JSPC Ham & Petersham
It takes about 100 volunteers and Range Officers to run the Phoenix Meeting at Bisley. The Range Officer schedule can be found via the link below.
Phoenix Range Offices and Volunteers
The meeting starts on Wednesday for Range Officer shooting and Friday for general competitors. It concludes Monday with the IGRF International match.
The first Ranking Tables of 2017 are now available and include all matches prior to The Phoenix. Any issues I’m sure you will let me know 🙂 Next Tables will be produced after Derby.
Many thanks also go to the sponsors of the competition
Still slots available for both Saturday and Sunday
Frome & District Pistol Club are please to announce the return of the Western Winner in 2017. This years event will be held on 13th and 14th May; a good warm-up for the Phoenix at Bisley two weeks later, but also an excellent competition in its own right.
It was unfortunate that this well established West Country championship event was unable to run in 2016. This followed the loss of the usual venue at BDRPC – home for all the preceding years. However, Frome now has a brand new indoor range in nearby Shepton Mallet, boasting 25 and 50M ranges with turning targets, modern clubroom and other facilities.
This year, as well as the 1500 match, Frome will offer T&P1, MT and the increasingly popular 1020 events. So… navigate to the entry forms on the club’s website and get them it quick. We look forward to seeing you there!
Ash Dagger
FDPC
Drums Ranges, Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th June 2017
The Aberdeen Wapinschaw represents arguably one of the longest running shooting competitions in the UK, tracing a lineage to 1862. The Association presents one of the finest trophy tables in the UK, with many exquisite trophies dating from the 1860s and onwards through the 20th and 21st Century.
Aberdeen Full Bore Gun Club is honoured to host the civilian arm of the Association’s annual competition schedule and does so through a three day match in June for Gallery Rifle and Pistol (NRA-sanctioned and ranked), Smallbore Service Rifle, Muzzle-Loading Rifle and Pistol and Black Powder Cartridge Rifle and then in September holds a two day Fullbore Rifle Open meeting incorporating Civilian Service Rifle (Urban Contact and 200M Falling Plates Matches) and general Fullbore Rifle matches in a range of classes (the latter at 100M or 300M).
This year’s GR matches include Timed and Precision 1, Multi-Target, 1020 and 25M Precision for GRSB, GRCF, GRCF Classic, LBR & LBP plus options for ML pistols/revolver and rifles as well as more unusual competitions for GRSB. Although in the early stages of planning, it is intended to introduce a club team match – watch this space. The day is further enhanced by the provision of an excellent array of food. We look forward to welcoming shooters from all over, far and wide.
Gallery Rifle and Pistol is an officially recognised discipline of the NRA. As such the discipline has representation on the NRA general council and sits on appropriate NRA committees (eg Shooting Committee). In accordance with NRA regulations the discipline’s elected representative serves a 3 year term.
The next 3 year term runs from September 2017 to September 2020.
Nominations are now being sought for the the Gallery Rifle and Pistol Representative to serve for the next three year period. Anyone who is interested please get in touch.
There is no role description as such but as the GR&P rep you will be expected to represent and promote the discipline’s interests within the NRA and generally. The NRA are the NGB for the discipline, they oversee the rules and regulations for all target shooting disciplines they represent and Gallery Rifle is a core discipline.
The GR&P rep has a seat on NRA general council and a seat on the NRA shooting committee. General Council and Shooting Committee formally meet three times a year at Bisley.
Apart from these core responsibilities the role is essentially whatever the person fulfilling it wants it to be.
The electee will take office from September’s General Council meeting.
Sa
d news I’m afraid. Anyone who shot on Melville ranges at Bisley in the recent past would probably have remembered Les Pulling. He was the range warden there for many years and retired in 2012.
News was received today of Les’s death after a short illness. I’m sure many will remember him on Melville for his daft stories and antics as he helped us on the range with all the targetry and moaned at us for not sweeping up properly.
RIP Les – I think many will agree you made the shoots at Melville a little bit more enjoyable.
The first Imperial Meeting was contested on Wimbledon Common in 1890, when Queen Victoria fired the first shot and gave a prize of £250 to the best individual marksman.
This set the pattern for the Association’s Annual Meeting, held every year with the exception of the two World Wars.
The Queen’s Prize remains the premier award for the Meeting’s top shot, with the £250 prize still given to the winner.
Today the Imperial has grown to include many different disciplines, from Target Rifle to Service Weapons, Gallery Rifle and Pistol, Historic Firearms, Civilian Service Rifle, Schools, Cadets, Match Rifle F-Class and McQueen.
The Meeting starts on the 16th June and culminates with the Queen’s Prize on the 22nd July.
Over 3500 competitors took part in the 5 week long meeting in 2016 making it a real festival of shooting.
With competitors coming in from all over the world, the Imperial is a once-a-year must shoot in any competitor’s calendar.
Host to the competition is NRA Bisley, the world renowned ranges complex covering virtually all forms of shooting from air rifle to 1200 yards full-bore shooting set in 3000 acres of heathland; Bisley is as unique in character as it is in the variety of ranges it offers.
The atmosphere at Bisley is second to none, with friendships made and renewed on the firing points every year, but the event does not end with the shooting, the famous Bisley clubs take over and competitors enjoy the Bisley hospitality at its best.
2017 is set to be another great Imperial and we look forward to welcoming you to Bisley for the 148th Imperial meeting.
Entry forms to all competitions available on the NRA website
In the middle of the Imperial meeting there still languishes the most relaxed competitive Gallery Rifle and Pistol (GR&P) meeting on the circuit.
The Imperial Gallery Rifle and Pistol meeting runs for five days – middle Wednesday to middle Sunday – (12-16 July 2017) and is worth at least a couple of days out of your usual routine to attend. The meeting still seems to be continually off the radar for a lot of GR&P shooters. Attempts to promote it in the past have been met with limited success so an outline of what the meeting is all about is below.
In the 1990s and earlier it was a pistol meeting. It changed to a GR and MLR/P meeting in later years and has been running ever since most recent addition of LBR and LBP offerings.
The meeting is open to all shooters and offers competition in Galleryrifle Centrefire (GRCF), Galleryrifle Smallbore (GRSB), Long Barrel Revolver and Pistol (LBR/LBP) Muzzle loading Revolver/Pistol (MLP/MLR) and some Air Pistol (AP). There are unlimited medal entry matches, squadded trophy matches and team matches.
The format of the Imperial is slightly different to many GR meetings people may attend. Its broadly split into two streams and there are one or two nuances, mainly regarding sights.
The traditional trophy matches are run over the weekend and if entered will be squadded affairs. The trophy matches, for GRCF, are iron sights only. Running throughout the meeting and making up the bulk of the shooting are the unlimited entry matches – simply called “the Unlimiteds”. Any sights are allowed here so scopes, red dots or any variation are perfectly acceptable.
The idea of the Unlimiteds is exactly what it says – unlimited entries. People can shoot as many times as they want in any chosen event and keep submitting scorecards to be processed for that perfect score. In fact to get a score on the board shooters have to submit at least two cards in any event. They can submit more if they wish however only the top two will be crunched for the final record.
That’s the formula – the encouraging factor is to shoot – as many times as the shooter wants and on this basis the entry costs are deliberately kept low. For 2016 all medals entries were priced at £4.50 a card. 2017 prices will not be too much more. Its the cheapest competitive shooting on the GR circuit.
They are described in the Bisley bible (The NRA handbook) and there are 7 in all but here is a summary of the Unlimited events shot for medals throughout the meeting. These are available for both GRCF,GRSB, LBP/LBR and MLP.
The Grand Aggregate – the Grand Agg. is now available for GRCF, LBR, LBP and MLR. Take one of each of the above events for GRCF and nominate the card. Exclude America and Silhouettes and its the LBR/LBP/MLR Grand Agg. One nuance mentioned above comes into play here – its an iron sights only aggregate for GRCF – any sights for the pistols!
Trophy matches are for competed for over the weekend sessions and are available in the following events. They are all for GRCF apart from the two as appropriately indicated. They are all Iron sighted affairs!
There are also nine team events in total but in line with the NRA’s overall charitable objectives for the encouragement of shooting three are restricted to University teams and one is a traditional Oxbridge varsity match.
The final medals on offer are the Highest Possible Scores (HPS) Jewels and the Grandmaster medal. These are defined in the bible and offer a chance to achieve competitive reward based on achieving perfect scores in stages of all the competitions or striving for points based on standards.
Entries are now open for the 148th Imperial meeting – either on-line or via a downloaded PDF entry form.
The Basildon Open competition is run on the third week in April, about a month before the Phoenix. That is this weekend coming – 221-23 April. We shoot on Friday (half day – PM) to Sunday. We will be offering 1500, T&P2, 1020, T&P1 and Multitarget Phoenix A at £7 each in all disciplines on our 25 and 50 meter outdoor ranges.
There will be the usual spectacular prize table, kindly supported by Derby 🙂
If you wish to stay, we can offer a place to pitch a tent or park a camper van, breakfast and a BBQ and beer to enjoy on Saturday evening with a few like-minded soles. All free and part of the weekend for the brave souls who venture out at this time of the year.
Our range staff are friendly and do not bite, (much). They will endeavour to help any newcomers trying out their first competition where we will offer “enter one get one free”. And remember, it’s a month before Phoenix, so it’s a chance to get that competition practice after the winter layover.
So come to Basildon and have some competitive fun.
JR
Entry Forms for the 2017 Basildon Open available below
Results fo
r the 2017 Army Target Shooting Club Open are now posted:
Challenge deadline – Tuesday 18th April
We are now looking forward to one of the largest and most popular meetings of the season, the Phoenix Meeting, 26-28 May – with the International Match on Monday 29 May. This festival of shooting saw almost 500 competitors take part last year and provides the opportunity to shoot Gallery Rifle, Target Shotgun, Practical Pistol and Revolver, and has Air and Fullbore competitions from 15 yards to 1000 yards. Classic shooters also have the opportunity to take part in events across the weekend.
The entry form is now available for on-line entries, more details and match conditions are also available.
The 2017 GR&P and Phoenix Handbook is now available to download and to collect at the NRA
We would appreciate Range Officer support to run this event so if you are able to offer some time please complete the online RO form by Monday 15 May.
Please continue to encourage new and young shooters to come to Bisley to take part.
Results for the 2017 Spring Action Weekend are now final:
Having reviewed the recently posted scores from last season, noting people’s ability to commit to representing Great Britain and taking into account people’s personal choices for the future, I have, in conjunction with others, selected the following shooters to represent Great Britain for 2017.
In particular, I’d like to welcome Dave Eastwood and Tim Mepham into the main squad – well deserved.
The following people have accepted a position on the 2017 squad
A Summers
C West
C McMichael
D Hackett
D Eastwood
F Hay
G Bowden
G Betteridge
G Gordon
G Roberts
J Smith
J Cormie
K Cox
N Veitch
P Watts
R Wheeler
R Tonner
S Lamb
T Wilcox (Vice Captain)
T Mepham
There will be a reserve / development squad of the following people, who will be still available to select from. I hope to be able to promote some of them into the main team next year, if not before. A special welcome to Phil Wood, who has worked hard to join us this year.
A Dagger
P Wood
D Rogers
D Guest
D Holt
M Beard
M van Dalen
On behalf of all the Great Britain Gallery Rifle team and squad, I’d like to thank them for all their contributions in the past years and I hope we see some of them again in our ranks.
Ashley Dagger
Great Britain Gallery Rifle Captain
The Handbook is in a familiar format again for 2017. Thanks to all our sponsors and advertisers, contributors, proof readers, checkers and generally interested parties. Although thoroughly checked there is bound to be the odd error or typo. If you find any please let us know via the usual channels.
The handbook is available in the following formats:
PDF – For on screen Reading and Printing
Hard Copy from the NRA (or your local shooting club) from the 23rd March 2017 onwards
The text of this website is released under the Creative Commons Zero Waiver 1.0 CCO; [2017 Galleryrifle]
Content by The GalleryRifleTeam
