Winter 2002 - National Rifle Association

from Stanmore. In T class Tom Rothwell from Wartonscored 144, four points ahead of Alastair Bullen fromStanmore, who in turn was one point ahead of GeoffAlcock from Stevenage. Of course the scores werenot made public yet, so each competitor had no ideajust how well or badly the other competitors hadperformed.The next day saw the second half of the inter-factorycompetition, the short range event on Century rangefor the Warton Challenge trophy. This event followsa similar format to the long range event in that teamsof four, each shoot two sighters and ten to count at300, 500 and 600 yards. Only one team were joiningus this morning who hadn’t been present the daybefore and that was Astrium UK. However, they areall experienced hands at this competition and knewthe script, so there were no delays. The weatherconditions on the day were ideal for shooting: warmand dry with very little wind, so we were all raring togo.At 300 yards some excellent scores were returned withthree people achieving 50. Charles Dickenson fromAMS Frimley managed a very impressive seven Vs,beating Tony Di Domenico from Warton with five Vsand Liz Verduyn from Stanmore with one V. Threepeople achieved 49 and there were many more on 48,reflecting the good shooting conditions on the day.This time it was AMS Frimley who took an early leadwith 194, five points ahead of Stanmore and 12 aheadof Warton in third place.At 500 yards the wind must have become more trickybecause the scores returned dropped sharply. RogerEllis from Astrium UK returned the only 50 at thisdistance with six Vs and Ian Hookham fromSummerfield returned the only 49. Having said thatthere were a good number of people all on 48, andany experienced shooter will testify that when thewind drops suddenly a whole row of targets can allcome up with inners. Again, AMS Frimley achievedthe highest score of 190, extending their lead by justtwo points over Stanmore, with Warton holding firmin third place.Maybe the sun was a little stronger in the afternoon,and people were suffering with sunstroke but midwaythrough the 600 yards shoot one of the registerkeepers shouted “Range officer, challenge for a lowerscore!” The RCO couldn’t believe his ears and needlessto say he had to repeat this for confirmation. What hemeant to say was “Message 3” (spotting disc disagreeswith signalled score). He certainly got the attentionof the range officer and I can say with my hand on myheart that I’ve never heard anyone challenge for alower score before! And yes, the challenge wasupheld. Top shot at 600 yards was Dave Simpkin fromSummerfield with a very impressive 50.7, beatingCharles Dickenson from AMS Frimley and Roger EllisPaul Waldron from ROF Glascoed coaching the guest of honour,Major-General John Russell-Jones. (Photo: A Di Domenico)from Astrium UK by just one V; three people followedon 49. The top team score was AMS Frimley againwith 191, beating Stanmore by just three points withRadway Green making a spirited challenge in thirdplace.This of course meant that AMS Frimley had won thesecond team trophy by ten points ahead of Stanmore,with Warton in third place. Two years ago Glascoedwon both trophies; last year it was Stanmore. Nextyear who knows? In the individual competitions itwas just as tight. In X class Charles Dickenson fromAMS Frimley scored 147, beating his team mateJeremy Tuck by just one point, with John Deane fromStevenage two points behind. Combining these withthe long range scores gave Charles Dickenson a scoreof 294.32 to win the Summerfield Challenge trophy,beating his team mate Jeremy Tuck by three V bulls.John Deane from Stevenage was third, five pointsbehind. In T class Ian Hookham from Summerfieldwas top shot with 146, four points ahead of GeoffAlcock from Stevenage and five points ahead ofAlistair Bullen from Stanmore. Combining thesescores with those from long range produced a similarsurprise. Tom Rothwell from Warton had won theGlascoed Challenge trophy by just one point with 282,with three competitors all on 281.With the competitions done and dusted by 16:30 itwas back to the Army Target Shooting Club, whererefreshments had been laid on whilst the officialssorted out the scores for the prize giving. For thesecond year running Major-General Russell-Jones, theBAE SYSTEMS Army adviser, had agreed to presentthe medals and trophies. Following the prize givingthe event closed for another year and we could allrelax. Special thanks are due Major-General Russell-Jones at BAE SYSTEMS HQ Farnborough, Ian Clay atROF Radway Green and Keith Pardy at the ArmyTarget Shooting Club for their support, without whichthe event would not have been the success it alwaysis.Here’s to the 24 th event in 2003.19