The BFRC 50 Metre  and Air Rifle Open Meeting was held on the Malcolm Cooper Range in Lord Roberts Centre, Bisley on 25th & 26th of March 2017. As we report every year the entries for the prone matches were heavily subscribed. 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. We were a bit down this year though as it clashed with an International meeting in Dortmund.

However the message remains the same as usual, BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.

This year the weather was not very kind. Although the sum shone a fair bit on Saturday it was still cold. Sunday was duller until later in the day when the sun broke through. However the real difficulty was the wind conditions. It was a strong wind which kept switching from 3 O'Clock to 9 O'Clock with the wind flags going horizontal in both directions. There were some calmer conditions in between, but they did not last very long. Judging the wind and shooting on the same condition each time taxed the mental strength of all the athletes. The effect of the conditions can be clearly seen in the scores achieved by everyone.

As last year we were using Match Manager software which means we can do full decimal scoring and give everyone a print out of there shots. I have to thank Alistair Joyce and Mandy Hill for running the software (although I probably can manage it now I would not be very quick). Sadly there are very few people who can run the software and tyhis is a real issue that needs to be addressed. I also ned to thank the range officers who suffer the cold conditions on the range, with very little time for breaks for food and drink. Also thanks go to the NSRA staff for trying valiantly, if not always successful, in keeping the ancient electronic targets working.

This year was the second time we have run 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 will look atmoving the start time a little later on Saturday, as the light is acceptable. 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.

It became clear early on that good scores were going to be difficult to achieve. This proved to be the case with a sore of 598.1 taking 8th place. Top score in the qualification went to Bill Baird with a score of 610.7, followed by Jonathan Andrews on 608.2 and Mike Bagot on 606.3. Conditions were clearly getting worse and this showed in the final. Shots in the 8 ring were not uncommon, with plenty of low 9s. Jonathan Andrews finally managed to take 3rd place, but the gold and silver positions were only decided on the last shot, with Michelle Smith taking the top spot with a 10.7 on her last shot. Mike Bagot had to settle for the second slot, but was only 0.4 points behind. Quite an achievement given the conditions.

Jonathan Andrews, Michelle Smith and Mike Bagot

Conditions were not getting any easier as can be seen by the scores achieved in this qualification round.This time Matthew Man took top spot with a score of 611.3, a great score given the conditions, Jonathan Andrews second with 599.2 and Dom Cowen third with a score of 597.1. There was agap of 25.4 points between 1st and 8th places for those qualifying for the final! Matthew Man continued in the final as he had been shooting in qualification and took the gold medal position with 240.0, Neil Day took the silver spot on 237.5 and Dom Cowen the bronze on 214.2.

Dom Cowen, Matthew Man and Neil Day

Although people had now had plenty of time to assess the conditions they were claerly getting worse and the scores reflected this. There was only a gap of 10.4 between 1st and 8th place this time, but top score, achieved by Ryan Williams was lower than previous scores at 601.0, the only one above 600. This time 4 ladies made the final, but sadly for then none would make it into the medal positions. Bronze was taken by Rory Hamilton with212.8, silver went to Ryan Williams with a score of 231.9 and Lee Webb took gold on 235.1..

Ryan Williams, Lee Web and Rory Hamilton

As in previous years while the finals for EM2 and EM3 were running IPC shooters also shot their prone matches. This year Lorraine Lambert took top slot with a score of 591.2

Lorraine Lambert

This year we only had a total of 9 Air Rifle competitors, with one person shooting twice in the 2 squads. Yet again the ladies pushed the men hard, taking 3 of the top 4 slots with only Jacob Hill beating them. Jacob was first on 604.4, Gemma Elliot second on 603. and Emily Bale third on 601.5. In the final Kim Tzabach took an earl;y lead and was never caught, ending up in the gold medal position with a score of 241.0. Emily Bale took silver on 238.2 and Cameron Pirouet bronze on 217.0

Cameron Pirouet, Kim Tzaback and Emily Bale

Sunday morning saw our normal set-up with a 3x40 match with 8 men shooting running concurrently with a 3x20 with 6 entries for the women and 2 IPC shooters. Numbers were down this year as there was a clash with a meeting in Dortmund.

If people were hoping for better weather they were disappointed as it was still windy, with varying gusts, making conditions difficult.

Top score in the 3x40 was by Jacob Hill (who was also the top B Class shooter) with a very creditable 1072, given the conditions, Rory Hamilton was second on 1062 and Simon Henry third on 1060.

The winner of the women’s 3x20 was Sharon Lee with a score of 553 beating Michelle Smith on 548 and Jo Pullen on 543. The B Class winner was Abby Warren with a score of 500. Lorraine Lambert was the top IPC shooter again..

As before we ran a mixed final by taking the first 20 shots in each position of the scores from the 3by40 to make a 3by20 for then and combining that with the women's scores.This year we had an even spread of 4 men and 4 ladies being. This 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 for the previous day the conditions were very difficult with a gusty wind that kept changing direction. Not only that but the changeover times are quite short and the competitors have to work quickly if they are to have any significant sighting time.

Here the windy conditions can be seen and the work that goes into changing position

At the end of the kneeling and prone sections it was quite close at the top with only 7 points seperating the highest 4. However in the standing position coped best with the gusty wind and soon pulled out an unassailable lead. She won with a score of 430.0, Jacob Hill took the silver medal position on 412.2 and Sharon Lee the bronze slot on 393.1

Sharon Lee, Michelle Smith and Jacob Hill

There were only 2 competitors in the IPC 3P match and again Lorraine lambert came out on top.

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. Given the cold and windy conditions and the problems with the equipment it is due to their hard work that we get through the two days.