Practical Rifle

[PA_USPSA]

With the AR-15 being the most prevalent firearm in the USA, it would make sense to have a USPSA practical rifle competition.  The competitions would need to be separate from the current pistol based competitions, but possibly PCC could be moved from the current pistol competitions to the practical rifle competitions.  What I'm thinking is basically the same as the current USPSA courses, but at twice the distance.  There could be iron sight and optics divisions for both rifle and PCC.  Rifle would be scored major and PCC would be scored minor.  Would anyone other than me be interested in this?

[IVC]

It already exists. USPSA sanctions multi-gun competitions where rifles are one of the guns. 

[cferree]

In the SE, there are outlaw carbine matches at several clubs.  Some use hit factor scoring, others use points down or 2 hits per target = neutralized.

 

One I shoot at scores heavy metal as major and 556/223 & PCC as minor.

 

Other clubs have divisions for heavy metal, AK's, 556/223's and PCC's.

 

Most are using pistol bays (35-50yds) and use half size targets to simulate distance.  Very few have steel targets due to the damage caused by rifle rounds.

 

If you haven't already, search PS in you area for rifle or carbine matches.  

[Boomstick303]

2 hours ago, PA_USPSA said:

Rifle would be scored major and PCC would be scored minor.  Would anyone other than me be interested in this?

 

There are already many rule set in play for Rifle competitions.  PCSL, UML, etc.  A lot of them seem to already operate under some sort of outlaw format/ruleset.  

 

USPSA is what it is, already has a Rifle, shotgun and multigun Rulebook as stated above and I do not see anyone really adopting their rules set for single Rifle matches for whatever reason.  I shoot a bit of AR pattern type Rifle matches and using USPSA Rifle Rulebook is not a thing or discussed as being a ruleset.  Mind you this might just apply in my local area.

 

As mentioned above if you are interested in finding a carbine, battle rifle, or any rifle match just look up matches in Practiscore.  If there are not any in your immediate area look into starting one yourself.  It may seem daunting, but if you have 3 Gun matches or USPSA matches at ranges in your area, maybe you can work with existing clubs to get it off the ground.  That is what I did.  I started 2 Gun matches in our area when there really was not a dedicated 2 Gun match to participate in.  That match turns out 50-80 shooters every match when they are held.  

 

PCC is not going anywhere and will stay in USPSA.  

 

 

[MHicks]

You see a lot more regularly held pistol matches then rifle. A lot of rifle/ multi gun matches are held infrequently.  One issue is that many clubs have bays thet don't allow more then 25 yard targets.

[Matt1911]

My local club has started having rifle matches once a month, and I’m loving it. It runs the same as a regular USPSA match, but all paper targets. 
The divisions are laid out as 

PCC

Heavy metal (7.62x54 type battle rifles)

Light carbine (5.56 & 7.62 AR/AK type)

 

It’s been a huge hit that a lot of the regular USPSA people look forward to. 

[Dr Mitch]

8 minutes ago, Matt1911 said:

My local club has started having rifle matches once a month, and I’m loving it. It runs the same as a regular USPSA match, but all paper targets. 
The divisions are laid out as 

PCC

Heavy metal (7.62x54 type battle rifles)

Light carbine (5.56 & 7.62 AR/AK type)

 

It’s been a huge hit that a lot of the regular USPSA people look forward to. 

Heavy metal = Battle Rifle, minimum caliber 6.5mm
And .22LR

 

The divisions are sorted by ammo type and power factor.  I considered using USPSA multi-gun rules, but the way those divisions work is too exclusive.  The goal is for people to bring out their rifles and shoot them.  Most shooters have a small to large pile of rifles that they don’t shoot much (or ever), be it AUGs, FALs, G3s, AKs, lever guns, a bunch of similar-but-different AR-15s, AR-22s, PCCs, etc, etc, etc.  Any rifle that seems practical, or any rifle that can be safely tried out for practicality, is suitable.  Plus, people can, and do, bring NFA guns and accessories to our matches.  Utilizing USPSA range commands and rules regarding safe gun handling was the easy way to keep it safe and fun.

 

We’re on the fence about longer distance shots.  If we had a 100 yard or longer bay near the USPSA bays, it would be a no brainer.  Driving all the way across the action pistol side of the club to use the muzzle loader bays is not appealing, but we’ve thought about it.

[waktasz]

On 9/18/2024 at 12:19 PM, PA_USPSA said:

With the AR-15 being the most prevalent firearm in the USA, it would make sense to have a USPSA practical rifle competition.  The competitions would need to be separate from the current pistol based competitions, but possibly PCC could be moved from the current pistol competitions to the practical rifle competitions.  What I'm thinking is basically the same as the current USPSA courses, but at twice the distance.  There could be iron sight and optics divisions for both rifle and PCC.  Rifle would be scored major and PCC would be scored minor.  Would anyone other than me be interested in this?

 

This already exists, maybe not in PA, but it exists. All the clubs in SE PA except New Holland disallow rifles in their pistol bays, even for matches.

[PA_USPSA]

7 hours ago, waktasz said:

 

This already exists, maybe not in PA, but it exists. All the clubs in SE PA except New Holland disallow rifles in their pistol bays, even for matches.

I had hoped to shoot New Holland's Sandwich match this year (PCC and rifle), but it's not listed on Practiscore yet.  Most likely they will not be running it this year.  I know Ray is not the USPSA MD anymore, so maybe the new MD has decided not to do it.

[shred]

IPSC has "Practical Rifle" and as a member of IPSC, USPSA ought to have full access to that rule set.  We just had a bunch of people score some loot from the IPSC Rifle World Shoot.

 

[PA_USPSA]

29 minutes ago, shred said:

IPSC has "Practical Rifle" and as a member of IPSC, USPSA ought to have full access to that rule set.  We just had a bunch of people score some loot from the IPSC Rifle World Shoot.

 

The IPSC Semi-Auto Standard Division (rifle) was what I was thinking of with the exception of the Major/Minor designation.  I personally feel the Major and Minor PF should be the same as handgun (165 and 125).  If this is supposed to be a practical application, a person doesn't know the difference if the bullet was fired from a rifle or a pistol.  Having the rifle Major PF at 320 and the rifle Minor PF at 150 doesn't make any sense.

[perttime]

For a Practical Rifle match, worthy of the name, you need a much bigger range than for Pistol or PCC. And a range that allows the use of rifles in the bays.

Twice the distance of Pistol matches, for the longer shots, still sounds like a PCC match to me.

 

... There's lots of medalists here in Finland, from IPSC Rifle World Shoots. Beats me how the guys and girls manage it, with so few opportunities to shoot an IPSC Rifle match at home.

[PA_USPSA]

On 9/20/2024 at 5:19 PM, PA_USPSA said:

I had hoped to shoot New Holland's Sandwich match this year (PCC and rifle), but it's not listed on Practiscore yet.  Most likely they will not be running it this year.  I know Ray is not the USPSA MD anymore, so maybe the new MD has decided not to do it.

New Holland (PA) is having their sandwich match again this year and I was fortunate enough to get in.  6 stages with all targets less than 50 yards.  Think of it as a CQB type of match.  This will be my first competition using my 5.56 NATO rifle and I'm looking forward to see how I do.