KNEELING RULE CLARIFICATION

A legal UKAHFT kneeler can be described in two areas: 
1) Contact with the ground.

• The kneeling position is defined as only 3 points of contact with the ground (2 feet & 1 knee).The rear foot shall be upright and straight in line with the knee, sitting on a turned foot is not allowed. A bean bag may be used to support the knee, shin or foot area only.
• Under no circumstances can the beanbag be used to support the buttocks.
• The leading leg cannot be pulled back so the calf is supported by the hamstrings or lower buttocks, this is classed as a crouching shot & is not allowed.

2) Contact with the Rifle

• The rifle can only be supported by the hands with the rifle butt in the shoulder.
• The hands themselves cannot be supported on any part of the body.
• For a standard kneeling position - the leading hand should be forward of the knee, the hand cannot be dropped to allow the wrist joint, arm or any other part of the body to support the rifle or hand, to illustrate this the supporting hand should be dropped down vertically, if it contacts with any part of the knee/leg the supporting hand is deemed too far back & therefore not forward of the knee.
• For a reverse kneeling position - the rear hand should either be forward of the knee if the forearm is supported on the raised leg or clearly raised above the leg if the elbow is supported on the raised leg

 
 
Supported Kneeling shots

• As long as the above two rules are followed & the trigger is behind the peg/firing line then any part of the body or rifle may be rested on the support, so the same three point position must be maintained & the only parts of the body allowed to support the rifle are the hands & shoulder.

 
Un-supported Kneeling Shots

• These pegs will be designated by a 4” peg rather than the standard 12” pegs, for these shots only the foot/lower leg may be toughing the peg when the shot is taken, you cannot support the rifle or any other part of the body on the peg.

The following are examples of legal & illegal UKAHFT kneeling positions, with explanations (Hover over the images for descriptions):

Legal position, gun supported by hands & shoulder, no other part of the body is supporting the rifle & the hands themselves are unsupported by any other part of the body. The leading hand is forward of the knee.

Legal position, gun supported by hands & shoulder, no other part of the body is supporting the rifle & the hands themselves are unsupported by any other part of the body. The leading hand is forward of the knee.

Illegal position, the leading hand is too far back with the back of the hand being supported on the knee. Shooters using this position often drop the hand to get further support. (as shown below)

Illegal position, the leading hand has been dropped even further from the position above which means the rifle is supported indirectly by the knee through the hand.

Illegal position, the rifle is directly supported by the knee.

Legal reverse kneeler, the rifle is shouldered & the only other parts of the body supporting the rifle are the hands. The hands are not supported by any other part of the body but can be supported on any part of the pallet/support.

Illegal reverse kneeler, the right elbow has been lifted to highlight the buttpad resting on the leg.

Illegal reverse kneeler, the buttpad is resting on the forearm & in crook of the arm which is then supported on the leg.

Legal Position, the rifle is supported by the hands & shouldered, the hands themselves are not supported by any other part of the body, the rifle is then rested on the pallet/support.

Illegal Position, The leading hand is supporting the rifle but is itself supported on the knee. The leading hand is also not forward of the knee.

Illegal Reverse kneeler, buttpad of rifle supported on the knee.

Legal Reverse kneeler (not showing a support) the only parts of the body supporting the rifle are the hands, which are unsupported, with the rifle shouldered.