|
OC Rifle Club News 2007 |
These are the headlines for 2007.
Disclaimer: all the following material was written by the previous Hon. Sec. of the OCRC, Ted Eilley, and represents his views alone.
14th April - Short Range Practice
It was a fine day with interesting wind and seven OCs turned up for the first shoot of the 2007 season. As far as the actual shooting goes: some of us met, or even exceeded, expectations, some of us did not. Next time I will concentrate, definitely.
28th April - Short Range "Q" Match
It was another fine day and we had the full complement of 8 shooters for the first competition of the season. Despite a difficult wind the scores were quite good. Unfortunately we did not manage to repeat last year's resounding win but we were a fairly respectable second.
| Old Framlinghamians | 473.45 |
| Old Cranleighans | 467.22 |
| Old Lawrentians | 464.32 |
| KCS Old Boys | 447.28 |
| Old Alleynians | 445.25 |
| Lancing Old Boys | 440.22 |
| Old Albanians | Short team |
The team selectors had a good day: the best five scores we had would have given a total of 467.26, just 4 "V" bulls better than the posted one. Talking of "V" bulls, we did have trouble finding them; if this means anything maybe it's that we didn't fire many really bad shots and we didn't fire many really great shots.
Roger Bance presented the cup to the OF Captain (96 kB) who was probably pleased to get it back.
12th May - Long Range Practice
Eight of us turned up to shoot at least one of the ranges on a morning that promised showers. There were some disappointing organisational problems: there was about a 45 minute delay at the start because there was no communication between firing point and butts, then, by about 11.00 a.m. our marker was clearly getting very tired and had slowed seriously. At about noon it started to rain and the final detail (guess who) got soaked as well as being cut short by the hooter. All this notwithstanding, the outing was useful: we should be on the target immediately at the Long Range "Q" match next week.
19th May - Long Range "Q" Match
We enjoyed fine weather for the Long Range "Q" Match, although things were made interesting by a brisk and, at times, variable wind. It was a little disappointing that generally the team strength was low: we, ourselves, had just the necessary five and four of the six teams had fewer. In a hastily convened conference, towards the end of the 1000 yard details, it was agreed that the result would be decided on teams of four: those with more than four would take their best four scores and the team with only three present would scale its score by 4/3. On this basis the results were:
| Old Framlinghamians | 351.21 |
| Old Cranleighans | 348.17 |
| Old Lawrentians | 331.17 |
| KCS Old Boys | 317.20 |
| Old Alleynians | 306.12 |
| Lancing Old Boys | 276.4 |
So, rather than winning both "Q" matches, as we did in 2006, we came second in both. At long range we were only three points and a few "V"s behind Framlingham which was no disgrace considering that three of our best shots could not be with us.
17th June - Cranleigh Tankard and Match v. School
The School turned up in good force with nine shooters. Some of these were very raw newcomers, so, the best seven scores were used to match those of the seven OCs present. On this basis and under Ashburton conditions, the results were
| The School | 385.10 |
| The OCs | 450.26 |
The Cranleigh Tankard was won, for the second year running, by David King with a score of 95.8, 2 points ahead of the next best score. As last year, the wind was quite tricky but David got the hang of it despite a serious initial malfunction of his backsight horizontal adjustment.
There are some pictures. On the range we have the School at play (73 kB) and the OCs at play (88 kB); then after rifle cleaning, a few minutes relaxing 1 (78 kB) and 2 (81 kB) in the bar of the Surrey RA.
We had two full teams available for the Schools Veterans. These scored: "A" Team - 234.20 and "B" Team - 231.15, from which it is apparent that the selectors got it seriously wrong yet again. The best five scores we made added up to 239.24. The Simmonds Medal was won by Rob Welford with a score of 49.7, just enough to beat Andrew Black's 49.6, President Roger Bance presented the medal to Rob(124 kB). Below are some relevant extracts from the results.
For the 50 "A" Teams entered.
| 1st | Troubleshooters (Oundle) | 250.35 |
| 2nd | Old Epsomians | 248.37 |
| 3rd | Victoria College | 248.37 |
| 5th | Old Framlinghamians | 247.33 |
| 29th | Old Cranleighans | 234.20 |
| 31st | Old Lawrentians | 232.22 |
| 38th | Old Alleynians | 229.18 |
| 39th | Lancing Old Boys | 229.16 |
| 41st | KCS Old Boys | 228.16 |
and for the 35 "B" Teams:
| 1st | Old Epsomians | 249.34 |
| 2nd | Uppingham Vets | 246.34 |
| 3rd | Old Guildfordians | 245.27 |
| 13th | Old Framlinghamians | 234.18 |
| 20th | Old Cranleighans | 231.16 |
Two OCs, Simon Hayton and Rob Welford, will be taking part in the Imperial Meeting. We will be watching the results for details of their successes.
For all the Imperial Meeting results click here.
Both the Old Cranleighans who took part in the 138th Imperial Meeting got their names on to some prize lists. In the following table SMEH = Simon Hayton and RAW = Rob Welford. Be aware that Rob is Class "A" and that means that he has to do better than the rest of us to get on the lists.
| Competition | Range(s) | Inits | Pos'n | Field | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandra | 600 | SMEH | 42 | 1079 | 50.6 |
| Daily Mail | 500 | RAW | 79 | 1075 | 75.8 |
| Corporation | 1000 | RAW | 53 | 1063 | 49.6 |
| Times | 300 | SMEH | 213 | 1072 | 49.7 |
| St George's I | 300 | RAW | 208 | 1000+ | 73.10 |
| St George's II | 300 600 | RAW | 240 | 300 | 144.14 |
Simon's splendid 50.6 in the Alexandra has blown away his Tyro status resoundingly and he will move up to Class "O" for future such events.
18th August - Long Range Shoot
The weather was disappointingly dreary for mid-August. At the start at 900 yards it was dry but very overcast. By the time we moved back to 1000 yards a heavy drizzle had started and visibility, and of course comfort, had deteriorated significantly. At its worst the weather was defeating us: the Hon. Sec. knows this because he went down on the firing point just about then. After a "V" bull first sighter he could see the target neither through his sights nor through his spotting telescope and he gave up. By the time the next detail (107 kB) was ready, and watched by the rest (131 kB) of us, the rain had eased and it all came into view again. Ah well! The highlight of the afternoon was a 50.4 at 900 yards by Adrian Elliott.
23rd September - The Annual Prize Meeting
The programme was as follows.
A fine day, marred only by a little early morning mist that delayed the start by about fifteen minutes, and a sporting little wind made for a challenging and enjoyable meeting. Adrian Elliot and Rob Merrifield were caught in the Lovesy (96 kB) testing the conditions. The results are:
| Competition | Winner | Score |
| The Jackson | R A Welford | 98.12 |
| The Lovesy | T J Bourne | 48.5 |
| The Long Range | T J Bourne | 50.4 |
| The President's Prize | R A Welford | 192.18 |
Tim Bourne had a very good afternoon which included a possible at 900 yards to take Long Range Trophy (106 kB) by a clear 2 points. Nevertheless, Rob Welford showed more consistent good form to take the Presidents Prize (108 kB) by a margin of 5 points.
It was a glorious autumn afternoon with hardly any wind and the nine OCs present had a great time. Very sportingly, Andrew Black had put up a bottle of wine for the score nearest to 96. This was won by Stephen Shepherd on the left (64 kB) with a score of 96.7 which was deemed to be nearer to 96 than David King's 96.9. The other noteworthy score was 100.9 made by Rob Welford who had arrived at Heathrow that morning from Australia!
After shooting the Annual General Meeting took place with Andrew Black in the Chair and finished a little before 18.30.
For more information contact the Hon. Secretary, Rob Pile:
R J Pile
rob.pile@btopenworld.com
To e-mail him now click here.
