Both days of the Autumn Meeting took place in sunshine and gentle winds – winds which were almost undetectable to lesser mortals. Overnight frost melted into dew and generated vibrant populations of midges which became a major factor. One of our number actually shot while wearing a midge net.

At the first range on Saturday, there occurred a rare event. A Match Rifle tyro produced, with his first match rifle shoot, a score of 100.09 at 1000 yards. This was Ron Scaglione – a seasoned Target Rifle shooter – but we welcome his debut into MR.

We were visited by three English stars, Alex Cargill Thompson, Julian Peck and Michael Davis, together with Silke Lohmann.

The winds were very light, but difficult to read, and the light was distinctly variable, all of which brought out the magpies.

It was not long before a major phenomenon became apparent. Angus McLeod was dropping no points at any range. On Saturday, he achieved three perfect scores, and no less than 37 V bulls.

The rain which was threatened for Saturday afternoon held off and fell overnight.

By Sunday the sunshine, and the midges, were back. The fickle winds and changing light continued to take its toll on the scores. But not on Angus, who continued his sequence of perfect scores to produce a record combined score for the two days of 450.63 to win the meeting by 11 points.

Julian Peck shot very well, achieving second place on both days with 439.47, and Mike Baillie-Hamilton finished third with 432.42, eighteen points behind the leader.

Thus, Angus swept the board with the Maxwell Cup, Sandeman Trophy and the Brodie Trophy (1233 Yard Aggregate), with Julian Peck winning the Brown Tankard and Silke Lohmann winning the Maitland Cup.

The pairs were won by Julian Peck and Ian Brown with 333.29, with Tim and Silke bringing up the rear with 316.15.

The Atholl Arms had provided a congenial dinner on Saturday evening, but our great thanks go to Tim and Liz Kidner for the immaculate management of the entries and the stats and to those who stage managed the electronic targetry, which gave very little trouble.

It was a very enjoyable event, finishing in good time for those faced with long return journeys.

The bard of Kippen