Thread: Te Puke Rifle Club Shoot for Hunting rifles

Hello Nick-D,
Rebarreling your rifle as EBF has said, is fine as long as it is a similar profile to the factory original. There are probably others out there, with similar questions as to what is allowed and what isn't. Short answer is that just about anything is welcome and we will group you with like gear.
Some background information;
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The Hunter/ Sporter rules adopted by the NRANZ are,

Sporter/Hunter class
A competition for standard factory hunting rifles of any calibre that do not exceed the energy limits on NRANZ ranges.
Rifle weight will not exceed 4.1 kg (9.02 lb) and if a bipod or suppressor is fitted then they are included in the all-up weight of the rifle.
Any sights, open aperture, or optical up to 10x magnification may be used.
Ammunition can be handloads or factory ammunition using hunting or match bullets that will work in the standard factory twist rates for that calibre.
Rifles may be rebarreled if necessary, but the replacement must be the same twist rate and profile as the factory original.
Rifles may be bedded in their stocks for best performance, but any other modifications from standard, such as Bull-barrels, or barrel fluting to stay within weight, that are seen to be pursuing an unfair advantage are banned. In any competition The Match director/Range Officer has the final say on whether a rifle meets the intent of a practical, walk-around hunting rifle.
Matches are to be 2 convertible sighters and 5 shots for record on standard NRANZ targets. Scoring to be 5 & V. Normal time limits for ranges to apply.
Rifles may only be supported by a backpack or a hunting bipod (Harris, Caldwell, or similar) but no rear bag or other rear support can be used. Only the front of the rifle may be supported. The rifle must be held in the hands, clear of the ground.

To summarize; a factory hunting rifle, in any calibre up to 8mm that doesn’t exceed our energy limits. This covers most standard factory offerings, although a few magnum calibres would need research. .338 lapua and the likes are obviously out due to being over 8mm, and exceeding energy limits. The scope power is limited to 10x as this is the general maximum that the retailers include in their package deals. The idea is for hunters to be able to use the basic gear without feeling they have to purchase a high performance scope with dial-up capability, to play the game. To not restrict the gear will simply give us another F-class where performance is purchased, rather than a game of skill at arms where everyone is competing with similar gear. The same rational applies to the weight and barrel restrictions.



Moving on to our Hunter shoot, we wanted to run it so as to be open to the public, to make the public aware that there is a Range which will allow them to shoot greater distances than normally found on NZDA ranges and that our 600 yard range is well within the capabilities of any package deal from your local sports shop.
That said, we knew it would attract those shooters who were already modifying their factory rifles, with custom barrels, triggers, high-end dial-up scopes and the like. We didn’t want to turn anyone away, so the decision was to group the shooters into three classes.

Hunter; Those rifles that fitted the NRANZ recipe and that were shot with no rear support. Both hands on the rifle clear of the ground.

Hunter modified; Those rifles that exceeded the description in having an overpower scope or exceeded the weight limit with the weight of a suppressor and/or bi-pod fitted. Essentially factory rifles but out of spec due to add-ons,
Must be shot with no rear support. Both hands on the rifle clear of the ground.

Open; Those rifles that don’t fit either category through having custom barrels, triggers, stocks or target type scopes. Also those who don’t wish to abide by the rules for rifle support for the other two hunter classes. Those who may wish to use a front and rear sandbag setup for example, or those who choose to support the rear buttstock with their non-trigger hand go into open.