(This article is edited in June, 2023.)

Mr. Balolia has a shooting experience spanning more than 40 years and he has been involved in long range shooting at the National and International levels for over 10 years.  He served as the Captain of the United States F-Open Rifle Team for the 2013 World Championship.  

He is a four time team member for the US National Champion 4-man team at 1000 yards, and a three time Canadian National Champion

at 700, 800 and 900 Meters.  

He has won numerous gold medals in long range shooting competitions. 

He has also set several National records and has recently earned the Distinguished Rifleman Badge, the highest honor for excellence in the NRA marksmanship competitions!

Mr. Shiraz Balolia is also the President of March Optics USA.

 ( He is no longer March Scope’s distributor, but he was the sole distributor of March Scopes for a long time.

DEON- manufacturer of March Scopes would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for his great contribution.

Thank you Shiraz!  It was our pleasure to work with you.)

Scope

Mr. Balolia once used a March 10x-60x52mm scope as shown in the next section below

but now he is fond of the new HIGH MASTER 10x-60x56mm scope released in 2017 and he uses at various competitions.

This is the big brother to the ever popular 10x-60×52 Second Focal Plane model.

The March HM 10x-60xX56 scope is the first model in the new High Master series

that uses Super ED and Hi Refractive lenses with the lowest thermal conductivity and material distortion.

Which competition do you use the scope for?

I shoot at F-class competition which is a long range shooting.

I mainly shoot at 700, 800, 900 meters / 800, 900, 1000 yards.

What power do you shoot at?

I used to only go to about 50X on the old 10-60 x 52mm scope, but due to the amount of light being let in with the

High Master model, I can use full 60X.

Can you see the mirage clearly?

I can also see mirage through the HM scope better – much better on HM than the regular 52mm scope.

Which reticle do you use?

Due to my eye sight, about one year ago I switched to MTR-3 from the crosshair with 3/32” reticle.

These days I see better so I might go back to the crosshair with maybe 1/8” dot reticle.

Gun Components, Caliber&Load

The rifle features a BAT Machine‘M’action, with a 31″, 1:10″-twist Bartlein barrel. The scope is a March 10-60x52mm, which sits on a +20 MOA angled rail. The primary stockwork, including fitting of the adjustable cheek-piece and buttplate, was done by Alex Sitman of Master Class Stocks. Shiraz customized the stock with finger grooves, fore-end channel, and a bottom rear slide. Shiraz did the final stock finishing as well.

Source of reference :  http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/tag/shiraz-balolia/

Video showing testing 

Records

2008 – Gold medal USA / European Team match

2009 – Represented U.S.A. at the F-Class World Championships in Bisley, England.

            Came home with bronze, silver and gold medals in various categories

2009 – Gold medal, Team USA, four man International Team match, Bisley, England

2010 – Gold medal at 1000 yards, United States F-Class National Championships

2012 – Gold medal at 1000 yards, United States F-Class National Championships

2013 – Match winner and gold medal, F-Open, Berger Southwest Long Range Rifle       

            Championships at Phoenix, Arizona, 800, 900, 1000 yards

2013 – Match winner F-Open, Rocky Mountain Palma Championships at Raton,

            New Mexico, 800, 900, 1000 yards

2013 – Gold medal, four man team match United States National Championship, 1000  yards

2014 – Gold medal, four man team match, Berger SW Nationals

2014 – Team Grizzly sets a national record at 800, 900, 1000 yards.

2014 – Gold Medal and National Champion of Canadian F-Class National

            Championships, Ottawa

2014 – Gold Medals in all 3 Four-Man Team matches at Canadian F-Class National     

            Championships in Ottawa

2014 – Represented USA National Team and won gold medal at the America Match

            against the Canadians

2014 – Gold Medal 1000 Yards at 2014 United States F-Class Nationals

2014 – Gold Medal 1000 Yards Four-Man Team match (Team Grizzly), United States F-

            Class Championship

2015 – Gold Medal 700, 800, 900 Meters Aggregate at 2015 Canadian National     

            Championships.

2015 – Gold Medal and National Champion of Canadian F-Class National

            Championships, Ottawa.

2015 – Gold Medal 1000 Yards at 2015 United States National Championships.

2015 – Gold Medal 1000 Yards Four-Man Team Match (Team Grizzly) United States F-

            Class Championship.

2016 – Remarkable third consecutive Canadian F-Class National Championship win

            2016, 2015, 2014.

2017 – Gold Medal, 4-Man Team Match (Team USA), Canadian National Championship.

            700, 800, 900 Meters. Teams from 13 Countries Competed in this Huge Match.

2018 – Won a gold medal at the United States F-Class Championships at 1000 yards,

            shooting an incredible 200-14x. (14 of his 20 shots were within the 5” x ring at 1000 yards)

2018 – Gold Medal, 1000 Yards Four Man Team Match, United States F-Class Open Team Championship.

            Note all the March Scopes on the rifles in the picture below.

2018 – Awarded International Distinguished Rifleman Award,

            the highest and most prestigious award given to a rifleman in the USA.

2023 – Gold Medal, World Championship, Team USA. Shiraz was one of the 8 shooters on TEAM USA that won the 2023 F-Class World

             Championship in South Africa.

Picture: 2023 – Gold Medal, World Championship, Team USA

Edited by Mari Morita