Night Vision Shooting Competition

[LRaccuracy]

Night Vision Shooting Competition

I know of a group of shooters (25 shooters at max) that shoot competitively their rim fire and center fire rifles after sunset. A night vision rifle scope is required and a sound suppressor is optional but preferred to participate.

Many shooters use conventional active and passive Starlight scopes as well as IR and high resolution FLIR.

Does anyone know if there are national competitions for Stealth Shooting?

It seems like this may be a new shooting trend that's in it's infancy.

 

[taliv]

sounds like a hoot

but... for any sort of organized competition, you need a way to make sure people are safely handling their firearms. that would be difficult to do in the dark. e.g. looking down a line to see that chamber flags are in

 

[Zoogster]

that would be difficult to do in the dark.

Not if they are wearing high resolution night vision goggles.



The activity is banned in California. Shooting after dark is usually not allowed, and using IR is specifically against the law.
They call it a "sniperscope" in legislation.

Any person who knowingly buys, sells, receives, disposes of,
conceals, or has in his possession a sniperscope shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand
dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more
than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
As used in this section, sniperscope means any attachment, device
or similar contrivance designed for or adaptable to use on a firearm
which, through the use of a projected infrared light source and
electronic telescope, enables the operator thereof to visually
determine and locate the presence of objects during the nighttime.
This section shall not prohibit the authorized use or possession
of such sniperscope by a member of the armed forces of the United
States or by police officers, peace officers, or law enforcement
officers authorized by the properly constituted authorities for the
enforcement of law or ordinances; nor shall this section prohibit the
use or possession of such sniperscope when used solely for
scientific research or educational purposes.

 

[LRaccuracy]

The activity is banned in California. Shooting after dark is usually not allowed, and using IR is specifically against the law. They call it a "sniperscope" in legislation.

Zoogster,

Sorry about your luck in California. It doesn't surprise me to hear this.

In most states they are not illegal and I can't remember of ever hearing of a crime being committed with a night vision scope.

Also I can only remember of hearing of a hand full of crimes being committed with a sound suppressor that was legally possessed under NFA 1934.

 

[Zoogster]

It is against the law to see in the dark with a firearm in California.

It is also a crime to use a flashlight above 3 volts anywhere animals may be found in California, including anywhere in the woods, the side of a road, a highway, or any other place that animals live in the wild.
It does not matter that you are not hunting, or leave the animals alone. Simply using a light above 3 volts while having possession of or access to a firearm anyplace animals may live or pass through is a crime.
That includes most rural areas or other places people could possibly shoot.
So it is illegal to grab a flashlight (using over 2 1.5 volt batteries) with a firearm on your hip while in the woods and heading away from your campsite to use the restroom in the dark.
But then you cannot legally hunt after dark in California either, and so have no legal reason to be open carrying a loaded firearm in the middle of the woods once you leave your residence (campsite under law) anyways.

In fact even at your campsite enjoying a fire while in in legal possession of the firearm it is still a crime to grab a flashlight and look out into the woods. Hear a strange noise just beyond the firelight while relaxing around the campfire and have a gun handy? Don't touch that flashlight, it is a crime!

 

[Zak Smith]

Never heard of any dedicated competitions like that. However, there are low-light and "dark" stages regularly at major 3-Gun matches and precision long-range matches (e.g. SMM3G 2004, RM3G 03 04, PRTC 06, CMG Camp Guernsey Invitational 07, TACPRO Sniper 05 to name a few). These do not require night-vision devices, relying on using the naked eye or regular daylight scope and optional minimal illumination devices. Safety protocols are modified to ensure it's as safe as daylight; this often implies stationary shooting position and/or more limited access to the shooting area.

My associates and I have discussed administering matches intended for use with with NV/NODs; however, the cost is prohibitive for many and the draw would be extremely limited.

 

[taliv]

(safety would be much easier in a 3gun style match where only one person is shooting at a time)

i got the impression the OP was talking about a bullseye/HP style match

 

[Justin]

It seems like the difficult part of doing such a match would be finding an appropriate location to conduct it. That, and NV gear is pretty rare.

 

[Zak Smith]

At the 2007 CMG C.G. Invitational match we had competutors shoot the Army pop-up qualification course, in the dark, with glow-sticks tied to the pop-up targets. That worked pretty well. The shooters were ensconced in the shooting bunkers and RO's could easily go up and down the line to check condition after the string.

At the 2006 PRTC, we had two dark stages at "long range", using minimal external illumination on appearing and disappearing targets. The shooters were stationary, again.

At 3-Gun matches, the more common thing is to set up a "dark house". Even though it's not full dark inside, going from daylight bright to the inside of the dark house has the same effect.

-z

 

[LRaccuracy]

Justin,

That, and NV gear is pretty rare.

Search night vision on the Internet and see what you get. You may be surprised to see that e-Bay has many night vision rifle scopes. Definitely not rare and all readily available.