Question 1

What is UKVARL?

Accepted Answer

The UK Virtual Air Rifle League is a national bell target league for air rifle and air pistol shooters. You shoot at your own club, on your own range night, and your card is entered, checked and published online — so you can compete against shooters and clubs across the country without the travelling.

UKVARL is run by The Guild of Jewellery Designers as a not-for-profit community project supporting grassroots bell target shooting.

Question 2

What is bell target shooting, and what is a 5.1?

Accepted Answer

Bell target is a traditional British discipline shot indoors at a small steel target, at 6 or 7 yards (18 or 21 feet). A card is a set number of shots, each scored to a decimal.

A perfect centre shot — the one that rings the bell — scores 5.1. That is where the league's 5.1 Club gets its name.

Question 3

Who can join UKVARL?

Accepted Answer

Any member of a recognised air rifle or airgun club in the UK where bell target shooting is conducted safely and lawfully. Anyone can create a free account to follow the leagues, teams and results.

Question 4

Why does my account say it is awaiting approval?

Accepted Answer

New members join as probationary users. A club official (team admin) or a league administrator approves you and links you to your club before you can post scores or appear in the standings. If you have been waiting a while, ask your club official to check the Members list in My Club.

Question 5

What can each type of member do?

Accepted Answer

- Shooter — enters and checks cards, competes in the Virtual League and Knockout Cup, tracks their own progress.
- Team admin (club captain) — manages the club roster, club details and logo, nominates scorers and checkers, organises challenges and internal matches.
- League admin — runs seasons, fixtures and results for their league.
- Admin — full access to every part of the site.

Question 6

Is UKVARL free, and what does a subscription include?

Accepted Answer

A free account lets you view leagues, tables, teams and results. A subscription of £12 a year including VAT unlocks the full member features: entering and checking cards, the Virtual League, the Knockout Cup, challenges, personal statistics, progress charts and downloadable reports.

Administrators can also authorise a member manually where a club has arranged it another way.

Question 7

How do I renew or cancel my subscription?

Accepted Answer

Open Account → Membership. You can start a subscription, view your renewal date and manage or cancel your plan there. Cancelling leaves your account active as a free viewing account until the end of the period you have paid for.

Question 8

How do I enter a card?

Accepted Answer

- Go to the Virtual League and start a card for the current round.
- Scores are entered one shot at a time, so it works well on a phone at the range.
- A nominated scorer enters the card and a nominated checker confirms it.
- Once the card is signed off it is locked and counts towards your season.

Question 9

Why do I need a scorer and a checker?

Accepted Answer

It keeps the league fair between clubs that never meet in person. You cannot score or check your own card. Your club official nominates who is scoring and who is checking for a session, and administrators may ask to see the physical card at any time.

Question 10

What happens to a card I started but did not finish?

Accepted Answer

Unfinished cards are cleared automatically after 24 hours so nothing is left half-scored in the system. Start a fresh card next time you shoot.

Question 11

What distance do we shoot at?

Accepted Answer

You may shoot at 6 yards (18 feet) or 7 yards (21 feet) — both are accepted for UKVARL cards.

- Measure from the front of the target plate straight down to the floor, then along the floor to the firing line, which should be clearly marked with tape.
- The centre of the target disc sits five feet from the floor.
- Use your club's normal range distance and keep to the same distance for the whole season.

This is set out in the [UKVARL competition rules](/constitutiondistance).

Question 12

Can I shoot both rifle and pistol?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Rifle and pistol are scored as separate disciplines with their own standings. Choose the disciplines you shoot in your account settings; if you switch one off, its panels and stats are hidden from your dashboard.

Question 13

How do rounds and season pace work?

Accepted Answer

Each season has a set number of rounds and a set number of cards per round. The site works out the expected pace from the season's start and end dates, and shows a pace badge so you can see whether you are on schedule, ahead or behind.

Question 14

How are shooter divisions decided?

Accepted Answer

Divisions have fixed boundaries based on your current average, so you always know where you sit:

- Bullseye Elite — 39.1 and above
- Marksman — 32.1 to 39
- Clubman — 32 and below

Question 15

How are teams and clubs ranked?

Accepted Answer

Teams are ranked purely on their cumulative aggregate score across the season — there are no bonus points. Where totals are level, the number of 5.1s scored is the tie-break.

Question 16

What is the 5.1 Club?

Accepted Answer

A running table of the members who have posted the most 5.1s in the season, with a per-match figure so shooters with fewer cards are still comparable.

Question 17

How does the Knockout Cup work?

Accepted Answer

The Cup is a single-bracket knockout run across all divisions to produce one overall champion each season. Each round has a shooting window; both shooters submit a card and the higher score goes through. If a shooter does not submit within the window they forfeit the tie.

Question 18

How is the Cup seeded?

Accepted Answer

Seeding is based on your entry average, and the full seeding rules and seed list are published on the Cup page so everyone can see how the bracket was built. Entries close once the Cup is under way.

Question 19

How do club challenges work?

Accepted Answer

A team admin can challenge another club to a friendly match, suggesting several possible dates. The challenged club can accept one of those dates or reply with alternative dates of their own. Both clubs are emailed at each step, and the agreed fixture appears in Fixtures.

Question 20

Can we run matches between our own members?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Club officials can set up internal club matches and score them in the same way as league cards, which is ideal for club nights and handicap competitions.

Question 21

How do I update our club details, logo or location?

Accepted Answer

Team admins can open My Club to edit the club's name, contact details, bio, logo and map location. The logo then appears next to your club and teams throughout the site.

Question 22

We already shoot in a traditional home-and-away league. Can we use UKVARL?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Physical leagues can run their fixtures, line-ups, targets and results here alongside the virtual competition, with handicaps switched on or off per league.

Question 23

Do winners get anything?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Season and Cup winners are added to the public Roll of Honour, receive a congratulatory email and can download a branded certificate. Awards also appear in the trophy case on your member profile.

Question 24

How do the sponsor discount codes work?

Accepted Answer

Sponsors in our directory can offer a member perk. Discount codes are shown to approved full members when signed in — they are not shown to visitors or probationary members. Open the Sponsor Directory to browse suppliers, clubs and ranges.

Question 25

How can my business advertise to UKVARL members?

Accepted Answer

See our [Advertise with us](/sponsors/join) page for the tiers and prices. You can create your own listing, add featured gear and services, offer a member perk and manage your billing from the sponsor portal.

Question 26

What is UKVARL Score?

Accepted Answer

It's the league's own target-scoring tool. Photograph your card with your phone and UKVARL Score lines the card up, finds the shots, gauges each one against the official ring sizes and gives you a scored card you can check and correct. See the [UKVARL Score page](/ukvarl-score-guide) for the full rundown.

Question 27

How accurate is UKVARL Score?

Accepted Answer

It's a scoring aid, not an official scorer. Everything is measured from a photograph, so angle, lighting and a scruffy card all affect it, and automatic alignment and shot detection can be wrong. Always check and correct the marking before keeping or submitting a score, and confirm hairline calls against the physical card. In competitions your submitted score is your own declaration and stays subject to administrator review. See [accuracy and your responsibility](/ukvarl-score-guide).

Question 28

Do I need a subscription to use UKVARL Score?

Accepted Answer

Score entry, saved scans and personal statistics are part of the yearly subscription, along with competitions. See [membership & pricing](/pricing).

Question 29

Which cards can I score?

Accepted Answer

All official UKVARL cards are built in with their true ring diameters, and league administrators keep those figures up to date. Paper competition cards are chosen by the administrator when the competition is set up.

Question 30

How should I photograph the card for best accuracy?

Accepted Answer

- Lay the card flat and shoot from directly above the middle of it.
- Even light, no shadow or glare across the print.
- Get the whole card in frame with a little space around it.
- Avoid heavy angles — the app can correct ovalling, but a square photo is always better.

If the photo is likely to reduce accuracy you'll see a quality note telling you why, so you can retake it.

Question 31

How does the automatic line-up work, and what if it can't read my photo?

Accepted Answer

One tap finds the centre of each diagram, the ring sizes and any ovalling. If it can't read the photo you can use Fit to print to snap the guides to the printed rings, or fine tune by hand — nudge, size, stretch and tilt — then lock each diagram so it can't be knocked out of place.

Question 32

How is each shot scored?

Accepted Answer

Shots are gauged the way a pellet gauge works, following the card's line-touching rule: inward (the usual setting) reads the hole edge nearest the centre, so a hole breaking a line takes the higher ring, and outward reads the far edge, so the hole must sit wholly inside the line. Ring guides sit on the outer edge of the printed line and the centre guide on the outside of the black mark, because that's where official diameters are measured. Bell target cards score to a decimal, so a perfect centre reads 5.1.

Question 33

The app missed a shot or marked one wrongly — can I fix it?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Tap a line in the score table to highlight that shot on the card, then move, delete or add shots as needed. There's undo and redo throughout, plus a retouch mode for very fine adjustments with a live score readout.

Question 34

Do my scans save automatically?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A scan saves itself a few seconds after the marking settles, and any later correction updates that same scan. Everything appears under Saved scans with the photo, marking and totals.

Question 35

What does the Progress tab show?

Accepted Answer

Rolling 7, 30 and 90 day averages for score, group size and consistency, your personal bests, and a composite heatmap of every hole in the period with your mean point of impact and suggested sight adjustments. If you fill in the session log it also compares how you shoot with each pellet, batch and rifle.

Question 36

What is the session log for?

Accepted Answer

It's optional. Record pellet brand and head size, batch, rifle, position, indoor or outdoor, temperature and lighting, and the app can then show which combination actually shoots best for you.

Question 37

What are the coaching pointers?

Accepted Answer

Plain-English notes based on the direction and shape of your group — for example a low-left group or a vertical string — suggesting what to look at next: trigger, hold, stance or sights. They're guidance, not gospel.

Question 38

How do paper target competitions work?

Accepted Answer

League administrators set up paper rifle or pistol competitions and choose the card, the number of targets and the number of rounds. They can also set how many rounds count — for example six rounds shot with the best five counting, dropping your lowest. You enter each round through UKVARL Score and submit it; submitted rounds are locked, and administrators can review and correct the marking.

Question 39

Why don't I get 5.1s on paper targets?

Accepted Answer

The 5.1 is a bell target concept, so it isn't used in paper target competitions. Paper cards are scored on their own ring values, with optional ISSF-style decimal scoring.

Question 40

How do I move and zoom the card on my phone?

Accepted Answer

Drag with one finger to pan and pinch with two to zoom. When a diagram is locked you can still pan and pinch from the middle of it without moving the calibration.

Question 41

I still need help. Who do I contact?

Accepted Answer

Signed-in members can raise a ticket in the Support area and a league administrator will reply. Otherwise speak to your club official, or contact us through our Facebook group.

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