Posted by Pete van Meurs on Nov 12, 2011; 11:50am
URL: http://oldforum.flyshooter.com.au/interim-fly-rules-for-discussion-tp4977473p4986771.html

Hi Les and all other readers,

More on the issue of 'Random Bench Draw" that I did not have the time to go into at the time of my original post on this subject.

1/  SSAA rules demand that an organising club/branch must accept entries up to (I think) 1/2 an hour before the first detail is scheduled to fire if there are vacancies available. Such placement at the  discrection of the host or  by random ballot of the available places would immediately render the original draw null and void in any case.
2/ Over a great number of years the benchrest fraternity have had their computer program compile a random draw only to have to modify it to accomodate  flag sharing, gear sharing, left-handed shooters etc to the point where a manual bench allocation would differ in only a minor degree. Granted this is where bench rotation is mandatory and should make little difference , if any. But, as I pointed out earlier, the ranges used for 500mt shoots do not seem to have PERMANENTLY BAD benches, so  why worry about a random bench draw , so long as the host club tries to 'spread it around a bit' when it comes to visitors who either do not have their own flags and/or do not have pre-arranged placement points (like our regular competitors at Eagle Park - where the bench selection has mostly to with proximity of the steps to the firing line and where you park your car).

Pete