Full bore shooting is firing 7.62mm bullets over long distances, using the Cadet Target Rifle with iron sights and no aids to support the rifle. Firers and their coaches fire up to ranges of 600 yards considering breathing, heart beats, drop of ammunition and reading wind conditions that all effect the shot.
Over the last two years full bore shooting has made a return to Cranleigh School after a long break. Not the easiest of times to get Cadets trained on this discipline. In between lockdowns we would go to Bisley for training and shot against the OCs last summer.
The traditional Schools week at Bisley was cancelled due to the restrictions so a new format was considered to get Cadets shooting again. Over the weekend 11-12 September each region from the Highlands down to the Chanel Islands put on a shooting event. The scores would then be collated and the top teams will go to Bisley to compete for the famous Ashburton shield. (Last won by Cranleigh in 1967)
An early start on Saturday morning saw the team (Rauri B-S. (c), Archie W., Bryn S. and Will V-P. register at Pirbright ranges with Josh B. and Will G. as markers. The markers are vital to the team and the competition could not go ahead without each team supplying them. Huge thanks to them.
The morning was spent to zero the rifles at 100m and a practice shoot at 300m.
The afternoon was the start of the competition with two shoots at 300m, individual and team. Two sighting shots and seven shots to count. The team of four must finish in fifty minutes. After each shot the target goes down, a spotting disk is put in the hole the bullet made and the score shown. The coach then looks through a telescope, plots the shot on a graph and decides if ant adjustment due to wind etc needs to be made. The score is then confirmed with a registered keeper from another team.
Sunday the team returned to Pirbright and set up on the 600m range and prepared their rifles. The morning was 500m team and individual. In the afternoon the team dropped back to 600m as the markers finished their KM walk back to the butts. The final shoot was two sighters followed by ten to count, very tiring after a long weekend concentrating.
Then time for the final parade and prize giving. In their first comp after many years, The staff and Cadets were over the moon when Cranleigh School were announced as Silver medal winners in the overall competition and silver in the School competition behind a very strong Sutton Vallance.
Congratulations to the team who progressed well over the weekend with some outstanding shooting by all deserving their two medals.
We look forward to more success. Next fixture is Target Sprint against Charterhouse.
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