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Bisley Autumn 2021

Match Report

 

A good quota of Scots turned up in Bisley on Saturday 25th September for one of the last match rifle competitions of 2021: the English VIII Autumn Meeting. The light winds which have defined this year were once again a feature – bad news for those of us who rely on wild gusts to level the playing field and compensate for our more exuberant shots.

 

1000 yards in the morning on Saturday set the standard high, with Angus Macleod’s 100.18 one of three – and not enough to win the distance, as England’s Mike Judge put in 100.19. There were 14 100s in this first round in total – almost a third of the field – including Ron Scaglione on 100.16 and Zoe Woodroffe on 100.13. 2&15s at 1100 didn’t leave much space for the competition to open up, with another 14 possibles, and it was left to the 2&20s at 1200 to try and create some differentiation. A further three centuries added to the remarkable tally that have been achieved from the 1200 yard firing point at Bisley this year, from John Lindsay with 13 vs, and Scotland’s Jon Sweet (12 vs) and Zoe (11).

 

At the end of the day, England’s Ken Willingale was in first place, winning the Dram Trophy (awarded by the Irish Rifle Club) with 274.38, with Scotland’s Angus McLeod and England’s Rob Lygoe snapping at his heels, both on 273.45. With a further 17 competitors on 270 or above, it was all to play for on Sunday.

 

First, though, the assembled competitors had the welcome delight of a reception in the English VIII garden. With wine flowing and nibbles in carefully Covid secure containers, it was an opportunity to enjoy the last of the September sun and warm weather which had graced us thus far.

 

Sunday morning saw some uncertainty for the early detail, with the targets entirely hidden in a shroud of mist at 8am. By 9, though, it had cleared enough for shooting to commence. As the morning wore on the winds gradually picked up, allowing scores to spread out a little at 1200. By lunchtime the shooting was over, and the results had been tallied. In news which will shock match riflemen around the world, Rob Lygoe claimed the Stamford Young Trophy for the whole meeting, with 447.68. Angus was only one point off in second place, with 446.43, and Zoe took third with 445.57 – a particular achievement given her rifle had been glued back together on Saturday morning and while waiting for the final restorative touches, she shot the first 1000 with a rifle completely un-known to her.

 

Zoe also took the Ladies Trophy and the Donegall Badge (given to the competitor with the highest score who has not previously won it), and came second in the 1200 aggregate, with Jon Sweet in third. Thomas Nightingale took the Under 25 cup and the Under 25 aggregate of Spring and Autumn to round off Scotland’s success.

 

Thanks to the English VIII as ever for arranging the competition, and to all shooters for a fine sporting weekend.

 

Report by Thomas Nightingale, photos by Silke Lohmann

 

Blair Atholl Autumn 2021

Match Report

 

17 Match Rifle shooters and one Any Rifle shot competed over two days for the Sandeman, Brodie and Maitland Trophies, the Maxwell Cup and the Brown Tankard at Blair Atholl over the 11th and 12th September. Not only did the rain stay away but so did the midges, to the general delight and relief of all. Light winds were mostly consistent, apart from the first detail at 1233 yards on Sunday when the fishtailing wind, not obvious from the flags, opened up all too many opportunities for 5 o’clock magpies or inners, generally caught out the unwary and opened up the scoring.

 

Mike Barlow led the field on both days and ended with a magnificent score of 444 dropping only 6 points over the two days with an unassailable margin of 7 points ahead of Angus Mcleod and Ron Scaglione to win the Maxwell, Sandeman and Brodie. Silke Lohmann won the Maitland Trophy for the highest scorer never to have shot in the Elcho and Alex Cargill Thompson won the Brown Tankard for the highest scoring visitor. The pairs were won by Ron Scaglione and Norman Clark.

 

The Atholl Arms was the venue for a convivial dinner on Saturday night and seemed to be back to it’s pre-Covid standards. Tim Kidner’s excellent organisation ran like clockwork, as did the electronic targets. As always, our thanks go to WARC for the use of the range and to Ron Scaglione and his team in setting up the targetry.

 

Match Rifle Imperial Meeting 2021

Match Report

 

Lex Lyons

Thursday 12th July

18 Scots descended on Bisley for the Lex Lyons match against an Irish team (supplemented by a couple of O’English). After time for practice at 1000 yards in the morning – for those who were on camp or awake early enough – the match kicked off at 1100 yards, something which caused one member of the club a little difficulty with selecting the right elevation. Teething problems out of the way, the shooting warmed up nicely, with coaches Hugh Butcher, Ron Scaglione and Fergus Flanagan keeping bullets flying in the right direction. At 1200 yards an ants’ nest on the firing point caused some consternation – cue heated debate over whether they were red or black, and what the implications of this for the shooter might be – but eventually the team settled down, to produce an average score, after the Captains had done their maths (or magic), of 145.15. This was enough to deliver a Scottish win, three points ahead of Ireland’s 142 – the same margin as last time the match was shot. Angus McLeod was the top scorer, with 149.21 across the two distances, having been coached by Fergus at 1100 and Ron at 1200. Further time for practice in the afternoon was followed by a fine dinner in the LMRA, where Scots and Irish came together to toast Lex’s memory.

 

Any Rifle Extras

Friday 13th July

Buoyed by success in the Lex Lyons, the Scottish dove into the Any Rifle Extras, the first individual competitions of the week, with rapid success. Ron Scaglione, Guy Hunter, Hannah Fisher and Keith Baxby all put in possibles at 1000 yards – in Ron’s case carrying the field with 14 Vs. Ron carried on the success at 1100, where he was the only 75 on the range, while 1200 saw a Scottish top three, of Mike Buchanan (73.9), Ron (72.7) and Hannah (72.6). Ron topped the overall aggregate, with Hannah in second place. Keith Baxby and Tim Kidner came fourth and fifth, raising hopes of a strong Scottish showing as the Hopton loomed closer.

 

Whitehead and Halford

Saturday 14th July

Very gentle winds saw high scores in the first competitions of the Hopton, with a remarkable 32 possibles in the Whitehead’s 2&15 at 1000 yards, including from Hugh Butcher, Guy Blakeney, Ron Scaglione, Angus McLeod, Jim McAllister, Zoe Woodroffe and MR newbie Claire Halleran, who scored 75.14. Further high scores carried on at 1100 yards, and once scores from both distances were added up Hugh Butcher’s 150.21 only saw him come sixth, while Guy Blakeney and Ron Scaglione also went clean for eighth and ninth place.

The Halford in the afternoon saw a return to 1100 and then a move to 1200 for further 2&15s. Guy Blakeney put in 148.21 for fifth place as the highest Scot, while Angus McLeod and Tim Kidner filled out ninth and tenth place on 148.15 and 147.21. Allan Campbell Smith, shooting his 60th Hopton, put in a 147.9 for 14th place. At the end of the day Guy Blakeney sat third in the Saturday aggregate, with the only 298, behind England’s Julian Peck and Rob Lygoe, who led the pack with 299.54 out of a possible 300.60. Angus McLeod and Tim Kidner were the only other Scots in the top ten, at seventh and ninth place respectively – but with scores so close together there was still all to play for.

 

Cottesloe, Wimbledon and Armourers

Sunday 15th July

Sunday meant upgrading to 2&20s, amid slightly stronger but still gentle winds. Ron Scaglione, Jon Sweet and Guy Blakeney were all clean in the 1000 yard Cottesloe, for second and joint fourth place respectively, with Ron’s 100.17 only one V behind Nick Tremlett’s winning 100.18. Tim Kidner, Fergus Flanagan and Neil Fyfe all put in 99s for top twenty positions.

The 1100 yard Wimbledon proved a little more challenging, but Ron’s 99.16 saw him third while Guy and Jon were in sixth and seventh with 99.11 and 99.9. 98s saw Angus McLeod and Fergus at 14th and 18th, while Mike Barlow led the 97s in 20th place.

Despite Englishmen Rob Lygoe and Alex Cargill Thompson putting in very impressive 100.16s each to take themselves to a tie shoot for top place, Scots shot well at 1200 in the Armourers, taking five of the top ten places, with Angus at third, Jim McAllister at fourth, Hannah Fisher joint fifth and Zoe Woodroffe ninth. Claire Halleran’s 96.8 saw her joint 13th – just safe of breaking her T. At the end of the day Angus sat just outside the top three of the Hopton, with 591.72 – a few Vs behind second and third placed Nick Tremlett and Alex Cargill Thompson, with Guy Blakeney and Ron Scaglione also in the top ten. On 598.98, though, Rob Lygoe’s position in the lead was beginning to look harder to catch.

In the evening, the NRC of S convened for its AGM and barbecue. Torrential rain failed to dampen proceedings, with Elcho Lodge’s verandah offering shelter to all while the barbecue was operated under a steaming gazebo. The business of the AGM was conducted in a record breaking twelve minutes, ably presided over by Treasurer and Vice-Captain Zoe Woodroffe, who had the unenviable task of shepherding all Scots in Mark Crichton Maitland’s absence, and Secretary Jo Campbell-Smith. A small party then moved up the road to Cottesloe Lodge to see how our southern neighbours were getting on in the football final against Italy: that this influx of Scottish viewers coincided with Italy’s first goal was surely unfortunate coincidence.

 

Edge, Five Nations and FW Jones

Monday 16th July

Once again winds were light and scores high for 2&20s at 1100 and 1200 yards in the Edge. Nine people scored 100 at 1100 yards, though no Scots were among them. Tim Kidner was the highest placed Scot after 1200, with his 195.20 putting him joint thirteenth. Angus McLeod put in a strong showing with 100.12 at 1200 yards, one of four shooters to go clean, for a 20th place finish of 194.25, sandwiched between Mike Buchanan on one side and Jon Sweet and Guy Blakeney on the other, with 195.17, 194.27, and 194.23 respectively.

In the afternoon, black clouds and looming rain coming in from the north east encouraged fast shooting in the FW Jones. The NRC of S team, of Claire Halleran, Tim Kidner, Iain Thomson and Mike Buchanan, coached by Ron and Fergus, came one place behind the Hopton Supper Club. In most years that would mean they were second, but this year the International MR Ladies, including Zoe Woodroffe and Hannah Fisher, won the day with 571.51, including a 148.19 from Hannah as their top score. Guy Hunter shot for the Etonian Shooting Club, while Claire, coached by Ron, top scored across the whole match.

 

Albert

Tuesday 17th July

The final day of the Hopton saw fishtailing winds, slightly stronger than we’d been accustomed to all week. With no sighters these should have been a challenge, but Jon Sweet showed how it was done at 1000 yards, his 75.12 behind only Rob Lygoe’s 75.14 and ahead of 14 other competitors with 75s – among them Mike Buchanan with 75.6. At 1100, Jon kept up the strong showing with a 75.10, joined by Will Meldrum with a 75.8 and Ron Scaglione with 75.12 as well as five others who went clean. At 1200, though, the field really started to separate: Will Meldrum and Angus McLeod were the only 75s on the range, with 75.7 and 75.2 respectively. Jon’s 73.6 saw him finish on 223.28, in second place to Alex Cargill Thompson’s 223.33. Will and Angus came fifth and sixth, with 222.24 and 222.19, while Ron was eighth with 221.29 and Zoe Woodroffe tenth with 221.23. With five Scots in the top ten, it was a strong finish for Scotland and boded well for the Elcho the next day.

The end of the Albert was also the end of the Hopton. Rob Lygoe’s dominance throughout the week saw him finishing first, with a record breaking 1017.160 – eight points ahead of the previous record of 1009. Alex Cargill Thompson and Nick Tremlett also broke that record (which Nick had set), with 1014 and 1012 respectively. Angus McLeod was the top Scot, in fourth place on 1007.116, while Jon Sweet and Ron Scaglione were sixth and seventh with 1003.122 and 1002.129. Guy Blakeney came thirteenth, Mike Barlow sixteenth and Tim Kidner seventeenth to complete the Scottish presence in the top 20, while Zoe Woodroffe at 22 and Hannah Fisher at 25 were the second and third highest ladies. Angus also won the 1200 yards aggregate, in which Thomas Nightingale was the top tyro, while Ron came third in the 1100 yards aggregate. Further Scottish success came in the inaugural Hopton knockout with its cash prize, won by Alex Hunter, while in the MR Pairs Guy Blakeney was one half of the second-placed team, and Tartan Mayhem (Hugh Butcher and Jim McAllister) came third.

 

Elcho

Wednesday 18th July

Elcho day dawned, with the warmest temperatures of the week so far and a welcome promise of sun for the spectators, and Scots gathered at Elcho lodge for breakfast ahead of the match. Hugh Butcher as head coach was joined by Fergus Flanagan and Mike Buchanan as target coaches, while Mike Barlow, new cap Claire Halleran, Hannah Fisher, Angus McLeod, Will Meldrum, Ron Scaglione, Jon Sweet and Zoe Woodroffe shot, with Tim Kidner as adjutant, Iain Thomson as a plotter and Jim McAllister and Neil Fyfe as reserves.

Tricky and changing winds saw Scotland take some long pauses amid the shooting – made possibly by the leisurely pace of the day – with head coach Hugh often emerging from his chair to stare at the clouds in an effort to determine what the wind might be doing next. Coached by Mike, Ron put in 75.13 at 1000 yards, one of six possibles at that distance. England opened up an early lead, with 596 to Scotland’s 587, while Ireland followed with 584 and Wales with 575.

At 1100, Scots shot well and were the only team to improve on their 1000 yards’ score, with another possible from Ron helping take the team to 588. England’s lead continued to grow, though, with their 590 enough to keep ahead, while Ireland and Wales fell a little further behind with 583 and 562. The uncertainties of 1200 still awaited, however, as the team returned to Elcho Lodge for lunch, once again kindly prepared by Rosemary Meldrum and Silke Lohmann.

By the time shooting resumed at 1200 yards the wind had got trickier still, fishtailing with some strength, and scores suffered accordingly, with Scotland dropping to 555.45, to finish on 1730.186. This kept us ahead of Ireland, who had 1717.149, and Wales on 1664.126, but was not enough to triumph over the English team who put in 561.43 – behind on Vs but crucially still ahead on points – to finish seventeen points clear on 1747.208. Ron Scaglione was the highest scorer across the whole match, with 222.34 – a point clear of anyone else. Congratulations to him and his coach Mike Buchanan.

Colin McEachran served as umpire, and the Earl of Wemyss and March was in attendance to present the trophies. The last order of business was the Scottish dinner at the Surrey to round off the day.

 

Humphry and Any Rifle

Thursday 19th July

The final morning of match rifle for this Imperial saw Fergus Flanagan’s Cambridge team up against Oxford, who had Mike Buchanan as one of their coaches. A close match saw Cambridge win by three points to regain the Humphry after Oxford’s win (also coached by Mike) in 2020, with Fergus the top scorer on 216.20.

In the afternoon, the Any Rifle 1200 yards saw a reprise of the Scottish dominance which had opened the meeting. Mike Buchanan, shooting with a .300” WSM, came first with 99.10, with Ron Scaglione and his .284” KMR snapping at his heels with 98.8 – the lost points the result of a strange unexplained magpie between a bull and a V. Jim McAllister came fourth, and Tyro Guy Hunter fifth with a .284” Winchester, while Pete Seebohm was seventh to complete the Scottish showing.

With that, the match rifle Imperial came to an end. Thanks as ever to Rosemary Meldrum, for allowing Elcho Lodge to be the spiritual and physical centre of Scottish life in Bisley, and especially to Zoe Woodroffe, who stepped up to serve as Captain for the summer and did an admirable job herding the unherdable. ’Til next year!

 

Tim Kidner wins Bob Aitken award

 

The National Rifle Club of Scotland would like to congratulate fellow member Tim Kidner GM on winning this years Bob Aitken award for services to shooting.

Tim has chaired the Scottish Rifle Association and laterally the Full-bore Management Group of Scottish Target Shooting for many years. Active in small bore and full bore and a previous winner of the Grand Aggregate, Tim is a well known face on the ranges North and South of the border and has has given much of his own time to running and organising the Scottish shooting calendar.

In 2019 Tim captained the victorious GB team in the Woomera match against Australia.

GB Match Rifle Team's site

 

GB Match Rifle Team's website can be found at https://gbmatchrifle.org.uk

In a Glen, far, far away…

Match Report

 

Our first Scottish based meeting of 2021 was held over the Bank Holiday weekend at the Jubilee Range on Glen Tilt, but this so called “Spring Meeting” was to be one of the hottest on record for Blair Atholl with temperatures reaching 26°c over the weekend.

A still but fickle wind was to confound competitors for most of the weekend but the troubles started during the Friday afternoon practice session when film crews, trying to access their set at a location beyond Forrest Lodge, interrupted shooting on several occasions so they could safely pass through the range danger area. The film in question, the latest instalment of the Star Wars saga, was a closely guarded secret, with various parties privy to the details signing non-disclosure agreements, but it was the local Courier newspaper that broke the story, only a few days before our meeting started that let the cat out of the bag. [Promise not to make any Star Wars puns – Ed.]

With the Friday practice session out of the way, the serious business of recording scores started on the Saturday morning. The sun was up and the temperature was steadily rising, the wind, although settled to begin with, was not to be ignored. Angus McLeod recorded the top match rifle score at 987x with a 99.15 and Hugh Inglis, shooting his F-Class rifle, the only possible, a 100.19. The day of competition continued steadily without interruption. When it came to an end, the competitors looked a little worse for wear, a combination of high temperatures, concentration and three details of 2+20s had taken their toll but Angus would lead the pack into Sunday.

The Atholl Arms hosted a familiar but Covid compliant dinner. It was a welcome return to relative normality for us, and all had convivial time. Unfortunately the Covid licensing r estrictions required our gathering to disperse by 22:30 and prevented any late night socialisation that we have become accustomed to, this also served to diminish any credibility to a claimed a lack of form on Sunday was down to the excesses of the night before.

Sunday’s weather was to be largely consistent with what we had encountered the day before, with the same high temperature and fickle winds making for an interesting day. True to form, the winds picked up for the 1233x detail, with the typical Blair Atholl diagonal dispersion evident on most of the monitor screens. The position for top place would change hands a couple of times as the day played out. John Sweet shot consistently all day and won the Sunday aggregate, but in the end, the force was strongest in Angus McLeod, who after a strong shoot at 1233x won the weekend aggregate and the Crawford Cup. [Couldn’t resist – Ed.]

Our thanks go to Tim Kidner for organising this well run event and to West Atholl Rifle Club for hosting us.

 

2021 Combined Clubs Spring Meeting

Match Report

 

The Combined Clubs Spring Bisley Match Rifle Meeting was held over the weekend 8/9^th May 2021 with match conditions altered radically to cater for the partial accommodation restrictions still in force. Thirteen NRCofS members and the sibling of another who has not yet realised he is Scottish attended.

Saturday was changed to a morning practice and an afternoon teams match. Those wise enough to have practiced in pleasant sunny conditions on Friday largely shunned the Saturday practice which was subject to cold, driving rain. At least the rain stopped for the afternoon although it remained cold and the strong crosswind required a generous 6-12 minutes of left hand correction. Scots were scattered across several teams but led by the Scots Free team of Angus McLeod, Ron Scaglione, Keith Baxby and Mike Buchanan who won the match outright by a healthy margin and despite having the lowest handicap. Quite what they were free from was debated but never concluded. Suggestions included Covid, Brussels, Westminster, Holyrood and travel restrictions with the latter seeming the most likely.

On Sunday the temperature rose noticeably and the wind abated somewhat to 3-6 minutes, still square across the range. The day was devoted to individual matches starting with a brief handicapped spoon shoot won by Mike Spencer with 51 (!) out of 50. The main event involved 20 to count at 1,000x and 15 to count at 1,100x and 1,200x. This was supposedly because nothing longer than 1,000x was available in the morning but the presence of a bank of 16 unused targets suggested this restriction was imaginary. The unusual conditions and slightly decaying wind meant the only possibles were recorded at the longer ranges – by Alex Cargill Thompson at 1,100x and Gareth James at 1,200x. Gareth’s strong finish won him the Welsh Challenge Cup, the LD Ranken Trophy (a Scottish trophy open to allcomers for 1,200x) and the overall meeting title. It is noticeable that he was using jacketed bullets of his own manufacture. Sophie Wentges of Ireland managed a 74 to finish as top lady just overtaking our Zoe Woodroffe. Angus McLeod managed the other 74 to take the most important trophy from a Scottish perspective, the Scottish VIII Cup, and second place overall. Nick Tremlett edged a close battle for third place and the English trophy. “Any Rifles” were also allowed alongside with Richard Kenchington taking 6^th place overall with a 6.5mm rifle.

Although Bisley camp lacked the usual social activities, the meeting was much appreciated by those shooters taking to the range for the first time after a winter of lockdown. Thanks go to the Hissey family and other members of the English VIII who organised it.

 

Message from Tim Kidner

Organiser of the NRCoS Spring Meeting

Please, find the entry form for the NRCoS Spring Meeting at the following link:

 

 Entry Form