Winter 2002 - National Rifle Association

2002BARBARBARIANSARIANS TOURTO JERSEY2002by Rory WhiteJim Scobie won the event by three Vs with 99.13; PeterColey was third, five Vs behind. Back to Crabbe Rangefor the afternoon shoot at two and five where therewere additional entries from the newly arrived NRAChannel Islands team. Top Barbarian for the afternoonwas Alan Bishop with a 98.9, the same score as GuyPalmer who was still leading the Grand. A cocktailparty was held at the clubhouse in the evening wherethe Barbarians and the NRA team were welcomed andmany old acquaintances renewed.The Barbarians Team: Jim Scobie, John Moran, Toby Coleridge,Peter Coley, Stuart Clark, Richard Bailie, Guy Palmer, Alan Bishopand Rory White.The Barbarians Rifle Club was founded in 1999 withthe express purpose of encouraging the enjoyment ofthe sport of rifle shooting. Following a successful tourto Canada in 2000 and a shoot against the CanadianNational Team at the Imperial Meeting in 2001, a teamwas invited to attend the Jersey Rifle AssociationSpring Prize Meeting 2002.A team of nine shooters accompanied by three partnersendured the usual choppy ride on the Seacat, the onlyadvantage being the cheap Duty Frees, to arrive atLes Charrieres Country Hotel on Wednesday 29 May.The team Captain, Richard Bailie and Adjutant, PeterColey arranged a practice session on Crabbe Range tojoin Jersey for their usual Thursday afternoon shoot;a reminder to most of the Barbarians how small is the200 yards V bull! Good conditions prevailed as wasto be found for the rest of the weekend.Friday was a free day to revisit the hostelries, bettingshops and other attractions of the island before theteam dinner at the Windmill Restaurant in the evening.Cliff and Nora Mallett were the guests of honour.The Grand Aggregate was completed on Mondaymorning shooting at 300 and 600 yards. Goodconditions again prevailed and Toby Coleridgeachieved a possible to come fifth by six Vs. GuyPalmer unfortunately cross-shot achieving ninety-fiveand losing the Grand Aggregate by two points!The highlight of the meeting was the team matchagainst Jersey in the afternoon under Queens 1conditions. Despite leading by three points at 300,and being only one point behind after 500, theBarbarians lost the match by five points. Guy wastop score again with a possible, this time getting allhis shots on the same target and two Vs ahead of Toby.At the other end of the scoresheet Stuart Clark, RoryWhite and John Moran were in competition not to bethe man dropped from the eight, which closely wentto John, not helped by shooting the whole weekendwith a borrowed rifle. All in all a creditable team resultagainst stiff opposition.Both teams met in the evening at the Portelet Hotelfor the official dinner where a cut glass trophy waspresented to Jersey by Richard Bailie, hopefully to becompeted for annually.Once again the Barbarians achieved their objective ofencouraging the enjoyment of the sport of rifleshooting; we are grateful to our hosts, the Jersey RifleAssociation, and look forward to future tours.The serious business started on Saturday with an earlystart for a full day, shooting a Queens 1 and 2. Ourstar man from the Surrey RA, Guy Palmer,accompanied by Jo, his own register keeper, was topscore in both events dropping only one point all dayto lead the Grand Aggregate by three points. SecondBarbarian was Toby Coleridge, six points behind.Unusually for a visiting team, on Sunday the morningshoot was at long range held at Les Landes, adjacentto the familiar racecourse normally visited after theAugust Prize Meeting. Targets and all equipment hasto be transported to the range and roads closed to deterthe walkers! It was well worth the effort: we enjoyedshooting and marking on the efficient portable targetsat 900 and 1000 yards. Our Scottish representative,Adjutant Peter Coley and Captain Richard Bailie with Cliff andNora Mallett, guests of honour at the team dinner.(Photos: Rory White)54