Summer 2013 - National Rifle Association

Andy Newman MemorialCompetitionMisholt Copse, 21 AprilBy George GranycomeRomsey Shooting Club holds competitiveshoots every month – most at their homerange at Misholt Copse. It is a wonderfulplace for practical shotgun because, withcareful selection of safety angles, severalstages can be safely shot simultaneouslywithout the need to build tyre or earth walls.The Andy Newman Memorial Competitionis shot in memory and tribute to Andy, whodied in January. He would have shot thematch with his usual skill and aplomb. LindaNewman presented an elegant trophy tothe overall winner Mike Darby, which will beplaced on permanent display in the OldSergeant’s Mess at Bisley.The first stage had the shooter seated on alarge cable reel, like a circular table, with theircartridge belt beside them and their emptygun several yards away in front of the targets.Shooters had to grab their ammo, loadtheir gun, and hit eight plates. It was easy tofumble the load, and there were a couple oftight no-shoots. Stage two saw mini-poppersand a static clay on a high post. Some hadto be shot at long range – the stage was notas easy as it looked. Next, three steel plateshanging on chains. You had to shoot themthree times, each run timed and scoredseparately. I wish I had been as quick on thefirst run as I was on the last.Stage four was a long course of 24 steeltargets – not for the unfit. There followed acourse of eight plates, a nothing-special blag,followed by ‘Zigzag’ – 14 steel plates andfive static clays. It was a long, physical stage.The clays could be shot up close, which,perversely, makes them easy to miss. Stageseven was an eight-plate speed shoot likestage five but with some subtle differences.Stage eight featured 21 steel plate targets,and was shot with buckshot. Buck has longerrange and more knock-down power, is moreexpensive, and the recoil is heavier. Stagenine was of 15 shots through two apertures.The competitor had to position himself andshoot through the apertures at awkwardangles, which suited the elfin but not me!There were a huge number of entries – 70for a one-day competition, and they werestill turning people away. It may be the firstindication of practical shotgun taking off inthis country after being in the doldrums formany years, and I would personally like tothank Romsey Shooting Club.SAW 2013 Target ShotgunreportBy James Harris, NRA Target Shotgun rep(targetshotgun@nra.org.uk)Snow! Well at least Short Siberia was aptlynamed, in terms of both distance to targetsand weather conditions. The Spring ActionWeekend is the first time each year for manyshooters that the solid slug is dug out fromthe gun box and lugged to the range. Thisyear’s SAW was another first, with the recentlyapproved first edition of the Target Shotgunrules used for the first time in competition.It is a pity the same could not be said ofthe target mechanisms that have taken abattering over the years and gave up the willto work in the afternoon. Praise to the NSCteam for turning out promptly to repair them,but the rain and cold weather had put thekybosh on the electrics, so we continued withonly half the target bank working.For those familiar with the GR&P eventsTP1 and MT, the matches will hold no fearas they are exactly the same except theholes are generally 0.725in rather than.38. The NRA Embassy Cup is different as itrequires the competitor to not only reloadduring the 20-second exposure time but tochange positions as well; prone, kneelingor sitting as specified; something that isbest performed while wearing waterproofslest sogginess prevail for the rest of the day.There were a few high but not quite highenough scores from the 50+ entries butno possibles this time. Who knows what thePhoenix will bring? Sunshine hopefully.Speaking of the Phoenix, we lookedforward to its eight shotgun events countingtowards a Grandmaster Medal – if there everwas a time to dig out the trusty pigeon gunfrom the back of the cupboard, this was it.36 www.nra.org.uk