[Music]
This is target shooting designed to get your heart pumping.
[Music]
Speed, accuracy and team work are key.
We are at Pirbright, next to the National Shooting Centre, Bisley, for the National
Rifle Association’s Falling Plates competition.
There are three similar but different events taking place.
The first is for pongos - serving military personnel using semi automatic weapons.
It is a big favourite of the Omanis, the reigning champions, who take this seriously and train
hard.
They even have their own camera crew.
Their main opponents are not the British but the Canadians.
Bisley is probably one of the most prestigious shooting events you can come to.
You know what I mean?
There's some all over the world but Bisley has so much history it goes way back.
Its on everybody's bucket list.
You have to do Bisley.
Do you come here to win?
We always come here to win.
The team that I have right now is a composite team from all across Canada.
They are basically taken from the top 50 best in Canada: who is the fastest, who's the best
shot.
We always put our best team forward.
Each team of four starts lying prone then, on command, run 100 yards to the shooting
position to take down the steel plate targets in front of them in the quickest time.
Fastest team down there does not necessarily win, all right?
You can get down there faster but you still have knock down what is down there.
And that is where the accuracy part comes in
[Music]
In the finals it is the Canadians that triumph.
[Music]
And guess what, that is one of the things on our list, too: beat the Omanis.
[Music]
Next up are the civilians who will not get anywhere near the times posted by the military
guys and girls as they won't be using semi-auto rifles.
Nicky Bennington has come all the way from Devon to compete having got her FAC 10 years
ago.
Well this is an AR-15, which is a straight pull rifle.
It is magazine fed.
This one has got a telescopic site, but you can have any type of sight on it, any type
of stock.
This one is not too heavy, because obviously I do not want to lug around a heavy rifle.
You don't have to buy one new.
You could always buy one secondhand.
But this really is the easiest and the most common rifle that we use in the CSR but people
use bolt action rifles.
If you've got something with a 10-round magazine you can use it.
They are all either what we call straight pull rifles or what we call bolt action rifles
and most of them will be military caliber so they will be firing 5.56 or 7.62.
The advantages with a heavier 7.62 bullet is that it knocks the plate over easier but
it's a little bit slower to reload than a straight pull 5.56, so it's a toss up between
the two really.
Most of the teams that seem to be doing well seem to be shooting a mixture of those two
calibers.
There is a complete mix of people here from ex-military to those who see it as a good
excuse to have a get together with friends.
Gareth and his mates all shot together at university.
It is great fun.
It is combining a bit of physical activity with shooting straight marksmanship skills.
It is a lovely day out in the sun in the summer.
It's a team event so you have got all your mates with you.
It is brilliant.
There really is a welcoming and fun atmosphere here with plenty of banter as some of the
older bodies lurch forward in pursuit of glory, but we're shooting guns.
Surely we must be serious at all times?
You will find most of the shooters, once they have adopted that shooting position, most
of what else happens is gone.
They really are concentrating on the fact that they have a live firing weapon in their
hands that they need to be appreciative of that fact.
And they forget about everything else going on really.
I think Phil and I are experienced enough to herd them around as cats and do it in a
friendly way but at the same time we are actually switched on, and we know.
If we don't like the look of it we will say something, and we will say straight away.
Now we said there were three disciplines here today.
The third is the historic, using Enfields.
They don't have to run as far, maybe because of the age of the competitors rather than
the rifles, but - hang on - there's a young competitor in a mini skirt – what on earth
is going on?
I don't look dressed for it, I wasn't prepared for prone shooting unfortunately.All I was
told was that we were shooting Enfields and doing falling plates, so that's all I knew.
I did a bit of shooting when I was in cadets in the OTC when I was 13.
That's when I first started and enjoyed shooting and then I found out about shooting club when
I went to university - went to Queen Mary - and, yes, I've been shooting ever since.
So mostly we do TR, we do clay pigeon shooting, we do .22 shooting, mostly.
I found out about this competition and thought I would come along and have a try.
Louise doesn't own an Enfield but just turned up and borrowed one, which is what's so great
about these events.
The more the merrier.
Everybody here will have to have been a member of a club or a member of the NRA but the NRA
offer introductory days, guest days.
Every club has the same thing.
We have guest days where any civilian that hasn't got a criminal record can come along
and have ago and, if they like it, join the club.
And every club has club rifles so you don't need to buy your rifle initially.
You will train with them and then once you've done a six-month probation and you're safe,
then you'll become a full member of that club.
You can then apply for a firearms licence then buy your own rifles, and get into anything
whether it's historic CSR, stalking, vermin control, target shooting, practical rifle,
practical mini rifle, shotgun, you name it.
Everything.
All through the day we've been asking what makes a successful falling plate team, and
it's been split: some say running speed, some say accuracy.
So what do the overall winners think?
Fast running and good accurate shooting.
And it all came together?
And it all came together on the day.
It didn't last year, but this year we have had another go and we've got what we are after.
You didn't have me in the team.
No that was it, we didn't have him He pulled his hamstring but we got there, that's the
main thing.
And you didn't have Colin.
No, so maybe it was just me and Rich.
We are the problem.
If you want to stretch you legs - and your barrels - please go to nra.org.uk