“Target Rifle” is the traditional competitive form of shooting. It originated in the days when local militia groups gathered to practice their skills and compete for honours with the rifles of the day and developed over 100 + years into the modern competitive sport we see today.

Target Rifle shooting is broadly divided in two forms:

• Smallbore, using .22LR cal. Rimfire rifles
• Fullbore, using Centre fire rifles.

The ORA is primarily centered around fullbore shooting does not directly run smallbore matches. Smallbore TR, however, is an excellent training ground and introduction to new shooters. If you are interested in reading more about smallbore rifle shooting you might consider looking at Rifle Shooting In Ontario and the Canadian Shooting Sports Association web sites.

Target Rifle (TR) shooting with the Ontario Rifle Association is a form of Fullbore shooting, conducted under Commonwealth rules. This restricts shooters to primarily .308 Win (7.62 NATO) but .223 Rem may also be use for most competitions. All shooting is done prone (laying down) with the rifle supported entirely by the shooter with a sling.

TR is shot at distances from 300 yards to 1000 yards. A typical competition or practice would involve relays at shorter ranges, (300 and 600 yards) in the morning and longer ranges (800 to 1,000 yards) in the afternoon. This can, of course, vary depending upon the competition and the available range facilities.

The targets used are of the round ‘bulls eye’ design and get larger at the longer distances. The sizes are defined by the rules with the scoring rings sized so that the average target rifle and ammunition could shoot a perfect score.

The rifles used for TR shooting vary a great deal but in general have two things in common.

1. They are built for accuracy at all ranges and,
2. must be bolt action.

Economical ‘starter’ rifles can be created from military rifles, Enfields, P14's, Mausers and the like. For many years this has been best that you could use. In recent years specialist “Bench Rest” and “Varmint” style rifles have been developed and good modern target rifles are based on these designs.

For competitions trigger weight is strictly monitored (at a minimum 1.5Kg) and only iron ‘peep’ sights are allowed. Though a simple device compared to modern optical sights, peep sights can provide amazing accuracy. As competitors are classified according to ability this is a game where everyone can do well from the beginner or “green-shot” to the “master”.  This game is all about accuracy, consistency and marksmanship and in the master class the levels of achievement are high.

The ORA offers a full and comprehensive range of Target Rifle events, from basic practice facilities, local “club” matches, through to the prestigious Provincial Championships. At the Provincial Championships the best are selected to form teams to represent Ontario at the National Championships. Also individuals are selected to represent Canada in international competitions both here in Canada and all over the world. Ontario Rifle Association shooters also compete to represent Canada at the Commonwealth Games.

Here are the target 1996 target dimensions (I think) with the reduced 1997 V bulls sizes. If you see any errors please let me know and I will correct them. All dimensions are in yards and inches except for the 300 meter distance value. The ORA follows the DCRA rule book with few exceptions.

The 200 yard distance seems to seldom be used and the “way out there” target is used for 800, 900 and 1000 yards. Why is there no 700 yard target you ask? Well I have no clue.

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