Shooting a full bore rifle safely is a big responsibility.

Mosin Nagant carbine rifle firing

At WRPC we have a strong full bore shooting section with some very experienced members, all of whom are keen to pass on their knowledge.

To ensure that everyone who shoots full bore is safe and competent, the club not only conducts live fire training but also has a dedicated one day course. Open to all full members, the course teaches the fundamentals of full bore shooting.

Some of the topics covered ;

• What is meant by Full-Bore
• Disciplines – TR, F Class, Gallery, PRS etc
• Bullet Construction – Meplat, ogive, jacket, boat tail
• Cartridge – Neck, shoulder, base, primers
• Ballistics – interior, exterior, terminal, flight trajectory, POA/POI
• Sight Types – Iron, Red dot, holographic, magnified optics, fixed / variable, first and second focal plane
• Marksmanship principles – body position, sight picture, breathing, release, follow through
• Zeroing – distance, near and far zero, mechanical zero
• Scope Mounting – eye relief, scope height vs bore axis, position, torque, levelling, scope cant
• MRAD vs MOA – systems of measurement
• Factors affecting bullet flight – wind, angle, force, air density, humidity, temperature, bullet BC, bullet velocity etc
• Rifle – calibre, barrel length, type, twist weight etc
• Trigger – types, purpose
• Scopes – purpose, dial types, reticle types, cost vs quality etc
• Iron Sights – types
• Supports – bipods, tripods, bags etc
• Equipment setup – LOP, risers, trigger weight, scope parallax etc
• Data – taking the right measurements
• Putting it all together – drop tables, ballistic calculators, recording data and results
• Practical – shooting simulated scaled targets with live full bore rifles on our indoor range

This is taught over a one day course at WRPC and is free of charge to members.

About to start load testing with home loaded .308 ammunition

The course will ensure that members know the basics of full bore shooting and will be able to select, purchase, set up and use equipment properly the first time.

This is conducted along side practical live fire training at MOD ranges and Bisley.

After the course and with some practical tuition you will know how to properly set up a rifle and sights and using your gained knowledge, be able to put rounds onto a target at any distance confidently.

If you’ve done it all correctly, you will be able to make up a drop chart for any set of distances – here for the steel targets at Chobham range – and see that in reality your scope settings were within a couple of clicks of the predicted settings. Very gratifying! (Details deliberately blurred on this chart as it is only for that members’ rifle and ammo combination at that time and date and should not be used or copied)

Real example of a used drop chart for a .308 rifle for Chobam range at Bisley

Two WRPC members rifle shooting on the Chobham range at Bisley. The steel targets are too small to see without a scope.

After passing the course, shooting 8 times with live fire, passing a test and satisfying the trainers that the member is competent, the member can have a Shooter Competency Card issued, commonly referred to as an SCC.

Holding a valid SCC is a requirement for shooting without direct one to one supervision on MOD ranges and for using some facilities at Bisley, for example shooting steel plates on Chobham range.

View of scope turrets while pointing at the 1000 yard targets at Bisley

And getting it right – first four shots with home loaded ammuntion from the rifle bang onto the centre of the target, first time at 1000 yards. Just need to come up a few clicks to move the group onto the bullseye ;

Screen showing hits on electronic target at 1000 yards

If you’re interested in full bore rifle shooting, WRPC will teach you how to do so safely.

Oh and did we mention it’s fun!