bullseye league

E

ergoman

New member
While at a local shooting range, (50' max distance indoor), I asked the owner if there were any bullseye leagues at his range. He stated that several people had asked the same question and he was waiting for someone to orginize them. I've shot quite a bit over the years but never on a league. I've never shot bullseye competition or any other competition, sure would be nice to have something close by to shoot at though. Does anyone know how complex this would be to set up or have experience with doing this? Is there a minimum number of shooters that are required? Are these pistol only? I think there are 7-8 lanes. PIA factor??
thanks
 
I would suggest you get a hold of the NRA Pistol competitions dept and ask them. Brian Zins who has won the Nationals many times heads the dept. He can be reached at BZins@nrahq.org He can probably give you some guidence and advice. He has always anwered my email questions, and also gave me his phone number, which I am sure he will do for you.

At a club level I dont think it would be a PITA. I shoot in three indoor winter leagues, one pistol and two rifle. They are pretty laid back fun shoots. It gives me something to look forward to three days a week. Ken
 
+1 on asking the NRA. Also try the bullseye-l list for software that will make it a snap to keep track of results. Maybe the NRA can send score cards and what not. I believe there are targets scaled to 50', but I forgot what their Nra code is.

At my club we do a monthly "fun" match 900, unsanctioned. 25 and 15 yards. Anything goes, including 2 hands. Always a great turnout. Alternates between odd and even places getting half the entry fee back.
 
It's pretty straight forward to run a BE match. You can hold a simple NMC match ( 30 shots ) or extend the course of fire ( COF ) to a 900 ( 90 shots ) or a full 2700 ( 270 shots ). These formats involve different mixes of slow, sustained, and rapid fire relays.

You'll need someone to call the line - i.e. to announce the various phases of a stage ( e.g. 'preparation' and 'ready to fire' ) - or you can get a recording of the line calls and just play them through a speaker.

A lot of clubs run casual BE matches that aren't NRA sanctioned. They follow the match format, but don't report the scores to the NRA.

* I think that NRA sanctioning of indoor matches requires turning targets.
 
matches

Cas:
* I think that NRA sanctioning of indoor matches requires turning targets.
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I don't think turning targets are needed. I shoot in the Greater NY Pistol League. Our matches are sanctioned, scores reported, and none of the clubs involved use turning targets.
The NRA check is a great idea.
Informal matches are easy. You need targets (B2, B3 for indoor 50 ft.). You need a way to time. You need someone to call the commands (see the NRA Conventional Pistol rule book). You need to know how to score (Can you count to ten?)
The hard part is getting people to show up.

About commands, etc. - This little item will do commands and time for a number of different shooting disciplines (Conventional, ISU, PPC, more)
http://www.theshootersbox.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=343&cPath=93

I've used one for years to run matches. Very effective.
Pete
 
I shot in a fun league a few years back. We had 3 clubs involved and shot every other Friday night, rotating clubs. The "off" every other Friday, shooters practiced at their own club. What made it work was a number of members who were experienced bullseye shooters who knew how it should be run.

I came to enjoy the practice Fridays more than league nights, lots of unofficial coaching going on and more social interaction.
 
I don't think turning targets are needed. I shoot in the Greater NY Pistol League. Our matches are sanctioned, scores reported, and none of the clubs involved use turning targets.
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That's good to know.

All of the 50' indoor matches I've shot have had them.
 
Everyone else has posted great info. Fun leagues are cool.
+1 on checking with NRA.
I would only suggest that for the initial events try something like a non sanctioned 30 shot National Match Course. It's quick easy to follow and allows for several relays in a short period of time. I did this at a public range. Charged $.25 to cover target costs and listed the scores on a wall chart. It gave people something to look forward to and was easy to do.
 
bullseye

Thank you for all the information. What is the advantage of a NRA sponsered league? My goal is to have a reason to shoot more with a little competition mixed in. I'm leaving town for a few days and will spend more time on this, this weekend.
 
Bullseye

My club is about to embark on some fun shoots for members only(to start) in the style of bullseye. Since I am the only one who shoots bullseye(elsewhere), I will be leading the charge. Most of the members are hunters and aren't much for shooting pistols, so I also expect to also do some coaching.

Are there any other(cheaper) timers similar to the one mentioned in a previous post? We have to keep the costs down. We won't have turning targets and will be doing this outdoors.
 
MP3

You can download the range commands from the internet. A shooting buddy of mine has them in his cellphone. When he's practicing, he's got the commands ready to play.
Pete
 
The Nra will help you get started, it doesn't matter if you run a sanctioned match or not.

Start off as a club match, maybe you will want to get more serious, or maybe not.

I would start off with a 30 shot NMC (National match course).
10 slow fire shots on a B2 target
10 timed (20 seconds) on a B3 target
10 rapid fire (10 seconds) on a B3 target

This goes quick and can be shot a few times if you want.

Find the range commands and print them out to read when your calling the match. Its not hard to call the match and shoot at the same time, we do it when there is just a few of us, otherwise if its printed out you can take turns. It doesn't have to be complicated, just have fun.
 
What is the advantage of a NRA sponsered league?
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I think that the primary advantages are that if your matches are sanctioned, the results will be recognized by the NRA and so will be eligible for NRA classifications and awards to the match participants. Also sanctioning will tend to attract existing BE competitors to your matches, which improves attendance and can increase membership to your club.

But I also agree that sanctioning doesn't need to be an immediate priority. You can get a league up an running without it. If it turns out that NRA sanctioning is appropriate once you're established, then it's something that you can pursue.
 
I shoot in two Bullseye leagues and also compete in a number of other types of matches over the course of a year. Here in Massachusetts, the teams are generally fielded by the various gun clubs. Each of the leagues I shoot in has around 8 to 10 club teams, with perhaps 6 or 7 to as many as 20 shooters on each team. In formal (and I use the term loosely - it's really not very formal at all) competition, the top 5 scores for the evening "count" against the top 5 scores from the other team. That allows everyone to have a good time and not worry about their score screwing up the team's aggregate if they're not that good a shooter or just have a bad night. Obviously, with that system, more shooters on the team is an advantage, all things being equal.

We shoot the NRA Gallery Course - 50 ft, .22 only, 10 rounds each of slow (NRA B2 target), timed, and rapid fire (both on NRA B3 target). A perfect score would be 300. In our recreational league, scores in the 260s are respectable, 270s quite good, 280s very good indeed, and we very rarely see anyone break 290, with one exception - we have one shooter who is an NRA Master level shooter averaging over 290.

An alternative to trying to set up a league, which requires getting a lot of people on board, would be to get a small team together and compete in a postal league, where you score your own targets on the honor system and mail (hence "postal" but it's email now) your scores in. I compete in this one: www.ierpa.org which is based in the Pacific Northwest but accepts teams from all over the country.
 
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