On the 15th April, 16 Liverymen and 13 guests gathered at Bisley for the sixth year of this now popular annual event. After meeting at the Army Target Shooting Club for Bacon Butties and a safety briefing, the five teams, four of six shooters, and one of five, led by their captains, sallied forth on a pleasant and dry Spring day.
There were five disciplines to be shot with some variation from last year. As usual we had a mixture of practiced shooters and others with less or no experience. The standard of shooting was again excellent as could be seen from the score sheet, with disciplines marked out of 50, so a maximum of 250.
Stalkers Test. As last year we shot the full test used by the British Sporting Rifle Club to simulate woodland deer stalking. It was shot at 100 metres with a .223 telescoped sporting rifle on a life size Roebuck target. Two shots prone, then off sticks – two sitting, two kneeling, two standing, and two off the bench unsupported. Toby Heelis won the medal with an impressive 50. Shooters were coached and assisted by John Kynoch and David Lamb of BSRC.
Gallery Rifle was shot at 25 metres using a Military style self loading .22RF Rifle. The shooting position was seated, with elbows on the table, and twenty five shots to count. As Melville was under “works” the competition was shot on Cheylesmore which is only 25 yards. Standard of shooting was high and very quickly it became evident that central “V” bulls were needed. Several 50s were scored but Nicholas Somers and Derek Stimpson both had 50s with the highest number of “V” bulls and took medals.
Black Powder Pistol. This was shot using modern replicas of .44 Remington New Model Army, solid frame revolvers, of American Civil War fame. Each shooter fired twelve shots at 25 metres, best ten to count. The medal went to David Cooper for a score of 48.
Target Rifle was shot at 900 yards, using a 7.62 single shot Target Rifle laid free on a rest and with a telescopic sight. Two sighting shots were fired and then five to count. The wind coaches are vital and the wind was brisk but variable, so they had to work hard to keep shooters central on the target, and no one scored 50. Mark Bridge took the medal with 48.
Running Boar – another Sporting Rifle discipline shot at 50 metres with a .22RF rifle with telescope. This is shot standing, at a boar target which moves across the shooter’s front in four seconds during which time a shot is fired, swinging through, with the requisite lead. Louis Holtzhausen took the medal with a 35. David Williams from BSRC assisted.
Alice Gran Stimpson was, once again, the only lady shooter.
The highest individual scorer on the day was David Cooper with a score of 226 out of 250 and Derek Stimpson followed him with 220. Richard Black was third with 210.
At the end of a day much enjoyed by everyone the party returned to the “Army” for “high tea” and the prizegiving.
Thanks to Stewart Urry and John Jackman for organizing the event.
The number of applications for the event each year seems to indicate its popularity, voiced by many participants, so we hope to see you all next year.