TargetTalk

Hello.

I’m thinking of getting into competitive precision rifle. I used to shoot JROTC 3P competitions in high school, many years ago, and have been staring at the Crossman Challenger as a good gateway option for just at home training, see if I’m serious, etc. The Air Arms S400 MPR caught my attention, though.

I’d noticed the S400 has a Biathalon version that accepts 5 round magazines and uses a straight back bolt action like those found in biathlon. Are these legal in 10m air rifle competitions in the US? I know they aren’t going to be ISSF legal, but frankly there isn’t much of that in southern CA. NRA rules don’t seem to prohibit a repeating action. If it’s usable, it might make for a fun option for more dynamic shooting, but I won’t waste money on it if it’s going to freeze me out of competition until I drop another sum of money on a proper 10m rifle.

You can find rule books here: https://competitions.nra.org/competitio ... ule-books/

I couldn't see a rule specifically disallowing a magazine. However, 3.21 would effectively prohibit a fixed magazine, as you need access to the breech for the Clear Barrel Indicator*.

*Love the misplaced apostrophe in the rulebook.

I don't know about NRA rules, as they don't seem interested in using the same rules as the rest of the world. However, the ISSF Air Rifle rule "7.4.1.1 Single Loader Rifles. Only single shot rifles that must be manually loaded before each shot may be used..." would seem to prohibit loading a magazine with more than one round into the gun. I know that the Steyr LP5 had a magazine available that only could hold one pellet. I don't know if you used a magazine that was capable of holding more than one pellet, but only inserted one each time, if that would be legal or not. My thought is that as long as you only have one pellet in a magazine, you would meet the rule.