HORNADY A-MAX – Issue resolved

After recent scares about the classification of Hornady A-Max bullets as prohibited, BASC can confirm otherwise.

BASC welcomes Government’s response to report on firearms control

GB Palma Team Win

Congratulations to the GB Palma Team winning the 2011 Palma Match in Australia

Chris White 1952-2011

The NRA has announced the death of Chris White, who was known to many WARC members. Chris was well-known and well-liked at the Scottish Open as well as at Bisley and was always ready with help and advice, some of which he crystallised into a series of articles in "Target Gun"

Chris's many friends will be sad to learn that he slipped away on 16th October, after a protracted battle with prostate cancer. He was just 59. His Funeral took place at Dipton, Stanley, Co.Durham 27th October.

Work Day 9th October

Ten members and a spouse turned out on a dreich morning to close down the range for the winter. The targets themselves have been removed to the back shed where they will be re-rubbered, and in some cases re-built from scratch. The heat shields/faces have been stored ready for removal to an off-site workshop where their centres will be replaced. The toilet has been cleared of obstructing material following interruption of the water supply a week ago and "winterised"; and all flags have been brought in.

Thanks to all who turned out, especially to Susan Scott who brought in the most inaccessible flags.

Target 4 out of the frame and awaiting a 6-man team to carry it to the shed.			Target 5 proved difficult to remove because of obstruction by disintegrating stonework.

WARC member Andy Hay is the UK Police full-bore champion for 2011

Andy Hay shooting at Jubilee Range in April 2011. He's quite shy, so we don't have a better photo. Perhaps UKPRA could supply an E-fit?

Lochboisdale

Lochboisdale Match took place at Atholl 25th September. Weather stayed dry for the duration of the shoot. West Atholl won the match with a score of 443.56 ex 450.90, five points ahead of West of Scotland with 438.53. Possibles were made by R.Scott & K.Macdonald for West Atholl and E.Jones for West of Scotland.

This event was the last West Atholl shoot of the season.

West Atholl Captain is presented with Lochboisdale Trophy.

West Atholl Winners seem to be quite pleased with themselves.

East of Scotland Open Meeting Results

Murray Cup Results and End of Season Trophy Winners List

Twenty members enjoyed a day of reasonable weather with enough wind to make it interesting, unlike the previous day at the East of Scotland Open where the wet flags hung vertically almost all day. The target system failed early on due to loss of power to the butts. This was caused by an exhausted battery as a result of: 1.Two full days of use the previous weekend; 2. a full day of use on the previous day; 3. the weather in the intervening 5 days having been very dull; 4. the solar charging panel being shielded from the sun by birch saplings which have grown unnoticed in the past four years. The battery being four years old may not have helped; Huddersfield have to replace theirs frequently. We got going again after some delay. Thanks go to Pete Dingle and his electrical expertise, Peter Burbridge and his saw, David Rowland and his transport and to James Bell who borrowed a battery gratis from the ever-helpful Blair Atholl Garage. The garage are one of our target sponsors; please show appreciation by supporting them when you can (but preferably not by needing your sump repaired). Working in the butts was less disgusting than it has been recently as the peahen has been removed, so we had to contend with less of the product of her digestive system.

Because of the delay we omitted 400 and shot a further 2+10 at 600 instead of moving back to 900. Most people seemed to enjoy the day despite the problems.

I hope everyone winters well, and I look forward to seeing seeing as many members as possible at the work day on October 9th then at the AGM on December 4th.

Keith Baxby
West Atholl chairman

Tullibardine Championships (Tayside) Results

900 yds on Sunday 14th. Some came to shoot, others to discuss the weather, while Peter Burbridge wondered where his rifle had gone!

Inverness Open Shoot - Results

Peter Dingle with his haul. Congratulations.

Comment from a participant:
Thanks for an enjoyable weekend. I must decide what I want most - A good breakfast and a crap shoot, or a crap breakfast and a good shoot. As I get older the breakfast definitely has increasing appeal!

Crosses Shoot WARC v Cawdor Full Results

WARC Captain Tim Kidner is congratulated by Cawdor Captain Mark Joyce on retaining the trophy. WARC won by 4 points, despite an outbreak of cross-shooting in the WARC camp. The vice-chairman cross-shot once; the chairman, not to be outdone and wishing to pull rank, cross-shot twice.

WARC hosted a post-match tea at the Bridge of Tilt hotel, attended by most senior member Alastair Munro who will be 95 next month.

Scotland wins the 'National' Team Match for second consecutive year

A score of 2075v279 put Scotland two points ahead of England in second place with 2073v294. Scotland waited for 45 years until last year to win, and have repeated this year. A number of West Atholl Members were in the team. Full Results

Scotland wins Match Rifle 'ELCHO' International Team Match for third consecutive year - Results

SRA Long Range Championships including Scotland v USA F/TR Team Match - Results

West Atholl Rifle Club hosted the USA F/TR team for a day's practice on Friday 1st July. Shooting took place at 900, 987, 1114 and, for the bold 1233x, in fairly easy conditions. The only problems were a shortage of keys with the score on lost keys being Scotland 1 USA 1.

The USA team competed in the SRA Long Range meeting over the weekend followed by a Scotland v USA match the Monday. Teams of six shooting 2+15 to count at 900, 1000 and 1100 yards - Scotland won the match with 1072.30 and USA scored 1050.34.

The highest score was Paul Crosbie (Captain of the Scotland team) who scored 191.4. The team match was shot on Monday 4th July which is USA Independence Day.

SRA 'Scottish' Championships - Full Results and photos

Keith Pugh winner of the Grand Agg.

Range Wild Life in Action 2 - Wild Cats!

During a visit to the butts at the Scottish Police Open something apparently very long, low and furry ran across the track. Closer inspection showed "it" to be 3 (possibly 4) kittens. They looked very much like wild cat kittens but that is ruled out by the fact that one allowed itself to be picked up. They are probably hybrid wildcat/feral domestic cat. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland has a wildcat survey in progress on the estate, and there are true wildcats very close to the range. As the fourth picture shows, one appears to have a white foot, which would suggest its parents were not both true wildcats. But the expert at RZSS explained that a female wildcat can mate with more than one male in a day and have one litter of kittens with different fathers, so others in the litter may or may not be pure. They were sheltering in disused rabbit holes and probably in the process of being moved by the mother from one den to another.

If you can do this and still have skin on your hands, it is not a wildcat.		Doesn't seem too wild at the moment.
That's enough invasion of privacy - I'm off.		My dad might be different from yours, brother.

Range Wild Life in Action - Dragonfly

This was the most interesting thing that happened on the range today, there was also shoot going on at the time but I have forgotten what is was. (Or my performance in it at any rate) At first we thought the Dragonfly was mating, but on closer inspection we found that it had actually emerged from its nymph stage to the adult fly. Keith thought the photos would add interest to the web site. Actually, I suspect he may have some fetish about having photos of his hand on the web site, but I may be wrong.  J.P.

Dragonfly emerging from Nymph		Dragonfly emerging live today!
Dragonfly & shell of nymph.		Dragonfly, nymph & Chairman's hand.

This must be an example of the Golden-ringed dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii), the only UK species with black and yellow bands. The larval stage (nymph) lives in water for 2 to 5 years before climbing onto dry land where the adult form emerges. This one was spotted by John by the small burn under the single-plank bridge behind the break in the 400 yd firing point. We assumed it was waiting for its wings to dry in the sun before flying off. It chose the wrong day for that and was still there when shooting at 400 finished 4 hours later. K.B.

SRA Pentagonal & Finlux Team Matches - Results

West Atholl Chairman's prayers were answered		Kenny MacDonald's concentration paid off		Pentagonal Finlux 900 yards

A peahen has taken up residence in the butts. According to one member she is partial to sandwiches; another says she prefers Danish pastries. We shall have to wait to see if there will be a patter of tiny peafowl. Those wanting to know more about peafowl can see this site

Scottish Multi-Discipline Shooting Championship 2011 Results

Air pistol range in foreground, 500x and 50m firing point in middle distance, electronic targets behind		The excitement was too much for some people		The ladies champion discovered the club rifle needed a manual ejector system

West of Scotland 2011 Results and Prize Winners

Becky Stevens highest scoring school competitor.		F Class Open Grand Agg. H. Inglis.		F Class Open QIII P.Sandie		F Class Open Sat. Agg. D.Parr.
President's Prize, L.McKerrall		F/TR winner Paul Crosbie.		Keith Pugh 92.09 congratulates Lyndsay McKerrall 93.11 (second ever shoot at 900)		QI K.Pugh.
QIII,Col. Begg, T.Kidner		S.Dick & L.Stewart receive medals.		QII, K.Macdonald.		The Silverware

April's Work Day

Eight members turned out for the work day. Thanks to John P., Adam, Gerry and Malcolm the range now offers such 21st century amenities as: visible number boards; a road to the 500 point which allows access by saloon cars; a firing point at 400yds where the shooter no longer needs a periscope to see over the edge and thanks to James, a toilet which flushes the contents down the drain not over the floor;. After a lot of work by John MacDonald and Peter Burbridge a start has been made on cleaning up and repainting the metalwork in the butts, but there is still a lot to be done there. A further work day will be arranged to tackle that. We shall need a dozen members to get the job done in one day and I hope that some of those who could not get to the range on 17th will be able to help next time.

Keith

Royal Flush with new Loo (James Bell)		Watering the 400 yd Firing Point		Peter the Painter, Sparks and Boss
John Macdonald (Good side)		Road Works		Mad Dog in the noonday sun

Club “300m” shoot, 10 April

This competition was shot in superb conditions: warm, sunny, with very little wind most of the time. Shooting from 400 yards using a 300m ISSF display on the monitors proved “challenging”. Tim Kidner was deservedly the winner with Mark Joyce a close second.

Jubilee Range in early April: clear blue sky, gentle breeze, temperature about 15 degrees.		Last man shooting... Andy Hay hoping to finish before nightfall.

Tim Kidner has his trophy returned.

Full Results here

A rainbow over the range at the Club shoot on Sunday 3rd April. To the eye, the rainbow appeared to be a complete arc. Searches at both ends by several members produced nothing to help the Club's finances!

The NRA is promoting a video by the Shooting Sports Trust about shooting in the UK. It is hoped that it will be viewed by as many non-shooters as possible.