Schuetzen Rifle

What is Schuetzen Rifle?

In German, the word Schuetzen is the singular for shooter or marksman, while the plural is Schuetzen.  Originally, this was a military term for infantrymen armed with rifled muskets and, as they were better shots, were used to inflict more harm with fewer troops.  Any time there is the concept that some are better than others, competitions arise to determine who is truly better, thus there were Schuetzen matches.  Most of the competitors came from a military environment and, therefore, offhand was the singular position fired.  At the time, few if any shooters would have shot from benches.  The early Schuetzen rifles reflect the primary offhand shooting having a very distinctive butt plate with a long projection that hooks under the shooter’s armpit.

From the formation of Schuetzen military units in the early 1800s, many modifications have taken place in the nature of the sport. Presently, a Schuetzen rifle has to be a single shot rifle which uses a mechanism other than a bolt action to fire the round.  The projectile must be a cast lead bullet which has no modifications such as a gas check or a sabot.  The bullet can be modified by lubrication or paper patching.  The propellant can be either Black powder or smokeless powder as appropriate for the rifle being shot.  There are no caliber limitations.  Cartridge and muzzle-loading rifles are both permitted.  Lastly, sights can be iron or telescopic.  The basic Schuetzen match consists of firing ten shots at a target which can be at either 100 yards or 200 yards.

200-yard Matches

The 200-yard matches will be covered first.  The primary target has 11 scoring rings with a 16 ½ inch diameter.  Within this total target there is a black or red solid color area with a 12-inch diameter.  The width of a ring is 3/4^th inch.  Point value for the rings run from 25 points for the center down to 15 points for the outermost ring.  Shots on the target, but outside the last ring count for 10 points.

Because the diameters of all the possible bullets which can be shot vary greatly, the center of the bullet hole is the location that determines the score for each shot fired from the bench.  Shots fired offhand get the score of the higher ring cut by the bullet hole’s outer edge.  Each target may be shot with iron sights or scope from the bench or offhand.

100-yard Matches

The 100-yard matches can be slightly more complex because this match can be shot using either the .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge or any larger caliber rifle addressed above. The primary target has 12 scoring rings with a 9-inch diameter.  Within this total target there is a black or red solid color area with a 6-inch diameter.  The width of a ring is 3/8^th inch.  Point value for the rings run from 25 points for the center down to 14 points for the outermost ring.  Shots on the target, but outside the last ring count for 10 points.

When being shot with .22 caliber bullets all the bullet holes are the same size and therefore, a bullet cutting the next higher ring will get the higher point value.  When this target is being shot using other than a .22, with the diameters of all the possible bullets varying greatly, the center of the bullet hole is the location that determines the score for each shot fired from the bench.  Shots fired offhand get the score of the higher ring cut by the bullet hole’s outer edge.  Each target may be shot with iron sights or scope from the bench or offhand.

Further Topics

This should provide the bulk of the concepts needed to get into the sport of Schuetzen rifle shooting.  There are fine points addressing the maximum weight of the rifle, the sophistication of the gun rests, and similar minutia but these issues are rare and can be addressed as needed.