I am honored and proud to be leading the 2014 US F-Class Open Rifle Team as captain. The “F” in F-Class was derived from the last name of George Farquharson who originated this discipline. Little did “Farky” know that this would become the most popular and intensely competitive type of long range shooting in the world! We are now about twenty years into it and F-Class has thousands of shooters spanning the globe.
The F-Class World Championship cycles every four years and, for the first time ever, is being held in the USA in August of 2013. It will be held in Raton, New Mexico at the NRA Whittington Center Range and the competition is expected to be very fierce. Teams are expected from Great Britain, Germany, South Africa, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, as well as Spain and other countries. We have a very strong team with amazing shooters that easily rank within the best of the best in the World.
We have been conducting tryouts since early 2010 and after twelve very regimented tryouts in seven cities over a period of over 2 ½ years we are pleased to announce the squad that will train together for the World Championship in 2013. Click here for squad members.
The caliber that we have settled on is the 7mm magnum with 180 grain bullets. All the rifles that our team members use are high-end custom guns with top quality single shot actions. For those that are not familiar with F-Class shooting, it is shot in the prone position using a front rest support for the fore-end of the rifle. The World Championship will be shot at distances of 800, 900 and 1000 yards with the X-ring (bullseye) of the target being only 5″ in diameter. Good wind reading skills are a must as a 10 mph cross wind can push the bullet as much as four feet away from the center of the target!
Our coaching staff includes Bob Mead (head coach), Emil Praslick, Rick Hunt and Trudie Fay. These are some of the best wind readers in the world and are expected to coach our team to victory in 2013!
Shiraz Balolia
