Draft:BUCS Rifle Championships

The BUCS Rifle Championships are an annual series of co-educational inter-university target rifle championships sanctioned by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS).

Three championships are held across the year - a short range (indoor) and a long range (outdoor) championship for smallbore rifle organised by the National Small-bore Rifle Association, with a fullbore target rifle championship held during the NRA Imperial Meeting.

Short Range Smallbore Championship
The youngest of the three events, the short-range smallbore championship was first tested in 2008 with a match at Wigan Target Sports Club. It was approved by BUCS for 2009. It later moved to Staveley Rifle and Pistol Club near Sheffield, to run as part of BUCS Nationals weekend. The event is organised by the National Small-bore Rifle Association on behalf of BUCS.

Teams compete in a postal competition over the winter to qualify for the finals at Staveley. There is one team competition and three individual classes. Qualification for the individual championships is shot concurrently with the team competition.

In 2022-23 season, 150 men and 67 women entered the individual postal competition, with 30 teams entering the team competition.

Long Range Smallbore Championship
The Long Range Championship is held at Appleton Rifle Club near Warrington.

Unlike the short range, the Championship is open entry and requires no pre-qualification. The course of fire is a "Double Dewar" - 40 shots fired at distances of 50 metres and 100 yards. The event is organised by the National Small-bore Rifle Association on behalf of BUCS.

Fullbore Championship
The BUCS Fullbore Championship is held each July as part of the Imperial Meeting run by the National Rifle Association at the National Shooting Centre in Surrey. The NRA hold a number of Inter-University matches during the meeting including the Musketeers, the Universities Long Range  and the Chancellors Match  (a varsity match between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge). The aggregate results of the Musketeers Match and the Universities Long Range Match are used for the BUCS Fullbore Championship.