[Mills]

Nineteenth Annual L.C. Smith vs. Parker Challenge Cup
April 28-30, 2023

RULES

READ CAREFULLY


COMPETITOR QUALIFICATION

1. Competition is open to all members in good standing of the Organization (the LCSCA, or the PGCA) represented. Updated Membership rosters will be available at the both the LCSCA and PGCA booths located inside the shared LCSCA/PGCA display tent.To participate, the registrar must verify that a participant’s member status is current. Members with expired memberships must renew said membership prior to participation; and membership applications will be on hand for those individuals wishing to join the competition and represent the Organization of their choice in the Challenge Event.

2. Members holding joint memberships in both the LCSCA and PGCA must select only ONE Association to represent in the competition and will do so at the time of registration for Event One. Event One qualifying scores recorded by anyone found to have registered and participated for both Organizations during the Event One qualifier round will be disqualified.

3. Challenge Event entrants are required to be a member of either the PGCA or LCSCA but are not required to actually own a shotgun of the make related to the Organization they represent in the competition; but shooters are required to shoot with a double gun manufactured by the maker of the Organization they represent. Therefore, guns may be borrowed for use during the Challenge Event competitions and arrangements for a loaner gun made at the registration table (see Equipment rules below).

4. Adult professional shooters or an adult receiving a sponsorship in any form from dealers, industry, or any like organizations 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 represented by their Organization. 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 branded 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/brand 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 such chokes may not be changed once competition has commenced. This restriction applies to both the Event One qualifier and Event Two Challenge Team Championship event.

7. The wearing of Eye and Ear protection is required of all competitors. All ammunition used must be loaded with size 7 1/2 shot or smaller in conformance with insurance requirements in place at the Deep River Sporting Clays complex.


Event One: Qualifier April 28-29, 2023


1. Registration for the Challenge Event will take place inside the LCSCA/PGCS Exhibition tent where the registrar will have on hand a current member roster for both organizations. At registration each participant will declare the name of the Organization they are representing, and the participant’s name will be checked to the appropriate member roster to verify current member status. Only those participants whose membership is verified as current will then be allowed to register for the event. Participants whose name is not on the active member roster will be advised to return to the LCSCA/PGCA booth and take appropriate action to either: 1) renew their membership, 2) join the organization of their preference, or 3) clear any issues that may have prevented their name from appearing on the currently active member roster. Once the issue is resolved that member will be given a slip indicating his membership is current, which slip is then presented to the registrar to complete registration. Time will be a limiting factor for the Event One qualifier event, therefore LCSCA and PGCA members will shoot in mixed squads with the Organization represented by each participant noted on the registration form.

2. The Event One qualifier will consist of 50 targets to be fired on the Event One designated 5-stand field. Registration will begin promptly at 8:30 am Friday morning, April 28, 2023; and shall continue until approximately 2:30 am Saturday April 29. 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 could limit available shooter slots to approximately 125 total; so don’t risk losing the opportunity to participate.

3. An Event One Entry fee of $10 will be collected by the Registrar in the LC Smith/Parker tent at the time of registration and membership verification; and all Event One participants will receive a custom designed participation pin to memorialize their participation in the 2022 LC Smith vs. Parker Challenge. All Challenge entry fees will be donated to a charitable cause selected by the management of Deep River Sporting Clays in appreciation for hosting the Challenge Event.

4. Each participant in the Challenge Event will be responsible for their own target fees, set at $40.00 for the 50-target Event One qualifier and said fees shall be paid directly to the 5-stand operator at the shooting venue (5-stand tickets may also be purchased in advance at the Deep River Club House; BUT 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.

5. The Event One qualifier will begin at 8:30 AM on Friday morning (4/28). As 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 at least 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. For early Challenge Event arrivals, a designated 5-stand practice venue will be open Wednesday, April 26 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, Thursday and Friday, April 27 and 28 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm and on Saturday, April 29 until approximately 2:00 pm. Practice rounds will be available on a first come/first-served basis; and the practice venue will consist of 30 targets. Shooter target fees will be $25 per 30 bird round with those target fees paid directly to the clay’s vendor (or purchased at the Deep River office); No target fees are included with 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 shooter stations.

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


Event Two: Challenge Cup Shootout 3:30 PM Saturday April 29, 2023


1. At the conclusion of the Event One qualifier representatives from the LCSCA and PGCA will, based on Event One highest scores, determine the top10 Challenge Cup Team members to represent their Associations. Should Event One results show a tie/s for the 10th place qualifier the tie-breaker will be determined using the reverse long-run method (the longest string of targets scored broken counting from the last target presented).

2. Participants must report to the registration tent after completing Event One in order to determine their status for Event Two. Final scores should be tabulated no later than 3:00 PM on Saturday, April 29 and the names of those ten (10) Challenge Team members for both Organizations will be posted to the leader board located in front of 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 original 10 qualifying Challenge Team members be unavailable for any reason 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 purposes and for Event related photos.

4. The Challenge Cup Shootout will begin at approximately 3:30 PM Saturday April 29. 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 take place before the start of the competition. Whichever team wins the toss has the option to either field the first team or choose to field their team last. At that point the appropriate 5-man team takes the field with each team alternating thereafter until the Challenge Event shoot-out has been completed.

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. Each Challenge Team member will be responsible for their target fees set at $25.00 for the 30 targets.

7. The Team who will lay claim to the 2023 Challenge Cup will be the Team registering the highest number of broken targets from the combined 300 target presentation format.

8. In the event of a tied team score, the Team winner will be determined by a shoot-off conducted from station three with each team represented by the shooter from that Team who has the highest combined scores from Event One and Event Two. Tie scores for the “Top Gun” individual award will be settled in the same manner.


List of Awards:

Top Gun
Runner Up
3rd Place
4th Place
High Woman
2nd Place Woman
High Youth (17 years and younger)
2nd Place Youth

Note: Lady and Youth shooters are also eligible to win Challenge Event awards based on individual performances.


INDIVIDUAL AWARDS DETERMINATIONS:


In the event of a tie(s) for any of the remaining individual awards, 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 determine if they might be involved in a shoot-off and any qualifying shooter not available for the shoot-off will forfeit all claims to the contested award. Therefore, following the conclusion of the Challenge Shootout, each of the 20 competitors involved are strongly encouraged to determine their scores and ranking before leaving. Should time constraints or weather conditions preclude a shoot-off, ties will be resolved via the reverse long run scoring method; i.e., the longest string of targets scored broken counting from the last target presented. in the event that any award is contested, representatives from each Association will confer to determine the winner and their decision shall be final.