Benchrest

Benchrest shooting is a shooting sport in which very accurate and precise rifles are shot at paper targets. The rifles ride on a front and rear rest, the rests may or may not be joined, depending on the rules of a particular competition. The rests sit on a table or bench, hence the name "benchrest." The shooter simply sits at the bench, in distinction to other shooting disciplines, where the shooter holds and aims the rifle without the benefit of a rest. The post-Civil War era "double rest" rifles were one early form of "benchrest" rifles.

Benchrest shooters are notoriously detail-oriented and constantly trying to further the accuracy potential of the rifle through experimentation. Nearly all benchrest rifles are custom made, and many shooters do their own gunsmithing. Nearly all shooters in centerfire competition handload their ammunition in order to tune it to their rifle. In contrast, handloading ammunition is strictly prohibited by the rules for rimfire benchrest competitions.

World Benchrest Shooting Federation and World Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Federation are the two international governing bodies for benchrest shooting.

There are two major trends in competition. One type is group shooting, in which the object is to place five or ten shots on a target as close together as possible. Winning placement in competition is determined by how well each competitor achieves this goal or in other words, how closely the shots are grouped. This is sometimes termed precision competition.

The other is score shooting, where a traditional bulls eye type target with scoring rings is used. Winning placement is determined by each shooter's score results. This is sometimes termed accuracy competition.

However, in 550 and 910 metres (600 and 1,000 yd) competitions (IBS, NBRSA, and The Original Pennsylvania 1,000 Yard Benchrest Club), the competitor's target is scored for both group size and score. A competitor may only win in one category. If, for example a single competitor has the smallest group and highest score, they will be awarded only a win for the smallest group, the next highest score will be awarded the score win.

Additionally, there is growing interest in both rimfire and airgun benchrest. Currently, both of these competitions are of the score format only.

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