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NZ F Class Rifle Team heading to World Championships with Kiwi advantage
The Rural Roundup • July 29th, 2026 1:22 pm
Peter Kynoch | Photo: Supplied
New Zealand’s F Class Rifle Team is taking a bit of Kiwi innovation to the World Championships.
The 18-strong squad is on its way to Bisley in the UK, where they will represent New Zealand as individuals and as a team in long-range target rifle shooting.
Team captain Peter Kynoch told The Rural Roundup the group has spent four years building towards the event, after New Zealand’s first appearance at the World Championships in South Africa was largely about gaining experience.
This time, they arrive with bigger ambitions and a plan few others have seen before.
“As New Zealanders, we always like to be a bit innovative, don’t we?” Kynoch said.
In F Class, which Kynoch described as “the Formula 1 of shooting”, competitors usually shoot with their own rifles. New Zealand has taken a different approach, building four team rifles that are all exactly the same.
“Normally around the world, the individuals come together and they make the team, and they’ll take their own rifles,” Kynoch said.
“Whereas this time, we don’t do it as individuals making the team. The team makes the team.
“We built four rifles all exactly the same. Same barrel, same round count, same calibre, you name it, all exactly the same.”
The goal is to make life easier for the wind coaches, who play a critical role when shooters are lying prone on the mound at 800, 900 and 1,000 yards.
“When we’re shooting in a team scenario, we know they’re all doing the same thing, so it makes the wind coach’s job far easier,” Kynoch said.
“We’ve got a wee bit of a jump on them this time, so as normal, we’re just a bit innovative.”
The competition is decided by tiny margins. A bullseye is worth five points, while the very centre, known as an X, is worth 5.1. At world level, Kynoch said most teams are good enough to hit the middle consistently, meaning the title can come down to X-counts and countback.
“The winner will probably be down to how many X’s you’ve got, not how many points you’ve got,” he said.
“It can get that close.”
Kynoch said the mental side is just as important as the technical one.
“If you busy yourself wondering how everybody else is getting on and how you’re getting on, then you will come second,” he said.
The trip also carries family significance. Kynoch’s 93-year-old father, John, an Olympic bronze medallist for Great Britain and one of the great shooters of his generation, will be at Bisley with the team.
“My father’s been one of the world great shooters,” Kynoch said.
“We were brought up on a shooting range.”
Now, after years of preparation, New Zealand heads to Bisley relaxed, hungry and ready to test itself against the best.
“We can shoot as well as anybody in the world,” Kynoch said.
“We’re good enough and we certainly will hold our own.”
Listen to the full interview below:
