TargetTalk

In Smallbore 50 meter 3 position for women, is it legal to use a palm rest or a "riser" block in the prone or kneeling position? I see it says palm rest yes, standing in the rules, but I know I have talked to another parent whose son is shooting, and they were showing me his blocks he had-they were different heights he said to use for different positions.....just getting started in smallbore and purchased a gun with a riser block on the forend. If we cannot use it in prone or kneeling....want to start off right.....
Thanks for the help....

Rockbottom wrote:In Smallbore 50 meter 3 position for women, is it legal to use a palm rest or a "riser" block in the prone or kneeling position? I see it says palm rest yes, standing in the rules, but I know I have talked to another parent whose son is shooting, and they were showing me his blocks he had-they were different heights he said to use for different positions.....just getting started in smallbore and purchased a gun with a riser block on the forend. If we cannot use it in prone or kneeling....want to start off right.....
Thanks for the help....

To be honest without reading the rules I wouldn't know. That said, in prone at least, it's less than ideal. Your position should be built such that the barrell sits as close as possible to the hand. I can't think of any situation where a fore end riser would be needed in prone, I can't even think how you'd get the sling fixed and the supporting hand in place on a rising block.

Best advice is get a coach to help build up his positions. Doing it that way will help him find the best, most stable positions, which I'm certain would not require a riser in prone.

Rob.

Yes you can use fore-end raiser blocks for Prone and Kneeling. The depth of the fore-end is not limited in the rules for 50m rifle (only for air rifle and 300m Standard rifle), although you cannot have any weights more than 90mm below the centre of the boreline. Not all palm rest or blocks will be suitable for Prone and Kneeling, being much deeper than the typical kneeling raiser, and not always having a handstop rail. You can buy ready made raisers, or make your own.

Have a look through the match photos on the ISSF website, you'll see plenty of competitors using a combination of blocks for prone, kneeling, and standing to get the rifle at a comfortable height. It's less common to use a raiser block for prone, but it's not unknown to compensate for short arms and a shallow alu stock; Matt Emmons used one with his Anschutz alu stock for some years.

Whilst I agree with Tims comments, I still don't think a raiser in prone is the way to go - at least not without fully exploring all other options, and to do that you need the advice of a coach. I'm 5 foot tall, and have short arms and I have no problems prone, equally I've seen plenty of young, smaller shooters who shoot prone with no problems - or certainly none that require raiser blocks. I think we're probably agreed that it would be a last resort, after exhausting all other avenues.

Rob.

It is legal to put a block down there. I have used blocks with rails on them for smaller framed folks to keep the sling from hitting the stock and/or trigger guard since that type of contact is illegal. Funny it's illegal since since that type of contact causes flyers.