Winter 2002 - National Rifle Association

479, having scored 231 at the longer range, but holdingoff the charging Oratory who finished third with 474.Sedbergh, Oundle and Wellington College occupiedthe next three places.A tie shoot was held to decide the winner of theSchools Hundred, Cpl Fry of Uppingham beating CplJonathan Kent of Epsom. The Spencer-Mellish tie sawCpl Mijic of Malvern holding his nerve over UOHeathcote of Ampleforth, SUO White of Harrow andCpl Kent of Epsom. Rutland and Cheltenham trophieswent to Uppingham whilst the Garry and theenormous Lucas trophy went to Epsom College.It was excellent to see many cadets staying on for theMain Meeting, most swapping the GP for their targetrifles to compete with (and in a number of cases beat!)their adult rivals.The scoreboard - Epsom have now won the Ashburton Shieldeight times in the last 13 years, and come second three times.(Photo: James Postle)MATCHRIFLEby Alex HendersonFriday 28 June and the Match Rifle Meeting began -as it so often does - at the beginning, with the AnyRifle Competitions. This is the annual occasion wherethe likes of Roland Greenwood produce their highpowered,large calibre contraptions in order todemonstrate why the rest of us prefer 7.62. The windwas brisk but mostly readable for the start, and DavidCalvert won the 1000 yards shoot with the only scoreof 75, following this with the only score of 74 at 1100to take that too. In the afternoon, however, the windbecame far more entertaining and Calvert was notcareful enough to be the only score of 94 (ex 100 thistime) at 1200 yards, and gallantly let Paula Baillie-Hamilton take the third cup from him. Well, it wasn’tpure gallantry - she had more Vs than him and shebeat him in the tie shoot too. Needless to say,therefore, that Calvert won the AR Aggregate by ahandsome margin over Stuart Collings and GuyBlakeney, proving that he fully intended to be a forceto be reckoned with in the Hopton this year.Saturday saw the start of the Hopton with some verychallenging conditions. Nick Tremlett produced theonly score of 75 at 1000 in the Whitehead, while nooneat all managed a full house at 1100 - the nearestbeing Nick Hinchliffe with a 74. However, both ofthese took the precaution of scoring 68 at the otherrange, just in case anyone should accuse either of themof being a competent coach. The cup was won, after atie shoot, with a score of 145. Nigel Cole-Hawkins,Mike Baillie-Hamilton and Stuart Collings competedin the tie, Collings dropping one too many before theother two went shot-for-shot. In the end it was NigelCole-Hawkins who let experience show through,retaining his current form, and has still failed ever tohave won a tie shoot. One more pot for the Baillie-Hamilton mantelpiece.38After lunch John Knight was the only scorer of 75 at1100 yards in the Halford, but there was a faircollection of 73s and 74s. As one might expect whenletting target riflemen loose at 1200 yards withaperture sights and RG, there were one or two magpiesto be seen. This is where ‘scoped sights, rested riflesand heavy loads really pay off. Once the RG detailhad finished, a confident troop of match riflemenshowed them how it ought to have been done.“Magpies? Pah! Magpies are for amateurs!” Therewere outers, hits and clear targets all over the placewith the odd cheer when a shot strayed into the black.There was one point where targets 40 to 45 inclusiveall simultaneously showed an identical 3 o’clock outer.A not insignificant proportion of the entrants failedto break 60 ex 75, so David Calvert fully deserved towin with a very creditable 71. Guy Blakeney, whomade the only other score that broke 70, came arespectable second. At the close of the first day, DavidCalvert had racked up a six point lead in the Hopton,but with 700 points to go the race was far from won.Sunday began with the Cottesloe. As last year, therewas a tie for first place for scores of 100, Guy Shaplandbeing the best of the nine competitors, taking thetrophy from Michael Hissey on his eighth shot of thesudden death. John Knight took the opportunity toknock himself off the lead of the Hopton by taking his‘scope to pieces and failing to check it, resulting in amiss and a hit as his first scoring shots in the Cottesloe.He was slightly less than happy when he found hewas now nine points behind Calvert. Yet another tieshoot followed soon after for the Wimbledon, addingfuel to the debate over whether or not V bulls shouldcount. Because they do not as yet, except in ties, therewere five people tied on 98, with Nick Brasier, whoput in the only 25, winning the trophy.