Sporter

Sporter is designed to allow shooters with standard shop-bought sporting type rifles to shoot on the National Rifle Association’s rifle ranges. The prime purpose for its introduction is to encourage participation, rather than competition. This doesn’t mean there is no competition at all — there are still local competitions to be enjoyed.

This young discipline is growing from the eagerness of numerous shooters who own high-quality hunting rifles that are accurate and ready to go at long range. Add a good quality scope and shooters are able to engage in long-distance target shooting.

The regulations on what type of equipment can be used are pretty flexible, although your choice will have an impact on the distances you will be able to reach. Be aware that there are also range regulations like calibre and/or energy limits, as designated in the Range Standing Orders and/or Police Range Approval.

At a glance: Factory vs Open

Both classes shoot the same target and course of fire. Maximum weights include the scope and bipod.

Course of Fire

The standard course of fire for our club is 2 details each consisting of 2 sighters and 10 scoring shots. Good sighters can be kept as scoring shots. The absolute centre of the target is scored as a V with 5, 4, 3 and 2 rings present on the target. Typically the remainder of the target area is considered to be worth 1 point (a hit) but this does vary from target to target. The maximum total is 50.10 points per detail, with a total of 100.20 points being the highest possible total for both details.

On paper targets, for each shot fired the target is pulled down and the shot marked, then raised so the shooter can observe where the last shot landed and the scorer can record the score. With the switch to electronic targets for club shooting there is no delay in marking the targets — the shots appear on the shooter’s screen just a few seconds after the bullet hits the target.

As a club we take turns to shoot on one or more targets (depending on numbers) and we share the range with many other clubs who will have their own target(s).

Because our club has both F-Class and T/R shooters and the targets are the same for both disciplines, the F-Class and T/R shooters all shoot together.

Targets

The targets vary in size for each distance but do so in a way that doesn’t significantly alter their appearance to the shooter.

As can be seen in the diagram below, the targets — when adjusted to angular measurements — appear very similar in size relative to the shooter.

The actual dimensions are listed in the following table (dimensions in mm).

Equipment

Basic equipment for Sporter:

• Shooting mat
• Spotting scope and stand
• Gun case or bag
• Ammunition
• A range box or some other way of carrying your gear
• Ammunition case (e.g. MTM cases — for non-reloaders it saves messing around with boxes of ammunition on the line)
• Ear muffs (plugs might seem OK if you’re planning to shoot a .223, but the person right beside you might be shooting a .308)
• Cleaning accessories
• A good hat