Last year for the L81 :c
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Correct
Major concern for what will happen to the throughput of cadets who might take up shooting later on in life, as well as the considerations of how to continue “elite” team shooting (UK Cadets, Athelings), etc.
Discussions going on behind the scene with the NRA, CCRS & others.
Going to another level of “bad” when the L144 is phased out. 
Phased out? When will it be phased in???
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This is a point.
In 23 years. Ive never seen one
A mythical beast that people talk about 
Over the next 3-4 years, with a phased withdrawal.
Will leave Air Rifle and L98A2.
Me neither.
I got given a grainy out of focus image of one once. Filed it with the SR72/TR3B fake image.
Seriously, never saw them in our neck of the woods.
A real shame. Our sqn fought hard to get our range and weapons back, ending up fielding an Iscrm team for the first time maybe ever and now the rug is going to be pulled
Your wait is over 
Sadly it’s not a surprise. Back when I joined around 2006 there was very much a culture of war-y lead-into-brass conversion & that shooting should only be about the l98 (then A1) because that will allow blank firing & Call of Duty LARPing.
It was a proper nagging fight against mediocrity & bureaucratic banality to get the L81s & change the culture, which the old guard (many ex-service) resisted because coaching cadets to be more accurate requires more effort & attention to detail.
Thankfully they & (most of) the macho culture moved on particularly when we encouraged cadets to ask for coaches, spotters & actually improve their skills.
Unfortunately they then (locally) took over the fieldcraft world which wasn’t so great.
It’s sad that you’ve never had the opportunity to use or the encouragement to use full bore target rifles it’s enjoyable & feels like a proper skill particularly when you start doing the windage corrections. 
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I have never live fired it.
Been trained on it to deliver IWT etc. But cant access the damn things.
The whole No8 replacement from start to finish was a total feces show.
In terms of the 144 locally we did pretty well until the parent station range was reduced from 6 lanes to 2.
The armoury switch off didn’t help as then needed daily moves to deliver any activity.
It’s a nice weapon to fire, but it struggles if you put more than 75 rounds in a single day.
Made myself “popular” at the time - contacted the No8 disposal sponsor to suggest that if the overall category of “wpn of war” could be changed, then the No8 stock could be sold on to private individuals - would easily have got £800-£1000 each as historical rifle. Use any funds so raised towards the new system.
Contacted the sponsor for the replacement - went through a lot of discussion about requirements & that this was the opportunity to take .22 shooting up lots of grades / enhance the standards considerably.
Failed on both accounts. Such a stupid / blinkered approach from the sponsors.
As far as I’m aware, all the proposed replacements for the No8 failed the drop test, but the Savage (L144 eventually) failed it “the least.”
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So I wrote the safety & suitability for service report for the No.8 replacement as I worked for QinetiQ at the time. Only two rifles met all the requirements and MoD chose the cheapest despite concerns over robustness of the L144 as it is now. The more expensive one would have been a lovely target rifle.
Manufacturer / model??
I’ve heard whispers of a policy document from about 10 yrs that said words to the effect “.22 shooting must always remain to achieve highest possible standards in shooting.”
Trying to track a copy down.
Honestly can’t remember - over 10 years ago now - I want to say CZ something or other, but that’s only a vague memory.
I feel lucky then 
Only got to train and live fire it on camp at RAF Shawbury last summer and have not seen any life firing opportunities since… waste of a WHT personally but oh well
Dang, my squadron had a range so I had done quite a bit of live firing on the l144 in around Dec 23
From latest Weekly Briefing:
As of Sept 2025, all RAFAC L81A2’s will no longer be required and this capability will be declared obsolete. Of note: Work is ongoing to see if a quantity of L81A2 rifles can be gifted to the National Rifle Association for their use and separate to MOD funded activity.
I’m on the NRA General Council, & we have been trying (unsuccessfully) to get more details from the NRA Secretary General - the biggest control freak & micro-manager that I think I’ve ever met! As he has just retired & a new Sec Gen has started in the position, hopefully we can get more information released.
EDIT:
Nevertheless, shooting remains a fundamental element of the syllabus for all the MOD sponsored cadets who, since December, have been closely engaged with the Council for Cadet Rifle Shooting (CCRS) to develop an exciting alternative programme of shooting competitions and events for 2026 and beyond…
Yeah, air rifle tgt sprint & not much more!
Personal view - I think CCRS have just rolled over to have their tummy tickled as they are reliant on MOD for their funding. They should have been kicking & screaming about the loss of the CTR, & looking for alternative options. U19 & Athelings = private schools only???
Cadet / youth shooting makes up a large percentage of those who remain with the sport - from little acorns, big oaks grow. It’s a very worrying time for tgt rifle shooting.
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