What is F-Class?

F-Class is a discipline of long-range target rifle shooting, contested at distances from 300 to 1,000 yards (and beyond), using scoped rifles fired from a prone position with the aid of a front rest or bipod. It sits alongside Target Rifle (TR) as one of the two disciplines shot internationally under the ICFRA (International Confederation of Fullbore Rifle Associations) banner.

The discipline takes its name from its founder, George “Farky” Farquharson, a Canadian Target Rifle competitor whose eyesight and steadiness were beginning to fail him in later life. Rather than give up the sport, he asked the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association for permission to compete using a telescopic sight and a rest, alongside the friends he had shot with for decades. Permission was granted, and by the early 1990s the format had been formally adopted by the DCRA under Farquharson’s name.

F-Class spread quickly. It crossed into the United States in the late 1990s and was formally recognised by the NRA in 2005. Today it is shot competitively across the world, with its own World Championship cycle run by ICFRA every four years, held two years apart from the equivalent TR championships.