International Confederation of Fullbore Rifle Associations

Palma shooting

Palma competition dates from 1876, featuring long-range rifle shooting, out to 1,000 yards. The first Palma match was contested by teams from the U.S., Australia, Canada, Scotland and Ireland (with muzzleloading rifles at that time). The matches continued to the late 1920s, and the trophy was eventually lost in Washington DC around the outbreak of WW2. The match was revived in the modern era in 1966 in Canada, and continues between teams from around the world. The PALMA bolt action rifles are 7.62mm NATO caliber (Winchester .308) and fire Match Grade ammunition using a 155 grain bullet using micrometer aperture (iron) sights.^[3] The last two International Long-range Target Rifle Matches were held in Australia in 2011 and the U.S. in 2015, were won by Great Britain.^[4]

F-Class

F-Class was started in Canada by the late George "Farky" Farquharson after whom the class is named.^[5] In the United States, J.J. Conway is considered the "grandfather of F-Class".^[6]

Formation of ICFRA

Starting at the 1999 Palma and Individual Long Range World Championship in South Africa, representatives of 14 countries met and a formed a steering committee to form the foundation of an international organization to become the successor of the Palma Council.^[7] ICFRA was formally founded in July 2003.

Palma

In Palma-style competitions only iron sighted rifles are permitted, and competitors may use slings and special clothing to increase stability.

Palma is a fullbore rifle discipline shot with iron sighted rifles at ranges from 300 to 1000 yards. In international competitions the only two permitted calibers are either caliber .223 Remington or .308 Winchester with maximum bullet weights of 80 grains (approx. 5.2 grams) or 155 grains (10 grams) respectively. ^[8]

• International Target Rifle class (Palma): Shot prone supported with a sling, no bipods or rests are permitted. Only iron sights are permitted. Mimimum trigger pull weight is 500 grams (approximately 1.1 lbs). The total weight of the rifle is unlimited. The rifle must be chambered for either the unmodified .308 Winchester/ 7.62×51mm NATO or .223 Rem/ 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge cases. Bullet weight for .308 Win must be less than 156 grains (typically 155 grain bullets are used), and less than 81 grains for .223 Rem (typically 80 grain bullets are used).

For Palma, slings are permitted as shooting aid, and adjustable slings with arm cuffs and buckle adjustments are commonly used.^[9] Special shooting jackets are permitted, which can increase the stability of the shooter, reduce movement of the firearm due to pulse, helps with consistent recoil management and provide padding for the elbows against the ground. Because of the tension of the sling and the weight of the rifle, it is common to use special padded shooting gloves in the support hand for comfort.

• 
  A U.S. marksman at the 2014 Inter-service Rifle Competition at Quantico Marine Base, Virginia.
• 
  An L81 A2 Cadet Target Rifle.

F-Class

In F-Class, scope sights, rear bags, and either a bipod or front rest is permitted.

F-Class is a rapidly growing variant of Fullbore Target Rifle which permits optical telescopic sights and shooting rests in the front and rear like for instance like a bipod and/or bags. Competitions are fired at distances from 300 to 1000 yards, and the center of the target has an extra scoring ring which is half the size of the one used in traditional Palma shooting. Based on equipment, competitors can choose to compete in one of the two classes Open or Standard:

• F-Open (Open Class): All rifle calibers up to .35 may be used, along with a scope, and one can choose between using front rest and rear bag, or a bipod/ backpack. The weight limit including optics is 10 kg (22 lbs).^[10]
• F-TR ("Target", Standard Class): A restricted class permitting a scope, bipod/ backpack and rear bag (no front rest), but the rifle has to be of either caliber .223 Remington or .308 Winchester. In addition, the weight limit including optics is 8.25 kg (18.15 lbs).^[10]

The 'F' in the name of the discipline is named after the Canadian shooter George Farquharson.

• 
  A BCM Europearms rifle intended for use with front rest and rear bag in the F-Class Open.
• 
  Another BCM Europearms rifle intended F-Class Open, this one with a bipod instead of a front rest.

Ammunition

The reason for limiting bullet weights in the fullbore disciplines of Palma and F-Class Standard is to level the playing field and make the competition about wind reading skills instead of about equipment.^[11] Lighter bullets usually have a lower ballistic coefficient and are therefore more susceptible to wind drift. .308 Winchester/ 7.62×51mm NATO is limited to a maximum bullet weight of 155 grains (ca. 10 grams), which can be seen as a little bit on the light side for the .308 caliber in long range shooting. .223 Rem/ 5.56×45mm NATO is limited to a maximum bullet weight of 80 grains (ca 5.2 grams), which can be seen as a little on the heavy side for the caliber, thus increasing the long range potential of the otherwise "inferior" .223 caliber compared to the .308.

The F-Class Open has no limitations on bullet weight, as long as the caliber is .35 or less. Note that some ICFRA member associations may have additional national competition classes with other caliber and equipment restrictions.

Other equipment and accessories

All competitors are allowed to use a spotting scope while shooting. The most important use of the spotter scope is reading the wind by watching mirage downrange, which is easier with higher magnification. Scopes with powers between 30 and 50× and a lens diameter of 50 mm or larger are commonly used.^[9] When shooting at paper targets, another common use of the spotting scope is to spot for the scoring disks which are placed onto the targets by range personnel to indicate the score. The use of scoring disks is not necessary when using electronic targets.

All competitors may use a shooting mat for padding and insulation against the ground.

Distances and targets

ICFRA competitions can be held in either a short range or long range format, with distances either in the imperial yards or the metric meters. F-Class shoots at the same targets as Palma, but during the scoring process an extra inner ring (which is half the diameter of the V-bull) counts only for F-Class. The scoring is based on points, with the object to place shots as close to the center or "Bull" as possible.^[5] While short range is shot at a different target size for each of the six distances, long range is shot at the one and same type of target at different distances.

The imperial short range distances are:

• 300 yd (274.32 m)
• 500 yd (457.2 m)
• 600 yd (548.64 m).

The metric short range distances are:

• 300 m
• 500 m
• 600 m.

Long range is shot between 700 m to 1000 yds (914.4 m).

Individual Palma

Overall

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue
1992	TA Ringer			Raton, New Mexico, United States
1995	TA Ringer			Trentham, New Zealand
1999	DV Enslin			Bloemfontein, South Africa
2003	SJ Gallacher			National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Great Britain
2007	DC Luckman			Connaught, Canada
2011	R Jeens			Brisbane, Australia
2015	Ben Emms 669-77X	Nigel Ball 668-75X	Matthew Pozzebon 666-78X	Camp Perry, Ohio, United States

Veteran

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue
2003	EE Stigant			National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Great Britain
2007	TJ Whitaker			Connaught, Canada
2011	TJ Whitaker			Brisbane, Australia
2015	David Tubb			Camp Perry, Ohio, United States

Under 25 year

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue
2003	R Stewart			National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Great Britain
2007	P Seebohm			Connaught, Canada
2011	A du Toit			Brisbane, Australia
2015	Jack Alexander 590-55X			Camp Perry, Ohio, United States

Under 21 years

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue
2003	PRD Stock			National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Great Britain
2007	HA Day			Connaught, Canada
2011	No championship held
2015	Waylon Burbach 590-58X			Camp Perry, Ohio, United States

Individual F-Class

Overall

Year	Class	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue
2002		W Scholze			Connaught, Canada
2005		MW Tompkins			Bloemfontein, South Africa
2009	Open	G Costello			National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Great Britain
2009	Standard	R Simmons			National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Great Britain
2013	Open	K Adams			Raton, New Mexico, United States
2013	Standard	N Taylor			Raton, New Mexico, United States