POPPING down for a pint at your local, you might well be inclined to throw a few darts, shoot a rack or two of pool or even settle down for a few hands of cribbage.

You rarely see anybody picking up a .22 rifle to attempt to hit a tiny target situated 15 yards away down a metal tube.

Rarely, that it, unless you frequent some of the watering holes of Devizes and its environs – home to one of Britain’s rarest and most unusual sports.

The Devizes & District Miniature Rifle League, founded more than a century ago, is believed to be the only competition of its kind in the country.

A small, dedicated, group of enthusiasts take part in the competition starting in September of each year, with nine teams – featuring eight members in each – still running in pubs, clubs and ranges both in the town and in the likes of the villages of Potterne and All Cannings.

Numbers may have dwindled down the years, but the league is hoping to broaden its appeal to a new generation with an open evening in September.

This sport is no ‘turn up and shoot’ affair though.

“When you take part, you have to have total respect for firearm safety, security and control,’’ said Chris Greenwood, who shoots for the Comforce (Combined Forces) club.

“We are looking for new members, especially among the younger generations, but rifles, the use of them and all the other issues around it have to be taken very seriously.

“Some people will raise their eyebrows at the thought of people using rifles in pubs, and that is why safety is always the first priority when it comes to what we are doing. No chances are taken at all. ’’

That was clear from my introductory session in a side room at The Lamb, in Devizes, where the process of preparing the rifles, ammunition and targets was carried out with the precision and care you’d expect from a sport whose roots, naturally enough, are in the military.

Fellow Comforce member John Weller said: “During the Boer War it was noticed that it took much longer to train a British recruit to use a rifle than a Boer.

“Unlike the Boers, the British recruits had very little experience with firearms before joining up and it was felt that this could be a major disadvantage in any future conflict.

“People were encouraged to set up miniature rifle leagues, generally based on pubs with each venue being no more than a half hour's trap ride from any other venue in the league.’’

The Devizes league was started in 1906 by a Royal Army Medical Corps staff-sergeant Gregg, with the championship open to the Wiltshire regiment, any forces detachment based in or around Devizes and rifle clubs within six miles of the town.

Weller said: “They generally fired .22 rimfire rifles down a metal tube at a steel plate with a small hole in it not much bigger than the bullet. If the bullet went through it caused a bell to ring.’’

Plate targets are still used at some venues to this day but at The Lamb, my aim was at a card target, which may as well have looked five miles away as my novice eyes squinted at it down the tube which runs down behind the pub’s toilets.

Putting aside my initial scepticism that my chances of my effort even making it halfway down the tube were next to minimal, I was briefed on the preparation, loading and unloading of rifles by Comforce’s vice-captain Mike Owen.

Encouraging me to aim a fraction below the bull, using the front sight at the end of the barrel and the rear sight, Mike’s instructions were to “give the trigger a gentle squeeze”.’

One ‘pop’ later, I unloaded the casing and turned around to view the television feed, provided from a camera placed near the target, to see the fruits of my handiwork.

The target itself remained worryingly ‘hole-less’, until someone – not entirely convincingly – claimed to see a small section missing from the edge of the card.

That was enough encouragement for me to reload several times more and, to my relief, edge considerably closer to the bull with later efforts.

“We want people to see this is an interesting activity,’’ said league chairman and Potterne team member John Chandler, as I witnessed another impressive demonstration of the experts in action.

“It’s one of the more unusual things to try but as long as they are prepared to do it responsibly, we hope more people will get involved.’’