Well it IS a sport....it just doesn't cookie cutter copy the big gun format to a T. Its understandable if you don't feel its worth your time. But its still a sport. And there are in fact skills you will inevitably learn that carry over. Your throwing away the baby with the bath water here.
/// I'm not throwing away anything. I'm saying it isn't a useful competition FOR ME, if they minimize all the competitive test bed aspects. It becomes a weekend diversion, not a useful aspect of MY sporting life. ///
Once you see you don't qualify...you should be making changes to gear chosen prior to purchase or going whole hog within your financial ability. I personally run a rifle that was $35 when new with a $950 optic. Being discontinued....I'm Open Class. You know what I do? I go kick ass with it or look for better equipment....cuz I'm Open Class now. I am not a novice so it doesn't matter. And I would wager to say that anyone smart enough to do proper due diligence to buy stuff that is border lining the rule so tightly that you fail to pass and are getting upset...your probably not truly a novice either. And lets not forget you still have MD discretion that could still allow you to keep your rifle in base if you truly are a novice. Novices simply don't have the experience to think this far through typically.
///When I bought my gear, it did qualify. My irritation is over rule changes (that aren't really rule changes) which eliminate gear I've already purchased when it was allowed, and a month later it gets the ban hammer. As you say, it makes my choices either buy new, different gear, and hope they don't decide that it's not appropriate next month, or go whole hog in Open class. Which is what I've done, since I can't run base. And as far as "Novices don't think things through this thoroughly", well, I do. I have never shot any competition prior to this year, and an unofficial NRL22 match was the first I ever shot. I hadn't done any shooting, aside from an occaional rental range trip, since I left the Marines 20 years ago.///
Except the paper stages....having a super tack driver is an obvious benefit. And coincidentally, they are usually the stages that truly determine the match winner when the top tier shooters in their respective division are all shooting 85% (8 or 9 hits out of 10 on a stage consistently) or higher. Where literally the day is won with what amounts to a single impact on steel or a bad paper target.
/// I can see your point here. I'm not certain I agree fully, since tack driver or not, you have to be able to shoot it. I can shoot my MDs Vudoo, and I'll outshoot myself with my RPRR. But I won't outshoot my MD or my buddy with his T1x. But if it was going to matter more on one stage than the rest, it would be the paper stages.///
MD's are not going to go through that much effort to keep track of every individual and haul records around to do so. It needs to become simpler....not more elaborate.
/// It's not more work. It's less. And its simpler. Everyone in one group, with their chosen filter class label in the form. No different than base, open, ladies, youth, air rifle now. Add a filter to your scoresheet form, and everyone can see both the filter class rank, and the overall rank. ///
One other thing: Changing the rules by including limits on equipment BY CLASS in the monthly COF is weak.
In any competition, the Course of Fire is designed to tell a competitor how to run a stage. If you have different rules for different classes, especially stage rules designed to "fix" loopholes in your overall organization rules, that is not something that fits in the course of fire. Have the stones to say, "We didn't anticipate people doing insert annoying thing here, and we think it isn't good. So we're going to change the rules to disallow it, starting on X date."
^This is an opinion. I say being able to simply make a temporary change for whatever the reason is a good thing.
I agree, posting rule changes needs to be efficient and deliberate.
/// These are not 2 separate statements. It is weak, BECAUSE the CoF is stage directions, not class delineation. It's the different class rules that I find annoying, not having rules at all. ///
Or better yet, don't change the rules at all, because someone finding a way to make your stages to easy is what competition is about.
Agree with that statement as well.
They will NOT crank up difficulty. People already cry that they can't run or jump or move or see or yadda yadda yadda and stages should be/need to be simpler for elderly/handicapped/etc. Plus its pretty hard to make the standard 5 stages harder for certain support gear when the organization has a specific set of barricades chosen with the emphasis being that they are easy to acquire. And even then the guy carrying 16 bags and a pack full of shit will no doubt still come up with a fix that countermands it.
/// Agreed. That's why I said minimize interference with gear allowed, unless the specifc stage, i.e. positionals, requires it. ///
Obviously the MD's can add stages and do just that....add difficulty and improvised barricades. But one could argue that the very posting of COF amendments IS making the rail irrelevant....just not in a manner you see fit.
Maybe I was to introduce a COF that restricts any bipod usage for the month...why is that bad if its temporary? Is that not adding difficulty?
/// It's not bad, if it's actually a COF change, which also means it applies to everyone shooting the couorse of fire, regardless of class. That's no different than having nothing but a sling for positionals. But, to say that base can't use a sling, because they can't afford one, but Open can, because they have expensive rifles? That's stupid. And yes, its the ARCA rail I'm talking about. ///
Last point, then rant over:
Right now, a rifle which is otherwise base class, but which has a $40 MLOK ARCA rail attached, is automatically banned from base class. It is apparently irrelevant that ARCA is just a method of attachment, and that pretty much nothing which is used with an ARCA plate can't also be attached with the perfectly permissible (by current rules) pic rail mounts.
Because I am using NRL22 as a test bed for PRS, and because I use the same rifle for PRS22 matches, I bought an ARCA rail for my rifle. IN NRL22 matches, the only thing I used it to attach is my Atlas bipod, which can also be attached with a pic rail and a different bipod clamp. Since, according to current rules, nothing except a bipod or a sling can be attached to the rifle in any case, why the H-E-double hockey sticks does what rail I use to attach my bipod define my class as a shooter?
Yeah its dumb...but its a $40 part. Get rid of it. They aren't forcing you buy an entire new rifle. And there are far more non-ARCA bipods out there than the contrary. Again this comes off as either a gear snob issue or a non-novice complaining he can't skate with his high speed shit against the novice class.
/// Yeah, it's dumb. But it's a $40 dollar part that was allowed when purchased, and banned the next month. And throwing it away and replacing it requires buying, at minimum, and $80 clamp for the $300 bipod that it was purchased to support. And hoping they don't do it again next month. Just saying. ///
You are sounding less and less like a novice by the paragraph. Just saying.
/// It's called research. I have never shot any competition prior to this year, and an unofficial NRL22 match was the first I ever shot. I hadn't done any shooting, aside from an occaional rental range trip, since I left the Marines 20 years ago. ///
Just because you are using it as a test bed for PRS....does not mean that they have to conform to you. Just saying.
/// True. but since I'm talking about my viewpoint on the NRL22, its relevant, at least to some extent. It doesn't mean I expect they will do things my way. It does mean that my interest in continuing NRL22 matches might not be that strong, if my purpose for going is blocked by rule changes. Just saying. ///
The only reason I can see, with my limited experience, is a blind, "We're not PRS" reflex that wasn't thought through at all. Now, there may be something that I don't see. If so, please explain it to me. Because, as it sits, the rules that are being applied are having effects opposite to their intent, and frankly, if I can't innovate and test equipment, and improve my game overall, then I'm not sure NRL22 is going to remain interesting to me.
They probably were not clairvoyant when they anticipated the surge in popularity when they took on the venture. That's hardly a crime. And it very well could be their intent is flat out not be the PRS as they say. I would remain vigilant as all shooting sport entities had growing pains starting out. Next season could very well introduce a whole new set of rules that is more encompassing. Or not and you move on.
/// Yup. But this reply to someone's question is feedback that (I assume) they might read. And if they do, and decide its not valuable, ok. Hopefully, its one more weight on the side of more freedom and less arbitrary restriction. And if not, yeah, I'm likely to move on. ///
Please don't take my comments as bashing on you as they are not my intent. I chose the larger font to make it easier to read and reply to your statements. Please do not infer them as me yelling at you as that is not the intent. 
/// Not likely to be an issue, unless you start being emotional, rather than presenting rational arguments for your points. I don't see that as probable. ///
