Need PH Topic

[260 Striker]

I would respectfully suggest to the Forum Administrator to add a Practical Hunter Topic under the Firearms section on this forum. Seems like PH is taking hold and deserves it own category on this forum. Just a suggestion. I personally have not shot PH yet but would like to give the short course a go with my Taurus 44 Mag. Maybe next year!!!!

[braud357]

Lynn, I was initially against Practical Hunter - I felt that we already had classes to accommodate these kinds of guns. Several years ago - I came to the sad conclusion that I could no longer be competitive with open-sights because of diminished eyesight. I was looking for some other avenue to pursue, and decided to set up a gun for PHSC. It led me to purchase a MGM 22 Hornet TC barrel, which is easily the most accurate handgun I have ever owned ! Our club in Louisiana has several active competitors in PH - both Short Course and in .22. A dedicated topic heading for discussion would be a good thing !

[35isit]

I too would think it is a good idea. There could be several things to discuss about. Since I came across a 25-20 barrel to build a dedicated PH short course gun I have several questions.

1) What type of scope is best? eg 3x9 variable or a 6x straight for shooting flop.

2) I have modified the grip on my gun to shoot flop. Rules state guns must be as manufactured with only cosmetic modifications. I have modified the grip to fit my hand. Is that a no-no? I know many Chargers and Anschutz are being used. Have they had their grips modified? As I see it, it is not Unlimited and it is not Production. With my guns and a suitable rest I could harvest deer, squirrel, coyote or about anything. That's what the category was designed to simulate.

[260 Striker]

Greg, You bring up an interesting topic. How many "hunter" type pistols would have their grips shortened so the "hunter" could shoot in a flop position????? The original intent of PH was to allow "practical hunter" pistols to shoot on our ranges. Now should IHMSA require a "hunter pistol" be modified to IHMSA standards, i.e. short grip for flop, or allow a PH shooter to shoot in the flop position with a regular grip pistol? We are bastardizing the intent of PH if we start throwing a lot of IHMSA specific rules at those guns. Just like my pet peeve where we cannot use a gun with porting in regular IHMSA classes but allow them in PH. To keep PH "pure" so to speak, then allow a standard hunter type pistol to be shot in a flop position with no modifications to the grip. Then you would truly be using a gun that the shooter may actually use for hunting. The whole concept of PH was to entice people who have hunting pistols to try our sport. Should we now tell those people you have to modify your hunting handgun just to compete in our PH classes? We are on a slippery slope here. I appreciate your modifying the grip on your gun to shoot flop since you already know the current rules about grounding the grip on the shooting mat. Real hunters are going to take any opportunity to make their guns as steady as possible to take a humane shot. Oh well, this won't go very far anyway.

[Richard Pickering]

Lynn, and interested others; Yes, the Forum needs a P H section.
Secondly, lets adopt P H as a ''Non Competition'' event. If that is done all of the ''What is legal'' debates go away. We dont care how you configured it. It is yours, you like it, you want to shoot it. That is all we need to know. (Obviously we want people to bring something that is Legal with respect to NFA or our basic rules on target damage, etc. )
I have probably over-simplified.
One more thing-----If your P H entry is your IHMSA UAS or other IHMSA entry, you must shoot the IHMSA entry prior to the P H entry.
Richard

[JACKIE40X40]

I too would think it is a good idea. There could be several things to discuss about. Since I came across a 25-20 barrel to build a dedicated PH short course gun I have several questions.

1) What type of scope is best? eg 3x9 variable or a 6x straight for shooting flop.

2) I have modified the grip on my gun to shoot flop. Rules state guns must be as manufactured with only cosmetic modifications. I have modified the grip to fit my hand. Is that a no-no? I know many Chargers and Anschutz are being used. Have they had their grips modified? As I see it, it is not Unlimited and it is not Production. With my guns and a suitable rest I could harvest deer, squirrel, coyote or about anything. That's what the category was designed to simulate.

Greg as per Dell Taylor: “You can do whatever you want.As far as the stocks go,as it’s an unlimited category.
As long as it’s not illegal in unlimited,it is legal in PH”.......Dell.

[260 Striker]

I'm sure that all local MDs are not going to give a darn about the rules if some shooter wants to use a true NFA legal firearm in any PH class. They can ground the butt of the gun on the ground too without being disqualified. The rules committee should have thought out the rules for PH guns in the first place. These classes are really meant for shooters (hopefully new shooters) to bring any gun that is legal for hunting in their home states and shoot courses of fire on our metal silhouette targets as means to practice for real hunting. Even the 6X scope rule is comical when you think some hunters use higher power scopes in real hunting situations. So far many of the PH entries are being shot by existing IHMSA members as a means to shoot another gun outside of the established IHMSA categories/classes. I agree about having limits on cartridges to prevent target damage but beyond that is should be a true "shoot what you brung" category. As mentioned above, local MDs will probably allow ANY gun/scope so they can collect another entry fee at a match. Too bad PH didn't really turn into what the real intentions were when originally proposed.

Back to my original comment. We need a new PH topic on this forum.

[borregos]

Lynn, and interested others; Yes, the Forum needs a P H section.
Secondly, lets adopt P H as a ''Non Competition'' event. If that is done all of the ''What is legal'' debates go away. We dont care how you configured it. It is yours, you like it, you want to shoot it. That is all we need to know. (Obviously we want people to bring something that is Legal with respect to NFA or our basic rules on target damage, etc. )
I have probably over-simplified.
One more thing-----If your P H entry is your IHMSA UAS or other IHMSA entry, you must shoot the IHMSA entry prior to the P H entry.
Richard

I totally agree Richard, especially adopting it as a "Non Competition" event!

[braud357]

I respectfully disagree with the idea of making it a "non competition" category. This may dissuade some from competing in the category. keep it simple - "run what you brung" - if it makes weight and barrel length restrictions - allow it ! The rules as published are very confusing and somewhat vague. Picture an imaginary "box" like NRA used to use to certify guns - if it fits "the box" - it is legal !! To be sure, some guns will be more successful than others, but as a point of example I will mention one of our shooters here in Louisiana. Ellis Sisk is using a FA 97 6" .22 LR revolver in PH .22 - He uses a 4X scope and "Kentucky" elevation. Not the typical silhouette gun, but he has shot many scores of 39x40 and a couple of 40x40 scores. He is shooting this not because it makes a great competition gun, but rather shoots it because it is what he has - isn't this why the category was introduced, so shooters can utilize guns that they already have ?

[35isit]

I agree with everyone. No debate was intended. I asked the question about grips because I read the rule as published on the website before posting. I will paraphrase. It basically said gun to be as manufactured with on only cosmetic changes. Just wanted to be sure. Didn't want to build a gun I couldn't shoot at a match.

Many have been around longer than me. When I started .22 was relatively new. It was designed for women and children to have something to shoot while the men shot the real targets. Yeah right. Everyone looking for a better .22. Buying Calfee XP conversions. Bill Brown from Pa. built some great custom barrels. Buying 4,5,6 or more Ruger, Smith and Wesson revolvers until you found one that would get you into the mid to upper 30s. When I started Kyle Reagan was the only Int revolver shooter in Ky. He had the only revolver at the time that would hit them. Probably cost $189.00 at the time I'm guessing. Now a guy decides he wants a .22 revolver he buys a $2000.00 plus Freedom Arms.

We started Field Pistol. Same thing. Get that guy who has a ten inched barrel in a straight wall case. Or he can shoot it with a revolver or semi-auto. He can come out and shoot with out too much equipment. He can go iron sights or scoped. He can take that gun and shoot with us on the weekend and go kill a squirrel or whatever the next with it. But what did we do? We have 10-24x scopes on 3 inch high rise mounts on them.

My rambling point is that of the first 5 of us to post on this topic. We all have been around for about 35 years each. Our ulterior motive is not so much to go to a match and beat each other. But rather to go and have a good time. Shooting more guns and hitting more targets equals more fun. As Will Curlin said "no one quits coming because they hit too many targets".

When we add these new disciplines. Some older shooters take to them right away. For some with failing eyesight this is actually a Godsend. It allowed some who had guns that fell within the guidelines to use them. or some built dedicated guns.