Winter 2002 - National Rifle Association

The Bisley MeetingOne of the pleasures which I have had after over 40 yearsof coming to Bisley is to be present during the firstfortnight of the Annual Meeting. It is easy to fail torecognise that we host a range of many individual andteam events for the Services, both those events belongingto and run by the Services such as HM The Queen’sMedal for each of the Services and the Territorial Army,but also of our own sponsorship.These occasions have given me an opportunity to betterunderstand our relationship and the views of the manysenior serving officers whom I met. I am pleased to saythat the relationship is a genuinely warm one. I gainedthe clear impression that the current view at high level,particularly, of course, with the Army, is one which paysfull attention to the need for marksmanship and targetrifle shooting.This partnership with the MoD in fullbore rifle shootingis a mainstay for our own future, a pillar of our charitablestatus and particularly in the politically correct worldthat seems not to understand both the important side ofwhat we have been about since 1860, but also theharmless recreation we provide for those who canparticipate in shooting both here and around the countryas individuals and with clubs.Major General Richard Dannatt, Assistant Chief of theGeneral Staff and President of the Army Rifle Associationcame here on Queen’s Medal day with many other seniorofficers.In the Journal I touched upon our part in negotiatingwith the MoD on your behalf the terms for use of theMoD ranges. I am now more certain that the will is there.It is not a breach of the Secrets Act to admit that theMoD is under severe budgetary constraints, stricter rulesfor health and safety and the like, as well as localdifficulties with personalities and local Councils. Theseare the constraints, but I can assure members that wewill, if anything, increase our efforts in assistingmembers regionally in accessing ranges, so far as can beachieved.At the later Methuen Trophy Inter-Services teams shoot,some four civilian teams took part alongside and I waspleased to present the civilian trophy to the High PowerRifle Club.The Sultan of Oman’s Armed Forces team won theInternational Service Rifle Match and once again wonmost of the service rifle silver.General Dannatt also asked to come here to witness theAshburton, and I invited him to present the prizes. Hewas most interested to meet as many schools as possible.He assured me of the commitment to marksmanship andtarget rifle shooting and, in particular, he reinforced adetermination to provide service cadets and CCF cadetswith the new target rifle by next season.I was particularly impressed by the service cadetshooting events. Units from throughout the UK takepart and, again, there was a capacity turnout of over500 from the three services. I admire their enthusiasmand was pleased to learn that not only is access to rifleshooting a major incentive for youngsters to join thecadets, but to the services advantage by some 40% ofcadets going on to join regular forces.Like the schools’ CCF, they are looking forward to theissue of the new cadet target rifle - the L81 A2 for thetechnically minded.We are all sure that the absence of a regular target riflehas been a major issue of falling support for theAshburton (down by 6 to 33 entries this year – althoughthe earlier date has been a factor and clashes with otheractivities) even though some shoot alongside with theirown school target rifles. Insofar as we can we shall givefull support to CCRS in encouraging the return of schoolsto the Ashburton.Epsom won the Ashburton Shield by seven points overUppingham. The Oratory won the Falling Plates. Thisevent, with 57 entries, is increasingly popular, which isprobably not a surprise. Finally, the Cadet Nationalmatch was won for the first time by Northern Ireland.The Historic Arms weekend was again organised by RaeWills and David Mumford and staffed entirely byvolunteers to whom we are all grateful. There were 281competitors for some 800 match entries.The Match Rifle meeting had 160 entries which is slightlydown not least owing to fewer overseas entries. 109 firedthe full Hopton course, and it was won by Wg Cdr DavidCalvert at his third outing in this event. England wonthe Elcho Shield with David Friend, Queen’s Prizewinner in 1977, achieving a record score of 223 and 29 Vbulls.In the Pistol and Gallery Rifle events the entry was upfrom a modest 30 to an equally modest 41. We havealready started to consider how this can be increasedfurther for next year as the potential support must besomewhat greater. We thank Tony Oldroyd for hisparticular interest in promoting these events.In the Target Rifle the Grand Aggregate entries are 1,124compared with 1,082 last year partly due to an increaseof 58 in overseas entries at 247. Of course, some havecome over early in preparation for the Games or for thePalma Long Range Championship next year. However,overall entries are 23 down at 1,298.The impact of the changes to the charging structure andthe impact of the 10% surcharge, the re-allocation ofmarker costs to teams and the discount for youngershooters will all be examined in due course as will thequestionnaire on self-marking. However, I understandthe result of the survey indicated 70% support for thestatus quo with some 850 voting.I am very pleased to see so many younger shooters takingpart this week.Royal Ordnance, Radway Green, have produced anothervintage batch of 155 grain ammunition; you will haveall seen how many possibles have been achieved at allranges.51