the way forward. I am an advocate for gradually changing over to F T/R and falling in line with an accepted world standard.

We had an official representative boast Australia may have more f-Class shooters than the rest of the world combined. I just needed some facts to support the argument for a gradual change to the Worlds Largest F-Class Discipline which is of course F T/R.

A special thanks to Darrell Buell who went one step further and addressed an Australian forum thread and set the facts straight and gave we Ozzie shooters something to think about. Well done mate, that was a gutsy move!

Ian

 

[BobLor]

I also have mid range and long range F classifications and I believe a fullbore F classification too.

I run monthly mid range matches and F class is growing fast, we are usually split evenly between F tr and F open as far as F class goes then the split between Sling and all F class is about even. We get about 30 total shooters at a mid range match.

The newest sling shooters I have registered have been Juniors which I am very glad to see. I see a few sling shooters moving over to F class but mostly I see new shooters showing up in F class.

Bob L. in Michigan.