A dry, overcast, cool and quite breezy morn greeted the 16 shooters, which was an excellent turnout for the first meeting of 2019. Bushy and Mike set the targets, and it was rumoured that they said if they made the birds difficult, they wouldn’t be asked to do it again! We split into two squads, Clare’s squad shooting all single targets, and Sandra’s shooting all o/r doubles. The course was set over 4 stands, those being the Sport-trap, skeet sporting, ABT sporting and driven all up the gravel path. This gave a wide choice of targets to shoot at, and some to discount. The ABT and Sport-trap layouts gave us some problems due to the increasing westerly wind blowing already rangy clays even further out!

 

Sandra’s Squad (doubles):

We started on the Skeet sporting range, 5 pairs of a good selection of crossers, rabbits and teal. Most did reasonably well on this stand with Bev taking a fine 9. On to the Sport-trap range, this proved more difficult, partially due to the wind and some tricky targets. Tim and Fred both shot excellently to take 7/10 and be high guns on this one. On leaving this stand, Tim was 2 points clear of the field and there were many calls of an unannounced performance-enhancing drugs test being required!  On to the ABT sporting, again quite difficult targets with Mike on 6/10 being the highest score. The distant left to right crosser is worthy a mention, as none of the double guns hit it. The wheels fell off for poor Tim, only scraping 1/10, but he was still up there. On leaving this stand it was very close with 3 guns on 17 and 4 on 15. It was all to shoot for as we approached the final driven stand! Some excellent shooting was witnessed here, Tony who had been having a terrible round, smashed 9/10 in fine style. Paul also shot 9, Bushy, Mike and Fred all on 8, Bev and Martin straighting it, Graham hit 7 and Tim managed but 4. What could have been, Tim!! Martin and Bev finished up together on 27 with Martin just taking it on countback, Mike was third place with 25.

Thanks to Sandra who trapped, scored and kept the squad in order.

 

Clare’s Squad (singles):

We started on the Driven range, 8 similar targets with most killing 5 or more to get our confidence up for what was to come! The ABT sporting was next, with only Derek, shooting a small bore with light loads, having any real impact on these and leaving the stand 2 points clear of the rest of the squad. On to the skeet sporting, with both Phil and Dave shooting well to take 6/7 and 5/7 respectively. On leaving this stand, it was fairly close with Derek on 16, Phil on 15, Dave on 14, Clare on 13 and the Viking on 12. The final Sport-trap range would be the decider! Derek kept up the pressure with a great 6/8 to take top position and high gun for the day. The wheels fell off for Phil with just one scored, what might have been Phil!! Dave shot a fine 7 to take second place and both Clare and Viking scraping 4 to end third and fourth respectively. Catherine scored her usual 9, but with less difficult targets, she would probably would have had more. Keep at it girl, double figures await!! It was good to see Dick shooting with his muzzle loader again, and although he struggled on some of the targets,  he like the rest of us had a thoroughly enjoyable day.

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Saturday 16th February at Cambridge Gun Club - the usual 30 bird singles and 40 bird doubles targets will be set and we will be introducing a new competition for those who wish to take part - the Bushy Sim Pairs Crystal Tankard, so bring your double muzzle loading guns for what will surely be an interesting competition! Shooting starts as usual at 10.00am.

 

A Mike production

 

 

A dry and sunny morning greeted the 17 shooters, later the sun went in and it was quite breezy. So, for the second meeting of 2019 we shot for a new trophy, the Bushy’s simultaneous pairs crystal tankard. This was a competition that Bushy had had in his mind for some time, but there was some dubiousness within the group as to whether this would be viable with muzzle loaders. However any scepticism about the viability of the competition was soon unfounded, and it proved to be very successful with most shooters enjoying it. They were all sensible targets kindly set up by Jono from CGC, so thanks to him for his splendid efforts.  As usual we divided into two squads, Martin’s and Bushy’s, with 13 of us shooting for tankard, 3 shooting single guns and Archie shooting O/R pairs as he didn’t fancy them together! The course was set over 5 stands, 1,2,3,5 &6 and with 4 of the same pairs shot on each stand. Allan from the Warwickshire branch of the MLAGB, joined us for the shoot and thoroughly enjoyed his day. It is always nice to welcome new faces to our Club.

 

Bushy’s Squad - Sim Pairs

We had eight in our squad, six of whom were competing in the simultaneous pairs competition. Archie opted out and decided to shoot on-report pairs and Phil used his single barrel.

We started off on stand 6, 4 pairs incorporating a right to left high crosser and a slow dropping left to right which took an age to reach the stand. The first bird needed to be shot very quickly otherwise it became a very awkward dropping target. The second target needed patience, most shot it just before it dropped from view. Bushy went away from this stand in the lead having hit them all, closely followed by Bev. Archie struggled a bit with these targets, but it was early days.

Moving on to stand 5 we were again presented with 4 pairs, a very fast quartering away left to right along with a right to left looper. Most of the group made a reasonable fist of these. Bushy and Bev both missing one target each, Tim, Viking and Allan two and Paul R three. Archie got half marks.

We then had a long trek to stand 1. Poor Allan Wellings reached the stand only to realise that he had left some essential equipment back at stand 5, good job he enjoys his walking! 4 driven pairs of medium height targets were to be shot on this stand, the traps being mounted on cherry pickers which were in turn stationed on a high bank about 30 to 40 yards from the shooting position. These targets should not have been a problem, but because it was a pair and they crossed over each other directly above your head made them very awkward. The highest scorers on this stand in our group were Bushy and Viking who both missed 2 birds. Paul was the next most successful hitting 4. Bev could not cope with all the visual stimulation and only hit 3 as did Allan. Archie strung as few hits together with his on-report pairs hitting 5.

We moved on to the adjacent stand 2 which were again driven targets but these were lower. 4 pairs again. One of the targets was an absolute bullet about 20 feet above your head and obviously needed to be shot very quickly. The second target in the pair was sent up at an angle again as a driven target but because of its attitude and the wind direction stalled directly above your head and descended at a rate of knots landing in front of the stand. It was tempting to shoot it as it dropped in front, but most hits were achieved by shooting it just as it started to descend. Paul R and Bushy were most successful here missing only one target each.

On to the last stand 3 with another 4 pairs, both loopers. A fast left to right and a slower right to left. This was a terrible stand for most of the squad. Nobody could really master the left to right target. Bushy came out best again hitting 5 of the 8 targets.

So there we are, Bushy triumphed in our squad accumulating an impressive 33 from the 40 targets. Viking and Bev came equal second with 25.

 

Single Barrel:

Phil, using his single barrel struggled a bit initially but came into his own on the driven stands missing only 4 of the 12 targets ending up with an impressive 17 from his 30 targets which I believe was the top score in the singles overall.

 

Martin’s Squad - Sim Pairs

We had nine in our squad, seven of whom were competing in the simultaneous pairs competition. Catherine and Dick using their single barrels.

We started on stand 1, the driven pair. Martin made a cracking start, shooting both clays as they crossed with a single shot! Fred, Derek and Paul took half, Mike couldn’t get his ageing brain around the crossing targets and came away with 3. Graham and Clare were both struggling on this one, both leaving with a row of zero’s!

On to stand 2. Martin and Derek smashing them in fine style to drop only one bird each. Mike, Fred and Paul only missing two. Clare and Graham got on the score sheet, with Graham taking all the dropping birds on the way down, but missing all the fast incomers!

So to stand 3, the daunting opposing loopers pair. Martin kept up the pressure with a straight round, Mike dropped two, Derek, Graham and Fred were around half. Clare and Paul struggled on these. So after three stands, Martin was way ahead with 21/24, Derek on 17/24, mike on 15/24, Fred on 14/24 and Paul on 12/24. Shall we just say Clare and Graham brought up the rear!

On to stand 5, Martin was relentless with another fine 7, Fred went up a gear dropping only two, Derek, Graham and Paul were 50%ers, Clare came alive and dropped only three, and the wheels fell off for Mike, only two scored!

So we made our way to the last stand 6. There was no stopping Martin, another straight stand for him. Mike fought back strongly from the previous stand to also straight it. Fred took a fine 7, Clare took 6, but it was too late for her, Graham, Derek and Paul each took half.

And the winner is! Martin shot splendidly to win the squad, competition and high gun for the day with a brilliant score of 36/40. Fred shot a good 27/40 to take 3rd place overall, Derek finished with an equally good 26/40 using small loads and Mike not far behind with a 25/40, what might have been had stand 5 gone better!

 

Singles:

Catherine and Dick were shooting very similarly today, both at matching scores after 3 stands. On stand 5, they both upped their game and shot a good 4/6 each. Dick just pipped it on the last stand with an extra 2 birds.

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Saturday 30th March at Cambridge Gun Club, non-competition meeting so bring and shoot whatever you will. 30 bird singles and 40 bird doubles targets will be set.

 

A Mike & Bev production

 

 

A very pleasant spring morning greeted the good turnout of 20 shooters. We welcomed Albert (ex-Lakenheath senior ML’s) who shot his black powder hammer gun, and Matt Limb who came to take photos and speak to some members in preparation for an article on clay shooting with muzzle loaders, which will appear in Sporting Shooter magazine in the near future.

In the afternoon, some brave ML shooters attempted some long range clays for another new trophy, kindly presented by Peter Dann, who also came along to be with us. Good to see you again Pete.

We split into two squads, Clare’s and Sandra’s, with a mix of doubles and singles shooters in each.

Big thanks to Sandra and Dick for trapping and scoring for us, and we hope Dick’s forthcoming hand op goes well.

 

The course was set over stands 1 – 5, with some new and interesting targets on each.

 

Stand 1 - straight driven std followed by a driven mini “snipe”.

Stand 2 - R/L high battue followed by a fast low driven.

Stand 3 - a similar O/R pair of fast L/R loopers.

Stand 4 - fast L/R looper followed by an equally fast going away overhead target.

Stand 5 - L/R high springing teal followed by a fast R/L low looper.

 

Clare’s Squad: 4 x double barrel guns, 5x single barrel (stand order 3,2,1,4,5)

 

Double Barrel:

A good start was made on the pair of loopers, Martin, Mike and John P all taking 6/8, Jon G on 4. Stand 2 saw the start of Jon’s ignition woes which plagued him for the next 3 stands and no doubt affected his normally good scores. Mike dropped one (target) and Martin straighted it. Onto stand 1 and the snipe target caused some of the squad some problems, being a very small target and not that quick, it was easy to overjudge the lead required, well that’s my excuse! Martin shot a fine 7/8, Mike and John on 5 and Jon taking 3. Stand 4 saw Martin taking another 7/8, Mike 6 and John 5.

Onto the last stand, and Jon got his gun going better again to take 4/8, John with another 4, Mike on 6 and Martin straighting it! Is there no stopping him?

Martin ended up with a splendid 35/40 to take the doubles and the high gun cup for the day. Mike took 3rd place with a reasonable 30/40.

 

Single Barrel:

The loopers on the first stand caused problems for some, Cath, Henry and Dave only managing 2/6, Bev with his flintlock took 4 and Clare a fine 5. Stand 2 saw Bev having OXO, Henry with 3, Clare on 4 and Dave E picking up with a fine 5/6, Cath didn’t like these! On to stand 1, Dave, Bev and Henry all taking 50%, Clare showing the way with another 5/6, Cath didn’t like these either! Stand 4, surely the 3 GB DTL’s would have no problem with the B bird? Well Clare got 2/3, Dave got them all and Bev just the one! Henry had another consistent 3/6 on this stand  and Cath, coming back in and smashing all 3 of the loopers, something Dave didn’t do - he doesn’t like these targets!  Onto the last stand, Henry and Cath both taking 3/6, Bev on 4 and both Clare and Dave straighting it.

Clare ended up with an excellent 24/30 to take the singles for the day.

 

Sandra’s Squad: 7x double guns, 4x single barrel guns (stand order 5,4,3,2,1)

Bushy started his day with a long walk as he had followed the wrong squad to the first peg, so having doubled back he finally joined his own squad for the morning. Archie had a similar experience in the fact that he had taken the wrong gun (a hammer gun!!) to the peg, and Viking very kindly retrieved the keys from Bev who was in the other squad, to give to Archie. What a star he is!! Once the squad got going, the first stand, Stand 5 did not seem to give them too much trouble and we quickly moved on to stand 4. Tony and Fred really struggled on this stand shooting only one apiece, and the fast overhead from behind not only gave them problems but apart from Bushy, Graham and Paul R, everyone else in the squad too. Must practice some more of these. Stand 3, a left to right crosser along the top of the bank, followed by a similar only slightly quicker target was enjoyed by most except for Tony and Tim who really did not like them at all. On to stand 2 around the corner, where we were greeted by a very fast angled driven looping midi followed by a relatively easy driven target that nearly everyone hit successfully, except Bushy who missed the first two of these driven targets. After which Tim commented “oh dear, my hero has feet of clay after all” to which Bushy replied “Nice to know I was once your hero Tim”.  Stand 1 was a driven standard followed by a mini driven slightly left handed. This proved to be very difficult for most as it appeared to need a bit of lead, but in fact it needed no lead at all. Huge cheers went up when someone did manage to hit one (not for me though!!)!!

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Dann’s long range ‘The Eagle’ ML trophy:

Today was the first time a shoot had been arranged for the Flying Eagle trophy. The trophy dating back to the 1920’s was to be shot for over long distance targets, 3x4 shots plus 1, hence 13 shots overall (unlucky for some). Nine shooters took part. The first target was a teal to be taken at around 60 yds out, quite a feat with muzzle loaders but out of 36 clays overall Martin, Bushey and Graham managed to break 4 between them with Graham hitting two! Well done Graham. The next was a little frustrating, from the top of the bank, a left to right chondel which dropped like a stone, Martin, Viking, Paul and Bev hit one target each whilst Fred very skilfully broke two of these targets. So halfway through and we have three leaders – Martin, Graham & Fred, all on a whopping score of 2! It was anyone’s game!

On to the third target - a right to left crosser which surprisingly caused a fair bit of hassle. Whilst the target came probably within around 25yds, it was so very slow it caught out some of our world class shooters. Bushy & Viking scored 3 on here, so with Martin’s two on this stand, it put the three of them in joint first position going into the last clay! It was on this stand that Young Henry looked as if he could claim the prize at one point with 3 on the bounce. Well done. The last clay of the match produced a very high right to left crosser at approx 40yd as everyone got back in their stride with excellent results, bringing a glimmer of satisfaction to some rather glum faces with the final result being that Martin claimed the trophy by one clay over some very close competition.

It was a great way to finish the day and it would be fair to once again mention Derek's analogy of this competition where “Eagles looking like sparrows” but I would say that the choice of targets a la Martin put a very large moggy amongst 9 unsuspecting pigeons!! (P.D aka SP)

 

 

Next Meeting:

Sunday 14th April at Cambridge gun club, non-competition meeting so bring and shoot whatever you will. 30 bird singles and 40 bird doubles targets will be set.

 

A Mike, Bushey & SP Production

 

 

 

A pleasant spring morning greeted theexcellent turnout of 22 shooters, although sunny, there was a nip in the air from the brisk breeze. We welcomed Neil Atkin and his partner Nina all the way from Cumbria and newcomer Ian, not quite as far, from Norfolk. We also saw the return of Peter Dann (SP), shooting for the first time for quite a while due to illness, and what a return! Great to see you back and shooting so well Pete.

We split into two squads, Rachel’s and Sandra’s, with a mix of doubles and singles shooters in each.

As always, big thanks go to Sandra and Rachel for trapping and scoring for us, and to Nina, Sandra’s apprentice and chief photographer.

The course was set over 3 stands, the skeet sporting, sport-trap sporting and driven, with a wide selection of some new and interesting targets on each to test us all. Some notable targets on the Skeet sporting layout were the long crossing wabbit, the L/R quartering away bird and the R/L very fast and long crosser, all of which caused problems for most. The Sport-trap layout was more forgiving although that curling distant incomer over the mound caught many out. The driven should have been a dead cert, but a couple of the birds just floated in and these caught out a few of us.

 

Sandra’s Squad - Doubles x 6

We started on the driven stand withsome good shooting here, Bushey and Mike straighting it, Kevin dropping 1, Neil 2 and unusually Martin dropping 3! Jon struggling with 3/8.

On to the Sport-trap stand and the 8 x double targets, Martin fought back with a good 13, Bushey and Mike stayed level with 11 apiece, Neil with 10, Kevin only 7 and poor Jon struggling again with another 3.

So on entering the Skeet sporting layout, Bushey and Mike were in front with 19 apiece, Martin just 1 behind, Neil on 16, Kevin 14 and Jon bringing up the rear. The tricky targets as mentioned above were to decide the final positions. From the 16 birds Martin, Bushey and Mike each smashed 11, Kevin 10 and Neil 7. Jon fought back taking 8 but it was too little too late.

The outcome was close at the top with Bushey and Mike staying neck and neck all the way through to end up joint winners with a respectable 30/40. Martin was close behind with 29/40 to take third place.

 

Sandra’s Squad - Singles x 5

A fine start on the driven targets, Clare and Derek both taking 9/10, Tony 8 and Archie 7, SP Pete took all 10 birds with his hammer gun, lovely to watch!

The Sport-trap stand saw Clare and Pete both taking a good 6/10, Derek and Archie both on 5 and Tony having a bad one, only taking 2.

Onto the final stand and Pete was in front with 16, Clare with 15, Derek on 14 and Archie on 12. Tony brought up the rear. It was all to shoot for! Derek blasted 8/10 to end up in 2nd place overall with a fine 22/30, the others all shot 5/10 to leave Clare with 3rd on 20/30 and Pete with a great 21/30 with his hammer gun.

 

Rachel’s Squad - Doubles x 7

We had 6 doubles shooters plus Paul’s guest Ian who was shooting Paul’s black powder hammer gun. Our squad started on the skeet layout where there was a nice mix of targets. Most had difficulty connecting with the fast and rangy R to L rabbit and the R to L crosser. Paul led the way on this layout scoring 10 from the 16 targets everybody else achieved half marks barring Ian who was struggling with Paul’s gun and the BP cartridges. To be fair, Ian is a rifle shooter so the transition to a shotgun was literally a baptism of fire.

On to the sport trap layout where Graham really started to string together some kills, missing only 3 targets out of the 16 possible. Fred scored a respectable 11 and the remainder around half marks plus or minus. Ian did not tackle these targets.

Finally to the 8 driven targets which most of us think of as comparitively easy but nobody straighted it. Fred, Viking and Paul killed 7 each, John and Phil 6, and poor Graham only 3 which ruined his card. Ian had a go at these and got half marks.

So in Rachel’s squad top gun was Fred with 26 and a three-way tie for second with Phil, Graham and Paul on 24.

 

Rachel’s Squad - Singles x 4

Four shooters shot the singles in this squad with Dave ‘Hairy’ Corneby and Bev opting to use their flint guns. Dave was using his recently acquired deluxe Pedersoli flint gun. It was the gun that won him gold at the recently held Spring National. His demeanour showed he was confident and meant business and so it turned out. Hairy blasted his way to a brilliant 23 from the 30 targets leaving everyone else in his substantial wake. Dick had a very OXO day and found the driven targets uncomfortable to shoot because of a recurring back problem. Bev although super-confident at the start found his bubble deflating as he progressed, finally ending up totally flat at the driven stand, his final score was a meagre 18. Dick managed 12 and Cathy, who is still a relative new-comer 7.

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Sunday 5th May at Cambridge gun club for the first trophy competition of 2019, the Trevor Watling Cup, a 40 bird pairs trophy. 30 bird singles targets will also be set for those not entering the competition.

 

A Mike & Bev Production

 

 

A coolish May morning greeted the excellent turnout of 20 shooters, although sunny, there was still a nip in the air from the brisk NW breeze.  Sixteen of us were shooting 40 birds as O/R pairs for the annual Trevor Watling Memorial Cup, and it was great to see a large number of the Watling family there to support us as usual, with Trevor's sons, Liam and Robert Watling sharing their father's gun and joining in. The other 4 shooters opted to shoot single targets.

We split into two squads, Rachel’sand Cath’s, with a mix of doubles and singles shooters in each.

The course was set over 2 stands, the skeet sporting and the sport-trap, giving a wide selection of 8 different targets on each to test us all. There was a slight delay to proceedings at the halfway point when Archie “had a bit of a turn” requiring paramedic assistance.  I’m pleased to report that he made a good recovery on the day and is now back to his normal self.

 

Rachel’s Squad - 9 x double barrel, 1 x single

 

Doubles - We started on the skeet sporting stand with most managing >50%. Martin coming away as top gun on 16/20 and Mike and Phil both not far behind on 14/20. Phil was shooting his recently acquired Italian repro double to good effect.  After “Archies interlude”, we recommenced on the sport-trap layout.  Robert at this point had to retire owing to an existing  shoulder injury but Liam carried on thoroughly enjoying his day.  On this stand, the wheels fell off for Phil, Kevin and Paul each getting under half marks. Hairy Dave shot well but missed the last 5 birds otherwise he would have been up there.  Martin once again took 16/20 to leave him top of the squad and the overall trophy winner on a fine 32/40. Mike shot a good 15/20 to be runner up in the squad and second place overall on countback.

 

Singles - After a slow start on the rabbits, young Henry got going ending up with a good 17/30 to take second place overall on countback.

 

Cathy’s Squad - 7 x double barrel, 3 x single

 

Doubles  - Seven of us shot the doubles in this squad although Archie had to retire after just 2 stands (see earlier comment).  Starting on the Sport-trap layout it was clear that Bushy meant business missing only 3 targets from the 20 available putting him well out in front. Nearest to him at this stage was a surprised Bev who missed 7. The others had mixed fortunes. The skeet sporting layout saw some good shooting with Bev drawing level with Bushy to become joint top scorer in this squad with 29. Fred momentarily got into gear on this layout but he faltered on the last few targets and ended up with a reasonable 23 and third position.

 

Singles - Three shot the singles although Peter Dann used his breech-loader with nitro cartridges. Dave Elvin shot consistently well to come out on top with a score of 21 from the 30 targets, which was high gun in the singles overall. Cath, rather than taking on the more tricky targets on the stand decided to shoot at a number of confidence-building targets. There was one in particular she concentrated on, a relatively easy incomer which presented its underbelly at no more than 15 yards, she came off the stand feeling very happy.

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Sunday 16th June at Cambridge gun club for the annual recession trophy, 30 bird singles using ½ ounce of shot only. This is always an interesting competition so do come along and have a go. 40 bird doubles targets will also be set for those not entering the competition.

 

A Mike & Bev Production

 

 

A fine June morning greeted the excellent turnout of 21 shooters. The rain threatened once or twice, but held off for the mornings shooting which was for the coveted Recession Trophy using ½ ounce loads only. Bushy, having won it for the last two years in succession, was hopeful of the hat-trick!

We split into two squads, Sandra’s and Clare’s all shooting the competition. Catherine was trying her “special birthday” present for the first time, a fine 15b double Charles Lancaster. Which birthday? I hear you ask, a gentleman would never divulge such information of a lady! We welcomed two shooting visitors today, Steve from Yorkshire and Allan McNabb, both who enjoyed their day.

The course was set over 2 stands, the skeet sporting and compact sport-trap, giving a wide selection of 8 targets on each. All of them were muzzle loader friendly, even with small loads, and the scores certainly reflected this with the vast majority of shooters scoring 50% or more.

 

Sandra’s Squad:

Some good shooting by most was witnessed. Cath with her new gun shot 10, but I’m sure she will improve when she gets used to it. Bushy only managed a 15, which was unusual for him and the hat-trick was not to be! Dick, shooting again after his recent hand op, also managed a good 15. Kevin had a cracking start, only dropping one clay on the first stand, but went to pieces on the second with a string of 8 misses, which surely cost him the trophy. Tony was heard to say “well he int pulling the trigger at the roight time” On a positive note, Kevin’s gun behaved impeccably after some recent fettling to its drums. Jon, Phil, Viking and Mike all shot well with scores of 20. But the squad winner was Bev shooting his trusty flintlock and who achieved a magnificent score of 25. Well done! This was enough to take the Trophy by 4 clays over the rest of the field. Thanks as always to Sandra for trapping and scoring.

 

Clare’s Squad:

Yorkshire Steve had a terrible start with his new gun, his first stand returning a row of zeros. It was then noticed that the majority of his powder was seen to be expelled through his large nipple holes during loading! There lied the problem! Borrowing Martin’s gun for the second stand saw him shooting somewhat better! So the moral is- check your nipple holes and we’re not talking your piercings! Allan, Paul and Graham were struggling with the light loads. Young Henry shot a good 15 and Tim was up there with a fine 18. Clare and Derek both shot well to end up with 20 apiece meaning the transient tenner wasn’t claimed! At the top of the squad, Martin and Dave both shot well to end on 21 apiece for joint second place overall. Dave shooting exceptionally well on the second stand, only dropping one target to give him second place on countback.

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Sunday 14th July at Cambridge gun club for the annual Holts open trophy, 40 bird singles. All are welcome and 10 o’clock start.  If anyone wishes to trap/score for either an am or pm session, please let Clare know asap

 

A Mike Production

 

 

14 July 2019 - Holts Trophy

An excellent total of 37 shooters entered the competition which was in its second year. The weather was kind to us, dry and not too hot but with an increasing breeze for the afternoon shooters.

It was good to see Nick Holt and 3 of his colleagues attend the event and shoot, and also great to see many shooters travelling from afar to join in. Nick did some gun assessments and valuations in the afternoon and also presented the medals and trophy at the end of the day in his inimitable style.

Thanks go to Cambridge Gun Club for use of their facilities, setting the targets and providing a splendid BBQ. Thanks also to all the trappers and scorers and the ladies taking entries and checking the score cards. All in all a very pleasant day and I look forward to the event next year.

 

The competition was 40 bird singles, shot over 6 stands with 2 different targets per stand, each being shot either 3 or 4 times. All of the targets were good and even the “dead certs” could be and were missed! There was some excellent shooting on the day, with 6 shooters scoring 30 or above and 15 more in the 20’s. 4 of them breaking 33 targets to take part in a nail-biting 4 way shoot off at the end of the day.

The shoot-off started with best of 4 targets followed by sudden death! Graham Bush and Martin Crix fought it out for gold and silver, with Bushy taking it in the sudden death shoot-off. Sam Pegg and young Henry Robertson had an epic tussle for Bronze in the sudden death, with Henry being the Victor and taking his first medal from muzzle loader shooting. An excellent performance!

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Sunday 31st August at Cambridge gun club for the Archie Owens Flintlock trophy, 30 bird singles competition. 30 bird singles and 40 bird doubles targets will also be set for those not wishing to shoot a flintlock.

 

A Mike Production

 

 

A fine and pleasant late August morning greeted the 17 shooters. We split into two squads, Sandra’s with 5 all shooting for the Flintlock trophy plus 3 shooting percussion singles. And Mike’s, a mix of 6 doubles and 3 singles all percussion. The course was set over 3 stands, the sport-trap and stands 5 and 7 all up the concrete path with 4 different targets on each stand. There were some tricky targets amongst them notably that fast quartering away mini snipe and the rocket like VTO teal, which seemed to drop as quickly as it rose if you thought you could take it on the way down! I think everyone enjoyed the mornings shooting though.

 

Sandra’s Squad:

Eight shooters in this squad, five of whom were competing in the Flintlock competition. The remainder were using their percussion guns. It was great to have Peter Dann (small person) shooting with us. His life seems to be plagued with ill health at present but importantly he keeps going and enjoys his shooting. Unfortunately the donor of the flintlock trophy, Archie Owens, was also poorly, offering apologies for his absence.

Down to business concentrating on the five flintlock competitors first. Our squad started on stand five, two shots at four different and tricky targets where Bev came out top of the flinters hitting 5. Graham had all sorts of problems getting his flint gun to go off but eventually managed to get it shooting and did well to hit 4 of the targets which seemed to be going rate with only Clare breaking the mould with 3. Out of the three percussion shooters Henry continued his good form by breaking 5 of the 8 targets. Tony and Henry suffered from a number of misfires throughout the day which was extremely frustrating for them and must have had a detrimental effect on their final scores.

Moving on the sport trap layout where we again had four different targets but this time we shot at each three times. Out of the flint shooters Martin and Bev only missed one of the twelve targets making it very close at the top. Clare and Viking got half marks on this stand. It was noticeable that Clare was starting to gain confidence, breaking targets just as she would with her percussion gun. Would the wheels stay on? Out of the percussion shooters Tony started to get into the swing hitting 7 but again Henry hitting 8 topped the trio.

Finally on to stand seven where we shot at four different targets. There were some nasty, testing ones here, including rangy dropping ones and a very zippy mini ‘snipe’. If your flint gun didn’t go off quickly here you were in trouble. Bev only missed one of the ten targets giving him an overall score of 25 from the 30 targets which was enough to win the splendid ‘Archie Owens’ trophy and the highest average score for the day. Martin had major problems with the dropping targets and ended second with 20. Viking who has been shooting his original flintlock particularly well of late started indifferently but improved throughout the competition missing only 2 targets on the last stand giving him third place with 18. Graham also finished strongly missing only 3 of the last 10 targets. The last time I saw Clare she was searching for her wheels! Out of the three percussion shooters Henry managed half marks leaving him on a creditable score of 19 which was the top score out of the single barrel percussion shooters from both squads. Well done Henry.

 

The others Squad:

We started on Stand 7, in the singles Dick got off to a great start using his semolina wads to take 8/10, Phil and Ian were only one behind on 7 each. In the doubles Bushy took an early lead with a fine 13/16. On to stand 5, and in the singles all were struggling with Phil on 3/8 the highest score. Some of the doubles shooters fared slightly better, with Mike taking 6/8 with Bushy and John each on 5. And so the last stand the sport-trap, in the singles Phil made a late rush with 8/12 to be high singles gun for the squad and second place overall, Ian shot 7 and Dick lost it with only 4/12 scored but he did have a nice semolina dessert at lunchtime we are led to believe! In the doubles, both Bushy and John shot a fine 14/16 to end in first and second place, Paul and Derek took 12 and Mike struggled with that teal to end on 9/16 and take joint third with Derek. Cath had a bad day at the office but as usual thoroughly enjoyed her day.

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Sunday 22nd September at Cambridge gun club for the small bore trophy, 16B and smaller,30 bird singles. Singles and doubles targets will also be set for those not entering the competition.

 

Mike & Bev were 'the scribe's.

 

 

A warm and fine September morning greeted the 17 shooters. We split into two squads, Clare’s with 3 shooting the Small bore competition and 5 shooting double guns, and Martin’s with all 9 shooting for the Small Bore trophy. The course was set over 2 stands, the ABT sporting and the Pond, with 5 or 6 different targets on each stand. Suffice to say that some of the ABT sporting targets were perhaps more suitable for nitro loads being quite distant, but it was good trying for them! The Pond stand had friendlier targets, some tricky, but all shootable with our muzzle loading guns.

 

Clare’s  Squad (Small Bore Comp):

Starting on the ABT, David had a few shots but retired gracefully, as did Clare who although finished the stand, had a one of her lesser scoring experiences shooting with Derek’s gun (2/15). Derek managed 7/15 which considering the targets, was a good start. On the pond stand, Derek took a good 11/15 to end 3rd place overall (if only you’d got those simple incomers!). Clare changing to her single 12b perc redeemed herself with 12/15.

 

Doubles non-comp: The double barrels also were struggling with these early ABT targets, Paul finished ahead on 9/20 with Graham on 8, Mike and Jon on 7 and Cath on 4. Onto the Pond stand there were some happier faces! Some of the shooters opted to take some of the targets as sim pairs to make things interesting, and generally did well at this! Cath taking 10/20 to end with her highest score to date, Jon with 13/20 after pulling the front trigger twice on a few occasions!, Graham with a very good 17/20, Paul with 15/20 and Mike taking a fine 19/20. Overall there was little between the top 3, with Mike just pipping it on the final tally.

 

Martin's Squad:

All of our shooters were competing in the small bore competition. It was good to see Steve Thorpe who had travelled down from Yorkshire taking part.

Our squad started on the easier of the two layouts at the pond. Martin and Dave started off strongly both missing only 2 targets from the possible 15. With the exception of John P who only missed 4, the remaining competitors seemed unable to consistently hit these comparitively straight forward targets. Poor Viking had a couple of horrendous hang-fires which did not help his score. Bushy’s gun also seemed to going off inconsistently. Moving onto the ABT we saw the glum faces of the other squad as they left the layout. It didn’t bode well. The majority of these targets looked a long way out, but the clever use of minis and midis gave this misleading impression, for most of the targets, although difficult, were just within range of a muzzleloader. Dave shot his double flinter particularly well hitting 9 from the 15 possible giving him a grand total of 22 making him the winner of this year’s Small Bore Trophy pushing Martin who scored 8 on this layout into 2nd position with 21. Third in our squad was John P who scored a creditable 17.

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Semolina' Footnote:

Those in Clare’s squad witnessed Mike trying semolina as wadding for the first time, which proved quite successful for him. There is a thread on the MLAGB forum which discusses its use and experiences from him and other users. Well worth a read General/ shotgun/ semolina anybody?

There was a great quip by Graham (who else?) on the day, who stated that had there been a tie in scores, it would have necessitated a bake-off!

 

Next Meeting:

Sunday 13th October at Cambridge gun club for the Big Bore trophy, 10B and bigger, 30 bird singles. Singles and doubles targets will also be set for those not entering the competition.

 

Mike & Bev were 'the scribe's.

 

 

A rather grey, dismal and occasionally showery October morning greeted the 17 shooters, but at least it was unusually warm! We split into two squads, Sandra’s and Martin’s, with 9 shooters competing for the annual Big Bore trophy and 8 others shooting the same 30 targets. The course was set over 2 stands, the ABT sporting and the Skeet sporting. Bev has nicely summed up the targets below, some of which proved testing even for the big guns and several retirees resulted and changes of gun to finish the round, but at least we were out with a gun in hand and undercover! The dampish conditions I’m sure played its part in several cases of misfire.

 

Sandra’s Squad:

There were eight shooters in Sandra’s squad four of who were competing for the Big Bore trophy, namely Paul D, Graham S, Dick and Bev. Peter Dann had brought his friend Terry along with a view to letting him have a few shots in the hope of giving him the ‘addiction’. It usually works. Clare and Cath were also in our squad using their normal guns.

The squad started on the skeet range where the majority of the 16 targets were within the range of all of our guns, the one exception being the ‘C’ target which was a right to left quartering away target, not easy to see until a good 40 yards away and it was going like stink. The vast majority of the squad could not connect with this one, the exceptions being Clare who got one and Pete who amazingly took both! There were also a couple of targets, both being going away rabbit clays, which were bounced off an angled trampoline giving a nice bit of variation to the norm. Out of those shooting for the trophy Graham S and Bev both shot 9 with Dick and Paul D breaking 6 each. From the remaining shooters Clare with her ‘normal ‘gun also managed to kill 9. Peter only shot at 12 targets and managed to hit 6 of them. Poor Cath was struggling with these testing targets and did not finish. Terry had a few shots with Peter’s gun and was delighted to connect with one or two. I think we will be seeing him again.

Clare who knew what was to come on the second layout sensibly went with Cath to the training stand for some confidence-boosting targets.

Most of the 14 targets on the ABT layout were testing in the extreme – proper Big Bore territory. I glanced at the score sheet for the other group and spotted a very large number of zeros. There was a different target here as well. A trampoline being positioned well to the left and a good 20 yards ahead of the stand. The clay was launched at the trampoline and upon impact, ballooned up and drifted to the right presenting the shooter with a practically edge-on target a good 35 yards away. Well, cutting a long nightmare very short we all shot poorly. Out of the Big Bore competitors Bev managed to hit 5 of these, Dick 4, Graham S 3 and Paul D only 1. So out of Sandra’s squad Bev came top with a lowly 14 from the 30 targets.

 

A big thank you to Sandra for witnessing the embarrassment as well as scoring and button pushing.

 

Martin's Squad:

There were 9 shooters in Martin’s squad, 5 of who were competing for the Big Bore trophy, namely Martin, Tony, Mike, Fred and Bushy. The Viking, Phil, Derek and Henry shot other guns.

We started on the ABT’s 14 targets. In the competition Martin took 7 despite an interlude of misfiring, Mike 6, Bushy 8, Tony with a badly misfiring gun only 3 (him changing to Martin’s second barrel part way through the stand) but way out in front was Fred with an incredible 12! In the non-competition, Viking and Phil only managed 1 each prompting a change of guns for them both. Derek just the 2, and leading the way was Henry with a good 6.

On to the Skeet sporting and the 16 targets offered there saw some better scoring. In the competition Martin took a fine 13, Tony and Bushy both 9, Mike 8 before retiring with another badly misfiring gun towards the end of the stand and Fred keeping up the pressure with a good 11 despite a sore cheek bone! In the non-competition, Viking having changed to his flintlock shot 9 in fine style, Phil changing to his double hammer gun scraped a 5, Derek a 9 and Henry came out top again with a fine 12. And what of that nasty ‘C’ bird? Only Martin and Henry got 1 of them each in this squad, Henry’s a brilliant fast hit.

So the final scores, the Big Bore trophy was deservedly taken by Fred with an exceptional 23/30, Martin was second with 20 with Bushy in third place with 17. Of the others, Henry was top gun with a creditable 18.

 

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Sunday 3rd November at Cambridge gun club for the Hammer Gun trophy, black powder cartridges only, 40 bird pairs. Singles and doubles targets will also be set for those not entering the competition and shooting muzzle loaders.

 

Mike & Bev penned the words

 

 

An excellent turnout of twenty four shooters. We welcomed new-comer Kyle who has only recently experienced the delights of black powder shooting.  Seventeen entered the 40 bird competition, the remainder using their muzzleloaders shot either the same 40 competition pairs or 30 single targets. The shoot comprised of 5 stands, those with double guns shot 4 pairs on each stand mainly on-report targets with one simultaneous pair and the single guns shot 6 targets on each. A testing but fair layout.

 

Hammer Gun Competition:

It was a most enjoyable and, as usual, good-humoured shoot.  Most of the targets were challenging and there were certainly no ‘gimees’. It was interesting that some of the more tricky targets were dealt with well by some who then went on to mess up the easier ones and vice versa. Mixed fortunes would sum it up. Most of the scores hovered around the 20 mark. Sam Pegg shot consistently well to win the trophy with an excellent 30 with Bev and Martin next in line both with 26 (Bev second on countback).

 

The Others:

 Double Muzzle loaders:

Some great shooting here with Jon Green shooting a superb 26 to take the top slot. Cath really got into the swing scoring 13, a competition best for her.

 

Single Muzzle loaders:

Dave Elvin shot brilliantly with his double flinter to get a score of 22 from the 30 single targets. Henry also shot consistently well to equal Dave’s score. It gave me great pleasure to witness both of them shooting – ‘smooth as silk’ would sum up their shooting styles.

 

A big thank you once again to Sandra for scoring and button pushing, also to Clare and Martin for doing just about everything else.

 

I would also like to thank the staff at CGC who, faced with a massive influx of hungry shooters at lunch time, coped brilliantly, serving up food in a friendly and most efficient manner allowing a large number of us to go out and break even more clays in the afternoon!

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Sunday 8th December at Cambridge Gun Club for the Brad Randall Powder Horn Trophy, 30 targets as singles. For those not wishing to shoot the competition, bring and shoot whatever you will.

 

Bev

 

 

It was a dry day, but sunny and quite windy for the last meeting of 2019. An excellent turnout of 24 members were shooting for the annual Brad Randall powder horn trophy, shot as a 30 bird single competition. The course was set over 5 stands, 1,2,3,4 and 6 with 3 squads of 8. Stands 1-4 were all reasonable targets, although the wind did steer a few clays off course which made some stands interesting! Stand 6 sorted the squads out, two high and longish crossers which had to be shot quickly before they entered the sun!

 

There was some excellent shooting amongst the squads, some notable performances were:

Martin and Fred going neck and neck, with martin taking 2 runs of 10 birds with but a single miss in between! Newcomer Kyle with his newly acquired gun, taking a creditable 13 total. Clare with a nice run of 14 kills and Paul Dixon with a starting run of 13. The Viking shooting 19 total with his flintlock. Derek with a great 22 shooting light loads. Bev straighting his last 3 stands! Tim and Pete Dann both taking good 17 totals. Phil a fine 18 and Kevin returning to form with a nice 21.  And finally, Bushy, who had a straight run of 15 kills at the start to end on 25 and take the trophy for the 3rd consecutive year, well done! Thanks to Ian’s other half Sarah for accepting to be trapper and scorer for one of the squads, and to Henry’s father Paul and Sandra for the others.

Following the afternoon’s session, we all assembled back in the clubhouse to eagerly await the Christmas meal! This has become a regular event for the last meeting of the year, and the Club does us proud! We all enjoyed an excellent meal, a ‘bring and take’ raffle and lots of chat and laughter.

Big thanks were extended to Cambridge Gun Club for use of their ground and support throughout the year.

Sandra was presented with a fine hamper prepared by the Viking, for her trapping and scoring duties during the past year. And a fine job she does, keeping the unruly members in order!

Graham Simpson was presented with a huge bundle of jokes from our crackers, enough to expand his repertoire for his summer season I’m sure!

 

All in all, a great way to end the year and we all look forward to shooting at Cambridge in 2020.

 

 

Results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Sunday 5th January at Cambridge gun club for the Bushy’s Sim Pairs Tankard, 40 bird sim pairs. Singles and doubles targets will also be set for those not entering the competition.

 

Mike