In the earliest days of Field Target shooting, nobody used "hamsters" .... but when the practice began around the mid 90's, the consisted of a LOOSE part, normally a wooden block or sandbag that sat between gun and body part (generally the knee).
I think the early term hamster should NOT be used to signify an adjustable support ATTACHED to the stock, be it readily removable or not. The Hunter class in the US started in earnest in the late nineties, with the principle of a basic rifle without adjustable stock features, but with the main allowance of a bipod and higher seat height if desired. Hamsters were not discussed, but knee and elbow pads were allowed. I often use a sort of "Hamster" (loose pad between elbow and knee with a thickness of 2") to help bend far enough to rest my elbow on my knee, since I'm not very flexible and elbow pads and knee pads are allowed.
I personally have always objected to use of target stocks and deepened forends in Hunter class because I feel they belong in either Open, WFTF, or the Freestyle class. I even build special USFT based guns for Hunter that have fixed power scopes, no cheekpiece, a thinnest practical forend, and no adjustable buttstock depth, length, or height in order to comply with my feeling of a "true" hunting sporter. I realize my ideas deviate from those of most AAFTA Hunter competitors, and I'm ok with this, and realize that such a gun is likely NOT as competitive due to the starkness.
I think the early term hamster should NOT be used to signify an adjustable support ATTACHED to the stock, be it readily removable or not. The Hunter class in the US started in earnest in the late nineties, with the principle of a basic rifle without adjustable stock features, but with the main allowance of a bipod and higher seat height if desired. Hamsters were not discussed, but knee and elbow pads were allowed. I often use a sort of "Hamster" (loose pad between elbow and knee with a thickness of 2") to help bend far enough to rest my elbow on my knee, since I'm not very flexible and elbow pads and knee pads are allowed.
I personally have always objected to use of target stocks and deepened forends in Hunter class because I feel they belong in either Open, WFTF, or the Freestyle class. I even build special USFT based guns for Hunter that have fixed power scopes, no cheekpiece, a thinnest practical forend, and no adjustable buttstock depth, length, or height in order to comply with my feeling of a "true" hunting sporter. I realize my ideas deviate from those of most AAFTA Hunter competitors, and I'm ok with this, and realize that such a gun is likely NOT as competitive due to the starkness.
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