PRECISION RIFLE WORLD CHAMPS FRANCE

IPRF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FRANCE 2022

By: Greg Sykes

Istarted shooting PRS or precision rifle 2 years ago and the exciting format and dynamic nature of the shoots really appealed to me, as a die hard 308 fan, the fact that there is a class limited to 308 caliber firearms also fell right into my wheelhouse. During the first national championships up in the mountains near Loursensford wine farm, I realized that my previous experience with long range shooting was standing me in good stead and I won the event with a good margin between me and the next competitor. Rob , the then chairman of South African Precision rifle federation called me aside and explained that in 2022 South Africa would be sending a Protea team to France to compete in the first international world championships, he explained the qualifying criteria and the path that I would have to follow to make the team. Without boring you with details, it was a fairly grueling 2 years of shooting the circuit and spending tremendous amounts of time on the range and dry firing at home. My other shooting had to stake a breather as I just could not make all the shoots. In February of this year we finally had the results and I had qualified top of the 308 class log and was selected for the team. It was a surreal experience to receive the green and gold blazer at a function hosted by the Transvaal Scottish regiment up in Johannesburg. What a proud and exciting experience. After all the selection stress, it was down to hard work and preparation again, I was averaging 1000 dry fire shots a week with 50 to 100 live fire shots in practice over the weekend and every month one high pressure 200 odd round competition. By the time we flew out to Paris, I was as ready as I could be ……or so I though. The shoot was hosted by the French precision rifle federation on the military shooting range in the little town of Bitche in north east France. The competition itself was run over 4 days with us limited (308 class) shooters shooting the Monday, then a day off while the Open class and Ladies shot on the Tuesday, Wednesday had us shoot our final 10 stages of the 20 stage competition and the rest finished up on the Thursday. For those unfamiliar with Precision rifle shooting, it is basically the long rifle equivalent of practical pistol shooting, competitors are given stages where there are obstacles or other terrain features to shoot off, around or from inside at a series of targets that can range in distance from 250m out to 1250m. The majority of targets though are in the 250 to 900m range. A typical stage consists of between 8 to 10 shots fired in a time limit of 90 seconds with moving position and target distances sometimes up to 8 times in one stage. Shooters have to move fast, get steady, find the targets, dial scopes or hold over and make precision shots under a lot of time pressure.

On the morning of the first days shooting we were given our match booklet. This booklet describes the format of each stage and gives the distances and target sizes. How you are going to approach each stage is your own decision. It was here that I realized that the world champs was a shoot on a completely different level to anything we had shot in South Africa. All stages we limited to 90- seconds except one stage that had a 180 second time limit, but was a 20 shot stage . There were really interesting positions and obstacles such as a military tank that you had to climb up into and shoot out of and a Marriot line of defensive “ trenches” that you had to get into and out of as you moved ( nice for my six foot 4 frame to crouch down into a 50cm high tunnel). All the time firearm safety is closely monitored and any infringement will get you a stage disqualification. The real kicker of the contest was the target sizes. Plates ranges in size from 1.1 MOA to maximum 2.6 MOA and distances were at the closest 270m and maximum of 950m for this shoot. In real terms this meant we were shooting 100mm plates out at 325m from unsteady positions and under time pressure. Similar sized targets were the norm and I remember having a bit of a chuckle where on one stage we had a 100mm plate at 270m and we all though, “ok that’s a give-me plate” so we can count on that and really focus on the difficult ones. August meant that it was late summer in Europe and the region in France where we shot had been experiencing a drought. Temperatures climbed to the mid thirties with a strong dry frontal wind of between 8 and 16 miles per hour blowing the whole time. Those of you who shoot rifle know that the worst wind to shoot in is a frontal or tail wind. They tend to fishtail and if you miss the switch, you end up with

a double error and a harsh silence from the range officer ( only hits are called). There were over 250 competitions from 26 countries, so it was a logistical challenge to get everybody through the stages. We moved in squads of 12 people. One of the best parts of the competition was the spirit amongst the shooters, with each squad made up so that you did not have a team mate from your own country with you. We were all forced to meet new people and by the end of the shoot those strangers had become friends. The rules are clear that there is no coaching allowed while a shooter is on the line and this was strictly enforced, however while waiting your turn or after you had shot, you were welcome to discuss conditions with your fellow competitors. We all ended up chatting about the difficult wind, heat, mirage and other challenges and there was a general atmosphere of close camaraderie. When My name was called for my first stage, I was expecting to be super tense and under pressure, but I think the huge amount of preparation paid off and when the buzzer went , I was calm and confident. I shot really well on day one and was in the top 20 finishers in tactical class for the day. The second day of shooting started well, but by the time I got to my third stage of the day, I had a little hiccup when the range officer took the chamber flag out of my rifle. He must have scraped it against the side of the chamber or a bit of debris must have gotten into the chamber. On the wall of the stage, when I tried to chamber the round, the bolt would not close. I ejected the round and flung the blot forward onto a new round, again it would not close. The clock was running as I pulled the round out, inspected it to see if it had a problem, could not see anything wrong and tried to force a third round into the chamber…………… again no go. All too soon the buzzer went and with my head hanging I had to leave the stage with a zero. There are no reshoots in PRS. If you have a problem tough luck. I immediately went to my gear bag and scrubbed the chamber and barrel with a bronze brush. I would not test the rifle and had to wait a tense half hour before I was on the next stage to see if my cleaning has solved the problem. Luckily for me as I slid the bolt forward it chambered the round and closed smoothly as always. OK, focus, forget the past stage, follow my processes and ensure hits……… back on track. By the end of the second day I had finished 12th in my class, an achievement which I am really proud of. The competition was closed off by the prize giving where the American teams dominated the top spots. America has been shooting PRS style events for the past 15 years and the depth of experience showed. What was even more rewarding was how these top shooters were all really nice people, free with advice and going out of their way to assist where they could. A nice bunch of shooters, as were the shooters from the rest of the countries as well.

It was the most amazing experience, tough shooting, but really rewarding. I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to compete. As with all competitions, the time behind the trigger also pays off in other disciplines. Myself, I only started competitive shooting to improve myself for the hunting fields. If you would like to know more about precision rifle, drop in on the SAPRF webpage or let’s chat on the range. It is a dynamic and fun sport and goes a long way in improving general shooting skills.