Back in June, 13 Scouts and Explorers from the 5th signed up to the National Small-Bore Rifle Association – Youth Proficiency Scheme (NSRA-YPS) course, 10 first timers and 3 retaking to improve their skill level.  Starting in July, the young people attended weekly sessions to learn everything from setting up a range, equipment, the law, safety, eye dominance, stance, & breathing to the follow through, sighting, sight adjustment and scoring; concluding with a multiple choice exam and a shooting competition.  In order to qualify for the competition a quiz of 10 randomly selected true/false statements was taken, where a minimum of seven must be answered correctly; these points are also added to the 4 scoring cards for the total score.  Each card has the potential score of 50 points with 5 shots at each, making the maximum possible score of 210, including the quize score.

There are 4 proficiency bands for the qualification:

50 to 124 – Skilled Shot

125 to 149 – Marksman

150 to 174 – Expert Shot

175+          – Master Shot

We are very pleased to say that not only did everyone pass and qualify for their award, but we had 4 achieving Master Shot, three of which had attended the course for the first time; congratulations to everyone who participated and a big thanks for all the volunteer instructors for their support and tuition.