I've decided to bite the bullet and take a crash course in what it takes to be a competitive long-range shooter.
I'm at Seddon Range in Upper Hutt where the country's top long-range target rifle shooters compete each year for the national title - the Ballinger Belt, which opened on Friday.
A lifetime of watching war movies couldn't help Stuff reporter Matt Tso against New Zealand shooting representative Charlotte Flanagan at Seddon Range. The two competed in a friendly match, firing from 1000 yards (914.4 metres).
The crescendo of this experience will be a friendly match against a top-drawer shooter at the prestigious 1000 yard (914.4 metres) mark.
This should be just like knocking over bunnies out in the back paddock with a slug gun, right?
The Ballinger Belt is awarded to New Zealand's long-range rifle shooting national champion. It is the country's most prestigious target shooting trophy and is also New Zealand's oldest contested sporting prize having first been awarded in 1873. The national championships began in 1861.
My eager preparations amount to rereading Barry Crump's A Good Keen Man but to ensure I don't go into the match half-cocked I will be tutored by National Rifle Association New Zealand chairman and former Paralympic shooting coach Ross Mason. We start with a couple of tutorials at 300 yards before attempting a shoot from 1000 yards.
He tells me the sport has a long history in New Zealand. The first national championships were held in 1861 - nine years before rugby reached this country.
More important than the history lesson, I'm given the safety briefing and Mason teaches me how to use a 7.62mm target rifle.
Lieutenant W.M Brighton was the first national target shooting champion in 1861.
I've put 20 rounds down range before Mason tells me I'm ready for 1000 yards.
My opponent is New Zealand representative and former American long-range junior title holder Charlotte Flanagan. She is one of nearly 400 shooters competing at the National and World Championships which are being held back-to-back at Seddon with the World Long-Range Championships.
The sport can be boiled down to putting the bullet as close as possible to the bullseye - but understanding the concept is easier than doing so in practice.
My start is inauspicious when two "sighters" - shots used to dial in the sights - from 1000 yards miss the target completely.
At this distance the target - a few feet in diameter, looks like a pinhead. Placing it in the middle of the fore sight which itself needs to be lined up with the rear sight involves multiple mico-adjustments in the shooter's hands, arms, shoulders, body position and breathing.
"Don't over-think. Keep blinking. Empty out your lungs and squeeze the trigger," Mason keeps reminding me.
The wind is also up. Seddon Range is world-renowned for its challenging drafts which get caught and redirected by the hills and gullys around the range.
The flags used to read the wind are dancing off at all angles. "You can have different flags pointing in different directions all at once. It can catch out the best shooters in the world", one shooter tells me.
Top shooters can group 15 rounds in an area the size of a dinner plate - my expectations are not so high after those sighters.
Flanagan generously gives me two more shots to get dialled in so we can get the match underway.
After five rounds each, Flanagan's shots are tightly grouped more or less around the bullseye. By comparison mine are sprayed across the target, but a five-point handicap means our scores are even.
In a one round, winner-takes-all shootout Flanagan shoots a four - just away from the bullseye. Her place in the national team is safe for another year when I shoot a two.
It turns out a lifetime of watching war movies won't prepare you for the rigours of long-range target rifle shooting.
Quick Facts:
- The New Zealand National Rifle Association Championships - including the Ballinger Belt, and World Long-Range Championships and international Palma matches are being held at Seddon Range, Upper Hutt between January 25 and February 10.
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Australia, Canada, the Channel Islands, Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States will be represented.
- Seddon range has hosted the World Long-Range Championships twice before; in 1979 and 1995.
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The Ballinger Belt is New Zealand's oldest contested sporting trophy having been introduced in 1873. It was named after Arthur Ballinger who won it for a third time in 1907. Ballinger was entitled to keep the belt after this third win but donated it to the National Rifle Association. Since then it has been the prize for the winner of the National Championships.