Precision Shooters -  Benchrest

How accurate can a rifle be?   That's a question many people who participate in Benchrest shooting ask themselves.  I remember back 25 years ago when I bought my first bolt action rifle, which happened to be a 300 Weatherby Mark V, saying to myself, ?this gun is really accurate?.    Now I realize that I wasn't even close to what the benchrest shooter consider accurate.  Benchrest Shooting is a sport that demands the most from its shooters and equipment.  A Benchrest rifle and load is at the cutting edge of technology. There is no more accurate combination in the world.  In Benchrest, winners and losers may only be separated by ten thousands of an inch.

Many people who have never shot Benchrest can't understand a shooting sport that lets you rest the gun!  The key with this type of shooting is consistency, repeatability, and the ability to recognize how the wind, or conditions, will change the point of impact.  In Benchrest shooting the rifle does indeed sit in a front and on a rear rest. The front rest typically has adjustments that move the gun a little up and down, and sideways. The rear rest is just a leather bag filled with sand to help stabilize the rifle.

There are two type of Benchrest Matches held at WWCCA, Score Shooting and Group Shooting.

Score Shooting:

The course of fire for a ?Score Match? is you have seven minutes to shoot one bullet into each of five bull?s-eyes.  Each bull's-eye is worth 10 points, and the total score per target is 50 points.  There are five targets per match, so the total score per match is 250 points.  For 100-yard matches, the bull's-eye is ? inch in diameter, and every ? inch is another ring i.e., 9 ring, 8 ring, etc.  All you need to do is touch the ring to get the score.  Tiebreakers are determined by the number of shots that hit a 1/16 inch dot in the center of the 10 ring.  Each dot that the bullet touches is awarded an ?X? in addition to the 10 points.  Therefore the maximum score an individual can have is 250-25x.  A typical score target is shown below, and you can shoot as many times as you like into the lower right ?sighter? bull?s-eye for practice, during the seven minute time period. 

Are you wondering if you can compete with all these guys with custom actions and barrels?  Well don't worry!   WWCCA Precision Shooters score matches are sanctioned by the International Benchrest Shooters, which allows two classes to compete independently; 1) Varmint-Hunter Class (i.e., factory class; any bolt action centerfire cartridge, any scope, stocks not over 2-1/4 inches wide, and weigh less than 10 lbs.), and 2) Varmit-For-Score (i.e., typical target rifle; any bolt action centerfire cartridge, any scope, stocks not over 3 inches wide, and weigh less than 13.5 lbs).  The first time I shot this type of match, I showed up with my 22-250 Remington 700.  I believe my score was 241 ? 6x, had a great time.  All you need is about 50 rounds of ammo.

 A 100 yard IBS Score Target (sighter is on bottom right)

On any day, anyone can win. Even the seasoned pros have a bad day now and then. Come to a match. You'll find lots of friendly people who will be happy to answer your questions and help you get started.

WWCCA?s 2006 group matches are scheduled on the following days (at the 200 yard range).