It has just been announced that Australia has been awarded the hosting rights of the 2030 world championships of the F Class target sports. It will probably be held at the Belmont Shooting complex in QLD with Lower Light in SA being another possibility.
1 Like
You going to try out?
Probably not. Its not a matter of Skill but more the requirements the class I would shoot in would be FTR not the class I shoot here in Aus that is a class that is unique to Aus. FTR varies as it allows the use of any projectile weight in 308 the current thing is 200grn proj however you have to move them incredibly fast to get any benefit. like 2900fps. I have done it but say goodbye to cases and your barrel in short order. Cases may only last the one shot.
1 Like
Thinking about it more perhaps. I think I could have made the current team shooting in South Africa now but it was financial more than anything not to swap classes and put my hat in the ring. If its in Aus there is not a lot of extra cost so wait and see 7 years is a long time.
2 Likes
Will there be any F-class shooters left in 2030 to compete, what with them having the same average age as Mr Burns? 
2 Likes
Good point it is a very elderly crowd The next few years (5) will determine a lot in most shooting sports.Individual clubs will be the first to show the signs if they can stay viable. I know of several VRA clubs that only have one member. Perhaps handguns and shotguns are excluded they seem to have either the numbers and or a good new membership policy/ attitude.
1 Like
Very true, but thats shooting sports full stop.
I don’t know, even within shooting sports generally most of the F-class shooters I’ve encountered have been way older than average.
Totally agree about the next five years being important, though - there’s plenty of younger people who want to shoot, but they don’t want boring “fuddy” matches.
Unfortunately there are not enough that even give it a try. If they gave it a go they might learn something and like the shooting.
The in thing is I want reality to be just like a computer game. Its not get over it.
There’s a big world of difference between wanting shooting to be like a video game (and some practical matches aren’t a million miles away from a video game-like experience) and spending all day to fire a handful of rounds in the company of people their parents or grandparent’s age.
It’s also not helped by how expensive shooting is now, either.
Not sure about F-Class, don’t know much about it, but certainly not all shooting sports. If anything, uptake is great just from what I am observing. @Martini is 100% on the money. Fuddy duddies cannibalise their own sport and bitch about it. Why don’t yuonger people join Darryl? Also, Darryl, would you like to see my 57 rifle 303 collection? Prime example, military rifle clubs. Disrespectful, angry, salty, arrogant, super hard to talk to and just yuk to be around. However, don’t confuse agism with good old fashioned arseholism 
I shoot at a club with lots of oldies who are awesome and super good on a bad day. It’s the internal culture of circle jerks coupled with barrier to entry; and complete rejection of modernity to the point of ridiculing new shooters to their face (seen that a number of times). What would a newcomer rather buy, let’s go with a of three grand? A kickass modern rifle or handgun, some ammo and all equipment; or some rusty (sorry plum patina) Mauser at $3 a shot and a cracked stock.
1 Like
I think it depends on the club - the service rifle club I’ve done most of my shooting at are very good.
A big part of the issue is that service rifles are fucking expensive now, and that wasn’t the case up until 2014 (you can identify the point the prices went stupid). A serviceable .303 was around $350 and you could get a nice one for $500, and if you had an in with the service rifle guys you could get a rifle for around $250. Now they start at $1000 and ammo, when you can find it, costs multiple dollars per round.
@juststarting is right - if you’re a new person getting into shooting, there’s pretty much no reason you aren’t just going to buy a Howa 1500 or similar, a decent optic, ammo, and the accessories and know that it’ll work (1MOA or even less) out of the box and then start putting holes in targets.
Now, as you all know, I like weird old guns - but that’s a choice. I don’t think they’re better than new stuff, and I want people to enjoy shooting what they like (as long as they’re not being an idiot). So yeah, I absolutely do take a full-wood .303 hunting, because I like shooting it, but also because I know how to use it and understand its quirks.
It’d be crazy to take a new shooter out and say “Here’s a heavy gun that was really old even when my grandfather was alive, it’s go no scope and if you don’t load the magazine just the right way it’s going to jam. Also don’t get it wet, or the stock will warp and it’ll start rusting. Now go and shoot a deer or something”, when you should be saying “Here’s a brand new rifle with 3-9x40 scope that’s already zeroed; don’t worry about it getting rained on. Have fun and be safe!”
At least Service Pistol is still an affordable sport, especially since there are brand new guns that qualify - you can buy a Glock 17A and start competing as soon as you wipe the packing grease off.
Back to F-Class… I just educated myself, looks like something I would enjoy.
1 Like
Stepping outside of how expensive the different sub-genres are, shooting in general is probably one of the most expensive mainstream sports in Australia.
Just generally speaking for me, a day at the range costs more than a day with any other sports I play, including golf.
1 Like
Our military club is not like that. Yes people associate the video game thing, no one seems interested in actual wind reading and pure marksmanship at 900 and 1000yds. My great uncle won the 1928 kings prize shoot at Williamstown over 600 shooters…imagine the elation! Unheard of these days!
1 Like
F Class is good fun but there needs to be some more accessible shoots for beginners to catch the bug & want to push to improve. I’ve been saying for years; too many clubs are totally purist and don’t encourage or allow different formats as a bridge to true precision shooting.
2 Likes
True…not many are interested in learning true marksmanship, until they have shot a good score in adverse weather conditions. When you learn to shoot in wind/light/and mirage conditions, thats usually when the bug bites…
2 Likes
Nobody wants to rock up to try a new sport only to be told you need to spend $3-5k to get into it; well, nobody young anyway…
2 Likes
You can set up an Omark a lot cheaper than that…Its a highly underrated rifle, that can mix it with best of them. A decent Omark can be had for 4-500…just saying…
1 Like
Plus $250ish bipod, mat, rear rest, reliable scope $700+, spotting scope $500+, reloading gear (dunno current prices but I reckon about $600 at least with press, dies, scales & other sundries) brass, bullets, primers & powder (there’s $1k 
)… $500 Omark can quickly become at least $2.5k.
If you’re lucky the club will have a rifle set up for newbies…
3 Likes