Willie (left) and the course attendees
Kevin Holland and Willie McAulay held a Club Instructor / RCO course at Kincardine Target Sports Centre on 12th & 13th August 2023 with five students from St Andrews University and two members of Alloa & District Rifle Club in attendance.
On day one most of the morning was spent on the Range Control Officer part of the course where the Rules and Regulations from the Home Office, including the Firearms Acts 1968 were explained. After a short break, the next step was range regulations in regards to the NSRA and ISSF.
One thing that we brought to their attention was the checking of the Range Safety Certificate to ensure that all firearms and ammunition comply to the what is on the Range Safety Certificate.
During the working lunch Kevin handed out a questionnaire on RCO duties and range safety. This questionnaire was more to see if the students had been listening and read the course notes.
In the afternoon Kevin used PowerPoint and some short videos to show the basic position for prone rifle, along with sight picture and trigger control.
Then Kevin and I went over the equipment and their uses, fitting of jackets and how to adjust the butt, cheek piece, sling and handstop. We also went into some depth on how each one plays a part in prone shooting. The last half hour or so was a question and feedback session.
Sunday morning we split into two groups, Kevin taking one group and I took the other. We would then go through the basics of fitting the rifle to the shooter and checking their position.
Kevin drew the short straw as one of his group used a Martini International rifle whilst my group were using a Anshutz Match 54 with a 1907 barrel and action!
Once Kevin and I had demonstrated the basics on setting up the rifle, the others in the group took turns in setting each other up in the prone position with a rifle.
After lunch Keven showed some more short videos on prone rifle shooting. Then back into the range so that each student gave a demonstration using each other as guinea pigs on the practical side of setting someone up in the prone shooting position.
The last hour or so was spent on questions from the students and was there anything they did not understand. There was one or two questions regarding rear sights and eye relief, trigger control and breathing but these were from people who had been shooting full-bore rifle as a member of the cadets.
Report & Picture from Willie McAulay, Alloa & District Rifle Club