BISLEY, England — The 2026 F-Class World Championships concluded with Team USA F-T/R earning a bronze medal in the Richardson team match, a hard-fought achievement at 1,000 yards on Bisley's notoriously challenging ranges. The final afternoon saw Great Britain, Pakistan, the United States, and Canada locked in a tight contest, separated by mere points as they approached the final yard line.
Competitors faced a relentlessly shifting wind that refused to settle. With the clock ticking down, all four leading teams opted to wait for an easing in conditions that never materialized. The wind instead intensified, forcing shooters to fire into increasingly adverse conditions. U.S. shooters completed their relays with less than three minutes remaining, while the British squad pushed the limit to under a minute – a rare sight at Bisley. Great Britain ultimately held their position, with the United States securing the bronze.
This podium finish concluded a highly successful tour for the U.S. F-T/R squad, which accumulated gold, silver, and bronze across individual and team programs throughout the championships. Adding to these accolades, five team members—Morgen Fulmer, Dale Lucy, Mike Francis, Kimberly Rowe, and Charles Rowe—were awarded the NRA International Distinguished Rifleman’s Badge. This is a significant accomplishment, given that only approximately 80 of these badges have been awarded in the history of F-Class.
The conditions at Bisley proved to be a defining factor. England had endured more than eight weeks without significant rainfall prior to the championships, resulting in a hot and dry competition from start to finish. This contrasted sharply with the monsoon conditions experienced at the previous year's European championships. Furthermore, recent fires on the Bisley ranges had stripped away vegetation, altering the terrain between the firing points and the targets. Longtime locals observed that the range behaved unlike anything they had witnessed before, with wind pickups and let-offs arriving unexpectedly fast, direction changes occurring without warning, and both wind values and brackets far exceeding typical expectations for Bisley. For a discipline where victory often comes down to "the width of a wind call," these unprecedented conditions were central to the outcome of the entire match.
The American F-T/R shooters had already demonstrated their prowess in the preceding British Open. Keith Trapp secured the individual gold medal, with teammate Chris Fairbanks finishing eighth. In the British Open team matches, the United States fielded two squads, claiming both gold and silver.
During the World Championship week, American talent continued to shine in the individual events, with six U.S. shooters placing within the top 20, notably Brad Sauve in second and Jim Crofts in fourth. In the eight-shooter team matches, the United States again entered two squads, mirroring their British Open performance by finishing first and second.
The pinnacle of team competition, the Richardson match, is contested over two days, with eight shooters selected from a 16-person roster. Participants engage targets at 800, 900, and 1,000 yards each day, firing 15 shots per shooter at each distance. Leaders remained extremely close entering the final distance, setting the stage for the dramatic, time-pressured standoff observed at 1,000 yards.
Twenty-seven team members made the journey to Bisley for the championships. The team received support throughout their competitive cycle from sponsors including Vortex Optics, Capstone Precision Group—encompassing Berger, Lapua, and Vihtavuori—and SEB Rests. The next F-Class World Championships are slated for Australia in 2030, with the United States scheduled to host the event at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix in 2034. Notably, defending world champions South Africa finished sixth in the team competition.
