Thread: F-Class

Who here shoot it? I have completely lost touch whos at the top of the heap and what are the numbers like?

The numbers are small compared to F-TR simply because of the costs involved. Chewing through a more than one barrel a season is out of the budget for many, and the initial outlay/component costs are more than F-TR.

At a lot of the regional champ shoots the number of F Class shooters now equals the the traditional Target Rifle class shooters. So it does continue to increase in popularity, whilst TR continues to decline. Like 6x47 FTR shooters generally outnumber FO shooters maybe around 2:1 or greater. FO has become a drag race where obviously you still need the shooting skills but money talks.

The Taranaki range is still closed, closest range would probably be Otorahanga or Whatawhata in Hamilton going north or Cheltenham going south.

There seems to be quite a swing to more moderate chambering in FO at the moment, several 260s, 6.5x47, straight 284 etc.

FTR is definitely is where it is at for competition, next season we should have a really strong group, there are several TR shooters changing over, so it should be good.

Check Welcome to the NRA NZ | National Rifle Association of New Zealand for club contacts, calendar etc. Pretty dead till new season starts in Sept. Results are there as well if you want to see who-is-who.

Originally Posted by ebf

The Taranaki range is still closed, closest range would probably be Otorahanga or Whatawhata in Hamilton going north or Cheltenham going south.

There seems to be quite a swing to more moderate chambering in FO at the moment, several 260s, 6.5x47, straight 284 etc.

FTR is definitely is where it is at for competition, next season we should have a really strong group, there are several TR shooters changing over, so it should be good.

Check Welcome to the NRA NZ | National Rifle Association of New Zealand for club contacts, calendar etc. Pretty dead till new season starts in Sept. Results are there as well if you want to see who-is-who.

Thanks for that. The shift to FTR surprises me a little but the fact you guys are equal numbers with TR does not. For the claimed oldest sport in NZ to be slowly drying up is a little sad to hear. Statistically it will not recover. The future of the NRA is in FTR or F-Class. I assume the NRA has adequately recognized this? I enjoyed my time with the Petone Club very much and wish the club well.

As for target shooting in Taranaki the only stuff I have sniffed out is the south Taranaki deer stalkers. I'm not really interested in competition any more but may look into what they are doing at some stage. It sounds a little informal and that might be a bit of fun. I still have a full blown F-Class rifle but now chambered in 7mm WSM which is now in my A5 and I use it hunting. Frankly far better bang for buck. It’s absolutely lethal.

Originally Posted by Bugger That

Thanks for that. The shift to FTR surprises me a little but the fact you guys are equal numbers with TR does not. For the claimed oldest sport in NZ to be slowly drying up is a little sad to hear. Statistically it will not recover. The future of the NRA is in FTR or F-Class. I assume the NRA has adequately recognized this?

hahahahaha, sorry.

mate, you have no idea how difficult it is to get f-class to make inroads into the "tr" mentality. the entire NRA council is still completely TR focussed, most of the clubs are TR heavy when it comes to committee members. there are lots of elderly TR shooters still involved in managing clubs, even though they are not actively shooting. at a national level, teams and development is still very heavily focused on palma and tr...

we have only just started getting some movement at the WRA level to get f-class recognition for stuff like postal shoots, champion of champion etc. still massive discrepancies when it comes to queens badges handed out at nationals. some of the regional comps have a "final" for top 5 TR shooters, nothing for F, the list goes on (and on and on)

I built a f-class leaderboard for the NRA village after having to go begging for funds from other shooters, the NRA powers did not even want to send out an email.

bit of a touchy subject....

on a positive side we had an aus F team here for nationals this year, that has ramped up the competition level by several notches.

FTR is going through a bit of a transformation at the moment. We went to 1/2 moa super-V scoring this year. Moving away from a one-design type class (using 155 palma projectiles), different styles of bipods are maturing etc. But it is a much easier (equipment wise) and cheaper option for entry into F-class. Berger 185 projectiles are pretty common at the top level, and some of the overseas guys are going really heavy with 215s and 230s, but that requires a LOT more precise gun control. FTR is also a very good way to increase your wind skills, especially if you want to score well using 155s.

Originally Posted by ebf

hahahahaha, sorry.

mate, you have no idea how difficult it is to get f-class to make inroads into the "tr" mentality. the entire NRA council is still completely TR focussed, most of the clubs are TR heavy when it comes to committee members. there are lots of elderly TR shooters still involved in managing clubs, even though they are not actively shooting. at a national level, teams and development is still very heavily focused on palma and tr...

we have only just started getting some movement at the WRA level to get f-class recognition for stuff like postal shoots, champion of champion etc. still massive discrepancies when it comes to queens badges handed out at nationals. some of the regional comps have a "final" for top 5 TR shooters, nothing for F, the list goes on (and on and on)

I built a f-class leaderboard for the NRA village after having to go begging for funds from other shooters, the NRA powers did not even want to send out an email.

bit of a touchy subject....

on a positive side we had an aus F team here for nationals this year, that has ramped up the competition level by several notches.

FTR is going through a bit of a transformation at the moment. We went to 1/2 moa super-V scoring this year. Moving away from a one-design type class (using 155 palma projectiles), different styles of bipods are maturing etc. But it is a much easier (equipment wise) and cheaper option for entry into F-class. Berger 185 projectiles are pretty common at the top level, and some of the overseas guys are going really heavy with 215s and 230s, but that requires a LOT more precise gun control. FTR is also a very good way to increase your wind skills, especially if you want to score well using 155s.

Actually I have a very good idea I was the F-Class delegate to the NRA for a few years. I shelled out several hundred dollars to sponsor the Masefield trophy (I think?, can’t remember which Steve Morris sponsored one and I the other) I spent many long hours sitting in the cold NRA executive meetings for my 2 min segment only to have it brushed under the carpet. All in all I became disillusioned with the whole thing and called it quits after spending 3 months working with a new .284 then switched back to 6.5 and chewed the throat in 200 rounds with hot RL17 loads. By the end of the Masefield my throat was toast. I pulled out of the Ballenger and went to the south Island hunting. While there I figured I had enjoyed a pretty good innings but didn't have the energy to stay at the pointy end anymore and never went back. Resigned as Delegate and vice chair to Petone.

Truth be known I should have never sold my first gun to DAF that thing just worked and my new gun never did in the McMillian stock, it was just to light.

Shooting the 155 by comparison to the 140 VLD was significant. The 155 was very much like sending my 6 year old to the fridge to get another beer. It seems without purpose and without direction but given time and patience it would complete the journey but the beer was never placed where you expected it to be. 140 VLD @ 3160fps by comparison was a slippery bastard and very predictable. But then given it inherited and additional few grains of weight from the throat of my barrel I guess that was inevitable.

You guys enjoy the sport while it lasts. If the NRA do not seize the opportunity to get behind F-Class shooting and foster the numbers in the coming years the numbers will lose its critical mass and the range will go. As the likes of these forums show there is very little interest in Target shooting in general and until it is understood why guys don't want to compete in shooting events it is near impossible to remove the barriers. F-TR is the NRA best chance to revitalize its self. Personally I would have been keen to restrict F-TR to 155's but I accept there was a good argument to open it up as well.

Good to see Graeme Cook having some luck in the sport.

Yup, the Okato range has been closed for a bit and the Hawera range has been given its notice to shut too.. There goes the all the clubs in Taranaki

Originally Posted by lost

Yup, the Okato range has been closed for a bit and the Hawera range has been given its notice to shut too.. There goes the all the clubs in Taranaki

Sorry to hear that - what is the issue causing Hawera's closure? Long while since I shot there but always enjoyed the vista - boats cruising past in the distance

Originally Posted by zimmer

Sorry to hear that - what is the issue causing Hawera's closure? Long while since I shot there but always enjoyed the vista - boats cruising past in the distance

Exactly that reason.. Something along the lines of there were contracted divers in the water at the time, but outside of the red zone. Who then alerted the police, and so forth..

Awesome range that one, tricky winds off the coast too!

Originally Posted by lost

Exactly that reason.. Something along the lines of there were contracted divers in the water at the time, but outside of the red zone. Who then alerted the police, and so forth..

Awesome range that one, tricky winds off the coast too!

gutted bro!! one morning we went to check if there were any boats in the red zone, there was one further out which was a bit nervy but ok. thought we should head closer to the cliff and check nobody was in close to shore....... there was a boat right in the red zone, dead straight in line with the targets. a chap had to head home to call up the boaties with on his radio.

That is nothing new though, wonder what the difference was with this one. Be freaking annoying to loose that range as well.

Fingers crossed another endeavour comes to fruition then - won't help the NRA guys so much though.

I'm very new to F-TR. Loving the competition. As well as that though, I feel that getting out there and joining a club is going a small way to keeping it alive.

Originally Posted by Hades

I'm very new to F-TR. Loving the competition. As well as that though, I feel that getting out there and joining a club is going a small way to keeping it alive.

@Hades where are you shooting? Cheltenham or Paki Paki?

Originally Posted by zimmer

@Hades where are you shooting? Cheltenham or Paki Paki?

@zimmer Chelty