• Target Rifle shooting has two main branches, Smallbore (.22") and Fullbore (NATO standard 7.62mm)
• In the UK, Fullbore shooting is administered by the National Rifle Association and Smallbore by the National Smallbore Rifle Association, both based at Bisley in Surrey
• Bisley has been chosen as the location for the Shooting events of the 2002 Commonwealth games (Target Rifle is not an Olympic event)
• Each year a 10 day long fullbore meeting is held at Bisley, which attracts top marksmen and women from all over the world. Normally about 1400 competitors attend, but this increased to 1700 for last year’s Millennium meeting
• Rifle shooting is a sport at which Britain excels and British individuals and Teams frequently take top honours all over the world
• All Rifles used in target rifle events are single-shot bolt action rifles and must be held under a UK firearms certificate issued by the police. No automatic or semi-automatic weapons are used
• Smallbore shooting can be at ranges of from 25 to 100 yards, and is held on indoor ranges at the shortest range, and outdoor at the longer ranges. Many Fullbore shooters keep in practice during the winter shooting smallbore indoors
• Fullbore shooting is conducted on ranges built and maintained by the military. The ranges at Bisley are run by the Army and the Thetford range by the RAF. With the exception of Bisley, civilian use of these ranges is severely limited by availability which hampers the development of the sport
• Fullbore shooting is usually at ranges of 300, 500, 600, 900 or 1000 yards (or in some countries, metres)
• All fullbore Target Rifle competition is done from the Prone position and without any aids to aiming in the form of hand support, bipods or optical (e.g. telescopic) sights.
• Aiming involves aligning three circles — the hole in the rear-sight, the hole in the fore-sight and the circular aiming mark on the target. When these are perfectly concentric, a carefully released shot will go exactly through the centre of the aiming mark (indoors, at any rate — outdoors, the accuracy of the shooters wind judgement will also play a part!)
• Since about 1975, the majority of rifles used by serious competitors have been makes built specifically for Target Rifle competition with the aim of achieving the maximum accuracy and consistency possible. As a result the size of the bull has been reduced and a ‘v-bull’ (occupying the centre area (50%) of the bull) has been introduced to allow greater differentiation of scores in competitions
• In the hands of a competent TR shot a modern rifle in good shooting conditions (light or constant winds) will consistently put 10 shots in the bull (5.5" circle) from 300yards with at least half going in the 3.3" circle of the v-bull. At greater distances the size of the bull/v-bull increases until at 1000yds it is 24" and 16" respectively. At ranges greater than about 1000yds, a 7.62mm bullet starts to become less stable and accuracy diminishes. Wind also plays a much greater part at this range, especially if it is variable in speed or direction
• In target rifle events the competitor normally fires 7, 10 or 15 shots to count, giving a maximum score or 35, 50 or 75 respectively. In addition two ‘sighting’ shots can be fired to adjust the sights to the correct elevation and wind allowances. These sighters may, in some competitions, be ‘convertible’, which means that after firing the two sighters the competitor may chose (if they were bulls) to convert either the second sighter or both sighters to scoring shots
• Firing on fullbore ranges is carried out under the strictest of safety conditions, under the guidance and control of NRA qualified officials known as Range Officers. As a result of this discipline and the awareness of all participants of the importance of safety for the continuance of their sport, accidents are very rare and injuries almost unheard of
• Fullbore targets are large, (6’ by 6’ at ranges up to 600yds, and 10’ by 6’ at long-range) and the bullet hole small! To enable the shooter to see where his shot has gone, the target is pulled down after each shot by the marker in the stop butts, who examines the target and marks the hole with a flourescent disc that can be seen by the shooter using a spotting telescope from the firing point. The score is also marked by a points marker on the bottom of the target to indicate 5(bull) 4(inner) 3… etc., as the shot may actually cut a line between two scoring rings, in which case the higher value is awarded - this cannot be seen even with a telescope
• There are also Team matches, where the shooter does not record his own score and shot position, but leaves this to another team member who, working with a coach who evaluates the wind, makes changes to the sight settings as required
• Costs of equipment
• Shooting is not a cheap sport — but secondhand equipment is available and clubs often have equipment they lend to newcomers to the sport. As a guide-
• Rifle (.22) £200-£1000 (7.62mm) £250-£2000
• Spotting Scope £150-£500
• Shooting Jacket £50-£300
• Glove/hat etc. £30-£100
• In addition ammunition and range hire are a significant cost for fullbore shooting. A day’s shooting might need about 50 - 80 rounds of ammunition plus the cost of the range hire. Competition ammunition costs about £40 per 100 rounds. Cheaper practice ammunition is also available from about £20.
• Smallbore costs are much lower both for ammunition and range costs