Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2019 i Clay Shooting

Banbridge Gun Club hosted Northern Ireland’s biggest 100 DTL shoot of the year, the Ulster Open Championship, on Saturday 22 June. There was huge interest in the event, with 99 entries in total, coming from England as well as all over Ireland. Weather was perfect for shooting, with the excellent conditions making for top scores. Four shooters posted scores of 100/299 early on: Dubliner David Malone, his fellow top Irish shot Jim Doherty, the in-form Joshua Shortt and Kilkeel shooter David McBride. Just as it looked like there would be a four-man finale for the silverware, Coach shooter Ian Crooks posted a perfect 100/300 in stylish fashion leaving him High Gun and Ulster Open champion for 2019. As well as Ian’s success, there were other top prizes to be settled.…

The Jack Pyke English Open took place on 19-23 June, with 886 shooters making the journey to Sporting Targets in Bedfordshire to compete for their share of a £7,000 prize fund, and every entrant going home with a goody bag comprising a Jack Pyke gun cleaning mat, bore snake and other giveaways. Andrew Clifton and his team put together a 15-stand, 120-target course that would test the best yet also please the large number of C Class and Unclassified shooters who take part every year. The course began on the right hand side of the ground with a fairly friendly going-away target and gravity rabbit, but stand 2 offered a considerably tougher challenge: a sim pair of teal, one of which was at range and flattened quickly, making it very…

The Beretta World Sporting is an event that has seen some stunning venues over the years, and after a one-year break it had returned to the beautiful Holywell estate near Swanmore in the Southampton area for the 2019 Championship. Sean Ponting was setting the targets for the first time and was concerned to make sure he didn’t disappoint. Happily, he succeeded in delivering a steady round of targets that were easy enough to send most shooters home happy with their scores, yet tricky enough to make those at the top have to work hard to be competitive. The long route march through the estate was gone, having been cut in half to create a truncated circular route that was warmly welcomed, especially in the oppressive heat of Saturday. A healthy…

Mark Shaw won the top honours at the biggest DTL event of the year, the ever popular DTL Weekend at Bywell Shooting Ground, which took place on 14-16 June. Mark had only started shooting again a month earlier, following an enforced break after he was made redundant last year. But he shot superbly in testing conditions to not only win the English Open Champion title but also the Beretta sponsored DT11 prize for the overall high gun of the weekend. Nigel Chapman won the prestigious Dougall Memorial trophy the previous day. The sheer scale of the Weekend was impressive. Twelve layouts ran continuously over the four days, and more than 300 shooters competed over the course of the event. Practice day was on the Thursday, Sponsors’ Day on Friday, the…

British Shooting wants to work more closely with the shooting industry and media. Of course, funding is part of the story – but it’s also more than that: it’s about working together to do the best possible job of inspiring young people, to identify talent as soon as possible and support shooters along the pathway to success in the international shooting disciplines. That’s why they invited a group of shooting’s movers and shakers to a British Shooting Talent Pathway day at Nuthampstead Shooting Ground in June. There were representatives from the shooting magazines, CPSA and BASC, as well as some of the larger brand names in the shooting industry. The idea, British Shooting explained, was “to share our vision of inspiring the next generation to reach its potential” as well…

CAESAR GUERINI SYREN TEMPIO LIGHT The Tempio Syren Light is, as its name suggests, lighter than its counterpart Tempio Syren, with 28” barrels and an alloy action to reduce the weight of the gun. Whilst the weight is kept out of the muzzle end of the gun, the Tempio Light is still well-balanced and we experienced no muzzle flip when firing. The gun felt steady and smooth to shoot, and there was no recoil using 28-gram cartridges. The Monte Carlo stock and slender pistol grip offer a good initial fit, and the trigger is adjustable for length of reach, which is beneficial. The Syren features a hand polished, oil finished Grade 2 Turkish walnut stock, and intricate floral scroll engraving, with rose detailing picked out in gold. This is echoed…

BEDFORDSHIRE Chicksands Clay Target Club Shefford, CPSAAffiliated Disciplines: ESP, DTL, STR Open alternate Sundays and Wednesdays over Summer. Contact for competition details. Practice and coaching available Telephone: www.facebook.com/charlelister Email: info@chicksandsclaytarget.co.uk Web: www.chicksandsclaytarget.co.uk Maulden Gun Club Clophill Road, Maulden, CPSAAffiliated Disciplines: ESP Competition alternate Sundays. Practice and coaching for members only. Fibre wad only Telephone: 7951651051 Web: www.mauldengunclub.com Shillington Clay Club Shillington, CPSAAffiliated Disciplines: ESP Shooting every other Sunday Telephone: 07860 940362 Email carol@hcduk.com Sporting Targets Ltd Riseley, CPSA Premier Ground Disciplines: DTL, ESK, ESP, FSP, DR, SB, STR, Fitasc Open 9am-6pm weekdays and Saturdays, 9am-2pm Sundays. Regular competitions. Practice all hours. Pre-booked coaching. Telephone: 01234 708893 Email: reception@sportingtargets.co.uk Web: www.sportingtargets.co.uk Tythe Farm Gun Club Colmsworth, CPSA Registered Telephone: 07719 329094 Email philipcolson@hotmail.co.uk BERKSHIRE Four Counties Clay Target Club Newbury, CPSA…

The number of shotgun certificates issued to women has leapt by more than 1,000 over the past year, according to the latest figures released by the Home Office – and the total number of certificate holders is up by one per cent. BASC say that overall there were 591,302 people holding a shotgun or firearm certificate, or both, in England and Wales during the period April 2018 to March 2019. The figure includes 572,488 shotgun certificates and 159,745 firearm certificates. Women account for 35,622 of those – six per cent of the total. That’s an increase of 1,233 over the previous year, with 1,036 of them being shotgun certificate holders. Claire Sadler, who was elected BASC’s first female vice chairman in June, said: “It’s fantastic news that more women are…

The newly established Peters & May Foundation raised over £10,000 for health charities with a shoot on 7 June at Pennsport, in Thatcham, Berkshire. Teams from Sunseeker London, Clear Sphere and All Seasons Climate Control were among those attending. The event was sponsored by lifting and safety equipment provider Delphini alongside a yacht insurance company and a shipping company. Foxdenton Gin and Eley Hawk also supported the event with stands. It was Peters & May who won the top spot, with a score of 467 over the eight stands. In second place was Constantine, followed by Sunseeker Monaco in third place. Money was also raised with an auction of prizes donated by supporters. David Holley, a trustee of the charity, commented: “This was a big event for the foundation. Having…

Ken Newman Coward isn’t what ) you won ’dthe expect silver of an airbrush artist. When he set up his company Custom Stockz at his home in Kent, the only thing he’d painted was his own gun. Stranger still, he had lost 90 per cent of his eyesight. This hasn’t held him back, though, and from the first attempts on his own gun, he’s been fully booked. “I had a chauffeur-driven car business, but when I started to lose my sight at 40, I had to sell the company,” he says. Looking for things to do, Ken decided to take up shooting – and then to paint his gun. “It snowballed from there; from the first time I took my painted gun out at a competition, everyone wanted one!” For…

I need a new pair of eyeballs! Is it any wonder my eyesight is deteriorating after 54 years of constant use? My eyes are the first thing to start working when I wake up, and they function non-stop throughout the day, only getting some respite when I go to sleep. When I first started clay shooting in early 2017, I had no idea my biggest challenge would be eye performance. I was in my forties when I first realised I needed spectacles – my arms weren’t long enough to hold the newspaper where I could read it anymore. And in low light it was even harder. For about two years I had been eating restaurant meals that bore little resemblance to what I thought was on the menu. Blur, blur,…

The weekend of 8-9 June marked the second round of the British Shooting Shotgun Series, held at South Wales 2000 shooting ground. Thanks to my performance at Bisley I entered this competition strong with a comfortable score on the point system that qualifies shotgun athletes for the British Shooting Grand final, which will be held at Fauxdegla shooting ground in September. As I finished second at Bisley this meant I had 2 points. The fewer points you have the better! I arrived at South Wales 2000 the Friday before the shoot for the official training day. The weather couldn’t have been more miserable; long, soggy rain drops soaked everyone to the bone all morning. I waited to see if the rain would clear but the chances didn’t look too promising.…

On 25-26 May, I attended the 21st annual Krieghoff DTL Classic at Mid Wales Shooting Centre. I was originally booked on to shoot the Friday as well, but due to having two exams on that day, I unfortunately had to pull out. On the Saturday, it was like a sauna in the stands! I shot a 96/284, which I was quite pleased about considering I hadn’t been shooting as much as I would have liked. On the Sunday, the miserable weather seemed to foreshadow how my shooting was going to go. My glasses were covered in spots of rain and the light conditions were constantly changing, but I didn’t shoot as badly as I initially thought I would. In the end I managed a 95/279, and with a combined score…

English Open Sporting at Hodnet As always, Hodnet put on a great shoot. Unfortunately, they have a new noise complaint from a neighbour, which has restricted the times and the number of days that they can host shooting. That means the English Open Sporting may be one of the last majors held there. The targets offered something for everyone, and it was great how they got harder as you went. I struggled with a fast, low, right-to-left quartering-away bird on stand one, missing three – not the best of starts. I then straighted seven out of the next nine stands! My only misses were one of a pair of midi loopers and a pink going-away from a platform on stand 4. Cheryl was also going well until she got to…

Olympic gold medal winner Peter Wilson is aiming for another gold to sit alongside the Double Trap medal he won at London 2012. He was at Nuthampstead on the British Shooting open day, and I grabbed the chance to quiz him about why he’d come out of retirement from competitive shooting. “It was the demise of Double Trap,” he says without hesitation. “I still think that was a massive retrograde step by the ISSF but the decision was taken and I’ve had plenty of time to cry about it. There’s no point banging on about it any more than I already have. So I had to take the decision what do I do. Do I re-train and do something completely different, or do I just fade away and disappear? “I…

In keeping with my new, upbeat and positive tone for this column, I felt it was time to acknowledge the unsung heroes of the Sporting circuit, the referees who man the front-line week after week, pressing the buttons, marking the score cards, and making those tricky judgement calls about whether a visible fragment really did come off that distant clay, and whether that rabbit was broken just before or just after the marker post. I figured it must take a special sort of person to sit out in all weathers doing that largely thankless task, so at our recent Clay Shooting Classic I made a point of tracking down a familiar face who I’ve seen at countless events over the years, Jes Simmons. I caught up with him as he…

It was set to be the very first event of its kind in the shooting community – a vibrant shooting village that wouldn’t look out of place at a world championship. Arriving at Kibworth Shooting Ground in Leicestershire early on Tuesday 11 July, a tired and visibly quite poorly Ben Husthwaite explained how his Open Day came about: “The idea started with a live Instagram feed. A lot of people mentioned they’d like a gun fit but it’s way out of the realms of their income, so thinking on my feet I offered to donate a day. This is just another way for me, as someone at the top of my game, to get those people involved and give something back. Then the Eye D Rail came around and I…

Dealer Diligence Q As a registered firearms dealer (RFD) I have been informed that into some force new that regulations require recently me to provide came authority further information as part of my to application my local police and in ongoing the dark renewal about . I this confess new I disclosure am a bit . burden I am also it concerned may place by on the RFDs additional who Can conduct you their please business explain in what this this country. is all about? Do I need to make any  deal adjustments with the to new my rules business ? in order to A Yes, you are right. The Firearms (Amendment) Rules 2019 came into force on 10 June 2019 and contain some key changes to the application and…

As the Royal Signals celebrated their 99th anniversary on 28 June, I joined the troops at Blandford Camp for the annual Corps Championships. Against the stunning Dorset backdrop, familiar faces from the competing regiments were enjoying four days of training and competition. Friendly competition between teams and individuals was evident, but the emphasis was firmly on encouraging new shooters; Olympic shooters Matt Coward-Holley and Augusta Campos-Martyn dropped in from nearby Compton Abbas to inspire the new recruits of the range. The Signals Team captain, Major Lee Forrester, who was pipped by a single clay in 2018, managed to claim High Gun this time around. The Royal Signals have won four out of the past five Army Champs, but alongside the talented shooters among their ranks, a surprising number were taking…

The Rio cartridge brand has a long history, having been founded in 1896. Now a part of the large and successful Maxam Outdoors company, the sporting arm of the Maxam explosives company, Rio joins other well-known brands including Saga, GB, Melior and of course the UK’s own Eley Hawk. Global sales of Maxam Outdoors cartridges currently exceed 500 million rounds annually. Rio cartridges have had a UK presence for many years and have garnered a fan base. Their UK importer and distributor, CCI International (of CCI clays fame), intends to broaden Rio’s market reach and user base. The Rio range includes medium and top end cartridges for serious competition use, but in the UK is perhaps best known for its budget Target Load cartridges. Here we are evaluating the top-selling…

Richard King defended his English Open All Round title in fine style at Doveridge Shooting Ground on 8 June, shooting an impressive 99 ex-100 in pretty awful weather to lift the trophy again. “You need to beat everybody, but sometimes you need to beat the weather too, and it’s not often you can do that,” commented Richard, whose only miss happened on his second ABT layout. Conditions were cold, wet and windy. Dim light and heavy rain affected visibility, and targets were pushed around by the wind. “I thought 96 was going to be the winning score, but I just had one of those days,” said Richard, after beating that score by a full three targets. “I shot early-to-mid morning when conditions weren’t too bad, just steady light rain. There…

Rhino titanium chokes Rhino ported choke tubes are the most technologically advanced and patented choke tubes in the world. These tubes are shot worldwide by some of the top shooters. Their ported choke tubes are available for almost every gun that has a screw-in choke tube system. Should they not have one in stock, they will make them for you upon request. They manufacture a vast line of choke tubes for virtually any shooting task. £75 per choke, available in a variety of colours. www.celticguns.co.uk01208 455868 CENS ProFlex DX5+ CENS digital are proud to announce the launch of the new ProFlex+ DX5 model. The module base has an all-new gun metal finish and there are six new Metalik colours to choose from. The DX5 features five programs to cater for…

Sitting pretty in the idyllic Derbyshire countryside, Doveridge Clay Sports Centre has become well known for its fantastic range of layouts and for hosting a number of world-class competitions. Susan, Stephan and son Clive Bramley moved onto this sprawling 70-acre estate in 1998. It was a shooting ground before they arrived, but they began a bright new chapter of clay shooting in Derbyshire. “The previous owner had nearly closed the place; his other commitments meant he couldn’t give it the attention it deserves,” explains Clive. “We have worked hard to get things back up and running, investing in new equipment including Promatic traps, increasing the number of shooting layouts on offer and improving their quality.” The investment has certainly paid off. Doveridge’s new layouts and improved trap systems have meant…

Between 2006 and 2007 the price of lead more than doubled, hitting an all time high of around $4,000 per tonne in October 2007. And as the price of lead soared, so too did the price of cartridges. Against this background of spiralling prices, the 21gm load was first introduced by Hull Cartridge as a money-saving idea. Since then, the advantages of 21gm loads have led to them becoming desirable products in their own right. All manufacturers now make such loads, including those on the Continent. Ballistically similar to their weightier 24 and 28gm cousins, these cartridges have the added advantages of reducing recoil and giving excellent patterns, so you should never feel undergunned by using them – they will still smash long-range birds. Although it’s true you will be…