women shooters?
At my last competition, my wife came with me. Some of the members were discussing her shooting as well. She has a smaller frame and has difficulty holding my rifle. My first thought was to build a rifle using rock rivers entry stock, which looks like a a2 buttstock, but is much shorter, and use a 16" barrel.
My question is, would this be legal? I looked thru the rules, and it seemed not very specific.
What are your guys thoughts on this?
RRA entry stock
It won't be legal for SR
It would put her in MR, but so what - she can still shoot. It's only an issue if she wants to go distinguished,and certainly a non-issue for club matches.
All,
From the 2011 CMP rulebook (2012's has yet to be published):
6.2.3 U.S. Rifle, Caliber 5.56mm, M16, subparagraph (10)
The M16A1 rifle (short) butt stock or pistol grip or the commercial equivalents. A fixed-length aftermarket stock that reduces the length of pull to no less than 10 inches may also be installed on an M16A2 or M16A4 rifle or a commercial equivalent rifle. Any aftermarket stock must have the same external characteristics as the A2 or A1 stocks except for the shorter length. (Emphasis mine - Asa) Collapsible stocks of the type used on M16 M4/M4A1 Carbines are not permitted. The same butt-stock must be used for all stages of a competition.
Ruling:
Legal.
The 16" barrel is another issue entirely. Have you considered building a Service Rifle legal AR-15 with an entry buttstock and a service weight (M16A2 profile) barrel? The thinner barrel reduces weight, while keeping the longer sight radius of the full sized rifle.
I have seen girls in their teens and early twenties with slim frames take first place or at least top ten using a standard A2 rifle. If you take the time to balance the rifle for her shooting stance and she takes the time to practice with it, I would not worry about a shorter stock. Practice changes everything.
So my next question is who makes a good quality barrel 20" that is very light. Any suggestions. After some research, I found out that the a1 stock is an 1" shorter than the a2, and the A1 is legal. Maybe these two things would be a good start for her.
Sir,
I would recommend a quality barrel. A WOA, CLE, or Krieger. The profile I similar and if you don't use hand guard weights it should not be much heavier. Good Luck. I hope to see you on the line.
Erik
I just got back from the first match at my club this year. Every year, we have a class for new shooters and on the first relay, more experienced shooters help the new shooters go through the course of fire.
This year I helped a young man who was probably 14 or so and 85 pounds (if that). His sister was shooting right next to him and she was even smaller.
They both did well with standard A2s.
My oldest is 6, so he's a few years from shooting High Power. When he's ready, I figure I'll put together an A2 upper with a free float tube (the kind that fits under A2 hand guards), but with a standard profile barrel. Naturally, we'll get a good rear sight. Without the 3.5 pounds of lead in the stock or a heavy barrel, rifle weight should be right around 10 pounds.
Regards,
-Drew
