I might be able to understand that in the "old days", bolt action pistols were more accurate than other actions. It was difficult to determine if the accuracy was strictly the action or the components, probably the barrel.
With modern barrels and actions, are bolts really intrinsically that much more accurate than ALL other actions that they are excluded from Production class? Are BF and MOA really at that much of a disadvantage in accuracy to bolts that XP and similar need to be forced into Unlimited class?
I was just wondering to understand if the rules might need to be re-evaluated.

Check world championship results. Production- 6 scores of 78 or more. Unlimited- 16 scores. That's why.

It is mostly a matter of the sight radius for the difference in the number of high scores that Rich mentioned.
One big problem is that the only bolt action I know of sold in this country was the XP-100 in 221 Fireball which was allowed in Production for many years. If bolt action guns are not factory available with a 10 3/4 or less barrel, they just do not qualify for Production.

Joe

Remington came out with an xp 100 in 7br that HAD a 10 3/4" barrel for production. IHMSA had a FIT! No way, they said! Remington quit production of ALL xp's shortly thereafter. Sometimes IHMSA was its own worst enemy. It didn't keep them from accepting a very expensive custom made revolver that overnight put Ruger out of production revolver class. Guess it just depended on whose ox was getting gored, huh?

And before all the Freedom Arms boys get on my case, ANY gun that you have to WAIT 6 months to a year to recieve is NOT a production item if IHMSA rules are interpreted strictly.

I can go into ANY major gun store and if they don't have a Ruger .44 mag with the 10.5" barrel, they can have me one there within DAYS, not 6 months or a YEAR! Now that is a production revolver!

LOCKHART wrote:And before all the Freedom Arms boys get on my case, ANY gun that you have to WAIT 6 months to a year to recieve is NOT a production item if IHMSA rules are interpreted strictly.

Speaking of own worst enemy, not only the wait but a new one is the price of 2 nice unlimited guns!!

I just looked at Freedom's web site and they have exactly NO revolvers in stock for silhouette shooting. Imagine THAT! lol!

LOCKHART wrote:It didn't keep them from accepting a very expensive custom made revolver that overnight put Ruger out of production revolver class. Guess it just depended on whose ox was getting gored, huh?

Uhhh....I don't recall it happening that way. The Dan Wesson was within the price cap, and a lot of us just had to have the latest & greatest in 357 Supermag. Smith & Wesson campaigned a revolver with an adjustable front sight. IHMSA shooters begged Ruger to add a "Target" option with Bomar rear, Ruger declined. All they had to do was list it in the catalog and let consumers order the sight. I went to Bowen sights on my Ruger revolver when we started allowing aftermarket sights, but not until I bought & sold a DW. IHMSA bumped the scores needed to get into International class from 36 to 38 in Prod & Rev because the new sights led to improved scores. That means the old (inferior) production sights were preventing shooters from reaching their personal capability.

The sport has evolved in the last 25 years. Personally, I vote not to continue a dialogue that puts us on a path of blaming the votes at annual business meetings (decades ago) for what we think is wrong with our sport. The overwhelming majority voted in favor of aftermarket sights, eliminating the price cap, scopes on guns, etc. The lack of bolt guns in production class is not what led Remington to discontinue the XP100. Let's move on.

The sport is on life support, and barely hanging on! I remember an issue of The Silhouette where Elgin Gates railed about Freedom Arms wanting their revolver approved for IHMSA, and Gates stated this overpriced revolver would never be approved as long as he was alive! Well, not too many months after he passed it WAS approved. I had a Dan Wesson in .357 max, and one of the 10 5/8's Smiths, too. The Smith was a joke! They would shoot loose within a year. If Gates had not died, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.