2026 SPARC Season Marksman Class Rules:
Marksman class is intended to be a more social competitive class when compared to Open class. Marksman class is a great class for new (to the sport) shooters wanting to try the sport without having to potentially build an expensive setup.
In general, targets will be from 10-100 meters (max 120m) and time limits will be a little more forgiving in this class.
During the Course of Fire, the Range Officer, or Spotters will call ‘Impact’ to let a competitor know that the target that they engaged has been hit and awarded the point. Verbal assistance may be given by the RO, spotters, or other competitors while the competitors is shooting e.g. wind calls, impact corrections, engagement order, remaining time, etc.
Marksman class rifle and equipment rules:
M1) The rifle shall not weigh more than 4.5kg (~10lbs) including, any muzzle device (suppressor, tuner, or brake), the bipod, sling, the magazine (unloaded), and any other items intended to be attached when shooting e.g. data card, additional spare magazines, angle or cant indicators, timer, scope video unit, etc.
M2) Any scope is allowed however no dialling for elevation or windage is allowed. Adjustment of parallax is allowed. There is no restriction on items such as scope reticle design or scopes with electronics within them (e.g. Burris Veracity, Sig BDX, Burris Eliminator, etc.). Maximum magnification of 10x to be used in Marksman class – a scope can have more magnification available but 10x is the maximum that can be used when competing in Marksman class.
M3) Any shooting support bag is allowed up to a maximum weight of 1.5kg. Shooting support bags should not attach directly to the rifle. A day pack may only be used as a rifle support in place of a “standard” height bipod (i.e. up to ~13” in height).
M4) No tripods, shooting sticks, or additional ancillary shooting or rifle support gear is allowed outside what is provided by the individual stage.
Explanatory note – Rifle Weight:
The overall rifle weight becomes the governing criteria for rifles being deemed acceptable for Marksman class. A heavy barrel is acceptable, a chassis is acceptable, a tactical style rifle is acceptable – all as long as they come in under the total rifle weight criteria.
Explanatory note – Shooting Support Bags:
Every match will have a selection of shooting support bags available to borrow for each squad (i.e. intended to have 1 support bag available to borrow for each squad).
2026 SPARC Season Open Class Rules:
Rifleman class is being renamed for the 2026 SPARC Season as Open class.
Open class is intended to be a competitive class when compared to Marksman class. Open class is a great class for shooters wanting to challenge their skills and do a bit more shooting. Open class is roughly equivalent to the various international rimfire series (e.g. NRL22X, PRS22, IPRF, etc.).
In general, targets will be from 10-250 meters and time limits will be challenging in this class.
During the Course of Fire, the Range Officer, or Spotters will call ‘Impact’ to let a competitor know that the correct target has been hit and the point awarded the point. No other information may be provided to the competitor, by Stage Officials, Spectators or other competitors alike, while a competitor is shooting the Course of Fire, unless such information is provided for safety reasons. Verbal or Outside assistance, of any kind, during the Course of Fire is not allowed e.g. calling misses, impact corrections, position order, target engagement order, remaining stage time, etc.
Open class rifle and equipment rules:
O1) Any 22lr rifle of any weight with any sight shall be allowed. Muzzle breaks and suppressors are allowed.
O2) Any scope is allowed. Any bipod is allowed.
O3) Any support equipment is allowed including competition specific support bags of any size. Tripods are allowed but it will not be essential that you have one. There will be stage specific limitations on equipment.
2026 SPARC Season Points:
Individual competitors will be awarded SPARC Season points from each match they compete. Season points will be allocated as a percentage of the class winning score shot at the match. Match Season points will be allocated based up to two decimal places (i.e. to account for close scores with a match that has over 100 hits).
The SPARC Season Finale match will have 1.5x the Season Points (e.g. where individual matches will have points out of 100 the Finale match will have points out of 150).
For example, the Class winner at an individual match will be awarded 100 Season points. A competitor who gets 93.62% of that winning score will be awarded 93.62 Season Points.
The Total Season score will be made up as follows:
Marksman Class: The sum of the competitor’s top two individual matches plus the Season Finale.
Open Class: The sum of the competitor’s top three individual matches plus the Season Finale.
Previous SPARC seasons have had the individual match and finale match points allocated as a combination of percentage of the top score plus a placing score.
