TargetTalk

I'm looking for a site (or two) or any online info dealing with wheel chaired shooters.

We have a petit young junior lady that has started shooting. That's the good side. The down side is that we totally lack everything to allow her to shoot on an equal footing. I'm in search of two things...
First, I'm looking for plans for a shootng table.
Second is some guidance for some specific rifle modifications.
As I say, she is a petit yound lady and the smallest club rifle, which is basically a light weight sporter, is still too muzzle heavy for her to use. Somewhere in my memory bank I recall that for 50 foot shooting all a bullet really needs is 14 inches of barrel, the rest is there just for sight radius. Would it be permissible to hack off the barrel to 12 inches or so and fabricate a bloop tube???
Remember, we're not looking to shoot 10's, just give her the ability to point the rifle at a black spot 50 feet away and hit it. She has the desire, we just need to be able to allow her to enjoy shooting.
Thanks in advance

Jim Atkins, Newark DE

Jim: Have you checked with Dave Baskin at NRA? He runs their disabled/wheelchair program and is very good at his job. Do a search for ISCD - the disabled world federation. They have a very good web site and you can get some good info from them.
There is quite a bit of info around, you just have to find it. You are taking the first steps and I hope you get some good ideas.
Later, Don in Oregon

You should contact USA Shooting and ask for how to get ahold of Dan Jordan. He is one of the best wheelchair shooters in the world and would be able to give you ideas on how to get your young lady going. Not only a great shooter, but also a great person.

don't hack ANYTHING shorter than 16"!!!!

(it then becomes an illegal sawed-off)

Poole

put the rifle on sandbags and call it F-class....


Poole

Jim . . . You indicate that your lady shooter has difficulty holding a rifle. I'm presuming that this is in part due to her disability. Petiteness doesn't prevent one from holding a target rifle (the present group of top Chinese lady shooters are some of the smallest women I've seen!), so I'm guessing it's more due to a lack of upper body strength. If so then she is entitled to make use of a spring stand to support the weight of the rifle, without providing her with a deadrest. She is also entitled to use a small tabletop attached to her wheelchair to rest her elbows and/or to secure the spring stand.

As a seriously disabled air rifle shooter myself (I don't have the strength to raise my hand to scratch my nose!) I can tell you that holding a rifle is all about balance rather than the ability to pick up a rifle. I can easily "control" my FWB 600 once my assistant has placed it on the spring stand, at the point of balance. The weight of the rifle becomes irrelevant, it's then all about breathing, trigger control, focus, etc.

The lady's petite stature might call for her to look for a "junior" sized air rifle, as produced by all the top names in target rifles, to allow for a better fit at the shoulder. They have been making junior sized rifles for decades, so you might be able to pick up a good 2nd-hand FWB 300 Jnr, or Anschutz for a good price. I would not suggest cutting down an existing rifle.

You can check out the ISCD website (http://shootonline.tripod.com/). It has downloads of the international rules & regs (including diagrams of the spring stand & table mentioned above), but don't expect to get any replies from them.

Also take a look at Patrick Haynes website "TargetShooting Canada" (http://www.targetshooting.ca/index.html). Patrick is partially disabled himself, and is therefore pretty knowledgeable on these matters. I think Patrick's website also provides downloads of rules, regs, diagrams, etc.

Another website is Mike Johnson's "Shooting 4 Disabled" (www.shooting4disabled.com). Mike is from New Zealand, a paraplegic air rifle shooter, and has taken part in a number of international competitions. Mike's website has photo's of the spring stand (including one of me using it!), wheelchair tables, etc.

Other potential resources include :
http://www.dsusa.org/contacts.htm
http://www.paralympic.org/
http://home.ifriendly.com/~coach/disabled.html

The "High Noon Postal" competition, run on this forum, has provision for disabled air rifle shooters, so when your lady is ready, get her to join us!


Regards, HILTON

Thanks for the input, I've contacted NRA and I'll get those sites that were provided.

Jim

She definitely needs a lightweight rifle because of her condition. I agree with Don and I really believe that you need an advice of a professional. NRA will help you with regards to your problem.

My wheelchair lift

Don wrote:...Do a search for ISCD...

while the ISCD site has a lot of information, it is no longer "the disabled world federation".

The world federation is IPC-Shooting, http://www.ipc-shooting.org/

Hi, I think its better for you to try this,.it may help you a lot, it is cheaper also,.my mother found out this things in the internet and she do a lot of research, canvasing to her friend,.and then when she finally found she is very happy about it,. and then when she bought it,.she's so very happy,.she can now do a lot of things..it is easy to use, efficient mobility and its comfortable,.just try my friend..


motorized wheelchair

A benchrest style table will be suitable-google for information.
I have made a couple.They are not that hard.
Weight of rifle can be taken by a spring stand or adjustable stand.
There are some cheap ones available that are a plastic copy of
benchrest front stands.
When I was trying to make our range disabled friendly I just spent a few hours
surfing with my search engines and it is all out there.

Good Morning Everyone,

My name is Vanessa Ross and I am the Manager of Disabled Shooting Services for the National Rifle Association. (Dave Baskin retired more than three years ago).

There are a number of things that you can do to assist the young lady that you have referred to but I would suggest that first and foremost you contact my office so that I can send you some information about equipment.

Although there are a whole bunch of front rests out there only one is legal for both NRA and IPC competitions - the spring stand referred to in an earlier post - the others are legal for Benchrest and F-class.

I have put together a COMPETITIVE AIR RIFLE ADAPTIVE SHOOTING CLINIC that I have been teaching around the country for two years now. The information that is included covers everything from safety and equipment to the actual shooting positions and IPC classifications.

I can't attach the lesson plan as it is too large.

Please call my office and I will email it to you 703-267-1495.

Yours truly,
Vanessa Ross
Manager, Disabled Shooting Services
National Rifle Association