Rules and Regulations

All participants are expected to read, understand, and abide by all rules.

1. Safety

  1. Safety is the first and most important rule. All shooters will follow all safety rules and procedures at all times.
  2. An empty chamber indicator must be installed at all times, even when the rifle is bagged, except the period between the Range Officers “commence firing” command until the shooter fires the last shot or the Range Officer issues the “Cease Fire” command. Afterwards an empty chamber indicator must be installed before moving the rifle form the firing line. If you do not have an empty chamber indicator, you will have to buy one from the event organisers the morning of the shoot.
  3. Rifles must remain in their bags or cases at all times and may only be un-bagged at the firing line. Rifles must be left in their bags or cases between stages. No exceptions for participants will be allowed and no rifles outside their bags or cases at any other times. Participants not adhering to this safety rule may be disqualified from the event with no refund. Due to the nature of the shooting sport and the dependence on sponsors/exhibitors, special concession may be considered for paid up sponsors and exhibitors, in these cases the primary range and safety officer will declare a rifle safe and ensure that the bolt is removed completely from the rifle and chamber flag fitted, such a concession will only be valid whilst the cleared rifle forms part of the sponsor/exhibitors stand or exhibit. Said rifle may not leave the exhibit while unbagged regardless of it being declared safe.
  4. In the event of an Emergency Cease Fire, all rifles must be made safe by inserting an empty chamber indicator and the shooter must then back away from the firing point.
  5. All junior shooters under the age of 18 must be supervised by an adult which must be the valid licence holder of the firearm being used by junior shooter, if applicable, at all times without exception.
  6. All shooters and spectators should have and use eye and ear protection. This is each person’s individual responsibility.
  7. Shooters may only fire at the distance in use during the current relay.
  8. No drugs or alcohol allowed on the premises during shoot.

2. General Equipment regulations

  1. There is no weight limit on any rifle or attachments.
  2. Maximum calibre of .30 allowed on the LR Varmint class and .338 on the LR Hunters class.
  3. There is no minimum calibre.
  4. Muzzle breaks and suppressors/silencers are permitted.
  5. Scope levelling and anti-cant devices are permitted.
  6. Bipods and sandbags (front and/or rear) are permitted. No bench rest style fronts rests or one-piece rests are permitted. Only bipods that attach to the rifle stock are permitted.
  7. No limits on optics. Binoculars and Spotting scopes are allowed.
  8. Range finding devices are allowed.
  9. Weather stations (e.g. Kestrel) are allowed. The use of wind direction indicators are allowed on the firing point, but setup of such devices will be only be allowed once the time limit starts for a relay.
  10. Ballistic calculators and dope sheets are permitted.
  11. No semi-automatic or automatic rifles are permitted.
  12. All shooters will provide and wear ear and eye protection at all relevant times during the shoot.

3. Course of Fire

LR Hunters Class

  1. CBC and Stage 1: 30 minutes for 1 shot per shooter on the Springbuck cut-out on 1000m and then to fire 5 shots per shooter per target for score at 1000m and 900m distances. No sighter shots allowed. Each shooter per team must fire 5 shots at each of the two targets for a total of 20 scoring shots for the team.
  2. A 10minute break will be observed between each stage to rotate in the next relay
  3. Stage 2: 30 minutes to fire 5 shots per shooter per target for score at 700m, 600m and 400m distances. No sighter shots allowed. Each shooter per team must fire 5 shots at each of the two targets for a total of 30 scoring shots for the team.
  4. Any shooter that takes an obvious sighter shot at the scoring distances will be disqualified from that particular stage. Only 5 shots per shooter per target are allowed and all 5 will be regarded as scoring shots.
  5. No benches or other modified equipment that alters the shooting position, other than a standard shooting mat, may be utilized.
  6. Please note time limits per stage will be strictly enforced.
  7. Athletes have to finish a league match with the same rifle that the match has been started with, in the event that a rifle fails or has become unsafe to operate in the opinion of a range officer, a rifle may be switched out for another rifle in order to complete the match but the score obtained on that day will NOT be considered in calculation of event or series ranking.

LR Varmint Class

  1. CBC and Stage 1: 30 minutes for 1 shot per shooter on the Jackal front half cut-out on 700m and then 5 shots per target on 700m and 600m. No sighter shots allowed.
  2. A 10minute break will be observed between each stage.
  3. Stage 2: 30 minutes for 5 shots on 500m, 5 shots on 400m and 5 shots on 300m. No sighter shots allowed.
  4. Any shooter that takes an obvious sighter shot at the scoring distances will be disqualified from that particular stage. Only 5 shots per shooter per target are allowed and all 5 will be regarded as scoring shots.
  5. No benches or other modified equipment that alters the shooting position, other than a standard shooting mat, may be utilized.
  6. Please note time limits per stage will be strictly enforced.
  7. Athletes have to finish a league match with the same rifle that the match has been started with, in the event that a rifle fails or has become unsafe to operate in the opinion of a range officer, a rifle may be switched out for another rifle in order to complete the match but the score obtained on that day will NOT be considered in calculation of event or series ranking.

4. General Rules

Targets:

  1. Hunters:
    400m 1.25MOA Round. 600m 1.15MOA Round. 700M 1.4MOA Springbuck. 900m 1.6MOA Round. 1000m 1.7MOA Square. First hit will score 5 points, the second 4 points, the third 3 points, the fourth 2 points and the fifth 1 point. A miss will count 0 points
  2. Varmint:
    The 300m, 400m, 500m and 600m targets are square and all 1.7MOA. The 700m Jackal cut out is 1.5MOA. First hit will score 5 points, the second 4 points, the third 3 points, the fourth 2 points and the fifth 1 point. A miss will count 0 points.
  3. No zeroing of rifles is allowed on the day of the shoot. Shooters competing are required to zero their rifles before attending the shoot.
  4. Scoring:
    1. Scoring will be done by the team/shooter next to you. No team or shooter is allowed to score themselves.
    2. On the 1000m, 900m and 700m gongs, strike indicators will be placed to assist in the spotting of hits or misses. The person scoring, will spot and call the hits or misses and the scorer’s decision is final.
    3. Scoring will be done during each stage and the final results will be announced after completion of the event. The Scorer’s decision is final, however no one is perfect and any legitimate complaints will be noticed, and will be reviewed by at least 2 of the Exco members.
    4. Cease Fire Command: Any shooter that fires after the Cease Fire Command is given by the Range Officer will be automatically disqualified from the event with no refund.
    5. Spotting/Coaching by team member: This is only permitted amongst team members. No ballistic data regarding wind, mirage or any other factors, may be shared amongst other shooters for the complete duration of the event. Transgression of this rule will result in immediate disqualification from the event with no refund. If any extra shots are on the scoring area of the target other than the normal scoring shots, the worst scoring shots will count for score.
    6. Coaching of Minors and new shooters: ALRHA promotes transfer of knowledge to novice shooters regardless of age. There are however shooters new to ALRHA and/or minors that are very proficient in precision shooting who compete and obtain similar results as experienced long range shooters. In light of this coaching of any person is allowed only with prior declaration to the range officer and marked accordingly on the score sheet. Shooters who receive coaching of any nature will NOT be considered for prizes in the event nor combined annual league results. There are 5 league matches in 2023, any shooter who wishes to participate in the event/series prize tables will have to shoot a minimum of 3 league events un-supervised/coached. The scores obtained in coached matches will not be considered for accumulation towards total series score nor for the specific league match. Coaching includes assistance with wind/elevation calls, turret adjustments, chambering and unloading of ammunition or any act that would normally be performed by a proficient shooter. Assistance in setting up of related to coaching will be considered on its merit as made by the shooter prior to the match start.
    7. There will be no penalty for cross-shooting on another target as long as it is announced at time of mistake and both parties agree as to which shot was wrong on target. This rule will be removed from Match 2 2025.
    8. A Shooter must use the same rifle with the same barrel and cartridge for all stages. The only exception is if mechanical failure occurs and a replacement rifle is required in which case the Range Officer and Event Organizers must be notified and such a provision will be the prerogative of the Event Organizers.
    9. No person other than the appointed Exco members and helpers will be allowed to visit and view the gongs during the competition.
    10. Ladies & Juniors may only compete in one field (Juniors / Ladies / Open). This needs to be completed the same for the entire season to be taken into consideration for the year end prize table.
    11. Score cards to be handed in directly after the last relay to the designated Exco member, signed by both teams or fellow varmint shooters. Score cards needs to be completed and tallied up completely. Incomplete score cards and score cards that is not signed or handed in, will not qualify for prizes/certificates.

5. Target and Distance Specifications

  1. The actual distances will be given on the day of the event, but it is the shooter’s responsibility to determine the exact range of the target from his firing position.

6. Cold Bore Challenge (CBC) Hunter-1000m, Varmint-700m

  1. The CBC is the 1st shot of the day. No checking of zero before competing in this Challenge or any other shot on any other distance. ALL Competitors shooting together in the same relay needs to shoot the Cold Bore Challenge before any Hunter / Varmint scoring gongs may be engaged. The Cold Bore Challenge is an individual event and not part of the Hunter / Varmint Class.

7. Registration

  1. All registration fees are non-refundable.
  2. A shooter for the LRH class, must register as part of a 2-man team. Team names as well as the team members must be included in the registration details.
  3. Pre-registration will open for a minimum period of 15 days before the event. These Relays and shooting positions will be allocated randomly using an internet based random number allocator. We will however consider special requests where junior shooters are involved or compelling justification is presented. Registration on the morning of the shoot will be allowed, these registrations will be added to squads subsequent to those determined during pre-registration. For the final league match of the year, the top 3 teams in Hunter and top 3 shots in Varmint will shoot in the 1st relay as to make the race to the “Top Gun” podium position a little more interesting and have conditions the same for these competitors.
  4. All entries, members and non-members (excluding supervised/coached athletes), qualify for prizes and winner certificates, if applicable for the particular event as set out in event registration details. However, only paid up members of ALRHA will be eligible for the Year-end trophies and certificates.

The ALRHA EXCO.