I was lying on a dusty track in the middle of a Hampshire field. A target board stood 100m away, guarded by a huge backstop in the form of a redundant railway embankment. I fired two shots from the .243 calibre RPA rifle, and then squinted down the scope to see where they’d landed.
“You’re not firing a shotgun, Jim.” It was the voice of Chris Howard, our instructor. He’d been paying more attention to my shooting technique than I’d realised. “This is a rifle,” he went on. “You don’t yank the trigger.”
My ego was outraged, and it protested in the strongest terms.
“Excuse me, sir,” it blustered. “I’m currently lying
