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OC Rifle Club News 2004 |
Rob Welford comes 2nd= in Donegall! Report
New Club Rifle Report
These are the headlines for 2004.
Disclaimer: all the following material was written by the previous Hon. Sec. of the OCRC, Ted Eilley, and represents his views alone.
17th April - Short Range Practice
There was an excellent turn out of 9 for the first Club shoot of the 2004 season. It would have been 10 but one had to cry off at the last minute with a back problem. This is a very encouraging start. We shot at 300 and 600 yards and used all the time available; in fact had we not been able to borrow another target during the last half hour our last three shooters would not have been able to finish.
The scores were not brilliant: for most this was the first outing and there was very fresh breeze blowing. Nevertheless, we anticipate the Short Range "Q" Match in a week's time with confidence.
There are some pictures available.
The Hon. Sec. with his goggles et al (70 kB)
Must be Roger's turn to shoot! (87 kB)
24th April - Short Range "Q" Match
Important commitments of several of our regular shooters restricted availability and just the necessary five were able to represent us in this match. The scene behind the 600 yard firing point (99 kB) shows three of the team in the foreground; Anthony Gammage and Stephen King are recognisable, Andrew Black may not be.
It was a glorious afternoon and the wind, though no more than gentle to moderate, was very variable in both strength and direction and made matters interesting. Normally there are seven teams in this match but Lancing had to cancel at the last minute. The results are:
| Old Framlinghamians | 464.31 |
| Old Lawrentians | 463.36 |
| Old Cranleighans | 451.30 |
| Old Alleynians | 439.19 |
| KCS Old Boys | 437.20 |
| Old Albanians | 429.19 |
It is apparent that we were unable to repeat our win of 2003 and we congratulate the Old Framlinghamians on their success.
Despite the fact that it was rather damp and on the cool side six OCs turned up for the first long range shoot of the season. Actually, there were seven, but, one had the extraordinarily bad luck to lock himself out of his car with the car key and all his kit safe in the boot. After sorting all this out he managed to rejoin the throng just in time for a beer.
In addition to the general gloom, there was a difficult "fishtail" wind, essentially from 11 o'clock but quite fresh and veering. This made things especially interesting at 1000 yards. Rob Welford (95 kB) mastered this to make the best 1000 yard score of 46.2 while Anthony Gammage (105 kB) watched and tried to keep warm.
22nd May - Long Range "Q" Match
We went to the Long Range "Q" Match at a strength of six and our five counting scores put us in close contention with the Old Framlinghamians for first place. The table shows the details.
| Old Framlinghamians | 444.24 |
| Old Cranleighans | 444.19 |
| Lancing Old Boys | 430.24 |
| Old Lawrentians | 428.13 |
| KCS Old Boys | 411.21 |
| Old Alleynians | 394.11 |
| Old Albanians | short team |
This means that, while the OCs and the OFs had the same basic scores, the Old Framlinghamians had put five more of their shots in the smaller "V" bull than we had. Framlingham were the team to beat this year: they have brought off the double, having won both the Short Range and Long Range matches. Congratulations to them!
It was a lovely afternoon and, despite being pipped at the post, we all enjoyed ourselves.
We have improved our armoury. On 22nd May we completed a deal whereby we acquired a very good second hand Mk III Swing and sold, in part exchange, our Enfield Envoy. The Envoy was particularly significant because it had a symmetrical stock. This means that, apart from some inconvenience in operating the bolt, it was equally usable by either right or left handed shooters and we do have one prominent left-handed marksman who used it to the best of its capability.
Despite our efforts to keep it in good working order and bring it up to specification in the trigger weight department, it remained, basically, an uncompetitive rifle, even in first class condition, in an era when target quality ammunition is very consistent indeed. Viewed as a club asset, it stood in the books at £50. Almost by chance, we recently discovered that it had significant value as an "antique" in, for example, the USA. Had it been perfect we might have been able to turn it into £500; as it was, we discovered that the barrel was seriously worn but we were, nevertheless, able to trade it in for £250.
The Swing had a slightly "handed" stock but this has been modified so that it is, for all practical purposes, ambidextrous. This significantly improves our kit: we now have this Swing and a Musgrave (definitely for right-handers only), both modern, accurate rifles. We also have a relatively little used P'14 which is a good second string rifle.
12th June - Cranleigh Tankard and Match v. School
On a perfect afternoon weatherwise, both the School and the Old Cranleighans arrived at a strength of nine each, no less, to spend a pleasant afternoon shooting together. This is properly called a shoulder-to-shoulder match, as the scene (97 kB) on the 300 yard firing point shows. Surprisingly, it is possible to conduct a shooting match when the teams are not together - the contenders shoot under common conditions but at their home ranges and exchange results by post or nowadays, probably, e-mail.
The Cranleigh Tankard was won by Rob Welford with an excellent 99.9 and Vice President, Andrew Black, made the presentation (77 kB) behind the 500 yard firing point. He was well ahead of the leaders of the following pack, as the table shows.
| 300 yards | 500 yards | Total | |
| Rob Welford | 50.4 | 49.5 | 99.9 |
| David King | 47.3 | 49.5 | 96.8 |
| Ted Eilley | 49.2 | 46.3 | 95.5 |
| Rob Pile | 48.4 | 46.2 | 94.6 |
The afternoon was somewhat marred by the fact that the marking by NRA staff was not as fast as it might have been and many members of the School team were not able to complete their 500 yard shoots. Naturally, we all discussed this and analysed the afternoon in general in the garden (77 kB) at the Surrey Rifle Association Clubhouse. The best VIII from the OCS had a team score of 511.27, 4 points ahead of last year's Ashburton Winners and quite a comforting thought.
As last year, it was disappointing that we could raise support for only one team. The "A" team results table is below, giving the stars and other teams that we know. Rob Welford won the Simmonds Medal with a score of 49.4.
| Position | "A" Teams (53) | Score |
| 1st | Old Bradfieldians | 250.25 |
| 2nd | Uppingham Vets | 245.30 |
| 3rd | OGRE | 244.27 |
| 10th | Old Epsomians | 239.30 |
| 16th | Lancing Old Boys | 237.17 |
| 27th | Old Cranleighans | 231.15 |
| 30th | KCS Old Boys | 229.15 |
| 37th | Old Framlinghamians | 225.16 |
| 38th | Old Lawrentians | 225.14 |
| 39th | Old Alleynians | 224.11 |
The top three schools in the Ashburton Shield were:
| Position | School (52) | Score |
| 1st | Epsom College | 511.31 |
| 2nd | Marborough | 508.32 |
| 3rd | Uppingham | 505.36 |
17th July - Rob Welford 2nd= in the Donegall
Two days after the Veterans, in the 135th Imperial Meeting, Rob Welford shot a 50.9 in the Donegall, a competition at 300 yards with 10 shots to count; his shots were V5VVVVVVVV. This was good enough to place him second equal behind a winning score of 50.10 and earned him the Donegall Silver Badge and £20. Congratulations, Rob!
14th August - Long Range Shoot
Seven OCs came along for a very pleasant afternoon on the Stickledown Range. We were allocated target 48 with two other groups on 49 and 50. This was to avoid some match rifle activity on lower target numbers at 1200 yards. There was plenty of room but the passing bullets were very noisy and it was a bit of a relief when they finished around mid-afternoon.
Although the wind was very light it was also variable, very deceptive and seemed to be hugging the ground: the flags were not saying much but the mirage reliably confirmed the missed wind change for the previous shot. The shooting was steady, therefore, rather than outstanding: three of us broke 90 with David King leading the way on 93.4. Our marker was disappointingly slow, so that, despite a prompt start, we only just managed to finish at 17.30. There was more than one exhortation for more alacrity sent to the butts by radio and to the last the reply was "Look, he's doing his best!".
The main event, the NSRA Meeting which occupies the Century Range and generally takes over Bisley, had started this day. Geoff Hooton at the Surrey was clearly disappointed that things were a lot quieter than usual for the event. Nevertheless, he was happy to open up the bar for us.
26th September - The Annual Prize Meeting
The programme was as follows.
Seven OCs enjoyed a very good day with fine weather and just enough wind to make things interesting. The following table gives the results of the competitions, but, it should be remembered that some of the Club's better shots were unable to take part. Notably, Rob Welford had an unavoidable family commitment and Adrian Elliott was on honeymoon.
| Competition | Winner | Score |
| The Jackson | E S Eilley | 96.8 |
| The Lovesy | R Bance | 48.3 |
| The Long Range | D J King | 46.3 |
| The President's Prize | E S Eilley | 189.19 |
You can see our President Roger Bance (71 kB) , on the left, receiving the Lovesy Trophy from Rob Pile in the Surrey RA at the end of the afternoon.
Just five OCs were able to turn out for the final shoot of the season at 300 and 600 yards. Despite a very discouraging weather forecast, the rain kept clear of us apart from one light shower that dampened things on the 600 yard firing point just a little. The Hon. Sec. was relieved that his reasonably successful organisation of events for the year had been accomplished without any member getting really wet.
The shooting was largely respectable without being brilliant but it is worth remarking that our 600 yard total was 239.19 out of 250.50. Now, why couldn't we do that on 15th July?
After shooting and rifle cleaning the Annual General Meeting took place in the Surrey Rifle Association under the Chairmanship of Andrew Black and with the barest minimum quorum of five.
For more information contact the Hon. Secretary, Rob Pile:
R J Pile
rob.pile@btopenworld.com
To e-mail him now click here.
