Smallbore Rifle Shooting: A Practical Guide

by Christopher Fenning, Nick Clark (Foreword)

Smallbore Rifle Shooting is essential reading for those who are considering taking up the sport, and for those who already have some experience but wish to improve their skills and participate in competitions. It takes the reader forward from the point at which the very first shot is fired, introduces new levels of understanding and competence, provides useful advice, and answers many of the questions frequently asked by beginners. The key topics, which are examined in detail, include breathing, aiming, trigger control, and "follow through." Step-by-step guidance is presented on how to build a comfortable and stable prone position while wearing a jacket and sling, and the numerous photos are include pictures taken through the sights. The author presents practice exercises that help demonstrate the different techniques. For people looking to progress beyond indoor practice shooting, there is an explanation of types of competition, how to enter events, and how to anticipate the effect of wind on a shot.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 21, 2011

Reviews

[Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, notice to ISSF shooters: even though it's called "small-bore rifle shooting" it only covers the prone position, not a line is written about standing or kneeling positions (which is just as well, I loathe three position rifle).
Second, this is a beginner's guide. If your looking for a metaphysical treaty on rifle shooting this is not for you, go and get "Ways of the rifle" from MEC (which is actually mentioned as further reading at the end of this book).
Third, this is a book written with the British public in mind and refers to legal and organizational aspects of rifle shooting intrinsic to the UK that are different in other countries (most surprising is the possibility of indoors shooting of small bore rifle at distances shorter than 50m; it does, however, cover outdoor shooting at 50m too). No big deal, foreign readers only have to get information about those aspects from their national shooting federation (I know this is UK's Amazon, but I think this information is relevant to potential readers who, like me, are from other countries).

This aside, it's my opinion that this is an excellent beginners book. It covers all important aspects needed to know about this sport, including what equipment is required (much more than just a rifle), safety measures, how to get started and the skills needed to start getting consistent results, focusing on body position, sight picture and trigger pull. After the explanation of each of the aspects referred, exercises are suggested to appreciate the results from good and bad practices. Other chapters cover things like equipment maintenance and how to cope with changing light and wind when shooting outdoors.

One of the distinctive features of this book is its wealth in pictures. If it's true that an image is worth a thousand words, this book is an encyclopaedia. For most situations there's a picture each for the right, the too much and the too little.

I wish this book was around when I started shooting a few years ago, it would help me understand what I was getting into and prevent a lot of trial and error in the first few years. Even today I can still get useful information from it.

[Joe Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Excellent Primer

A thorough primer on all things relating to smallbore shooting. From breathing,to grouping and use of jackets and slings to match shooting this really helps give an overview of the sport.
Additionally there are formative exercises which are useful as well as many photos and diagrams.
If you are looking for comparisons of rifles or ammunition look elsewhere though!!