International Confederation of Fullbore Rifle Associations
The International Confederation of Fullbore Rifle Associations is the international association for the fullbore rifle shooting sports of Target Rifle and F-Class, which are long range competitions shot at distances between 300 and 900 meters or 300 to 1,000 yards depending on the range. F-Class often shoot concurrently with the world's long-range TR shooters and uses the same targets, except that the F-Class target has an extra ring half the diameter of the smallest in use for TR. ICFRA seeks to standardize the competition rules for TR and F-Class around the world. In competitions, wind reading skills are important, and in order to hit their targets competitors must sense wind direction and speed, and adjust their sights accordingly by applying knowledge and experience about wind drift's effect on the bullet. World Long-Range Rifle Team and Individual Championships for both TR and F-Class are hosted every four years alternately two years apart. The winner of the World Long Range TR Team Championship is awarded the Palma trophy.
History
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. ICFRA was formally founded in July 2003 and the management of the Palma Match and the other World Championship events is vested in its World Championship Committe as successor to the Palma Council.The Palma Match
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. The Match is the world's second oldest International Tream Match, behind only the America's Cup. 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 bolt action rifles are to ICFRA TR specification and fire Match Grade ammunition using a 155 or 90 grain bullet respectively using micrometer aperture sights. The last two International Long-range Target Rifle World Championships were held in the U.S. in 2015 and New Zealand in 2019, when the Palma Trophy was won by Great Britain and Australia. The Reference contains a history of all results of the Palma Match since its inception.F-Class
F-Class was started in Canada by the late George "Farky" Farquharson after whom the class is named. In the United States, J.J. Conway is considered the "grandfather of F-Class".Equipment classes
Target Rifle (Palma )
Target Rifle is a fullbore rifle discipline shot with iron sighted rifles at ranges from 300 to 1000 yards.. Shooting is conducted prone with the rifle supported with an adjustable sling comprising a cuff for the upper arm and an adjustable strap connected to the rifle's forend. Special shooting jackets are permitted, which can increase the stability of the shooter, reduce movement of the firearm due to pulse, help 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 a padded shooting glove in the support hand for comfort. No bipods or rests are permitted. Minimum trigger pull weight is 500 grams. The total weight of the rifle is unlimited. The rifle must be chambered for either the unmodified.308 Winchester/ 7.62×51mm or.223 Remington/ 5.56×45mm cartridge cases. Bullet weight for.308 Win must be less than 156 grains , and less than 91 grains for.223 Rem. The type of rear sights used in TR shooting are often dubbed "micrometer aperture sights".
This nomenclature can be regarded as somewhat unprecise, since a sight adjustment of 1 micrometer combined with a typical sight radius of 1 meter corresponds to an angular adjustment of: = = 0.001 mrad. In practice, Palma rifles typically angular click adjustment of either moa or 0.1 mrad. Finer sight adjustments such as moa or coarser adjustments such as moa are less commonly seen on iron sighted full bore target rifles. Shooters may use a foresight lens of no greater magnification of +0.5 dioptre and a single corrective lens or variable dioptre not exceeding 1.5x magnification in the rearsight.
The US Palma Rifle differs little from the Target Rifle specification except in so far as the trigger pull does not have a minimum weight, and the chamber specification is 7.62x51mm NATO and 5.56x45mm NATO. US competitions designated 'Palma' often allow bullets heavier than 155 grain: the World Championship Palma Match does not. In addition US competitions often have a section for service rifles of the approriate calibre and sighting.
F-Class
F-Class is a rapidly growing variant of Fullbore Target Rifle which permits optical telescopic sights and shooting rests such as a pedestal rest or a bipod at the front of the rifle and a tightly packed sandbag at the rear of the rifle. Competitions are fired at distances from 300 to 1000 yards and, recognising the inherent increase in accuracy of supported rifles, the center of the target has an extra scoring ring which is half the size of the one used in traditional Target Rifle shooting and each ring scores one point less than it does for Target Rifle. Competitors can choose to compete in one of the two classes F or F/TR:- F-Open : All rifle calibres up to may be used, along with a scope, and one can choose between using front rest and rear bag, or a bipod/ backpack, also with a rear bag. The weight limit including optics is.
- F/TR, : A restricted class permitting a scope, bipod/ backpack and rear bag, but the rifle has to be of either calibre.223 Remington or.308 Winchester and the bullet may be of any weight. In addition, the weight limit including optics for the rifle is. The designation '-Target Rifle' reflects the original intention that it would appeal to elderly or less physically able shooters who wished to remain in the sport using their original equipment.
Ammunition
The reason for limiting bullet weights in the fullbore discipline of Target Rifle is to level the playing field and make the competition about wind reading skills instead of about equipment. Lighter bullets usually have a lower ballistic coefficient and are therefore more susceptible to wind drift..308 Winchester/ 7.62×51mm is limited to a maximum bullet weight of 155 grains, which can be seen as a little bit on the light side for the.308 calibre in long range shooting..223 Rem/ 5.56×45mm is limited to a maximum bullet weight of 90 grains, which can be seen as a little on the heavy side for the calibre, thus increasing the long range potential of the otherwise "inferior".223 calibre compared to the.308.The F-Class Open has no limitations on bullet weight, as long as the calibre is 8mm or less. Note that some ICFRA member associations may have additional national competition classes with other calibre and equipment restrictions; notably a maximum calibre of.35" in the USA.
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. 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.
Match format
The Palma Match course of fire consists of 3 yardages - 800, 900 and 100 yards or Metric alternatives - with two sighting shots and fifteen shots to count at each. This format is reflected in the courses of fire for the Palma Match, TR Individual Long Range World Championship and the 4 F-Class World Championships. In the Team Matches the course is fired twice over two successive days: for the Individual TR Championship three times plus a 'final'- an additional 15 shots at 1000 yards for the top 10 scorers to date. F-Class Individual two Palma Courses followed by 2 shoots of 20 shots at 1000 yards.Domestic Championships may consist of two or three Palma courses. Another course of fire commonly used has yardages at 600 yards and 1000 yards, with 15- or 20-shot strings at each distance. A tournament will be three to five strings at each yardage, often with unlimited sighters for each string.
Most ICFRA Members also provide National Championships and lesser events comprising both long range and short range shoots. The pre-eminent competition is HM the Queen's Prize shot annually at Bisley Ranges in the UK, with versions being shot in many Commonwealth Countries. For this, following a qualifying shoot, competitors shoot 10 shots at each of 300, 500 and 600 yards, followed by 15 at 900 and 1000 yards for the top 100 scorers after the short ranges. Fullbore Target Rifle also features in the Commonwealth Games shooting events with both Individual and Pairs events using the Queens Prize format.
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 Target Rifle, but with the extra ring as described above. The scoring is based on points, with the object to place shots as close to the center or "Bull" as possible. While short range is shot at a different target size for each of the distances, long range is shot at the one and same type of target for all three distances. The 'bullseye' is the second smallest ring on the relevant target: the smallest ring is used for breaking tied scores and is designated the 'Vee-Bull' : for the two or more equal bullseye-based scores that with the highest number of Vee-bulls is superior. The ICFRA bullseye counts 5 points, the US Palma bullseye 10 points making the maximum scores for 10 shots 50 or 100 in the USA.The imperial short range distances are:
- 300 yd
- 500 yd
- 600 yd.
- 300 m
- 500 m
- 600 m.
World Champions
The World Long-Range Rifle Team Championships is hosted every four years, where the winning team is awarded the Palma trophy. Prior to 2003 and the foundation of ICFRA, the Palma Match did not confer the title World Champions to the winners, but ICFRA has recognised the Individual World Champions since 1992 inclusive.Below is list of previous Palma winners: the full lists of World Champions Team and Individual for TR and F-Class is to be found on the ICFRA Website. In addition there are World Championship Team Matches for Veterans, 21-25 Age Group and Under-21. These are multi-range Matches not shot over the Palma course of fire.
Palma Match team event
;Overall:| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Venue |
| 1876 | Creedmoor, USA | |||
| 1877 | - | Creedmoor, USA | ||
| 1901 | - | Sea Girt, USA | ||
| 1902 | Rockliffe, Canada | |||
| 1903 | Bisley, UK | |||
| 1907 | Rockliffe, Canada | |||
| 1912 | - | Rockliffe, Canada | ||
| 1913 | Camp Perry, USA | |||
| 1928 | - | Camp Perry, USA | ||
| 1966 | - | Camp Perry, USA | ||
| 1967 | Connaught, Canada | |||
| 1968 | - | Campt Perry, USA | ||
| 1969 | Connaught, Canada | |||
| 1970 | Bisley, UK | |||
| 1971 | Camp Perry, USA | |||
| 1972 | - | Connaught, Canada | ||
| 1973 | - | Camp Perry, USA | ||
| 1974 | Bloemfontein, South Africa | |||
| 1976 | Camp Perry, USA | |||
| 1979 | Trentham, New Zealand | |||
| 1982 | Connaught, Canada | |||
| 1985 | Bisley, UK | |||
| 1988 | Sydney, Australia | |||
| 1992 | Raton, New Mexico | |||
| 1995 | Trentham, New Zealand | |||
| 1999 | Bloemfontein, South Africa | |||
| 2003 | Bisley, UK | |||
| 2007 | Ottawa, Canada | |||
| 2011 | Brisbane, Australia | |||
| 2015 | Camp Perry, USA | |||
| 2019 | Seddon Range, New Zealand | |||
| 2023 | South Africa |
Individual Long Range world Championships
The following categories are awarded:- Overall
- Veterans
- Age 21-25 years
- Age under 21 years
- Super Veteran
- Highest Female shooter: Fullbore Rifle is gender-blind, recognising that female shooters can, and frequently do, outscore their male colleagues. See 2003 Overall Individual below for example.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Venue |
| 1992 |  TA Ringer | A St G Tucker | D Coleman | Raton, New Mexico, United States |
| 1995 | TA Ringer |  DC Calvert |  E Pintard | Trentham, New Zealand |
| 1999 |  DV Enslin |  SR Dunstall | Ms N Zinmaster | Bloemfontein, South Africa |
| 2003 | SJ Gallacher | J Pugsley | Lt N Ball | National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Great Britain |
| 2007 | DC Luckman |  M Collings | N Zinmaster-Mayo | Connaught, Canada |
| 2011 | R Jeens |  A du Toit | DC Luckman | Brisbane, Australia |
| 2015 | B Emms | N Ball | M Pozzebon | Camp Perry, Ohio, United States |
| 2019 | S Negus | M Bailey | DC Luckman | Trentham, New Zealand |
;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 | ||
| 2019 | MI Buchanan | Trentham, New Zealand | ||
| 2023 | South Africa |
;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 | Camp Perry, Ohio, United States | ||
| 2019 | C Schwebel | Trentham, New Zealand |
;Under 21 years:
Individual F-Class
;Overall:| Year | Class | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Venue |
| 2002 |  W Scholze | L Bartholome | R Crone | Connaught, Canada | |
| 2005 | MW Tompkins | L Bartholome | S Ahrens | Bloemfontein, South Africa | |
| 2009 | Open | G Costello | D Parr |  G Taylor | National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Great Britain |
| 2009 | F-TR | R Simmonds | G Barnard | S Pate | National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Great Britain |
| 2013 | Open | K Adams | M Lobert | B Mead | Raton, New Mexico, United States |
| 2013 | F-TR | N Taylor | R Simmonds | D Buell | Raton, New Mexico, United States |
| 2017 | Open | R Davies | P Sandie | A Pohl | Connaught, Canada |
| 2017 | Open - U25 |  R Ireland | J West | M Bramley | Connaught, Canada |
| 2017 | F-TR | D Rodgers | K Chou | B Litz | Connaught, Canada |
| 2017 | FTR - U25 | M Fitzpatrick | S McSparron | C McSparron | Connaught, Canada |
| 2021 | Open | Bloemfontein, South Africa | |||
| 2021 | F-TR | Bloemfontein, South Africa | |||
| 2025 | Open | National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Great Britain | |||
| 2025 | F-TR | National Shooting Centre, Bisley, Great Britain |