TargetTalk

I am curious what, if anything, happened to the ISU/UIT Standard Smallbore Rifle and what type of competition was/is it used in?

I shoot a BSA MKII in NRA 4-p and prone indoor and have shot 300 meter high power twice, but am somewhat new to formal precision target shooting.

I have read about several interesting precision smallbore rifles that were developed to comply with ISU or UIT standards, but cannot find out anything about what type of competitions they were used in. The rifles I am referring to are, for example, the BSA-International ISU, Anschutz 1907, FWB 2000 ISU and 2602 ISU Universal, Walther UIT Special and UIT Match-Universal. They all seem to be designed to weigh under 5 kilos (11 pounds), have iron sights only and were used in three position shooting. Is this correct?

Current smallbore precision rules appear to allow free rifles, which can weigh up to 8 kilos (17 pounds, 10 ounces). It is also confusing that precision air rifles and 300 meter high power rifles are restricted to 5.5 kilos (12 pounds, 2 ounces).

Why would a high power rifle be limited to 12 1/8 pounds where a smallbore be allowed to weigh 17 5/8 pounds? Did the ISU Standard Rifle use palm rests and hook butt plates or did it look more like the current precision air rifles? Did the Standard Rifle disappear when the ISU became the ISSF?

Thanks in advance,

Brian

The obvious answer is ISU Standard Rifle matches; latterly women's 3 x 20 and 60 shots prone. These were removed form the rulebook on 1st Jan 1997, yes when the UIT becmae the ISSF, but I don't think the two were directly linked.

The smallbore Standard Rifle came about in the 1960s, as an attempt to widen participation in target shooting by offering a lower cost no-frills rifle compared to the tradtional Free Rifle (think Anschutz Supermatch). Rules for the Standard rifle required a conventional rifle, no thumbhole grips, no palm rests for standing, no butt hooks, and no spirit levels in the sights. Trigger weight wasn't limited, but set triggers (then popular on Free Rifles) were not allowed. The smallbore Standard rifle derived from the ISU "Army Rifle" 300m full-bore match, shot with the competitors' national service riflle. By the 1960s with many countries switching to self-loading rifles, the ISU set up rules for competitors to provide their own rifles, but the specifications were heavily restricted in keeping with the service rifle tradition. These restrictions were passed onto the .22 Standard Rifle, and also to 10m air rifle.

Early Standard rifles were pretty basic, but were more developed by the '80s and '90s Standard rifles, with manufacturers tryying to give the best possible fit under the rules; grips were more upright, and a removeable cheekpiece was allowed. These could be raised with wedges, but only before a match, not between positions.

When the rules were drawn up for women only matches in the 1980s, women were lumped with the Standard Rifle. By the 1990s there was a movement for women to enjoy the same rules as men. So the 1997 rule book replaced the women's Standard Rifle Match with the Women's Sport Rifle Match; the Sport Rilfe rules are identical to the Free Rifle rules used by men, except for a lower 6.5Kg limit.

In contrast Free Rifles (both smallbore and 300m fullbore) were developed as purely civilian target rifles, so were not restricted, hence were called Free. There was an overall weight limit, and a maximum calibre (for 300m full-bore), and certain size limits to the butthook. But set triggers, tube sights, palmrests were all OK. Current ISSF 50m rifle rules derive from the Free Rifle.

Tim S wrote:These were removed form the rulebook on 1st Jan 1997, yes when the UIT becmae the ISSF, but I don't think the two were directly linked.

Hating (or not) to be pedantic, the name change from UIT to ISSF (or their longer versions) was actually 15th July 1998.

That is the history lesson I was looking for. Thank you!

It is amazing how many different rifle weight and trigger weight requirements there have been and how they continue to evolve, both in Europe and North America. There are so many different rifle sports it is hard to keep up.