Last year, the occasion of the Scottish <strong>Rifle</strong><strong>Association</strong>’s annual Match <strong>Rifle</strong> Meeting at BlairAtholl seemed a pretty good excuse to persuade TheKeeper of the AFG funds that we should go and visitthe Malt distillery at Blair Atholl. During that visit, Ideveloped a liking for Edradour Single Malt, so thetime rapidly approached when ‘ravitaillement’became pressing. This then presented itself as a goodreason to go and shoot again this year.Rather inclement weather at the Blair Atholl range in2001, persuaded me to take all the wet weather tackle,with backups. However I still wasn’t prepared forthe hailstones that greeted all 24 of us on Saturdaymorning for the first detail at 1114 yards. For a whileall was ‘White and Crisp and Even’. Prior to this itmerely rained with a vengeance . . .Hardly surprising, Des Parr (F Class) led at 987 yardswith 100.14 , followed by Simon Glen with a mostcreditable 100.13. Others in the hunt at this early stagewere Alex Cargill Thompson (99.16), John Hissey(99.11), Tim Kidner (98.14), followed by GeorgeBarnard on 98.11. The wind – often contrary andpretty unreadable (to me at least), was basically afishtailing headwind of varying strength and directionwhich needed careful watching. After taking a whileto find the target, Countess (Billie) Dunmore fired anoutstanding 97.8.At 1117 yards, the first detail was rained upon,followed by quite a severe sharp hailstorm. Thishowever didn’t prevent Mike Barlow from notchingup 96.10, followed by Tim Kidner with 96.9. Des Parrmade 95.9 with his 6.5-284 needle gun, firing all onhis own in F class style and continuing to make hisway ahead.As is often the case, the longest distance of 1233 yardson Sunday morning sorted the wheat from the chaff,with the wind much as per the previous day, beingvariably a doddle followed by completely unreadable.16NRC OFOF SCOCOTLANDTLAND’S AUTUMNMEETINGAT BLAIRATHOLLby Laurie IngramConvert yourNo.4 Enfieldto 5.56 (223 Remington)New Bolt Head, New BarrelFrom £280.00Craig M. Whitsey (Gunmakers) Ltd.10-12 Fitzalan Road, Arundel, West Sussex BN18 9JSTel: 01903 883102 Fax: 01243 820673Sole distributors for the Arundel Sight CompanyMakers of the best low scope mount for SakoTikka and Brno action rifles.For ease of administration, the teams match finaldistance preceded the final individual at 1233 yards,with an added advantage that all had established theirzeros. Ironically, the ‘dogsbody’ team skippered byMike Barlow, won this by five clear points ahead ofTim Kidner’s team of experts! Winning team topscorer was Hissey the Younger with 140.10, followedby Finbarr O’Sullivan on 136.6, making his Blair debutwith his recently acquired ex Piffa Schroder Swingbackgun.The final individual MR shoot of 20 shots at 1233 yardsresulted in scores ranging from 62.0(!), to John Hisseyand Alex Cargill Thompson – both on 88.4 – all ex 100points. The highest aggregate score of 280 points wasshared by John Hissey and Tim Kidner, resulting in atie shoot to decide the winner – John Hissey takingthis with 24.1 against Tim’s 23.2, having also madejoint highest individual score at the longest distanceof 88.4 – not bad for a youngster!Des Parr, just back from the first World F ClassChampionships in Canada, made highest score overallwith 282.26 shooting his 6.5-284 F class rifle.ResultsName 987 1114 1233 GrandParr D (F Class) 100.14 95.09 87.03 282.26Hissey JEB 99.11 93.07 88.04 280.22Kidner TLW 98.14 96.08 86.03 280.25Cargill Thompson A 99.16 92.07 88.04 279.27Barnard G 98.11 93.07 87.06 278.24Peck JC 97.10 91.07 86.06 274.23Haszlakiewicz MJC 97.12 92.07 83.03 272.22Hunter HL 95.12 94.06 83.02 272.20Hissey MJ 96.09 92.08 81.03 269.20Glen S 100.13 83.05 83.03 266.21Brown IRM 96.09 89.04 81.05 266.18O’Sullivan F 96.09 90.05 79.02 265.16Bell JWH 95.10 88.05 81.01 264.16Lury DH 95.07 85.04 83.05 263.16Davis MH 96.07 87.06 80.01 263.14Campbell-Smith JM 96.07 92.07 74.04 262.18Brown MFD 97.10 90.04 75.02 262.16Sharp D 94.07 92.07 76.01 262.15Barlow MJ 97.11 96.10 68.03 261.24McEachran CN 95.11 88.03 75.03 258.17Campbell-Smith AR 93.08 89.06 75.01 257.15Ingram HL 97.06 78.06 66.01 241.13Tonkin PA 88.07 81.04 66.02 235.13Meldrum RA 92.06 76.05 62.00 230.11Dunmore 97.08 00.00 74.04 171.12Munro AJ 89.03 - - 89.03Maxwell CupJohn HisseySandeman Tankard Tim KidnerBrown Tankard John HisseyCameron Quaich Julian Peck
The weather - not quite as good as last year!A new range of Highland Mushrooms?Countess Dunmore being coached by Tim Kidner at 1114 yards.David Lury being coached by George Barnard at 1114 yards.Rosemary Meldrum presents John Hissey with the trophy.Smiles despite the rain.The winning team - Duncan Sharp, Finbarr O’Sullivan, MikeBarlow and Michael Hissey.John Hissey - winner of the <strong>2002</strong> Autumn Meeting.(All photos: Laurie Ingram)17
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