470 Squadron has a long, proud history with target shooting in the ATC. During the late 1950’s / early 60’s the Squadron was the best in the UK winning the punch trophy for 12 consecutive years.
These days we field a much smaller team but we are no less competitive. We regularly attend the major shooting competitions at Wing and Regional level with the annual trip to Bisley each summer a key date in the calendar.
As a cadet, competition shooting is an extremely important core skill which tests your patience, focus and accuracy. We take you through meticulous training courses conducted by fully qualified staff allowing you gain certification to handle a number of weapons:
470 utilises the .177 Air Arms S200 air rifle platform to enable cadets and staff to use our indoor TS25 shooting range at the Falkirk Cadet Centre for target shooting.
The S200 is the foundation of our shooting training syllabus as it has extremely low operating costs and is much safer than tradional firearms. Our cadets will progress onto the more advanced platforms once they have perfected target shooting on the entry level platform.
This is the first firearm that most cadets will now encounter in the RAF Air Cadets.
It is a simple, bolt action, single shot .22 calibre rimfire weapon which replaced the old No.8 platform in 2018. These are used extensively for weapon handling training and indoor range shooting with the small .22 cartridge. These are the most cost effective way to allow cadets to shoot small-bore on a regular basis.
The L98A2 is a more modern platform which is based on the standard L85A2 service weapon used by the British Armed Forces.
The cadet version is a modified L85A2 weapon which has had the fire selector removed and locked on semi-automatic. It fires the same 5.56mm NATO round as the normal issue weapon so is extremely accurate and very loud!
The L86A2 was the big brother to the L98A2 and was designed for sustained automatic fire. It used a longer barrel with a bipod for stability and a rear grip to aid in its use. In the 90’s and 00’s, cadets attending major shooting events at Bisley used to see these in action. They have now retired from mainstream service.
The L81A2 was a long range competition rifle based on the M82 Sniper Rifle. 470 frequently shoot this weapon at the Barry Buddon ranges at Carnoustie and at the larger competitions such as those held at Bisley. They fired the 7.62 round which is larger than that used by the L98A2 resulting in a good kick and a loud bang!
This platform is due to be phased out imminently.
