Some F Class History, Some Great Benefits, Some Caution and Much Appreciation

[chkunz]

F Class shooters started showing up at NRA Conventional Long Range matches in my area about 20 years ago and their participation steadily increased to the point that they outnumbered the conventional prone shooters. They mostly had good equipment and on a calm day shot some very good scores. Most did not have prior experience in the shooting sports but the experience shooters welcomed them and taught them the basics of scoring and target pulling. Then about ten years ago the NRA adopted F Class as a NRA sanctioned discipline and added F Class to the rule book. As time went on the F Class scores improved to the point that match winners consistently shot cleans and the winners were decided by X count. The NRA responded with a new target for F Class; the X ring dimension on the conventional target became the ten ring on the new F Class target, the ten ring became the 9 ring, etc. The new target was more appropriate for the sport but has started an arms race to improve the accuracy of the F Class rifles. This is a significant trend in the sport whether you shoot F Class or not. There was a period when competitors in all disciplines benefitted from the accuracy developments of the bench rest shooters. But some of the bench rest practices were not helpful and some were even dangerous when applied to other shooting disciplines but overall the technology transfer was a very positive thing. A similar thing is now happening in F Class and you see a lot of discussion on this forum about some of the new things that are being done to improve accuracy and just like bench rest some of the technology transfer will be beneficial to other disciplines. If you are new to the F Class sport I will offer a word of caution; some of what is reported as settled science is early in development and as time goes on folks will learn what is real and what is not. Some things that are reported as truth and accepted as fact will turn out not to be factual and will eventually fall by the wayside. Others will be proven out and continue to be beneficial long into the future. If you are new to F Class you will find it difficult to know which is which. I would caution that when you see something reported as fact but no one has adequate data to back up the claim it may not be so and if you press the point forum bullies attack. So, enjoy the sport and enjoy seeing how all this plays out over the next ten years or so. Be aware that you are benefiting from F Class whether you shoot F Class or not but in the meantime be vigilant to separate facts from beliefs.

 

[ShootDots]

I am relatively new to F-Class and knew of some of the history. This is interesting. As far as "settled science" goes, you are right on the money... Good job! Good info.. Thanks for your time and effort.. I appreciate it!