The Northern California Safari Match (originally proposed as the Northern California Bigbore Fest) is scheduled for April 20 and 21, 2001 at the Sacramento Shooting Center in Sloughouse, California.

FOLLOWING ARE THE PROPOSED RULES, I AM OPEN TO COMMENTS ON THE RULES UNTIL JANUARY 18, 2001. THE DATES WERE SET BASED ON WEATHER AND RANGE AVAILABILITY.

Since the spirit of this match centers on rifles traditionally used in Africa, rifles will be restricted to hunting type rifles only. Rifles can have either a scope or iron sights.

There will be three categories and three classes of competition, all shot across the same coarse.

The Categories will be:

Big Bore, .400" diameter bullet with a muzzle energy of at least 3,500 foot-pounds.

Medium Bore, .330" to .399" diameter bullet with a muzzle energy of at least 2,500 foot-pounds.

Small Bore, .240" to .329" diameter bullet with a muzzle energy of at least 1,500 foot-pounds.

A shooter can shoot down but not up a Category, i.e. a shooter with a Big Bore can use it in the Small Bore and Medium Bore Category, but a shooter with a Small Bore can only shoot it in the Small Bore Category.

Classes will be:

Bolt Rifle
Model 95 Lever Action
Double Rifle
Single Shot

A Round of fire will be four strings of three shots each. A string of three shots will be one shot at each of three targets set at 50, 30, and 10 yards. Targets will be eight-inch paper plates on three-foot stakes. Scoring will be based on a combination of time, hits and misses, and muzzle energy of the round used.

A hit at 50 yards is worth 5 points, one at 30 yards is worth 4 points, and a hit at 10 yards is worth 3 points.

One point is taken from the total score for every second over 10 seconds per string, and one point is added for every second under 10 seconds.

To arrive at the total score for the string, the base score plus or minus time points is added up to achieve a raw score. The raw score is multiplied by 1.0 for shooters using a small bore, by 1.15 for shooters using a medium bore, and by 1.3 for shooters using a large bore to arrive at a total score. Therefore a shooter who hits all three targets in a string in 8.4 seconds with a big bore would have a score of 17.68 for that string, ((5 points+4 points+3 points)+(10 seconds-1.6 seconds))x1.3.

No equipment alibis will be allowed, range alibis only. Any shooter or equipment deemed to be unsafe will be disqualified from the competition.

Ties will be broken by a side by side shoot-off.

Judges will check ammunition on a random basis to confirm that it meets minimum energy requirements for the category in question.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three shooters in each class and category, as well as an award for the overall high shooter.

The Small Bore Category will be shot on Saturday morning, Medium Bores Saturday afternoon, and Big Bores Sunday morning.

An awards ceremony will be held on Sunday afternoon.

Entry Fees are $15.00 per Round, $35.00 to shoot three Rounds, and an additional $7.00 for each Round.

Advance Entry Fees are $15.00 per Round, $35.00 to shoot three Rounds, and an additional $7.00 for each Round. Entry fees on the day of the match will be $20.00 per round, $45.00 to shoot three rounds, and $10.00 for each additional round.

100% of Entry Fees are refundable up to two weeks before the match, 50% refund with minimum of 48 hours notice. No refunds without at least 48 hours notice. If the match is cancelled or rescheduled, entrants will receive a full refund of entry fees.

[This message has been edited by loud-n-boomer (edited 01-08-2002).]

Are scopes allowed in this competition? Or is it strictly iron sites? I am very interested, as I only live an hour or so from Sacto. Vally shooting range. I shoot a 264 Win Mag, what kind of reload would I need to achieve the minimum 1500lbs of muzzle energy in the small bore catagory?

Big 17

Any Sights are allowed.

Shoot the hottest load you can, so the rest of us have a chance . Seriously, any factory equivalent load in the .264 will qualify.