NRC of S Autumn Meeting - 2018

 

Light winds on both days so the scoring was relatively high and very close -- there was only 4 points between the top 4 places and Angus McLeod came out top, finishing with a score of 99.12v at 1233X . Mark Crichton Maitland achieved a new record score for 987X with a score of 100.20v, beating my previous record of 100.19v.

Tim Kidner

 

Meeting Report

Our Captain showed the assembled Highland and Lowland Scots and visiting fellow MR shooters that he saved all of his V-bulls for this season to set a Blair range record at this Autumn's open meeting.

With a 100.20 Mark Crichton Maitland was ahead at 987 yards with both Angus McLeod and Mike Buchanan (formerly known as MBH) also shooting 100s, but with an inferior V count. Mark’s lead didn’t last long – the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

Although the midges immediately appeared when your correspondent left the car which led to the speedy unfold of her newly acquired midge net which in return proved enough for all resident insects to make a quick departure and the meeting remained relatively midge-free with the odd appearance but without major casualties.

Saturday remained mostly dry and with not too much of the interesting Blair wind. At 1114 yards, Iain Thomson took the lead with a 75.10 following his 99.11 at 987, but it became clear that this would be a close match with six 74s among the 20 competitors. After a swift lunch break to avoid the rain and a short speech followed by a toast on the firing point to congratulate Colin McEachran on his MBE, 1233 yards proved more difficult than most had anticipated.

Top scorer Angus McLeod took the lead with his 74.9, but only by 7 Vs in front of Iain Thomson....and a point ahead of Ron Scaglione. Sunday was promising to be an exciting match!

As is traditional, the majority of attendees gathered at the Atholl Arms for drinks and the usual elf & safety assessment of the menu and a jolly time was had by all (just for the record your correspondent had got it completely wrong but thanks to the pit stop at Tebay on the way up had already gone way over the daily calories intake and the toys stayed in the pram).

Discussions in the evening included whether the Campbell-Smith experiment of swapping rifles had a) proved anything and b) would result in father and daughter swapping rifles for good, given Joanna was leading the family competition by 10 points with a very respectable 241.17; updates on latest shopping sprees up the road, in Canada and Hong Kong; which bullets to use next season, if exchange rates kept rising and your correspondent for once contributing with an open discussion request on which strategy to apply on the best use of the various remaining ammunition batches in her possession for tomorrow's shoot. It also has to be pointed out that all was quiet on the Western front and there was an obvious lack of tank talk or even imagery during the evening.

Sunday morning looked decidedly more rainy than the forecast had allowed us to believe and the wind also made more of an appearance to make it more exciting for all those struggling with the concept of vertical wind. That didn't stop Tim Kidner, our eminent organiser, though to top score at 1114 with a 99.15, closely followed by one of the English visitors, Nick Brasier with only 7 Vs less. Steady shooting from the Lowlanders meant that the competition was still intense … with Iain Thompson getting a 98.13 with one V ahead of Angus McLeod.
The Army vs Navy competition was on – and Angus McLeod was victorious with a 99.8, while Iain Thomson made up for his V count with a 98.14 and equalled on Vs, but stayed second with one point less than Angus who won with an impressive 444.55.

So this Angus took all the silver (apart from the Maitland) while the locals were in third (Scaglione), fourth (Kidner) and fifth place (Buchanan). Top visitor was John Bridger with 7 points behind the 5th (429.45), followed by fellow Celt Mike Wentges (428.34). The first Ladies could be found in 8th & 9th place both with 425s, but Zoe Woodroffe managed to have an extra 7 centre bulls, while Silke Lohmann excelled in finding those 5.0s and was only two Vs ahead of Ian Brown who was one of the three Englishmen brave enough to venture up North, a performance that led to her winning the Maitland Cup, after a false start when it was awarded to the Captain (and donor of the Cup), who agreed to hand it over but insisted he keep the bottle of wine, on the grounds that he had drunk it. This trophy is awarded to any member of the NRC of S who hasn't shot in the Elcho.

Other contenders, Keith Baxby, Claire Halleran and John Rankin experienced a few technical issues, but it should be pointed out that John Rankin probably recovered best from his first shoot with a new rifle/ammo combo on Saturday to get a 96 and 91 on Sunday (no tank accessories involved).

The family competition was won by Joanna Campbell-Smith beating Allan by 6 points. Colin McEachran MBE was a respectable 13th and Jack Roberts and Rosemary Meldrum only shot the Saturday, saving those Vs for the English VIII meeting at the end of the month.

The Pairs were won by Mike Wentges and Nick Brasier, with Angus McLeod and Mark Crichton Maitland second. Last prize went to Joanna Campbell-Smith and Ian Brown.

Special thanks to Tim and Liz Kidner for organising the Blair meetings so perfectly and the locals for getting the range up and running and everyone who helped make it such a splendid weekend.

S Lohmann

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