USARB Introduction

[mtm100]

Hello Everyone,

I'd like to introduce myself (Mark Marini) as the new director for the USARB.
I've been around these parts for quite some time now. Although not as active
here as I was on the old yellow. None the less I'm a very active benchrest shooter.
I shoot and work on airguns most every day. I volunteered for this position after
seeing things slow down during covid. Its coming back some but I'd love to see some
new faces. I hope this thread provides some positive feedback for me to work with.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, FIRE AWAY! I want to hear it.

Some things I'm considering:

1. Eliminating the Unlimited Class starting next season.

2. POSSIBLY adding a Sporter LV and HV class. Rules TBD but the idea would be more of a entry
level class where the Thomas's and the like (sorry Mike) don't seem like a impossibility to compete with.
Possible bipod and sand bags only. Let me know what you think.

3. I'm very interested in getting new shooters including responsible youngsters shooting.
To that end. I've given myself the task of collecting old used equipment. Guns, Scopes, Rests, Ammo etc
donated. Repair and tune the guns then loan the equipment to new worthy shooters to use until they can purchase
their own or return to me for the next person in line. This is being done in Paul Bendix name as most of the equipment
has come from him and his desire for others to benefit from it. I'm sure most of you know Paul. A finer person I've never met.

4. I'm very interested in getting a national event going. Who's interested? Where?

5. My last thought at the moment is to start a non profit to support our shooters competing at the Worlds.
It's embarrassing most every dime has to come out of the competitors pocket.

USARB won't diminish to nothing If we all shoot a little more. Share a little more. And find some new blood for us all to help
see what a great sport and people we can be.

Thank You for listening,
Mark

 

[nomojo65]

Hi Mark, Thanks for stepping up and keeping this organization ongoing. I love shooting 25m and we have a pretty sizable group of shooters here in Mi.

Most of what you propose sounds good to me, I personally like the idea of adding a weight restriction to the classes. you mention heavy varmint and light varmint is this weight and power or just power? I also like the weight restrictions for all classes to be no more than 10lbs.

A two piece rest and rear bag set-up also a idea I like, Maybe a 25m and 35m using the same cards and scoring the same as the 25m rules?

Maybe having the U.S. Nationals in a more central location so more eastern U.S. shooters have easier accessibility to such a large event. Just some thoughts I'm throwing out there.

Thank you,
Joe

 

[beerthief]

Hello Mark , thankyou for carrying the torch.
I like the ideas you have presented , I also like the "across the pond " <12 fpe limit on every gun competing , @ 25 or 50 yards i see no reason to need more. power
Stan in KY.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I am starting a new match here in Central Pa and have interest in your organization in the spring division and after reviewing those rules I have one suggestion. The Rifle must be able to be lifted straight up out of the rest with the rest remaing flat on the table ie NO captured rifles to the rest. Only other comment I have... We kicked the 'over the pond group' out over 200 years ago. They can stick their fpe restrictions. That would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[RScott]

Your post and ideas are great. Your enthusiasm really comes through. Good luck in the role.

I love love love 25m benchrest shooting. It challenges me to keep exploring ways to improve my accuracy. I want "X" to become my favorite letter in the alphabet.

Some inputs on improving things for existing participants:
- My main wish is that Daystate-type electronic triggers and actions (e.g., Red Wolf, Pulsar, Delta Wolf, etc.) be allowed to compete in HV. My club assigns my Pulsar to the Unlimited class.
- Permitting tethering would be nice or at least make it OK at the MD's discretion. Safety concerns can be addressed with inspection of shooters' setups. (I think it is safer than refilling guns during matches.)

Some inputs on attracting more, particularly younger, shooters:
- I have not yet migrated to 50-75-100 yd/m benchrest shooting. Someday I'll try it but I think it would definitely help attract new shooters, particularly if higher power levels are permitted.
- But to attract younger shooters, more proactive recruiting is needed. For example, encourage match directors or their designees to contact local NRA and youth groups to offer free lessons and introductory matches to teen through 30 year-olds. At our club and I suspect at many others, members have enough "spare" equipment to equip those events.

 

[Loufish]

Mark, this one is really good. I know other organizations will chime in too. Is $0.25/card (or more) too much?
USA participation is very low. For years it's been the Miller's consistently representing USA at the Worlds. But more is good.

"...start a non profit to support our shooters competing at the Worlds.
It's embarrassing most every dime has to come out of the competitors pocket."

 

[pbike257]

Good to meet you Mark and Thank you for the introduction. We ( Myself, Wife and Son) all shoot .177 Thomas Rifles at 25M. We have no desire to shoot 50M or Yards, or 100 anything... maybe 100 feet. In the winter we use those same rifles indoors at 50 foot in non registered matches just to stay active. I see mention of LV and HV, and limiting the Thomas rifle... I've shot and lost against more than one RAW in the last few years and although the Thomas looks like its going light speed while its standing still, actually the RAW is a very tough competitor as is the Daystate. Let's try to keep equipment rules as simple as they are in order to try to keep existing rifles allowed. As far as LV and HV (12 fpe and 20 fpe respectively), I believe we should follow existing weight and dimension requirements to not cause existing rifles to be left out. 10 pounds was mentioned... take a look at centerfire rules, where a LV has a max of 10.5 pounds, and an HV 13.5 pounds... not saying that those weights are what's needed, but please consider that just by bumping a rifles power, or by lowering a rifles power does not really make a rifle fit in a class. for instance, lowering the power on a rifle that's built for Open class to sub 12 makes a large heavy, stable rifle fit into the same class as light weight sub 12s. I believe a 3" wide max front is pretty standard, I wouldn't change that, as many front rests are built around that dimension.

Having run matches (I believe very good matches), I see the need for the match commands that come from the Wrfarbr rules to be amended to fit the use of a benchrest air rifle. such as, removing bolt like on a rimfire is not common on air rifle.. inserting a breach flag.. etc. When I ran matches I made a recording and connected it to the public address system at our matches. I ran a timer in conjunction with the timed Audiofile. If it was needed to stop a match for a safety concern, the timer and audio file were stopped and when the restart happened this was all capable so that the timing was correct on the timer. This allowed for consistant match commands for all shooters on all relays. I think that file is something we can make available to all match directors. Also the safety brief that's read before and air rifle match, when read from a rimfire organizations book, doesn't really make sense, that should be looked at.

Thank You and let me know if I can be of assistance... I'm trying to set up a match venue here in Eastern Michigan.

Paul

 

[JEFFPPC]

Your post and ideas are great. Your enthusiasm really comes through. Good luck in the role.

I love love love 25m benchrest shooting. It challenges me to keep exploring ways to improve my accuracy. I want "X" to become my favorite letter in the alphabet.

Some inputs on improving things for existing participants:
- My main wish is that Daystate-type electronic triggers and actions (e.g., Red Wolf, Pulsar, Delta Wolf, etc.) be allowed to compete in HV. My club assigns my Pulsar to the Unlimited class.
- Permitting tethering would be nice or at least make it OK at the MD's discretion. Safety concerns can be addressed with inspection of shooters' setups. (I think it is safer than refilling guns during matches.)

Some inputs on attracting more, particularly younger, shooters:
- I have not yet migrated to 50-75-100 yd/m benchrest shooting. Someday I'll try it but I think it would definitely help attract new shooters, particularly if higher power levels are permitted.
- But to attract younger shooters, more proactive recruiting is needed. For example, encourage match directors or their designees to contact local NRA and youth groups to offer free lessons and introductory matches to teen through 30 year-olds. At our club and I suspect at many others, members have enough "spare" equipment to equip those events.

Your correct, we need to get the youth. I have been involved in the shooting sports for close 60 years. I have seen generations of shooters come and go with out getting their kids involved much. Big reason......cost. So ifyou want to get them involved I think you need to push the Spring gun class. You will find lots of enthusiasm when the equipment and ammo are free, provided by others. They disappear when free ends. Just the facts, backed up by history.

 

[mtm100]

Good Morning,

I'm thinking it's time for me to respond to a few of these.
First of all The direct email to me "[email protected]" should be up and running very soon.
Might be better for me to answer individual questions there. But here and private message here work fine too.

Thank you for all the messages of support. Means a lot to me.

nomojo65, LV, HV and Open all have power and weight restrictions that are widely accepted around the world.
Most any gun can be tuned to meet these classes. Please review the rules again and I think most of your questions will be answered,
Yes hope to have a national event in the central part of the country.

beerthief, I too like the 12 ftlb class but am happy we're able to shoot more powerful classes too. I believe England has restrictions on higher
than 12 ftlb guns so a lot of their shooting is in the LV class. Personally I think it's a tougher class and really like shooting it.

JEFFPPC, Is there a question there? Yes it's bench rest not bench clamp. Your gun must be able to lifted vertically from the front rest without
the rest leaving the table. And all of my testing shows a very loose clamp on springers shoots the best.

"We kicked the 'over the pond group' out over 200 years ago. They can stick their fpe restrictions" I find this comment quite offensive.
I live less than 5 minutes away from where that war started. Many good people from both sides died in that battle. I see visitors from all
over the world visit every day to pay their respects. Don't get me wrong I agree with going to war. It was needed as well as the 5th amendment
right to bear arms having strong ties to the farmers that left their homes to defend their country. As the USARB director the only facit of this
subject I care to talk about is. Teaching the young shooter safe gun handling, marksmanship and proper responsible ownership.

RScott, I feel for your point. I really do. The original Thomas guns had electronic triggers. They were quickly banned as a unfair advantage.
I don't really know that they were but a more polarizing subject seldom is discussed. Can the Daystates be retrofitted with a mechanical trigger?
I MIGHT consider a trigger weight limit to be set and adjustment sealed for a match. If the logistics could be quick and easy to implement.
My concern is very light trigger weights are hard to measure with a electronic trigger gauge. I'm happy to work to find a way to include the electronic
triggered guns in our matches.

Loufish, Is $0.25/card (or more) too much. Not really sure what you mean here. Please explain. Thanks

pbike257, Welcome and I hope to see some scores on scoreline soon.
I think the weight and power of LV and HV are well defined and accepted. Open I may make some minor changes
but can't see a way to make a open class gun shoot LV. Gun safe breech flags have been used for all the matches I've
run or attended. I believe this to be common practice. If a shooting facility doesn't have a visible timer for all shooters to
see then time warnings should be announced by the match director at their discretion. 10 min, 5 min 1 min etc.

Thanks to all that bothered to reply. I'm looking forward to seeing the new clubs I've talked with post some scores.

Mark

 

[Loufish]

Hi Mark, you said this,
"...start a non profit to support our shooters competing at the Worlds.
It's embarrassing most every dime has to come out of the competitors pocket."

I completely agree that we should financially help send our shooters to worldwide events. We should also find a way to identify the best shooters just like we do finding the best Olympic US athletes. Other countries do this. My comment, "$0.25/card (or more)" was just an idea how shooting sports can contribute to the cause.

 

[gh6airgunner]

Mark,

Thanks for the work in moving benchrest forward. I have some opinions and ideas use what you like. I would like to see more competitions and a national champion. I think the 25 and 50 yard/meters is perfect and would shoot any of them. Personally the money going into the 100 yard comps is changing the shooting into a money intensive sport. I don't care if there is prize money, I just like shooting in comps.

I would like to see as many cards in a comp as possible, from many different lanes on the range so we can take as much luck of the draw out of the competition.

When it comes to cost and classes you could look at NRL22. Set the cost line and guns, scopes, gear, as the lower get into a class and run what you brung to the upper class. Some shot fast some shot slow, who cares how it gets there.

I like the idea of bi-pod and sandbag as the platform to shoot from as it is cost sensitive and more shooter input into the shot.

Shooting Daystate's I think it would be fair to say that you could shoot the trigger if it comes stock on the gun. I won't want a mech trigger.

Thanks Glenn

 

[JEFFPPC]

Good Morning,

I'm thinking it's time for me to respond to a few of these.
First of all The direct email to me "[email protected]" should be up and running very soon.
Might be better for me to answer individual questions there. But here and private message here work fine too.

Thank you for all the messages of support. Means a lot to me.

nomojo65, LV, HV and Open all have power and weight restrictions that are widely accepted around the world.
Most any gun can be tuned to meet these classes. Please review the rules again and I think most of your questions will be answered,
Yes hope to have a national event in the central part of the country.

beerthief, I too like the 12 ftlb class but am happy we're able to shoot more powerful classes too. I believe England has restrictions on higher
than 12 ftlb guns so a lot of their shooting is in the LV class. Personally I think it's a tougher class and really like shooting it.

JEFFPPC, Is there a question there? Yes it's bench rest not bench clamp. Your gun must be able to lifted vertically from the front rest without
the rest leaving the table. And all of my testing shows a very loose clamp on springers shoots the best.

"We kicked the 'over the pond group' out over 200 years ago. They can stick their fpe restrictions" I find this comment quite offensive.
I live less than 5 minutes away from where that war started. Many good people from both sides died in that battle. I see visitors from all
over the world visit every day to pay their respects. Don't get me wrong I agree with going to war. It was needed as well as the 5th amendment
right to bear arms having strong ties to the farmers that left their homes to defend their country. As the USARB director the only facit of this
subject I care to talk about is. Teaching the young shooter safe gun handling, marksmanship and proper responsible ownership.

RScott, I feel for your point. I really do. The original Thomas guns had electronic triggers. They were quickly banned as a unfair advantage.
I don't really know that they were but a more polarizing subject seldom is discussed. Can the Daystates be retrofitted with a mechanical trigger?
I MIGHT consider a trigger weight limit to be set and adjustment sealed for a match. If the logistics could be quick and easy to implement.
My concern is very light trigger weights are hard to measure with a electronic trigger gauge. I'm happy to work to find a way to include the electronic
triggered guns in our matches.

Loufish, Is $0.25/card (or more) too much. Not really sure what you mean here. Please explain. Thanks

pbike257, Welcome and I hope to see some scores on scoreline soon.
I think the weight and power of LV and HV are well defined and accepted. Open I may make some minor changes
but can't see a way to make a open class gun shoot LV. Gun safe breech flags have been used for all the matches I've
run or attended. I believe this to be common practice. If a shooting facility doesn't have a visible timer for all shooters to
see then time warnings should be announced by the match director at their discretion. 10 min, 5 min 1 min etc.

Thanks to all that bothered to reply. I'm looking forward to seeing the new clubs I've talked with post some scores.

Mark

Thanks for the answer on the captured rifle question. I will stand by my comment on the British. We saved them in 2 wars, fled them when they enslaved us, beat them when they came here and tried to rule us. Most of the time in todays world they do not support us in any way. I see them as not a true friend to the US and have no desire to emulate them in any way. I hope you have success advancing the sport. I have participated and ran matches for many years. I will offer you the best advice I was ever given. The less rules you have the less arguments you will have. The idea that adults can't be responsible to track their own time is pretty amusing. England/restrictions, not interested in theirs......or them. Let me remind you of your name, United States ARB.Good luck.

 

[nomojo65]

Yes, I understand the ftlb restrictions, weight, yardage and rules. Just throwing out some ideas?

No big deal, I’ll just keep plugging along as usual! (No pun intended)

I do agree with JEFFPPC we are catering to world rules that no one is attending.

 

[Joef]

We do have 3 attending this years World Cup from our club FYI

 

[TargetOH]

It was needed as well as the 5th amendment right to bear arms

Mark, should we be concerned that someone running a shooting organization doesn’t know the difference between the 5th Amendment and the 2nd Amendment? I’ll just assume that was a brain fart on your part and move on. But, a sincere thank you for jumping into a leadership role with the USARB. I know how much time and effort it takes to keep matches and organizations running smoothly. Here’s my opinions on USARB and the sport of benchrest.

1) I wish that all benchrest in the US would be under one organization and therefore one set of rules. I understand that N50 may have been born out of the lack of interest in 50 yard events with USARB clubs. And the major 100 yard events all use different target sizes and rules. Getting everyone on the same page for 100 yards would be great. The 100 yard events also do the dreaded one card final, which is not much better than a coin flip among the top 15-20 shooters. I understand the reasons they do that, but I’d like to see a 3 card total be used. But, if all of this can’t be merged into one organization, and I seriously doubt it will, I think it would be best for the USARB to focus on 25M/25Yards.

2) Regarding classes. I think those participating in the USA Open and Unlimited classes are more likely to be migrating to N50 since the rules and power limits for those classes seem more geared towards 50 yards. So, I don’t mind those 2 classes going away. But, I don’t think any changes should be made to LV and HV. The rules for those are WRABF rules and if we intend to send more people to worlds, those are the rules that we’ll be needing to prepare and practice for. I think it’s a great idea to add LV Sportsmen and HV Sportsmen classes. I already see many, especially those that are new to the sport, start out with a bipod and a bag or 2 bags or other configurations that aren’t WRABF compliant. Having those additional classes would encourage participation and people will move up as they progress. Now that I think about it, maybe leave the USA Open class intact so we wouldn’t turn someone away that hasn’t tuned their gun down (or for someone with a 1-piece rest or an electronic trigger). And leave the one piston class as it is.

3) Regarding equipment. I don’t have any issue competing against guns with electronic triggers (even though WRABF doesn’t allow it), as long as the trigger is built into the gun in a traditional place and configuration. Heck, my RAW breaks at around 2.5 oz, so I don’t see the point of the restriction. But, a separate switch removed from the gun should not be allowed. LV and HV airguns don’t really move when fired, so I don’t really care about restricting weight. I don’t think I would shoot any different if I added 10 pounds to my gun. I don’t really see a good way to restrict certain guns (like a Thomas) to a certain class without creating a lot of hassle and confusion. I wouldn’t mind seeing someone with a Thomas, a bipod and a bag shoot in a sportsmen’s class their first couple matches, but if they place near the top, I think the match director should nicely encourage them to move up to LV/HV. Anyone that drops 4k on air gun is likely to be able to afford a WRABF compliant set-up and likely will buy one if they find USARB events to be fun. Also, with the low power we are shooting at and the low number of shots per card, I don’t see why anyone needs to tether.

4) I would be interested in a national event, but it would probably need to be very central US for most to consider going. The idea of trying to fund some or all of the travel expenses associated with going to the worlds is a good one. Hopefully one day we can all be competing to be one of the top few sent to the worlds with all expenses paid. Having the “all expenses” or even some expenses carrot dangled in front of me would make me much more likely to attend nationals.

 

[mtm100]

Mark, should we be concerned that someone running a shooting organization doesn’t know the difference between the 5th Amendment and the 2nd Amendment? I’ll just assume that was a brain fart on your part and move on. But, a sincere thank you for jumping into a leadership role with the USARB. I know how much time and effort it takes to keep matches and organizations running smoothly. Here’s my opinions on USARB and the sport of benchrest.

1) I wish that all benchrest in the US would be under one organization and therefore one set of rules. I understand that N50 may have been born out of the lack of interest in 50 yard events with USARB clubs. And the major 100 yard events all use different target sizes and rules. Getting everyone on the same page for 100 yards would be great. The 100 yard events also do the dreaded one card final, which is not much better than a coin flip among the top 15-20 shooters. I understand the reasons they do that, but I’d like to see a 3 card total be used. But, if all of this can’t be merged into one organization, and I seriously doubt it will, I think it would be best for the USARB to focus on 25M/25Yards.

2) Regarding classes. I think those participating in the USA Open and Unlimited classes are more likely to be migrating to N50 since the rules and power limits for those classes seem more geared towards 50 yards. So, I don’t mind those 2 classes going away. But, I don’t think any changes should be made to LV and HV. The rules for those are WRABF rules and if we intend to send more people to worlds, those are the rules that we’ll be needing to prepare and practice for. I think it’s a great idea to add LV Sportsmen and HV Sportsmen classes. I already see many, especially those that are new to the sport, start out with a bipod and a bag or 2 bags or other configurations that aren’t WRABF compliant. Having those additional classes would encourage participation and people will move up as they progress. Now that I think about it, maybe leave the USA Open class intact so we wouldn’t turn someone away that hasn’t tuned their gun down (or for someone with a 1-piece rest or an electronic trigger). And leave the one piston class as it is.

3) Regarding equipment. I don’t have any issue competing against guns with electronic triggers (even though WRABF doesn’t allow it), as long as the trigger is built into the gun in a traditional place and configuration. Heck, my RAW breaks at around 2.5 oz, so I don’t see the point of the restriction. But, a separate switch removed from the gun should not be allowed. LV and HV airguns don’t really move when fired, so I don’t really care about restricting weight. I don’t think I would shoot any different if I added 10 pounds to my gun. I don’t really see a good way to restrict certain guns (like a Thomas) to a certain class without creating a lot of hassle and confusion. I wouldn’t mind seeing someone with a Thomas, a bipod and a bag shoot in a sportsmen’s class their first couple matches, but if they place near the top, I think the match director should nicely encourage them to move up to LV/HV. Anyone that drops 4k on air gun is likely to be able to afford a WRABF compliant set-up and likely will buy one if they find USARB events to be fun. Also, with the low power we are shooting at and the low number of shots per card, I don’t see why anyone needs to tether.

4) I would be interested in a national event, but it would probably need to be very central US for most to consider going. The idea of trying to fund some or all of the travel expenses associated with going to the worlds is a good one. Hopefully one day we can all be competing to be one of the top few sent to the worlds with all expenses paid. Having the “all expenses” or even some expenses carrot dangled in front of me would make me much more likely to attend nationals.

Thank you TargetOH for taking the time to respond to this thread and correcting my error in referencing 5th amendment. As I was writing the original
post I was coming down with Covid and probably should have waited for it to pass before writing anything. I'm hoping everyone would understand I ment to write the 2nd amendment as common sense would suggest. Turning the corner with Covid and anxious to get things going.

Comment 1. I wish for one organization to comprehensively outline classes, rules etc. But I doubt it will ever happen.

Comment 2. You and I are in total agreement here. Proposed new or revised classes:
1. USA Springer
2. WARBF LV
3. WARBF HV
4. USA Sportsman LV
5. USA Sportsman HV
6. USA OPEN (revise rules to allow electronic triggers to set weight and rifle power set and checked prior to match start.

Comment 3. Wired remote triggers so the gun can be fired without touching the gun I believe is what lead to the electronic trigger ban.
My thinking is a electronic trigger housed in the gun actuated by a trigger shoe in the same place a conventional trigger should
be allowed but only in the USA Open class and will need a minimum weight restriction.

Comment 4. This year as its getting late to plan. I have been offered to shoot a national event at the Whittington center the same week as the N50
Nationals. Works for me and a few others. But I seriously would like to hear from those that will commit to a USARB National just before
or after the N50 Nationals Aug. 25-27 2023 to get things started.

 

[Therealld]

Hello Everyone,

I'd like to introduce myself (Mark Marini) as the new director for the USARB.
I've been around these parts for quite some time now. Although not as active
here as I was on the old yellow. None the less I'm a very active benchrest shooter.
I shoot and work on airguns most every day. I volunteered for this position after
seeing things slow down during covid. Its coming back some but I'd love to see some
new faces. I hope this thread provides some positive feedback for me to work with.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, FIRE AWAY! I want to hear it.

Some things I'm considering:

1. Eliminating the Unlimited Class starting next season.

2. POSSIBLY adding a Sporter LV and HV class. Rules TBD but the idea would be more of a entry
level class where the Thomas's and the like (sorry Mike) don't seem like a impossibility to compete with.
Possible bipod and sand bags only. Let me know what you think.

3. I'm very interested in getting new shooters including responsible youngsters shooting.
To that end. I've given myself the task of collecting old used equipment. Guns, Scopes, Rests, Ammo etc
donated. Repair and tune the guns then loan the equipment to new worthy shooters to use until they can purchase
their own or return to me for the next person in line. This is being done in Paul Bendix name as most of the equipment
has come from him and his desire for others to benefit from it. I'm sure most of you know Paul. A finer person I've never met.

4. I'm very interested in getting a national event going. Who's interested? Where?

5. My last thought at the moment is to start a non profit to support our shooters competing at the Worlds.
It's embarrassing most every dime has to come out of the competitors pocket.

USARB won't diminish to nothing If we all shoot a little more. Share a little more. And find some new blood for us all to help
see what a great sport and people we can be.

Thank You for listening,
Mark

I have been shooting airgun BR since late eighties. I also shoot 50yds and even 100yd some, though 25m International style is preferred by me because the targets have been standardized for over a dozen years, so scores are easily compared. I have a covered range on my property for 25m and 50yd BR.

1. Sticking to International rules and target is good to maintain interest by oldtimers that appreciate the ability to compare current results to older records. That said, I do hate use of scoring plugs with much larger caliber than that being used, and would prefer everyone use .177” guns and .177” plugs, since MOST 250 cards would not score that high if holes not touching the ten ring were counted less than 10.

2. Why discriminate against Thomas rifle? If a gun meets International rules, it should be allowed.

3. The above said, I do think the “open” class that allowed a bit more weight and up to 35fpe was great … though I don’t like use of one-piece rests or tethering.

 

[BobS]

Hello Everyone,

I'd like to introduce myself (Mark Marini) as the new director for the USARB.
I've been around these parts for quite some time now. Although not as active
here as I was on the old yellow. None the less I'm a very active benchrest shooter.
I shoot and work on airguns most every day. I volunteered for this position after
seeing things slow down during covid. Its coming back some but I'd love to see some
new faces. I hope this thread provides some positive feedback for me to work with.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, FIRE AWAY! I want to hear it.

Some things I'm considering:

1. Eliminating the Unlimited Class starting next season.

2. POSSIBLY adding a Sporter LV and HV class. Rules TBD but the idea would be more of a entry
level class where the Thomas's and the like (sorry Mike) don't seem like a impossibility to compete with.
Possible bipod and sand bags only. Let me know what you think.

3. I'm very interested in getting new shooters including responsible youngsters shooting.
To that end. I've given myself the task of collecting old used equipment. Guns, Scopes, Rests, Ammo etc
donated. Repair and tune the guns then loan the equipment to new worthy shooters to use until they can purchase
their own or return to me for the next person in line. This is being done in Paul Bendix name as most of the equipment
has come from him and his desire for others to benefit from it. I'm sure most of you know Paul. A finer person I've never met.

4. I'm very interested in getting a national event going. Who's interested? Where?

5. My last thought at the moment is to start a non profit to support our shooters competing at the Worlds.
It's embarrassing most every dime has to come out of the competitors pocket.

USARB won't diminish to nothing If we all shoot a little more. Share a little more. And find some new blood for us all to help
see what a great sport and people we can be.

Thank You for listening,
Mark

Hi Mark, happy to meet you. I heard a lot of good things about you. I'd be happy to show some support for a youth program. I've got a bunch of new .177 tins I could donate to the cause. Just let me know. I'd love to see a veteran program one day as well. A lot of older vets love to sit and there are a lot of wounded warriors that I think would enjoy the bench competition too. If I can help let me know.

 

[mtm100]

Hi Mark, happy to meet you. I heard a lot of good things about you. I'd be happy to show some support for a youth program. I've got a bunch of new .177 tins I could donate to the cause. Just let me know. I'd love to see a veteran program one day as well. A lot of older vets love to sit and there are a lot of wounded warriors that I think would enjoy the bench competition too. If I can help let me know.

Thank You Bob,
What a good idea! I hadn't thought of that one.
That could be beneficial for all involved.
I'll work on that!

I'll start a new thread with where things are at currently.

 

[Loufish]

Hi Mark, are electric trigger Thomas' okay?