Shooting

Shooting is open to cadets in all three sections. Third year cadets may learn to shoot small bore rifles in the school’s range on Wednesday afternoons from 4pm till 5.30 pm.

Fourth to sixth year cadets have the opportunity to take shooting as a Wednesday afternoon sports option, when they can practise their small bore shooting skills and learn basic coaching techniques till 4pm, before assisting with the coaching of the third year cadets who then join us.

Shooting also takes place on Tuesday afternoons between 4pm and 5.30pm when the shooting team practises with cadets who are unable to shoot on Wednesdays because of other sporting commitments.

The summer term Wednesday shooting option involves a weekly visit to Castlelaw Ranges in the Pentland Hills south of Edinburgh where the majority of our full bore shooting practices take place. We do also practise at Dechmont Ranges at Cambuslang, but this is a limited facility and does not allow us to shoot at the distances required for competition. For third year cadets who have shot well with small bore rifles and are keen to compete in full bore competition, we have occasional Sunday practice sessions at Dechmont and we encourage them to come to the Scottish Competitions.

During the first and second terms everybody involved may participate in a variety of smallbore competitions, either in the school range, or through postal competitions which enable us to compete against a much wider field without incurring travel.

In the summer term there are three Scottish full bore competitions in which we take part, either at Castlelaw or at Barry Buddon, just north of Dundee, before spending a week at Bisley in Surrey during the first part of July, where we compete against schools from all over Britain. Here the Shooting Team also have the chance to meet many of the London Academicals who give of their time and treat us to dinner on the final evening before we return to Glasgow. This is a fine ending to a very busy year.