What is Smallbore Shooting?
Target shooting with small-bore rifles and pistols and air rifles and air pistols is part of one of the largest participant sports in the country. It is open to all, irrespective of age, gender or ability and has a proven track record of improving an individual's concentration and motivation.
Although target shooting was one of the original founding sports for the modern Olympic Games started in 1896, its popularity amongst civilians only really took off in 1900 as a consequence of the Boer War. The Boers' superior marksmanship lead to increasing concern at the capability of the Army to defend the population against invasion. The call went out for the populace to learn to shoot to defend their country and in due course civilian small-bore shooting clubs were formed from which the sport grew.
Shooting is available to everyone at over one thousand clubs around the country that have a variety of indoor and outdoor ranges. Small-bore rifle shooting is mostly carried out over distances of 25 yards (usually on indoor ranges), 50 yards or meters and 100 yards, both outdoors. Air gun shooting is at 6 yards and 10 meters The clubs provide all the equipment required to learn to shoot, together with all necessary coaching. All you need to bring is yourself and enthusiasm.
This is one of the few sports where male and female and the able and those with disabilities compete equally against one another. Age is no bar to competition. You can start as soon as you are physically strong enough to hold a firearm safely and you can continue well beyond retirement age. Once you are proficient there are very many competitions around the country open to you so you are not restricted to just one venue.
The governing body of the sport is the National Small-bore Rifle Association and you can either use the club finder on this website or the one on the NSRA website for anyone wishing to take up this challenging and enjoyable sport.
Where do you start?
Find a local club - contact them about having a starter session and take it from there. Use our extensive list of local clubs to find one near you. (click here for more)
Almost all clubs will be able to provide a rifle and other shooting kit for people who want to try shooting for the first time - or even come back to shooting after some time away from the sport. Clubs will have qualified coaches who can take you through the basics of getting into the right position, how to aim correctly and will have you firing live rounds, safely, in no time at all.
What kit do you need?
The list of kit used by professional smallbore rifle shooters can be quite extensive, not to mention expensive. But don't worry about this when you are starting out as most clubs will be able to lend you kit to help get you started. Then over time you can build up your own equipment. If you are unsure then think of it this way, if you were taking up cycling as a sport would you go out and buy an olympic standard bicycle or would you get a cheap one first to try it out?
But in case you are wondering, here is a list of the items you will use when shooting and a brief reason as to why:
- Rifle - helpful to hit the target
- Ammunition - Without this the rifle is only there to look good...!
- Jacket - supports you whilst holding the rifle
- Sling - provides support and connects you to the rifle
- Glove - provided grip for holding the rifle and makes your hand more comfortable
- Mat - provides grip to your elbows and stops you getting cold on the ground (well sort of)
- Scope - so that you can see where your shots are going once you have fired them
- Ear Defenders - Rifles go BANG...it is important to use a pair of regulation standard ear defenders
- Cleaning kit - a rifle is a piece of precision engineering, it requires care and attention to keep it performing in top condition
- Rifle case - to cary and protect your rifle during transport and storage
- Large bulldog clips - these are used for shooting outdoors - they hold the targets up....
It is possible to pick up all of these items (including a rifle) for less than £500 if you buy second hand - which is not bad if you consider brand new rifles can cost between £1500 - £5000 each. But don't rush out and buy the first thing you find, spend time trying out different things, most clubs will have a range of different rifle types that you can try and speaking to club members will give you a better understanding of what kit will be right for you.
How do I enter competitions?
There are many types of competitions open to rifle shooters, open, closed, league, club, county, national, international and more. Matches also take place in different places, each with a different set of criteria to enter.
Some competitions require you to be a member of the NSRA, others need membership of a club, if you are unsure of the entry regulation you should contact the event organiser for more information.
Here are some of the types of competition you can enter;
- Postal - you shoot at your targets and post them off to be scored by someone independent
- Shoulder to shoulder - teams get together to shoot next to each other, scores worked out at the time
- Indoor - usually warm and dry (but not always...)
- Outdoor - preferably in the summer on a nice day (but again, not always, or often)
If you are starting out with shooting then you should first join a club. Each club has teams that shoot in local, regional and national leagues with abilities at all levels - just like football there are sunday pub teams right through to top premiership teams, the difference being shooters get paid less and fewer people come to watch....ok, so maybe there are a few more differences than that but you get the general idea.
Once you have joined a club you should be able to shoot for one of their teams when there is space available at your level of ability. The club will take care of all the entry for events etc.
If you are wanting to shoot in any national matches then you will need to be a member of the NSRA. For more information on the NSRA please click here
Open competitions are, as they say, open to all regardless of ability. You can enter the class that suits you (usually based on the average of your last 10 cards/scores) so you will compete against people of a similar level to you which means everybody has a chance of winning something.
Entry to open competitions is usually done via post with application forms being available from club secretaries of the host club. Some competitions are listed on the events pages of this website - however we recommend you join a club first.