Shooting Rules
The United States Highpower Shooting Association follows NRA rules.
The following are rule changes specific to USHPSA:
Distinguished Rifleman program (change)
This is explained on following web page
F-Practical Rifle(NEW)- See New Courses of Fire
AR-Tactical Long Range (NEW)- See New Courses of Fire
100yd Prone (New)- See New Courses of Fire
AR Tactical Mid Range
Trigger must be 3lb or heavier.
Reason: The majority/all of the after market triggers that people will install are in the 3lb. range. Since this is an attempt to attract the AR-Tactical crowd it makes no sense to enforce a trigger rule that is not what they shoot.
M1A and M1 Garand are permitted
Reason: This discipline is essentially scoped service rifle from a bipiod. WIth that in mind the other 2 service rifles are permitted.
Single shot followers are permitted
Reason Per slow fire rules this is shot single round fed. With that in mind there is do advantage to dumping a round on a magazine vs. using a single shot follower.
Variable scopes up to 16X are permitted
Reason Most comercial scopes that go up to 15x are variable power and the maximum magnification is 16X. The extra 1x power does not give the shooter any advantage and allows shooters more flexibility in finding scopes commercially available.
F-class
Carpet Rule- There is no carpet rule. Untill a gauge can be invented to measure nap and trackability of carpet we will not judge your carpet.
Roller Rule- As per the survey conducted amongst USHPSA member shooters any type of front rest is permitted as this is what the shooters wanted.
Disabled/Backup RIfles
If during a match a shooters rifle becomes disabled a shooter may switch to a backup rifle if they deem they can not repair and get their primary rifle working safely. If they do the following apply
- Does not have to be of the same type (I.e. semi or bolt action)
- Does not have to be of the same caliber
- Shooter will be allowed the same sighters as was given for that match
- Score for that match from when the backup rifle was used will count towards the aggregate.
- The primary rifle will be ineligible for the remainder of the day.
- For across the course the rifle must be able of shooting rapids. Example you can not pull out a single shot prone rifle for 600yd slow fire.
Reason- A rifle malfunction is no fault of the shooter. If a shooter has a second rifle they should be allowed to continue competing regardless of the type/cartridge of the backup rifle.
Electronic Targets
1.1 Dropped shots (slow fire)- If a shooter fires a shot and it is not recorded. They will note it on their score card. The shooter will fire a replacement shot and that will be recorded. The shooter will then continue with shots for record fire. When match officials get time they will look for the missing shot. IF the missing shot is found that will be the recorded shot value of record. If it isn't then the replacement shot will be used.
1.2 Dropped shots (rapid fire)- If you dropped one (1) shot, the shooter will have a choice of either accepting the lowest shot value of the recorded shot or firing an alibis string and taking the low value of the string. If you drop two (2) or more shots the shooter will refire the string and none of the previously fired shots will be scored. When match officials get time they will look for the missing shots. IF the missing shots are found they will be the recorded shot value of record. If it isn't then the refire string will be used.
1.3 Challenged shots- The electronic target is the final arbiter of the shot. If you feel you have an issue with your target as in it has shown as asterisks or indicating a possible error by some means mark the questionable shot and take an extra shot and notify match officials at the end of your string. If you have multiple questionable shots in a string of fire, do not finish your string of fire as that will be considered accepting the conditions. Stop firing and find a match official. The items that will be checked will include but not limited to cone angle, sensor timings, sensor error flags, readings of shots on your target as recorded by adjacent targets, etc. If the challenger is a match official, he/she may not be part of the decision on the challenge. The "official" may be a single person or the "jury" for the match. If the shot is found to be correct as marked the challenger will pay an amount established by the match director.
Reason: Electronic targets are not perfect, they do make mistakes, they will miss a shot. A shooter should not be penalized because of an error by the electronic target. Some targets have methods of figuring out if the target is in error and a shooter should be entitled to have those methods used.
2. Witness Targets- There are no witness targets for state or regional matches, if you challenge you are challenging against the electronic target which is the arbiter of all shots.
3. Target Calibration- The acoustical target DOES NOT have to be calibrated perfectly with the aiming target. Clubs ARE PERMITTED to use offsets so long as they inform shooter what the offset is.
Reason: At some distances it may be advantageous for the match director to use an offset to preserve the center of the target for aiming purposes. Or because of range issues they may want to adjust where the impact is.
4. Switching targets- If a shooter has to switch targets during a match with limited sighters they are allowed a calibration shot to compensate for any differences in calibration between the two targets.
Infiltration may be used in State and Regional Competition
Reason: Gives match directors some flexibility due to restriction and events that are out of their control
Pair firing may be used in State and Regional Competition
Reason: Gives flexibility to the club for the type of matches they want to hold.
Match officials may compete in competition
Reason: As time has gone on many clubs no longer have the luxury of large numbers of shooters and members who will volunteer to serve in non-firing roles. This penalizes many clubs from holding regional or state championship matches in that they can not find people to serve as non-firing volunteers. This also penalizes smaller clubs who may have to sacrifice people on a firing line to serve in non-firing roles.
Tents are allowed on the entire firing line
Reason: As time has Match directors have the right to allow their competitors to be as comfortable as possible. So long as it applies to all competitors.
Jury
A jury shall be used in all matches and shall have the following standards
1. May not be made up of any match officials
2. May not be assigned members by match officials
3. Must be randomly drawn from all competitors
4. If a situation involves a jury member or a jury member chooses to recuse themselves from dealing with a situation an alternate will be randomly chosen.
4. Matches of 24 or less will have a jury of 3. Matches of 25 or more will have a jury of 5.
5. Will be informed of the rule/situation by match official(s), will here the challenge/complaint. There decision will be final.
Reason: A jury should be impartial and should represent the field. Hand picked juries by match directors typically will do what the match director wants. This is not an impartial process for those bringing issues to the jury. Impartiality and looking at both sides of the issue are of utmost importance and fairness for all parties involved for situations reaching a jury.
