Winter 2002 - National Rifle Association

e required to stand at one of the look-out posts andstare avidly out to sea, warning the range officer aboutoccasional passing ships and fishing boats. With theaid of Dr Mollan’s extra strength binoculars thisproved to be a fairly entertaining pastime, especiallygiven the close proximity of the beach in the oppositedirection!Individual scores for the team from the first day’sshooting were on average high, due to a moderatestrength, but fairly constant and easy-to-read easterlywind. Jonathan Holmes scored the only 100 of theday with 12 V bulls, winning the Parker Tankard, withthree members of the team close behind scoring 99s.On the back of good all-round scores from the LMRAmatch , this made team selection for the match thenext day increasingly challenging, and Rupert Clarkhad to admit that based on gun scores alone he wouldnot have made it into the team as a shooter. Most ofus greeted this news with a smirk, as we hadn’t fullyappreciated that he had even brought his rifles on tour.That evening we were treated to a Vin d’honneur inCastle Cornet, by St Peter Port harbour.Guernsey MatchAfter another entertaining evening around the island,the NRA Team congregated at the range for the secondday of shooting in Guernsey, commencing with theGuernsey Can at 500 yards and 600 yards in themorning, followed by the match against the GuernseyRifle Association in the afternoon. This time threeteam members - Rick Shouler, Ian Davison, and DavidCalvert, - all managed to score clean 100’s with goodV counts in the morning, and Stuart O’Brien with a 99appeared to have regained some of the form whichhad eluded him on the previous day. The final teamselection was made and announced during lunch. Thecourse of fire for the team match in the afternoon wasa team of eight shooting a coached Queens II on twotargets, with a self-coaching reserve pair shootingalongside. Despite some jovial pre-match banter, itwas clear from the outset that the NRA team wasbenefiting from its well-practiced matchorganisational skills, and took the lead by the end ofthe first range, scoring 394.47 ex 400. This formcontinued at 500 yards, with the NRA Team scoringanother 394 ex 400, this time with 48 V bulls. By thestart of 600 yards it was clear that we had a tremendouslead on the host team that we managed to maintain.The Guernsey Rifle Club finished on 1,157.107 and theNRA Team made 1,175.141 ex 1,200. Rupert Dix topscored with 150.23, a very pleasing result for his firstappearance at this level. Ian Mollan and AlastairBrown followed up with 149s with 19 and 15 V bulls,respectively. Mick Buckley and Tim Bedwell workedtheir magic as the NRA Team Reserve Pair, and wontheir match with 290.26 ex 300. After a joint dinnerwith Guernsey Rifle Club in the evening, the next daysaw us packing our belongings and heading off fromGuernsey in high spirits, hoping for a third and finaltour victory in Jersey.On to JerseyHaving had plenty of sunshine and at most a slightbreeze during our shooting in Guernsey, we wereslightly dismayed to arrive to near-winter conditionsin Jersey on the Sunday morning. We arrived atCrabbe Range and shot the Sunday afternoon of theJersey Spring Meeting, as preparation for the matchthat would follow on the Monday. Alastair Browncame second in the Crabbe 3 competition with 99.12,and several other NRA team members achieved scoresof 98. The Crabbe 4 competition saw three scores of100 in the afternoon, with the total average team scorebeing a 97.10. Clearly with the entire team on form,selection for the match the next day was once againgoing to be causing our Captain another headache.Jersey MatchFor the match versus the Jersey Rifle Association thefollowing day, Rupert made some minor changes tothe team of eight from the Guernsey match, movingMick Buckley to the main team, and putting LizzieSmallwood in the reserves alongside Tim Bedwell,Kris Cressy and Mike Wood. Lizzie promptly shot a50.4 at 300 yards versus Mick’s 48.7, which was greetedby applause from behind the firing point and jeeringat the Captain. For the rest of the first detail the NRAteam didn’t quite have the form that we had found inthe Guernsey match, and we finished 300 yards with391.48 ex 400. This prompted a need to remain focusedon the task ahead, and stick to our well-rehearsed teammatch drill and organisation that we had practisedduring the cold and wet weekends in March and Aprilback at Bisley. We gained an extra point at 500 yardsto put in a score of 392.43. The reserve four had acracking 500 yards, scoring 198.23 ex 200, easilypropelling them into the lead versus their opponentsfor the final range. The NRA team of eight remainedconsistent at 600 yards, and finished with 391.45, towin the match by six points, scoring 1,174.136,practically the same as our score during the Guernseymatch two days earlier. The NRA team reserve fouralso won their match, and this concluded a verysuccessful tour, leaving us undefeated in every matchagainst the LMRA, Guernsey and Jersey. On theevening of the match in Jersey we were treated to yetanother fine meal at a joint dinner with the JRA. Thiswas followed by another very well-deserved night outon the town, and more uncontrolled disco dancing.Final Day and HomeUnfortunately the Jersey weather deteriorated, andmost of our activities for our final day off had to beindoor-based, although some team members werelucky enough to get invited to the inaugural RoyalJersey Potato-vodka tasting session at Casa diCottilard, albeit for breakfast on the Sunday morning.The rest of the day was spent visiting various parts ofthe island and getting rained on. On the followingmorning we bid farewell to Jersey and boarded theferry for the return journey back to the mainland,feeling victorious, refreshed and invigorated.73