Full Bore Target Rifle
Shot at Bisley. We use 7.62mm ammunition and rifles accurate to better than 1/4 inch at 100 yards.
Shooting is conducted at short range between 300 yards and 600 yards, and at long range at 800 yards to 1000 yards. No telescopic sights allowed, so the target looks extremely small. The further away the target is the greater effect the wind and other weather factors have.
Here is Century Range during Bisley's Imperial Meeting, 2008, with over 300 shooters in a heat.
Competitions are typically two sighters (to adjust for wind and elevation) followed by 7 or 10 or 15 shots to count. This kind of shooting is really all about anticipating the effects of wind, temperature, ammunition charge, bullet weight and shape and how some of these change over the course of the shoot.
Most shooting is done using open sights - no scopes. This is called Target Rifle.
Popular amongst older shooters - and some younger ones - is F Class where scopes and rests are allowed.
Then there is Match Rifle. Again telescopic sights are allowed, but distances start at 900 yards and go out to 1200 yards - the effective limit of accuracy for the 7.62mm round.
Match Rifle shooters are allowed some other aids to improve accuracy - hand-loaded ammunition and the supine position, pictured below.
Shooters are either on their own watching the wind and adjusting their sights for themselves or, in team competitions, are coached. The shooter's job is to lie still and shoot; the coach's job is to anticipate the effects of changing conditions and adjust the sights on behalf of the shooter. This requires a very high degree of cooperation, coordination and trust and is probably unique in sport.
The season proper starts in March and runs to October and there are team matches most weekends.
Getting into a team is easy. It is quite usual for a team to be made up of, say, 8 shooters, but with only the best 6 scores to count. This allows the beginner to have a good day, and the expert to have a bad one. Get in touch with the full-bore captain now - if you want to shoot, you will shoot.