The Unlimited Class is perhaps the most misunderstood of all shooting games.  Group targets are difficult enough to explain to a person that is certain the goal of all target shooting is to hit the bullseye. Now, try to explain why it is not important to hit the bullseye with a gun you don't even have to aim between shots. "I can't see what fun that is" is a typical comment. Well, rail guns are fun  to shoot and have the added feature of teaching a shooter the ways of the wind.

The restrictions placed on the unlimited class in both the IBS (heavy bench) and NBRSA are fairly simple:

IBS
Any rifle having a barrel 18 or mere inches long, measuring from the face of the bolt to the muzzle and having a safely operated firing mechanism. Electric triggers are allowed.  Unrestricted rests are allowed.  UNRESTRICTED RESTS may incorporate guiding means, and adjustments for elevation and windage in either or both components.  Unrestricted rests may be of one piece construction for front and rear.

NBRSA
Any rifle having a barrel 18 or more inches long, measured from the face of the bolt to the muzzle, and having a safely operated firing mechanism. For minimum barrel length the legal method of measurement from the face of the bolt shall be employed.

As you can see since there is no restriction of weight, caliber or configuration this class is wide open to experimentation.  Mirage, gun handling and recoil are somewhat out of the picture leaving wind doping ability and accuracy as variables.  What better way to test new ideas in cartridge development.

All else being equal, rail guns are no more accurate than conventional rifles. The true advantage is speed and that is all. The design should have a few features that allow a shooter to shoot as quickly as possible and there lies the difference in rail guns. They are all intended to perform the same functions and some do it better than others depending on personal preference. Here are the required functions as I see them:

A rail has to be set such that it will not move while shooting and of course have absolute return to battery operation. This sounds easy until you try to keep one from moving that has dull "feet". Absolute confidence that the gun will not move is essential.

The windage and elevation adjustments should be easily accessed and operation should be smooth, absolute and not so fine as to require several turns to get there. The sighter cam should be set up to allow a sighter shot and a subsequent record shot to occur in about 2 seconds beyond loading time. A rail shooter can evaluate a sighter shot as compared to the crosshair as the crosshair is the aiming point no matter where it is on the sighter. That lets you crank to a clean area on the sighter while you wait on a condition. Vertical sighter adjustments should not affect the record aiming point. Again, personal preference dictates the design chosen as some are left handed and some like left ports...etc.... As an enhancement to this rambling, a link is provided to larger pictures of the various designs. Click here to visit the "Gulf Coast Region Rails" provided by Mike Bryant.

With the speed advantage of a rail, the shooter has to upgrade his brakes because stopping becomes more difficult. No matter how many times you breeze right past a wreck it just takes once where you should have stopped.