Smallbore

4-H Rules & Safety at a Glance

Kansas 4-H smallbore follows the Kansas 4-H Shooting Sports Fall Match Championships General Rules (updated August 2026) together with the NRA Small Bore Rifle, Rifle Silhouette, and Pistol Silhouette rulebooks. The current official rules and each match's bulletin always come first.

Who can compete

• 4-H membership is required. Youth must be officially enrolled in 4-H and fall in the age divisions below, counted as of January 1.
• Divisions. For both rifle and pistol, Juniors are 4-H age 12–13 and Seniors are 14–18.

Getting to the state match

• Qualifying scores: rifle 175 of 300 (3 positions, 10 shots each, at 50 yards) and pistol 125 of 300 (10 shots each of slow, timed, and rapid fire at 25 yards).
• Teams are two shooters, picked from the top state-match scores.

Equipment

• .22 rimfire only: any safe rifle, or a long-rifle pistol. No hypervelocity, hollow-point, tracer, or explosive ammunition. No laser sights, and no release triggers on rifles.
• Pistol: a signed Handgun Permission Form must be with the shooter on the firing line.
• Rifles styled like modern military firearms (AR- or AK-style) are not allowed in the 4-H shooting sports program.

On the range

• Clear chamber indicators are required for all events, and guns stay cased until the range officer declares the range ready.
• Eye protection is required, and so is hearing protection rated at least 25 dB NRR — noise-canceling electronics don't count.
• No phones, ear buds, or smart watches are allowed near active competition. Shoes must completely cover the feet on the shooting line.

Full smallbore rules →  ·  Kansas 4-H Fall Match Rules (PDF) ↗