2023 GR&P Nationals – Final Results
Final results are posted for the Gallery Rifle and Pistol Nationals – held over the weekend of 2-3 September 2023 at Bisley.
Final results are posted for the Gallery Rifle and Pistol Nationals – held over the weekend of 2-3 September 2023 at Bisley.
The results of the second Derby Handgun Challenge can be seen below
Derby Handgun 2023 – Final Results
Congratulations to Glenn Gordon for his achievement in the Aggregates and almost everything else! A special mention goes to David Gwalter for setting a new British Record in the LBP 1020 with a Maximum score and 91 X’s.
There were a few less competitors than last year but more scorecards so everyone is shooting more events. Aggregate competitions were tried this year, one we called the Black Target Aggregate – events shot on 1500 targets, WA48, 1500 & 1020 and they proved popular with LBP and LBR. Not so much with Iron Sights. Also the 1470 Aggregate – this was everything else on offer with a total score of, you guessed it 1470.
It was great so many had a go and those who shot both with two guns fired over 1000 round taking two days – quite a marathon – well done!
Thanks to Shooting Supplies and RAM Bullets for the prizes they donated.
We are aware that the competition clashed with the Europeans and we could have had more people attending. However the GR calendar is getting fuller every year and leaves little room for manoeuvre. If you have any suggestions about another time of year please let me know. We want the event to grow.
See you next year!
Regards
Jim, MD
It is appreciated at the time of writing the year is only just past the halfway mark but if anyone has firm dates for the 2024 GR&P competitive calendar cemented into their schedules please sent them over.
When the Gallery Rifle (GR&P) discipline was founded, many of its rules were inspired by those of the World Association 1500 (WA1500), the governing body for a wide range of handgun shooting. Over time, we’ve refined the GR&P rules based on experience and common practice.
One of the common practices adopted by many UK GR&P shooters has been around reloading. Many of our events involve shooting two or more strings of 6 shots within a time limit which includes reloading. Many shooters took to loading with 6, shooting 5 and then reloading with a round still in the chamber; this gives a small time advantage, particularly with our .22 semi-auto rifles and Long Barrel Pistols (LBPs) as these would not need to be re-cocked. Other shooters stuck with the “load 6, shoot 6, reload” practice mandated by the WA1500 rules even though we didn’t specifically include it within the GR&P rules.
The UK is a founder member of the International Gallery Rifle Federation (IGRF), which is the governing body for international GR matches. Other members include Germany – where “load 6, shoot 6, reload” is a rule for GR, i.e. “load 6, shoot 5, reload” is specifically not allowed. In order to ensure a level playing field across all IGRF international matches, regardless of host country, the IGRF adopted a new rule in its 2023 Manual:
1.69 In all IGRF International Team Matches, all loaded rounds must be fired before reloading commences. For example, the historic practice of “load 6, shoot 5, reload 6, shoot 7” is NOT allowed.
This rule was of course in place for the IGRF international matches at Phoenix earlier this year. The GR&P Working Party have reviewed this and we are considering introducing this rule into the 2024 GR&P Handbook for all GR&P shooting.
The reasons for this are:
We realise that, if we introduced this rule, many shooters would have to relearn an ingrained reloading technique. We would therefore not penalise anyone for getting it wrong during the 2024 season; ROs would be instructed to remind anyone seen using the wrong reloading technique about the rule change but would not start applying procedural penalties for using it until the 2025 season.
If you have any comments on this potential rule change, please email them to gallery@nra.org.uk.
David Stanley: 20th July 1958 – 20th June 2023
Dave Stanley passed away on the 20th June 2023. His funeral and remembrance ceremony took place on the 12th July at 11.30 Durham crematorium.
Dave was well known within the shooting community and had a long history of competitive shooting. He was a member of a few shooting clubs including Mattersey, Bishop Auckland and Skerningham. He was particularly fond of Bisley however and Jane is bringing Dave’s ashes down to the NSC at the end of August to coincide with the Gallery Rifle Nationals. She is going to scatter them on Stickledown ranges on Friday 1st September at about six thirty PM.
Pete at the Surrey Rifle Club is also going to arrange a dinner in the evening for anyone wishing to get together. The meal will cost £30 per head for three courses and proceeds will go to cancer research. Pete has asked for people to pay cash and for catering reasons he has asked for an indication of numbers and if anyone has any food allergies.
Anyone who wishes to attend the meal can you please let Jane know directly or via here.
Many thanks all and rest easy Dave
The Derby Handgun Challenge for 2023 will take place over the weekend of the 19-20 August. It will be a classified meeting so scores will count towards rankings etc.
We are introducing two aggregates this year,
We hope that competitors will enter all eight events to try something new and take advantage of the discount but appreciate that not everyone can adopt some of the positions in some matches and they may prefer to pick and mix. If you enter all eight events with one class of handgun you will need to be ready to shoot at 9:00am on Saturday and 8:30am Sunday and it will take all day.
Team Smoothy will be putting a Practical Match on B range that will be 80 rounds and take 15 minutes. It will be un-squadded and re-entries are permitted so just pay and play when you have time to spare. £8
Camping available from Friday.
Prizes will be presented on Sunday at approx. 1700 hours. (Prizes: awarded to the top scoring competitors for each match subject to the number of entries)
The 2023 Derby Open results and Home Countries Matches results are posted.
Derby 2023 Open – Full Results
Derby 2023 Open – Winners List
Nominations are sought for the role of “Captain of the Great Britain GR&P Handgun Team” for 2024.
It is recognized that the selection and appointment of the Captain for a Great Britain team is a highly important decision. To be appointed Captain is a great honour but it is also a great responsibility. The ability to create a winning team is not the only criterion needed for a successful Captain. The manner in which the team conducts itself, both on and off the ranges, could affect the standing of the NRA, target shooting and indeed the country. It is therefore vital that the person selected should have the appropriate personality and skills to carry out all aspects of the task in the appropriate manner. The selection process, while being transparent and fair, should result in the appointment of someone who meets these requirements.
The criteria for selection are:
Nominees must be full Members of the NRA for a minimum continuous period of 3 years before they become eligible for nomination and must remain so during the entire period of appointment. A nominee’s subscription (where appropriate) must be fully paid up at the date of nomination. Nominations must be supported by signatures of three NRA Members who have Gallery Rifle & Pistol as one of their declared disciplines and whose subscription (where appropriate) must be fully paid up at the date of nomination. However, nominations may not be supported by any current member of the GR&P Working Group (although any member may be nominated, including members of the working group). Candidate CV’s and nominations should be submitted in writing, bearing original or electronic signatures of the candidate and supporters. Nominations (Shooter CV and supporters) will be evaluated by the NRA Council during August and acceptable nominees are passed back to the GR&P Working Group for a final recommendation; the preferred nomination is then notified to the NRA Council for endorsement and formal appointment
Nominations must reach the Secretary at the NRA Offices by 5pm on Friday 21st July 2023. Forms can be downloaded below, or are available from the News section of the NRA website, or requested from georgina.thatcher@nra.org.uk
Great Britain GR&P Handgun Team Captain Nomination Form
Great Britain GR&P Handgun Team Captain CV Form
Regards
Ash Dagger
NRA GR&P Discipline Rep
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There are no catches or hidden charges and the GB Team will be really grateful for your donations.
Thank you for your support.
The 2023 Handgun Captain, Dave Harris, has now announced his squad – listed below. They will be supported by Sharon Bowden as team adjutant. The major challenge for the team will be the World Championships in Sweden, in mid-August. Good luck to all the lucky shooters who can now formally represent GB in centre-fire handgun matches outside of mainland Britain.
The squad is announced as follows
Dave Harris Capt
Alan Podevin Vice Capt
Andy Wiggins
Chris Pannell
Dave Berry
Matt Peppitt
Neil Jones
Nigel Porter
Pete Watts
Steve Lamb
I’ve often wondered if more people knew how pleasant and relaxed a day’s shooting was to be had at the steel challenge shoots in Devon many more people would attend. Held within the boundaries of the Dartmoor National park, famous for its wide open spaces, rugged tors, Dartmoor Prison, bronze age archaeology, ponies, Sherlock Holmes, myths and legends, and 20th century castles add to the list the Budleigh Farm Steel Shoots.
The venue is situated in the Wray valley on the edge of Dartmoor near Moretonhampstead. This long established facility has a high reputation for smallbore target rifle shooting and has two small indoor ranges as well as two large outdoor ranges. Twice a year one of the ranges is booked for two days to host the aforementioned steel shooting competitions.
These shoots are unlike the Speed Steel shooting that some of you may know from attending any of the Gallery Rifle Action Weekends (GRAWs), including the Phoenix. Even if you haven’t shot or seen these shoots you will have heard the constant background ringing of the steels playing throughout the day at the Bisley GRAW events. The emphasis for these traditional steel plate competitions is on speed – hitting large static targets as quickly as possible. The Budleigh Farm matches are of a completely different style. For rimfire rifles only, the targets are much smaller, at different ranges and reactive – namely they fall down when hit. This makes it both entertaining to watch and addictively satisfying to shoot.
The Competition comprises three sections, each with four banks of ten unique targets designed to test both speed and precision. Each bank of targets is engaged in rotation before moving on to the next section and the 280+ round match can be completed in about three hours so there are morning or afternoon sessions available leaving you time to take in some of the glorious scenery of Dartmoor, eat a cream tea or just arrange your travel time for a more leisurely day.
The shoot has been in the ‘calendar’ for many years and is accessible and enjoyed by shooters of all ages, disciplines and abilities. Because it is unlike the usual shooting disciplines, every new shooter is entered into a Freshman class for their initial competition, regardless of skill level, and their first score will dictate which Class (X, A, B or C) they will be entered into on their subsequent shoots. Competitors will climb up the classes as their scores improve – and believe me, once you have done it you will want to do it again.
The Competition is run twice a year. The first is usually early April, known as the Steel Challenge, and the second around October time is called the Rimfire Festival (not to be confused with the Frome and District Pistol Club’s shoot of the same name). As an added bonus a side competition called the Pistol Challenge is also arranged for those who want to shoot LBPs. This short rapid fire shoot mimics a stage of the main competitions where the shooter engages a bank of ten targets with a maximum of twenty rounds (two mags of ten) as fast as possible. A shot timer records the time taken to drop the last target or fire the last round, a time penalty being added for each target still standing. Each shooter gets two attempts on each of the two banks of targets and the highest score from each goes forward towards their final score. Shot during the lunch break between sessions so shooters can do it before or after the main competition.
Competition dates for 2023 are now fixed and entry forms can be found on-line at the usual places. Dates for the Steel Challenge were the 15th to 16th April and the results are posted here. Dates for the Rimfire Festival are the 30th September to the 1st October.
The weekends are currently organised by David Guest and hosted by Budleigh Farm Target Shooting Club at Moretonhampstead in Devon. For further information please contact David at btscsteels@gmail.com
[Originally published in the Spring 2023 NRA Journal]
Results from the 2023 Mattersey Open are published
The ATSC 2023 Open Results, including results of the England v Wales head to head are posted
The Phoenix Meeting offers a huge variety of competitions across multiple disciplines including Civilian Service Rifle, F Class, Gallery Rifle & Pistol, Muzzle Loading and Black Powder, McQueen, Sporting Rifle and Target Shotgun. Most of the Bisley range complex is in use over this weekend, with events on offer between 10 to 1000 yards there is truly something for everyone!
Phoenix Meeting – Team Competitions
During the Phoenix Meeting there are a selection of concurrent Team Competitions with NRA Phoenix Medals up for grabs!
For more details and to enter head over to the NRA website