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Next closure: WPRC IPSC Level III Provincial Championship Match, Sep 8 – Sep 13

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WPRC Woodstock Pistol & Rifle Club

The email address wprc2005@gmail.com is not an authorized club address.

NRL

National Rimfire League – NRL22 at the Woodstock Pistol & Rifle Club

Precision rifle, scaled down to fit a club range

NRL22 is precision rifle competition shot with a .22 long rifle. It takes the format of the big centrefire precision matches — awkward shooting positions, small steel targets, a clock running — and shrinks it down to distances that fit on a normal club range.

That scaling-down is the whole point. Centrefire precision shooting needs hundreds of metres of range and burns through expensive ammunition. NRL22 asks for a rimfire rifle, a scope, and a brick of .22. The challenge is the same; the barrier to getting started is a fraction of the size.

In this country the league is run by NRL22 Canada, with its own membership, its own national leaderboard and its own national championship. The monthly course of fire comes from the parent organisation, so every club shooting NRL22 that month — here and across the country — shoots the same five stages. Your score is comparable against shooters nationally, not just against the people standing beside you.

What a match actually looks like

You will shoot five stages. Each one puts you in a different position — prone off a bipod, braced against a barricade, balanced on a tank trap, kneeling over a support bag — and gives you a time limit to hit a sequence of steel targets. One stage each month is a timed stage, where finishing early earns bonus points.

Targets are small and the distances are short by precision rifle standards. The standard course of fire sits at 100 yards or closer; match directors can choose a harder option for a stage, but nothing exceeds 200 yards. The difficulty is not the range. It is the position, the clock, the wind you did not read, and a target the size of a coin.

The course of fire is published a week before the month starts, so you can see what is coming before you arrive. It changes every month, so nobody gets to specialise. Match directors provide at least half an hour of sight-in time at 50 yards before the match begins.

Matches run cold: rifles stay unloaded with the action open and a chamber flag in until a Range Officer tells you otherwise.

What you need to bring

  • A .22 LR rifle with a removable magazine. Bolt action, semi-auto and straight pull are all fine. Tubular magazines are not permitted — they are harder to make safe. Bring two magazines.
  • A scope, ideally with adjustable turrets and a reticle you can hold with.
  • A chamber flag. Essential kit, not optional.
  • Ammunition. Around 50 rounds for the match, plus sighters. Bring more.
  • Something to build a position on — a bipod, a rear bag, or both.
  • Eye and ear protection.

That is genuinely it to get started. Shooters do accumulate gear over time, but none of it is required to turn up and shoot your first match.

Divisions

There are eight, and most people are surprised by how many:

  • Open — anything goes.
  • Base — an equipment-capped division meant to keep things about shooting rather than spending. The cap is a combined manufacturer’s list price for rifle and scope together, currently $1,650 USD, with restrictions on aftermarket triggers, barrel tuners and stock modifications. A CZ 457, Ruger Precision Rimfire or Savage Mark II sits comfortably inside it.
  • Young Guns — 17 and under, with a parent or guardian present. Coaching and hands-on help are allowed for newer shooters.
  • Ladies
  • Old Guns — 60 and over.
  • Air Rifle
  • Semi-Auto
  • Adaptive — for competitors whose mobility makes parts of the published course of fire impractical. Positions can be adapted.

You pick one division at sign-in and are ranked within it. Shooters are also classified — Novice, Marksman, Sharpshooter, Expert — so a newcomer is measured against others at their level rather than against the top of the field.

There is also NRL22X, a separate and more demanding series for shooters who want to push further.

Licensing

A .22 rifle is a non-restricted firearm, so a standard PAL is all you need. No restricted licence, and none of the acquisition problems that affect handgun disciplines.

Membership

You do not need an NRL22 Canada membership to come and shoot. Every competitor’s score gets submitted, but only members appear on the national leaderboard, so if you want your results to count toward standings and championship qualification, join. There is a grace period after a match to sign up and claim your score.

The season runs 1 May to 30 April, not by calendar year.

NRL22 at WPRC

The club runs four to six NRL22 matches a year. Dates go on the club calendar as they are confirmed, and appear on the front page of this site under what is on next.

  • which range we use: 150m and 300m
  • Entry fee: $25
  • Do you need to be a WPRC member? No – guest are welcome
  • Do you need an NRL22 membership? Required to have scores count nationally / not required to shoot with us.
  • Loaner gear: Yes! Just let us know and we can generally have a rifle for you.
  • Who to contact: Carl and Travis
  • Squadding or registration: Practiscore link, email, or just turn up.

New to this?

Come and watch one. Precision rimfire looks intimidating from the outside and turns out to be one of the friendliest disciplines going — the format leaves plenty of standing-around time between stages, sharing gear with newcomers is actively encouraged in the rules, and coaching new shooters through a stage is allowed rather than frowned upon.

If you have a .22 and a scope on it, you already have enough to shoot your first match.

Useful links