The Sport of Rifle Shooting

In Melbourne Australia
in March 2006
the Australian Commonwealth Games
Shooting Team
ranked 3rd in all sports
with 23 medals won overall.
Gold 9, Silver 8, Bronze 6

Bruce Scott from Townsville Marksmen's Rifle Club
winning Gold at Bendigo
Commonwealth Games 2006

Types of Rifle Shooting

Long range matches are fired at distances of 300 to 900 metres and 300 to 1000 yards from the lying or prone position.  Service, Field and Rimfire matches are fired from standing, kneeling and prone positions at ranges of 30 to 300 metres/yards.   Queensland has successful representative teams in all disciplines including an Under 25 target rifle team.

Shooting is open to men and women of all ages; Queensland law designates that a person using a rifle must be a minimum of 11 years of age and adults 18 years and over must be eligible for a Queensland Licence.   The QRA regularly runs training courses which are required before applying for a Queensland firearms licence.

Origins of Target Rifle Shooting

The British National Rifle Association (NRA) was founded in 1859.   In order to increase the ability of Britain's marksmen following the Crimean War, Queen Victoria inaugurated the first Queen's Prize Shoot by offering ₤250 to the best marksman in Britain.   The first long range rifle shooting match was held at Wimbledon in 1860 and other Commonwealth Countries followed suit soon after.   The first shot was fired by the Queen from a Whitworth rifle on a machine rest at 400 yards and struck the bulls-eye at 1 1/4 inches from the centre.   The Swiss team which took part won almost all the prizes which were for individual shooting.

The first team shooting competition was held at Wimbledon in 1861.   Three English public schools teams took part – Eton, Harrow and Rugby.   Each school had a team of 12 members in cadet uniforms.   Each competitor fired 5 shots at 200 and 500 yards.   The target had only two rings, so that the highest possible score for each team could be 220 points.   The Rugby team won with 91 points.   Minie muzzle loading rifles were used.

The American National Rifle Association was founded in 1871 and the New Zealand Rifle Association was established in 1879 although the first National Championships were actually held in 1861.  

History of Target Rifle Shooting in Australia

The National Rifle Association of Australia began as the Federal Council of Rifle Associations of Australasia in 1888 which  then became the Commonwealth Council of Rifle Associations of Australia in 1901.   The Australian Rifle Team was Australia's first representative team to compete abroad, at Creedmoor USA in 1876, and later at Wimbledon UK in 1886.

The Queensland Rifle Association has records which state that the Association originated in 1860.  According to later history books, the QRA was officially constituted in 1877 and Queensland's first Championship 'the Queen's Prize' was shot at Victoria Park in 1878. The Metropolitan Rifle Range was moved to Toowong in 1887, then Enoggera in 1910 and finally Belmont in 1964. The competition has been named the Queen's or King's Prize shoot depending on the reigning monarch.  The Queens Prize is contested annually in August at the Belmont Shooting Complex in Brisbane.  For more information on the Queensland Rifle Association see the History Page

Halls, C., 1974, Guns in Australia, Paul Hamlyn, Australia
Lugs, J. 1968, A History of Shooting, Spring Books, Middlesex
Holt, N.S.. 1988, The Australian Bicentenary Fullbore Rifle Championships, Notes on the History of Rifle Associations in Australia and Other Nations, National Rifle Association Of Australia, Canberra
 

Commonwealth Games

Bruce Scott won Gold for Australia in the Individual Fullbore Rifle Match in Melbourne 2006.
James Corbett won Bronze for Australia in the Individual Fullbore Rifle Match in Melbourne 2006.
Bruce Scott and James Corbett won Silver for Australia in the Fullbore Pairs Rifle Match in Melbourne 2006.

In 2006, the Australian Commonwealth Games Shooting Team ranked 3rd in all sports with 23 medals won overall. Gold 9, Silver 8, Bronze 6.

World Long Range Championships

Australia won the Australia Match on 29 June 2006 defeating Great Britain and New Zealand.
Australia competed in the World Long Range Rifle Team Championships - the Palma Match at Ottawa Canada 1/2 Sep 2007 winning the Bronze medal with a record score of 14172.728.   The last time Australia medalled in the Palma Match was 1988.   The next World Championships will be held at the Belmont Shooting Complex in Brisbane in 2011.

Bruce Scott (Gold) and James Corbett (Bronze)
Commonwealth Games 2006

Australian Rifle Team 2007