[Mills]

Thirteenth Annual L.C. Smith vs. Parker Challenge Cup

April 22-23, 2016

COMPETITOR QUALIFICATION

1. Competition is open to all members in good standing of the Association they represent (either LCSCA, or PGCA). Membership rosters will be on hand to confirm existing memberships; and Membership applications for both Associations will be available at Registration for those individuals wishing to join and participate in the competition.

2. Members holding joint memberships both the LCSCA and PGCA must choose ONE Association to represent in the competition; and will do so at the time of registration. The Event One qualifying scores of anyone registering and shooting for both Organizations will be disqualified.

3. Challenge Event entrants are not required to actually own a shotgun of the make related to the Association they may be representing; but are required to SHOOT with a double gun manufactured by the maker of the Association they represent. Therefore, guns may be borrowed for use in the Challenge Event; and arrangements for a loaner gun made at the registration table (see Equipment rules below).

4. Adult professional shooters (men and women), or an adult receiving sponsorship/s in any form from dealers, industry, or any other organization/s are not allowed to compete in this event. An adult is defined as anyone aged 18 years or older.

GUNS & EQUIPMENT

1. Shooters must use a vintage double shotgun manufactured by the gun maker their Organization represents. Those shooting LC Smith guns and representing the LCSCA are limited to LC Smith guns manufactured in Syracuse and Fulton, NY; and those manufactured under Marlin Firearms ownership in New Haven, CT. Those shooting Parker Bros. or Parker labeled guns and representing the PGCA are limited to Parker guns manufactured in Meriden, CT and Ilion, NY.

2. Participants may use any hammer or hammerless model and grade of Smith or Parker gun produced by the above named original gun companies. Reproductions or modern/imported guns marketed under these famous trade names are not allowed for use in this event.

3. Any gauge/bore size in which the Smith and Parker gun was originally manufactured may be used in the Challenge Event.

4. Modified and restored guns are allowed, including those with stock replacements or alterations, recoil pads, shortened or lined barrels, mono-blocked or sleeved barrels, screw-in chokes, etc. Guns used with relined barrels must be equipped with barrel liners of the same gauge in which the gun was originally shipped if the barrels of that gun, when manufactured, had been “fluid” steel.

5. Chamber inserts or chamber-size reducers (Chamber-Mates and similar devices), and full-length barrel inserts with gauge reducers are acceptable only for use in guns originally manufactured and fitted with Twist or Damascus steel barrels.

6. Shooters using guns equipped with screw-in chokes can do so, but may not change choke tubes once competition has commenced to include the initial Event One qualifier.

7. The wearing of Eye and Ear protection is required of all competitors; and all ammunition must be loaded with size 7 1/2 shot or smaller in order that the Event be in conformance with the Deep River Sporting Clays liability insurance requirements.


Event One Qualifier


1. Registration will take place inside the LCSCA/PGCA Exhibition Tent just above the “Dove Field” where will be provided a SINGLE registration table manned by a representative from each Organization. Time will be a limiting factor for this Event, therefore LCSCA and PGCA members will shoot in mixed squads to avoid losing valuable shooting slots; and the Organization represented by each participant will be noted on the registration form.

2. The Event One qualifier for each participant will consist of 50 targets to be fired on the Event designated 5-stand layout/field. Registration will begin promptly at 8:00 AM Friday morning, April 22; and shall continue until approximately 12:00 Noon on Saturday, April 23. EARLY REGISTRATION is a MUST HAVE requirement in order to keep the Event One qualifying process moving in a timely and orderly manner, as time constraints will limit available shooter slots to approximately 125 total. It is therefore IMPERATIVE that participants register early and not risk losing the ability to participate.

3. An Event One Entry fee of $10 will be collected at the time of registration and Membership verification; and all Event One participants will receive a custom designed pin to memorialize forever their participation in the 2016 LC Smith vs. Parker Challenge Event. All Challenge entry fees will be donated to a charitable cause selected by the management of Deep River Sporting Clays in appreciation of their willingness, and graciousness in hosting the Challenge Event.

4. Each participant of the Challenge Event will be responsible for his/her own Target fees of $25.00 for the 50-target Event One qualifier; and said fees can be paid directly to the 5-stand vendor/operator at theDove Field shooting venue (or, if preferred, 5-stand tickets may also be purchased in advance at the Deep River Club House). However, DO NOT purchase a ticket at the Deep River Club House and go directly to the 5-stand with the expectation of registering and shooting immediately; ALL participants must be registered and squadded at the registration table inside the LCSCA/PGCA Exhibition tent.

5. With the Challenge Event One qualifier venue being changed up slightly for 2016, the Event One qualifier will begin at 9:00 AM sharp on Friday morning (4/22); and as this is a major change from years past, please make note! When participants register for Event One, they will be squadded and assigned a specific shooting time; and all shooters are encouraged to be at the Dove Field shooting venue 15-20 minutes prior to their scheduled shooting time. Again, PGCA and LCSCA members will be shooting as part of combined squads based on registration order unless other accommodation is made at time of registration; and then only if it is possible to make such accommodation.

6. New for 2016 is our 5-stand practice venue. For early Event arrivals a designated 5-stand practice venue will be open all day Thursday, April 21. The same venue will be open all day Friday, April 22, from 8:00 AM until closing; and on Saturday, April 23, until approximately 11:00 AM. Practice rounds will be available on a first-come/first-served basis; and the practice venue will consist of 25 targets. Shooter target fees will be $10 per round with those target fees paid directly to the clays vendor (or purchased at the Deep River office); but no target fees are included in the $10 Challenge Event entry fee. Shooters purchasing practice round tickets may only sign up for ONE ROUND AT A TIME, and may not place their name in rotation for another practice round until they have completed shooting their first time through the course.

7. Target presentation for the Event One qualifier will be 50 TARGETS fired on ONE 5-STAND course; and the target presentation shall be as follows: one (1) Report Pair followed by four (4) True Pairs at each of the five, 5-stand shooter stations.

8. During the 50-target Event One qualifier venue, shooters are allowed one gun malfunction with the opportunity to re-shoot any targets lost. Referees will verify any gun malfunction while the shooter maintains control of his gun with same pointed in a safe direction. Any further malfunctions will result in target/s scored as “Lost”; and the decision of the referee is final in all instances. Note: If a shooter calls pull and loses a target either because his gun was in the “On Safe” position, or he failed to cock a hammer; that over sight does not qualify as a gun malfunction; and the target/s will be scored “Lost”.


Event Two - Challenge Cup Shootout: 3:30 PM Saturday


1. At the conclusion of the Event One qualifier, representatives from the LCSCA and PGCA will select from among their team of shooters 10 Challenge Cup Team members to represent their respective Associations; and those 10 shooters will be those individuals who have earned that distinction by scoring the highest number of broken targets from the 50 target Event One qualifier. Should Event One results for either team result in a tie score for the tenth and final team position; the following tie-breaker rule will be utilized: the final team slot will be determined using the reverse long-run method (the highest number of broken targets scored from last target scored broken).

2. Participants must report to the registration tent after Event One has been completed in order to determine their status for Event Two. Final scores will be tabulated by approximately 2:30PM on Saturday, April 23; and the names of those ten (10) Challenge Team members for both Organizations will be posted to the leader board located by the entry to the Exhibition tent. Alternate Challenge Team members (those three members from each organization with the next highest Event One scores) will be asked to remain on stand-by should any one of the 10 qualified Challenge Team members be called away, or cannot be located prior to the commencement of the Challenge Cup Shootout.

3. All Challenge Team members will be provided with commemorative caps (Red for Team Parker and Green for Team LC), and will proudly wear those hats prior to, during, and after the competition for Team identification and Event related photos.

4. The Challenge Cup Shootout will begin at approximately 3:30PM Saturday afternoon; April 23; and shooters representing each Team will report to their respective Team Manager not later than 3:00 PM for squad assignments and Team strategy sessions.

5. A coin toss will determine which team will begin the initial round of the competition; and 5-man squads from each Team will then alternate taking the field thru completion of the Event.

6. The course of fire for the Challenge Shootout will consist of THIRTY (30) TARGETS for each squad member fired as follows: one Report Pair and two True Pairs at each station. Target presentations will be completely reconfigured prior to the beginning of Event Two so that the “playing field” is leveled for each Team

7. The Team winning the Challenge Cup will be the Team registering the highest number of broken targets from the combined 300 per Team target format.


8. In the event of a tie team score, the winner will be determined by a shoot-off (a shoot-off from station three between the shooters from each Team with the highest combined score in Event One and Event 2). Ties in shooter scores for the Top Gun award will be settled in the same fashion; while ties for all other individual shooter awards will be broken by using the reverse long streak rule noted above.


Awards:

Top Gun
Runner Up
3rd Place
4th Place
High Lady
2nd Place Lady
High Youth
2nd Place Youth (17 years old or younger; note: Lady and Youth shooters are also eligible to win the top
(Challenge Event awards based on individual performances)



INDIVIDUAL AWARDS DETERMINATIONS:


In the event of a tie(s), representatives from each Association will confer to determine the procedure for determination of a winner/s; but conditions permitting, the ultimate winner will be determined by a shoot-off conducted immediately following the completion of the Challenge Shootout. It will be the responsibility of each competitor to learn if he/she might be involved in a required shoot-off; and any qualifying shooter not present for said shoot-off will forfeit his claim to the contested award. Therefore, following the conclusion of the Challenge Shootout, each of the 20 competitors involved are hereby strongly encouraged to determine their scores and ranking before leaving. Should weather conditions preclude a shoot-off, ties will be resolved via the reverse long run of broken targets method beginning with the last target fired in the Shootout.



AWARDS SCHEDULE:


1. The Challenge Cup trophy, Team, and individual awards will be presented immediately after the results for Event Two become formal; and the location for the Challenge Cup and individual trophy presentations will be at the front entry to the LCSCA/PGCA Exhibition tent. The Challenge Cup trophy will be presented to the designated representative of the winning Team; and the winning Association is then responsible for engraving their Association’s name and year of win where denoted on the Cup itself. There will also be a non-traveling permanent award presented to the winning Association.

2. Individual awards will be presented to the Top Gun, 2nd place, and 3rd and 4th place shooters based on their combined scores from Event One and Event Two.

3. Awards for High Lady and Youth will be determined by their score in Event One. In the event of a tie, the tie breaker rule will be used. IF more than one individual Lady or Youth participant were to advance to Event Two, then the combined scores from both Events One and Two will be used as the award determinate.