National Governing Body
for FClass, Target and Match Rifle Shooting in Ireland
Centerfire Benchrest;
The modern sport of benchrest started around 1944, it's fair to say that most of the accuracy improvements made to factory-produced rifles since the end of World War 2 have come from the benchrest world. Benchrest competitions are shot from a bench (you'd probably never have guessed) using a front and rear rest. The objective of the competition is to shoot the smallest possible aggregate, an aggregate usually consists of five, five shot groups. Centerfire benchrest competitions are shot at 100, 200, 300 & 1000 yards, aggergates are shrinking all the time. It has been said that the modern bolt action rifle has reached the zenith of engineering and cannot be significantly improved any further, we'll have to keep watching the benchrest shooters to see if this is true or not.
Rimfire Benchrest;
Rimfire bencherst is shot at 25 and 50 yards/meters using a front and rear rest. Rifles are classified by overall weight, magazine capacity, scope magnification and rifle stocks. Competitions are shot for score, a target consists of 25 shots for record and unlimited sighters, an aggregate consists of the average score of three of these targets, all ammunition must be of lead projectile type in .22LR, commercially produced and available from regular outlets. Considering that the diameter of the 10X ring is just 1.27mm at 50 meters its easy to see how tough it would be to shoot a perfect score in the 30 minute time limit for a match. Due to the rifle classifications and caliber (.22LR only) this is probably the easiest and cheapest of all rifle-shooting sports to get involved in. One of the most important skills for a benchrest shooter to master is consistency, minor changes made at the bench from shot to shot will show up very clearly at the target end.