Match Rifle - Bisley 2018
- Mike Baillie-Hamilton Buchanan wins Hopton
- and 1,200yd Any Rifle
- and Match Rifle Selection Aggregate
- and Ranken
- and Victoria Agg.
- Tim Kidner wins Amourers
- and Saturday Agg.
- and Weekend Agg.
- and Weekend Selection Agg.
- Angus McLeod wins Albert
- and 1,200yd Any Rifle Extras
- and Any Rifle Extras Agg.
- Ron Scaglione wins Whitehead
- Five Nations Match won by Scotland Renfrewshire Team
Elcho 2018
Bisley Meeting Slide Show
NRCOS
CAPTAINS LOG
Thursday 12th July
A very full turnout for the Lex Lyons match against Ireland. 16 Scots shooters took part to a greater or lesser extent and some produced some very high scores. The format was alternating shooting and coaching using the headset net, something new for many of us and producing much grist for the head coaches mill.
- Highest Shooters:
- Mike Buchanan 149.20
- Guy Blakeney 148.24
- Ron Scaglione 147.15
- Tim Kidner 146.20
- Angus McLeod 145.11
- Mike Barlow 144.12
By comparison the highest Irish score was 145.16.On a ten shooter average Scotland won by 1,430 to Irelands 1,360. A convincing win by any standard.
A convivial dinner was held in the North afterwards at which the winning shooters and coaches on each side were presented with an appropriate trophy of an alcoholic nature.
Friday 13th July
The arrival of President Trump in the airspace surrounding Bisley curtailed all shooting without any notice until 11.00 am and meant the abandonment of the Any Rifle Extras 1000 yard shoot, irritating for those seeking to establish their 1000 yard zero.
Another quite hot day produced an interesting diet of howling mirage and light winds fishtailing from left to right and produced much wailing and gnashing of teeth at 1200 yards for all apart from those fortunate or cunning enough to shoot in the last detail, when the invisible 5 minute wind bracket was reduced to about half a minute.
Angus McLeod won the aggregate followed by Mike Buchanan, Fergus Flanagan and Tim Kidner in the first four places. A good Scottish result even if the English weren’t taking part.
14th July
The first proper day of the Hopton saw an early Scottish success with Ron Scaglione winning the Whitehead by 7 v’s with Messrs Blakeney, Kidner, Woodroffe and Buchanan in 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th places. Tim Kidner won the Halford, by two clear points from angus McLeod, which put Scots 1, 2 and 3 in the Hopton at the end of the first day, Kidner, Scaglione and McLeod.A very hot day on the range with some interesting but readable wind and especially mirage.
15th July
The Cottesloe, shot in the relative cool of the morning before the heat and mirage built up, saw some high scores. It was won by Nick Tremlett with 100.14, swiftly followed by Messrs Buchanan, Flanagan and Sweet on 100.10, 99.14 and 99.13 respectively.Silke Lohmann was 7th with a 99.10.
The Wimbledon seemed to elude Scots shooters, being only two in the top ten, but Dr Fyfe’s 96.9 made him fourth, a significant result.
The Armourers, later in the afternoon proved a struggle for many with wind and mirage, but Tim Kidner won it with a 95.9, with the next Scot being Fergus Flanagan in 6th position with 93.9.
The end of the Armourers saw Tim Kidner in the Hopton lead with 577.65 over Rob Lygoe on 577.53, Scots were still there in 6th and seventh place, but the blue at the top of the leader board had receded somewhat.
16th July
A Renfrewshire team of Allan Campbell-Smith, Mark Crichton Maitland, John Rankin and Iain Thomson competed for and won the Five Nations Match, shot concurrently with the Edge, with 741.60, one point and two Vs in front of Ireland.
After the three details of the Edge, the winner was George Barnard, with Mike Buchanan in 4th place, Tim Kidner in 5th place and Messrs Blakeney, Flanagan, Thomson and Scaglione in 10, 11,12 and 13th place.
Monday afternoon also saw the FW Jones into which Scotland placed a team for research purposes for the Elcho, but never the less managed second place after the very professional Hopton Supper Club. Other Scots shot with greater effect for the MR Ladies and lesser effect for the Etonian Shooting Club.
Tuesday saw a change in the weather, getting mercifully cooler, but with fresher winds that completely foxed the no sighters Albert competitors. After the first two distances the leader board had Tim Kidner in the lead over Nick Tremlett with 1v, and Mike Buchanan 4 vs behind the Captain of England.
In the event the Hopton went to Mike with 988.99, second was Tim with 986.101. The trio of Scaglione, McLeod and Flanagan took up a very creditable 8, 9 and 10. Fergus also took away the Brian Green Memorial Trophy for the top under 25 and Zoe the Ogden Challenge cup for the top tyro. Zoe has had a stellar year and while her single figure ranking in the Hopton didn’t last the course, she did stick in the top 20
The Elcho
The Elcho team selection was as per the attached list.
The Captain was delighted to award Iain Thomson his first cap for Scotland
A decision to appoint Philippe Ginestet as umpire having been taken, the Captains drew for the firing points and message 1 was called at 9.00 am for the two hour detail at 1,000 yards.Scotland had a messy 1,000 yard shoot after which it was lying third to England and Ireland and 7 points behind the English who achieved 4 possibles. Things got no worse at 1100 yards and with a cracking shoot at 1200 yards a Scotland win looked to be a definite possibility and the English started to look uncomfortable.However, the last firer for Scotland at 1200 yards suffered an unforeseeable firing pin malfunction resulting in a general spraying of the target. The firing pin replaced, the group went back to normal and the elevations flattened, but the 10 points dropped relegated Scotland to second place, but certainly in no disgrace. Ireland were three points behind Scotland.
Notable during the match were Guy Blakeney’s scores of 74.9, 74.9 and 75.10, an outstanding result and only the third person to ever get a possible in the 1200 yard detail in the Elcho.Particular praise goes to the coaching team of Hugh Butcher as head coach, Ron Scaglione as right handed target coach plotted by Colin Hayes and Fergus Flanagan as left hand target coach plotted by Peter Seebohm.Both Fergus and Ron were well up in the Hopton and could have had the glory of being shooters in the Elcho.However, the team of three engineers on the net was an outstanding success and we owe them our thanks.
A very hot and dusty Hopton with the heath looking like the African savannah, but all went smoothly, the markers marked assiduously in spite of the conditions and the matches in a good and comradely fashion.Scotland can feel it did well and has the beginning of a new generation of the Elcho team.Talking of new generations, it was particularly good to see a number of new Scots shooters having their first Hopton, and the club guns were in full use.
Our thanks, as always go to Rosemary Meldrum, as without the use of Elcho Lodge we would be a tribe wandering in the wilderness. Rosemary and her helpers gave us a delicious lunch on Elcho day, for many of us the only vitamin seen all week, so doubly welcome. Sadly, we were without their lordships Weymss and Elcho.
Mark Crichton Maitland