The weight limit (8.25 kg/18.18lbs) was decided on based on the weight of most Palma/TR rifles plus the weight of a bipod (Harris at that time) and a target scope. This class was restricted to .308/.223 since these calibers were what the founding father old Farky and his friends shot. At the time I was pestered night and day to open the caliber pool up. When that happened I would say "OK I'll just put a bipod on my 16.5lb 6BR and shoot with/against you". We were pestered to limit barrel length, scope power and everything else under the sun. Did we make a mistake? I don't think so. F/TR is growing by leaps and bounds worldwide. [LBart]
Larry, thanks for filling in the issues and details of how the rules for both F and F/TR evolved and the thought processes behind the decisions from one closely involved in making and influencing them. This has filled several gaps in my understanding of how we got to where we now are.
As a not very good 6BR rifle equipped 'Effer' at the time, I was puzzled when I first heard about F/TR and thought maybe it should use a larger cartridge pool, for example factory designs based on the .308W case like .260 Rem and 7mm-08 etc as well as the parent design. Over time, I've come to see the wisdom of the decision made by Larry and others to stick with the traditional TR / Fullbore / Palma cartridges - which in practice, a few .223 shooting eccentrics like myself aside, means one cartridge, the .308W. Not only has it provided a huge spur to the further development of what are the Northern hemisphere's two most popular target cartridges, in particular the bullets they use, likewise improved precision handloading tools and practices, this being an intrinsic element of F-Class, but has avoided a huge number of problems.
One can ask 'Why .223 / .308 and a bi-pod?" until the cows come home, but experience has shown it is a winning formula. Secondly, while heavily loaded .223/.308 handloads allied to a 1-MOA size bull have reduced barrel accuracy-life compared to the same cartridges in Target / Fullbore Rifle and a 2-MOA size bull, it is still good. .243, .260 etc loaded to similar pressures will always reduce barrel life VERY significantly compared to .308W. But also .... as clever people like B. Litz Esq introduce new bullets, we'd be back to switching calibres and cartridges every time a new model gave a perceived advantage, .243 this year, .260 the next, 7mm-08 the year after that. Yes, we've had lots of new 0.308" bullets over the last two or three years too, but they generally work in the same barrel. Thoughts on rifling twist rates and throating vary, but that's part and parcel of keeping up with technical developments, and as I said in an earlier post this is a technical discipline and appeals to, occasionally rewards, people who understand the basic issues and trade-offs involved in getting the best solutions and therefore make optimum choices.
But ..... and I feel guilty here having indirectly started this subject off by mentioning on another thread on this forum that a few GB national league F/TR shooters have two rifles with fast and slow twist barrels / long and short throating to allow a choice between 210s and 155s according to how the wind is blowing
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php/topic,3770309.0.html
I really believe that while this sort of technical gamesmanship might pay off occasionally in extreme conditions, it has downsides as well as upsides. Far more important, rifle handling, basic marksmanship skills and expertise, in particular expertise in wind-reading, allied to good handloading and load-development practices count for more over the course of the season provided one has obtained a shooting stick that attains the minimum standard of precision and is able to provide suitable MVs for the distances being shot over. No, that won't let Bubba and his PSS win 1,000yd matches as Monte Milanuk pointed out in an earlier post (although Bubba may very well win 200-800yd matches if he's a good enough shot and wind-reader and has fallen really lucky with his Big Green purchase).
F/TR might not be the cheapest form of shooting sports going, but no precision long-range discipline is. It does provide very good value for money at whatever level people shoot it, and a constant refrain is that the equipment people have bought is capable of producing better scores than they are, always a desirable situation that incentivises the person to shoot more often and hone his or her skills. Overall, I'd argue the 'package' works and is not showing signs of being jaded - a view that many respondents on this thread appear to share and which the growth in match entry numbers support. I get far more requests over here in the UK about F/TR equipment, bullets for .308 Win and loads than about all other shooting disciplines put together.