The BFRC 50 Metre  and Air Rifle Open Meeting was held on the Malcolm Cooper Range in Lord Roberts Centre, Bisley on 09th & 10th of April 2016. As we report every year the entries for the prone matches were heavily oversubscribed & I had to close the entries for both months before the official closing date. It pays to get entries in very early as this is a popular meeting, being the first ISSF one in the year in the UK.

The message remains the same, BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.

As usual despite it being April the weather was a bit on the cold side. Luckily we did have the heating running on the 50 metre range which made conditions bearable, well at least for the Range Officers. However I did hear that it was the other way round up stairs for the air rifle where it was very warm. This year for the first time we were running Match Manager software so that we could use decimal scoring in the prone and air rifle matched. We had a number of issues getting it all working smoothly and I have to thank Peter Jones and Alistair Joyce who managed to sort out the problems in the control room. Thank you also to the competitors for not complaining too much when we were having problems and thank you to the range staff who all make the meeting work. I also have to thank the NSRA range staff for working extremely hard to keep the range running. There are always issues as we are the first major meeting on the 50 metre range in the year, but they made sure we survived.

This year for the first time we ran 3 English Matches on the Saturday. This new format has come about because of the range limitations, with only a maximum of 40 firing points being available on the 50 metre range. As the timings on the day work out we will continue that next year, it means more people get the opportunity to take part. I also have to thank the IPC shooters who shoot their matches on the Saturday at the same time as the finals are running for the others. That way, again, we can accommodate more shooters. The 3 English matches were limited to 35 entries in order that we would have enough hospital bays for the (inevitable) target failures.

The first English Match probably had the best of the condition as the wind gradually picked up during the day. The top 8 places, qualifying for the final, were separated by only 4.2 points, which is not a big margin under decimal scoring. In this phase Stuart Hill came out on top, closely followed by Rachel Glover and Dave Phelps. In the final things turned around and Dave Phelps won with a score of 204.4, with Richard Chasemore second on 202.8 and Dom Cowen third on 181.1.

Dave Phelps and Dom Cowen

The second English Match was also closely contested with only 0.9 points separating the top three scores, Sharon Lee on 615.9, Austin Wilshire on 615.3 and Rachel Glover on 615.0. The conditions were getting harder as can be seen by the lower scores achieved in this qualification round. It was good to see 2 ladies in the top 3 places and even better to see them prevail in the final and take the top 2 places. As they do not normally shoot in prone finals this was an admirable performance and will be a wake up call to the men. Rachel Glover took the top spot with a score of 203.1, Sharon Lee came second on 201.5 and Austin Wiltshire third with a score of 182.8.

Austin Wiltshire, Rachel Glover and Sharon Lee

As the old adage goes 'practice makes perfect' and scores were higher in the third English Match, but there was a greater separation in the top three places. Dave Phelps scored 619.4, Lina Jones 618.2 and Austin Wiltshire 616.9. This time there were thre ladies in the final and Sarah Campion also qualified. In the final Sharon Lee went 2 better this time taking the top spot with a score of 204.7, pushing dave Phelps down to second on 202.8 and Lina Jones took the third place with 182.0. Again the men will have to look to their laurels.

Lina Jones, Sharon Lee and Dave Phelps

While the second and third English Match finals were being run 4 IPC competitors shot English Matches. This gives them an oportunity to train under the same conditions as every one else and helps them set their performance in context. Over the two sessions Lorraine Lambert with a score of 601.4 just managed to hold out for the top slot, closely followed by Ben Jessons on 500.8 and Lesley Baldwin on 584.9

Lorraine Lambert and Ben Jessons

This year we had a total of 16 Air Rifle competitors, shooting in 2 squads. Yet again the ladies were showing how it should be done with Jemma Toms leading the qualification stage with a score of 616.2. Jacon hill was second with 609.4 and Gemma Elliot third on 603.5. The final was closely contested but again Jemma Toms cameo out on top with a score of 203.1. However, showing the merit of starting the final from a zero score the next 2 medal places were taken by competitors who were 7th and 8th in the qualification. Jack Rivers took the silver medal position and Pauline Thornton was third.

Pauline Thornton, Jemma Toms and Jack Rivers

Sunday morning saw our normal set-up with a 3x40 match with 14 men shooting running concurrently with a 3x20 with 12 entries for the women and 4 IPC shooters, made up of 3 women and one man.

Top score in the 3x40 was by Dan Rivers with 1136 beating Richard Chasemore on 1114 followed by Simon Henry on 1111. The winner of B class was Jacob Hill on 1099, he was also 4th overall. The only IPC man shooting in this event was Owen Burke who scored 1123, improving on his score from last year of 1109.

The winner of the women’s 3x20 was Jo Pullen with a score of 563 beating Zoe Bruce on 559 and Gemma Kermode on 551.Tthe B Class winner. was Ruth Holloway with a score of 534, beating Pauline Thornton on a better x count

As we have been doing now for some years we run a mixed final by taking the first 20 shots in each position of the mens scores to make a 3by20 for the and combining that with the women's scores.This year we had an even spread of 4 men and 4 ladies being. Although we go for a mixed final it is still shot under the ISSF rules. The format is, after preparation and sighting time, 15 shots kneeling in 3 sets of 5 shots, followed by 15 shots prone in 3 sets of 5, with only 7 minutes change over and sighting time in between kneeling and prone. Then there is a further 9 minutes change over and sighting time before the standing phase. This is made up of 2 series of 5 shots, after which the 2 lowest scorers are eliminated. Then there are 5 single shots series with one shooter being eliminated after each shot.

As in previous years the conditions were very difficuly with a gusty wind that kept changing direction. At the end of the kneeling and prone sections there was noyt much in it for the top two places with Dan rivers on 295.9 and Jo Pullen on 292.2. However in the standing position Dan showed real class, seeming to discount the gusty conditions to take the gold medal position with a score of 440.1. Jo took the silver medal slot with 421.9 and Rachel Glover was third with a score of 407.8.

Gemma Kermode, dan Rivers and Jo Pullen

The IPC 3P competition was closely contested with Lorraine Lambert finally taking the top sloy by one point with a score of 549, Karen Butler was second with 548 and Mandy Pankhurst was third with a score of 504. Owen Burke was the only IPC man shooting 3P and scored 1123.

Mandy Pankhurst, Lorraine Lambert, Karen Butler and Owen Burke

The BFRC is indebted to all those who helped to run the range over the 2 days. These meetings cannot go ahead unless there are enough staff to keep on top of the problems that invariably crop up. Now that we have Match Manager running it should be easier next year, hopefully.