Field pistol cartridge questions

[SteveJewels]

I shot my first Pistol Silhouette match in probably 20 years yesterday and had a great time. I had forgotton how much I enjoy pistol silhouette.

Met some great people. Bought some stuff I wanted and some I probably don't need. LOL

A few weeks ago I was Googleing for something interesting to shoot and ran across the match at Crittendon, KY. I purchased a smallbore pistol, found a scope in the safe I could use to get started, bought some ammo and shot the match.

I did better than I expected. How do I get a classification?

You may be wondering why I am posting this in the rules sub-forum. It is because I have a rules based questions.

When I was shooting before I had a Contender in 22 Hornet which would be suitable for Field Pistol using a Taco hold. I never really liked the Contender, even though I had two, but I am enamoured with the XP-100. Unfortunately cartridges which are accepted for FP are not great choices for an XP-100's and I am having a hard time figuring out which way to go.

22 Hornet is a great cartridge for FP as far as ballistics but it is a PITA to reload, case life is poor, and that is if you can find cases to begin with, which is a big if and an ongoing problem as Winchester only makes a run once in a while and people hoard them when they are available. It may or may not be possible to get an XP-100 bolt the right size for a Hornet case and getting it to extract is another unknown.

9mm would work bolt wise and should work extraction wise but 100 yard accuracy is a question and the bullets are heavy, short and fat. Might be interesting trying to get a barrel.

380 ACP might work too. Bolt and extraction should not be a problem. 100 yard accuracy and getting a barrel might be.

22 TCM would be excellent! Same bolt face as .223. Same bullet weight and velocities as 22 Hornet so targets will not be damaged. It is legitimately a pistol cartridge although I am not sure it is or would ever be accepted.

Another cartridge that would work mechanically in an XP-100 is 300 Blackout. I have found and read through a few threads on here and elsewhere and I am uncertain if it is legal for IHMSA. It doesn't matter as I will never be competitive for any matches, I shoot because I enjoy it.

So there you have it, two questions;

Is 22 TCM ever going to be accepted for IHMSA? It is essentially the same cartridge as the 22 Hornet but you can actually get brass and it is super easy to reload.

Is 300 Blackout legal/accepted for IHMSA? It would probably even feed from an XP-100 magazine.

[Jimologist]

Im kinda confused what you are asking about.
Are you wondering if an XP-100 is legal for field pistol? If that is the question then no. An XP-100 in any caliber is not legal in field pistol. A bolt action pistol is only legal in unlimited Big bore or unlimited small bore.

[SteveJewels]

Thanks for the quick reply Jim.

Darn new guy trying to figure out the rules. LOL I appreciate your help.

Can you point me to the section in the rule book that tells you what types of pistols are and are not allowed for Field Pistol please?

[nutcase]

first, The rules for field pistol handguns fall under section VI, part 1 for Production handguns.

The cartridges fall under Section VII, Part 3.
any tapered or bottleneck cartridge requires approval by the rules committee and Board before they are allowed.

Now, about 3 or 4 years ago, the 300 Whisper/300 Blackout were voted on and allowed for field pistol with 2 stipulations: They must not cause target damage and it is up to Match directors discretion to allow it. For some reason, it never made it into the rule book. Factory 300 Blackout ammo will most definitely cause target damage!

as for 22 TCM, it is too new of a cartridge and nobody has ever submitted it for approval in field pistol.

The only place a bolt action pistol is allowed is any unlimited category (Big bore or small bore), Air pistol production and Practical Hunter (as the rules are presently written).

and Last, somebody had an Anshutz Exemplar in 22 hornet. both the Anshutz exemplar in 22WMR and 22 hornet are allowed for use in Practical Hunter short course as long as they have a 10" barrel.

[SteveJewels]

Hey Dan,

Nice to meet you sir. Thanks for getting back to me and for the detailed explanation.

Ok, so the rule book for FP/Production says;

1. Production
a. A pistol or revolver that is or was a manufacture’s catalog product and is or was readily available to the general public.

Anschutz made an Exemplar pistol, factory chambered in 22 Hornet. The cartridge is on the approved list for FP, the Exemplar is a pistol and was available to the general public.

That meets all the rules.

[nutcase]

Hey Dan,

Nice to meet you sir. Thanks for getting back to me and for the detailed explanation.

Ok, so the rule book for FP/Production says;

1. Production
a. A pistol or revolver that is or was a manufacture’s catalog product and is or was readily available to the general public.

Anschutz made an Exemplar pistol, factory chambered in 22 Hornet. The cartridge is on the approved list for FP, the Exemplar is a pistol and was available to the general public.

That meets all the rules.

The exemplar made all rules Except these 2:

e. Overall length shall not exceed 18 inches (mine is 19" long)

r. Bolt action handguns are allowed for Air Pistol Production
handguns only.

and these 2 are why it is not a production gun.

BUT, the Exemplar does meet the rules for Practical Hunter which is different.

[SteveJewels]

You're good sir. Most people have to actually meet me before that hate me. LOL


So a bolt action pistol which is more than 18" long is ok for Practical Hunter?

[nutcase]

You're good sir. Most people have to actually meet me before that hate me. LOL


So a bolt action pistol which is more than 18" long is ok for Practical Hunter?

yes, it is fine. These are all the requirements for a practical hunter handgun:

3. Practical Hunter
i. Any hunting style handgun with a maximum length of 21 inches
ii. Optics are allowed up to a maximum of 6x power. The use of
higher variable power scopes will be allowed, but they must not
be used over 6x during the course of fire. The use of fixed
power scopes over 6x is not allowed.
iii. Guns must be as manufactured with only cosmetic
modifications.
iv. Ported barrels are allowed as long as they are shot from a SAFE
position.
v. A rest such as a bipod or a sandbag supporting the barrel in the
prone position may be used by an unclassified shooter and by
shooters in classes A and AA. Allow Artificial support in practical
hunter for shooters up to 12th birthday at non-championship
matches

[aggshooter]

So a bolt action pistol which is more than 18" long is ok for Practical Hunter?

No criticism toward anyone...but this is where a simple question gets a simple answer and suddenly someone interprets the simple answer as the rule when it is not.

The simple answer to your question is yes. But that simple answer is not 100% correct because it allows you to interpret it as allowing 18-25 inch guns.

The correct answer is that the maximum length is 21 inches and IIRC this was mentioned upthread. This may sound like nitpicking semantics, but this is exactly how the PH rule "Guns must be as manufactured except for cosmetic modifications" got turned into "Unlimited 6x" and the ensuing fiasco.

Good on nutcase for including the entire rule(s) in his post.