Dhofar Match
Match Conditions
Introduction
The 600-yard Dhofar Match, shot from prone at an NRA Bull target (the aiming mark is 39” wide, and the V bull is 7.8”). This .303 shoot has its roots in Australia as the Anzac TR shoot. Created by members of the Hill End Rifle Club in New South Wales, it was subsequently taken over by LERAA (Lee Enfield Rifle Association Australia) who shot it at 300 and 700 yards with 15 rounds at each distance. On a dreary midweek winter’s morning at Bisley, two TCRA members (Raf Jah and Robert Illius) were devoid of inspiration, and so decided to amend the shoot to challenge themselves at 600 yards, thus the Dhofar Match was born.
Authorised classes
SR (a) – Service Rifle Class A
A service rifle as issued by any government prior to 1952 and used without any unauthorised alterations or additions.
SR (b) – Service Rifle Class B
A service rifle (classic or veteran) as issued by any government prior to 1952 fitted with Target rear sight and issue foresight. For example an SMLE or No.4 fitted with the parker hale rear target sight.
Course of fire
Should a shooter gratuitously or continuously delay firing, the RO will remove his right to fire further rounds at the end of the practice. This decision is at the discretion of the RO, who may be influenced by the complaints of other competitors. No allowance will be given for technical failures or issues of shooters’ equipment. After firing, the competitor will dress off the firing point and wait until another competitor has completed his shoot before he or she may carry on with their second practice. Obviously, this is null and void if there is no other competitor.
Practice 1
There are two practices, each with up to two convertible sighters and 15 scoring rounds in total, all individually marked back. Firers will assume the prone position and take two convertible sighting shots within two minutes. As soon as the last sighter is shown, the competitor must declare “cut them” or “keep them” (keep the first sighter or both sighters as scoring shots) before commencing the rest of his scoring rounds up to a maximum of 15.
Practice 2
The competitor has 45 seconds maximum from presentation of his marked target to fire his next round (45 seconds to observe the marked target, resight the rifle and fire a shot). This means the average shoot of 2 sighters (2 minutes) and 15 rounds (max 45 seconds each plus 30 seconds for each target drop, mark and raise) should last a maximum of around 20 minutes. The RO may restrict each detail to this timing.