‘Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink’.

This line from ‘The Ancient Mariner’ summed up the conditions at Cambridge Gun Club, apart from the drink bit of course, because we could always pop to the club house for liquid refreshments! The surprisingly good turnout of 14 shooters gazed mournfully out of the club-house window. It was raining heavily and the shooting ground was waterlogged. Slightly reluctantly we girded our loins and prepared for battle. There were only 2 layouts that were under cover and useable, the ABT and the pond. Four of the shooters were shooting the 30 single targets the remainder the 40 doubles. To say the very least the targets were testing on both layouts and there were plenty of glum faces. In the doubles Paul Mower top-scored with 21 ex 40 closely followed by Bev with 20 and Bushey 19. The fact that the top shooter only got one more than half marks indicates the difficulty of the targets. In the singles it was Phil who shot particularly well top-scored hitting 15 ex 30 ahead of Viking who was second with 13. Paul Mower was presented with the wooden trophy this month for managing to score above the half-way watermark! Thanks to Clare for buttoning and scoring.

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Saturday 16th March 2024, Club meeting, bring and shoot what gives you pleasure!.

 

Bev provided the words.

A fine, sunny and quite warm spring day awaited the good turnout of 16 shooters.

The club welcomed two new faces being Chris and Matthew, I’m sure they both had an enjoyable day and we hope to see them again soon.

The course was set over 5 stands with either 4 pairs or 3 of each target for the singles being shown on each stand as follows:

Stand 5: a L-R quartering away over the bank and a going away teal from RHS

Stand 6: a R-L looper and a L-R edge on crosser.

Stand 7: a R-L med height crosser and a R-L high crosser from the tower.

Stand 8: a L-R fast, low and quartering away target and a R-L high looper.

Stand 11: a low and slow pair of L-R incoming targets.

A good selection of targets, even the easier ones could be missed though! No one managing to straight the “easy” pair on stand 11!

 

Sandra’s Squad:

There were 9 in this squad, 7 on doubles, 2 on singles, all shooting percussion guns.

In the doubles it was all fairly close, Paul Mower got off to a cracking start straighting stand 5 but then losing form. Rob had a shaky start with several misfires but came back strongly, straighting stand 8 on the way, to take top double gun in the squad and overall with a very good 28/40. Several of the guns opted for sim pairs on stands 7 and 11, just to make it interesting!

In the singles, Viking shot steadily, again straighting stand 8 to take top single gun in the squad and overall with a very good 20/30. Rodney continued his improvement, “Well done Rodders!”

Big thanks go to Sandra for trapping, scoring and keeping the mob in order!

 

Clare’s Squad:

There were 7 in this squad, 3 on doubles, 4 on singles, Graham shooting his original double flint, Martin and new boy Chris shooting repro single flints, the rest percussion. It appeared that the flintlocks all had misfires along the way, unusual for a dry warm day?

In the doubles it was again fairly close, new boy Matthew taking a creditable 18 but with Dave Elvin taking top double gun in the squad with a good 24/40.

In the singles, Chris and Martin struggled a little as did Dick, but Phil shot steadily, again straighting stand 8! to take top single gun in the squad with a good 15/30. Big thanks go to Clare for trapping

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Saturday 13th April, club meeting only, singles and doubles targets will be set, bring and shoot what you like.

 

Mike provided the words.

AA fine spring day, probably the hottest this year, with thankfully a nice breeze, was what awaited the turnout of 13 shooters. Matthew, who shot with us for the first time last month, returned so he must like the dark side! The course was set over 5 stands with either 4 pairs or 3x2 singles as usual being shown on each stand as follows:

Stand 6: a L-R high looper and a L-R edge on crosser.

Stand 7: a R-L med height crosser and a R-L high crosser from the tower.

Stand 8: a L-R fast, low and quartering away target and a R-L high looper.

Stand 9: a going away teal and a very fast L-R distant crosser

Stand 11: a low and slow pair of L-R incoming targets.

 

A good selection of targets chosen by Bev this month, stand 9 probably the trickiest.

 

Sandra’s Squad:

There were 6 in this squad, 3 on doubles, 3 on singles, Graham shooting his trusty original double flinter, the remainder all percussion guns.

In the doubles, Graham had a below par day for him, but took 5 nice pairs during the shoot to end on 17/40. Tony, suffering from a sore arm following a slip earlier in the year, struggled with his swing but managed 3 good pairs to finish on 15/40. Mike put in a slightly better performance, taking 7 pairs and straighting the easy hit/easy miss stand 11 to end on 24/40 and 3rd overall.

In the singles, Dick and Killer Rodders had their own private battle, neck and neck all the way to both end on a good 15/30. Nice to see Dick’s form returning, straighting stand 7!, which won him the wooden cup for best performance of the day. Fred, accompanied by his big bore, shot steadily and well to take 1st place in the singles overall with a very good 21/30.

 

Big thanks again go to Sandra for trapping and scoring.

 

Bev’s Squad:

In this squad 4 shot the doubles and 3 the singles. A battle was ongoing in the doubles between Rob and Paul Mower, there was nothing to choose between them throughout the shoot. It all came down to the last stand, ‘stand 7’, where Paul was leading Rob by 1 target. Unfortunately for Paul he had problems connecting with the ‘B’ bird thus giving Rob the chance to overtake him. Rob took full advantage beating Paul by 1 target! Rob’s 26 ex 40 ended up being the top score in the doubles with Paul M taking 2nd place. Matthew and Paul D shot in fits and starts to end up with 17 apiece.

In the singles it was Kevin who was making the running ending up with a pleasing 20 ex 30 which put him in 2nd place overall. Phil continued his consistent form of late ending up with 16 putting him in 3rd place. Bev had decided to use his little 25 bore single flinter and had a bad day. A veil needs to be drawn over his performance!

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Meeting:

Saturday 25th May, 2nd comp of the year, The Trevor Watling double barrel Memorial Cup. 40 bird O/R pairs. Singles and doubles targets will also be set for those not shooting the competition.

 

Mike & Bev provided the words.

 

 

A relatively cool day, compared to late, but thankfully no rain and little wind awaited the good turnout of 16 shooters for our second competition for the year.

The Trevor Watling Memorial Cup for muzzle loading double guns is always popular and we welcomed some of the Watling family who joined us to spectate the mornings shooting. Trevor's son, Robert Watling, was shooting for the cup, no pressure Rob!

13 guns entered the competition, with 3 more opting for single targets. The course was set over 5 stands with either 4 pairs or 3x2 singles as usual being shown on each stand as follows:

 

Stand 5: a L-R fast, quartering & looping over the bank and a similar from R-L.

Stand 6: a teal from top of bank and a L-R crosser.

Stand 7: a fast teal and a R-L high crosser from the tower.

Stand 10: an overhead teal and a close in L-R looper.

Stand 11: a slow pair of L-R incoming targets.

 

Clare’s Squad:

There were 8 in this squad, 7 all shooting double percussion guns and Dave Elvin (the younger) shooting a single percussion. There were several misfires and misloads! from some guns and Derek’s B bird break on stand 6 was something to behold, it sounded like the cap only had gone off! We started on stand 5, here the B bird proved troublesome for some, so a wide spread of scoring, Rob leading the way with a 7. Dave E made it look easy in the singles, with a straight 6. Onto stand 6 and again the targets were not giveaways with 4 and 5 being the best scores. Stand 7 and Mike and Viking made it look easy, Dave E snr just couldn’t get that high crosser, much to his frustration! Stand 10 saw some better scores with both Derek and Rob hitting all 8, the Viking 7 leaving him and Rob with highest squad equal scores of 24, with one stand to go! So stand 11 was make or break time on the easy hit/ easy miss slow incomers. Most did well here, Dave E snr made a good final effort with a clean 8, but not enough! Viking and Rob shot bird for bird to also both straight the stand and end up on 32/40 apiece, taking joint first place in squad, with Mike 3rd on 30. Dave E jnr finished with a fine 22/30 for which he was awarded the top gun cup for the day. Would there be a shoot-off? It all depended on the other squad’s scores!

 

Thanks go to Clare for trapping and scoring, unfortunately still not match fit.

 

Sandra’s Squad:

6 shot the competition in this squad, plus Dick and Rodney who shot the 30 singles. The scoring was very impressive on our first stand (stand 11) which was considered to be one of the easier ones.Bushey and Paul hit all eight. Phil, Kevin, Bev only missed one and Tony two. Dick did well in the singles only missing one. On to stand 10 and again some very accurate shooting. Nobody hit the lot but Kevin, Bushey, Paul and Bev only missed one, Tony two and Phil three. Dick got half marks in the singles hitting three. Rodney appeared to be struggling a bit today but still got some points on the board hitting two. The level of difficulty increased somewhat on the next stand (stand 6). Bushey, Paul and Bev were top scorers here each hitting five of the eight targets. Kevin connected with four. Phil and Tony found these tricky as did Dick and Rodney in the singles. Stand 7 saw Tony being the ‘main man’ hitting six. The others lagged behind getting half marks or less. With just stand 5 to go it was all to play for with Paul the leader of the pack on 24, Bushey and Bev hard on his heels with 23, and Kevin still in contention with 21. Bev somehow managed to hit all of his targets and ended on 31 (3rd overall) just beating Paul on 30. Dick was top of the singles in this squad connecting with 15.

 

As usual thanks to Sandra for scoring etc and ignoring the expletives!

 

The shoot-off:

Despite very good top scores from Sandra’s Squad (30 & 31), 32 was the highest score of the competition so a shoot-off between the Viking and Rob Watling was required. The sporting compact stand was chosen with an o/r pair of targets. A good crowd gathered, including Rob’s family, to see the spectacle. Viking won the toss and went in first, breaking the crossing A target but just missing the looping B. In goes Rob and smashes both in fine style to win the shoot-off!

Quite an emotional period followed as Rob is declared winner of his late father’s memorial cup, a very fitting end to the competition.

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next meeting:

Saturday 22nd June for the recession (1/2 ounce) Trophy. 30 bird singles. Singles and doubles targets will also be set for those not shooting the competition. Lead shot and measuring scoops will be provided, but extra cost to the normal clays fee.

 

Mike & Bev provided the words.

 

 

 

 

A fine and warm day early summers day awaited the good turnout of 16 shooters for our third competition for the year.

The ½ ounce recession Trophy for single targets is always popular and all 16 guns entered the competition. Paul D brought along his daughter Louise who enjoyed watching the shooting, but probably enjoyed driving the buggy even more! The course was set over 5 stands with 3x2 singles as usual being shown on each stand as follows:

 

Stand 5: a L-R fast & quartering up the bank blaze and a slow L-R crosser.

Stand 6: an incoming pair of magpies.

Stand 7: a fast going away teal and a R-L high crosser from the tower.

Stand 10: an overhead teal and a close in L-R looper.

Grouse Butt: a driven bird and a fast L-R crosser.

 

Clare’s Squad:

There were 8 in this squad, we started on the grouse butt , a tricky pair especially the fast B bird proved troublesome for some, so a wide spread of scoring, Bushey leading the way with a 5, others 4’s and 2’s and Paul D had a lesser start. Onto stand 10 and again the targets were not give aways but Bev managed a straight card, everyone else had somewhat less! Stand 6 next and the targets were easier, Mike, Kevin and Bev made it look easy taking them all with several 5’s from the others. Onto stand 7 and the fast teal and high crosser each caught out the shooters, Mike and Bushey managed 4’s but the remainder again somewhat less! Our last stand was 5, Martin was the only one to excel here, taking a good 5 targets, 3’s for everyone else. Martin and Bev took high score for the squad with 21 each, Mike and Bushey both with 18. Not the highest scores, but with just ½ ounce of lead it is always a testing competition.

Thanks go to Clare for trapping and scoring, unfortunately still not match fit.

 

Sandra’s Squad:

Eight shooters were in Sandra’s squad starting at stand 5.  Cries of “where’s the lead?”  “Were we supposed to bring our own?” “No, we’ve paid for it” were soon silenced as a motorised Dick approached and rolled to a halt and declared “it’s in my basket”. The A bird flummoxed more than a few with several failing to score and between us not one clean slate. The B bird was much more consistently killed much to everyone relief.  On to stand 6 where the somewhat kinder targets resulted in several straight cards from Viking, Dick, Tony and Graham. Graham of course was shooting a flinter today and showed us all how do do it in style.  Stand 7 resulted in a bit of a mix with no straight cards, the long crosser proving particularly challenging.  Tony came into his own on stand 10 shooting all 6 targets. Our last stand, the Grouse Butt, resulted in one straight card from Paul M.  While we were all lamenting our performance on each stand Tony was quietly showing all how it should be done winning the competition outright with a credible 22 with Viking finishing on an equally noteworthy 21 and Dick on 20.  Like the faithful old dog he is, Dick won the best in show trophy and not just for turning up with the lead.  So, congratulations to our worthy winner Tony and fellow trophy winner Dick for his 20.

Thanks of course to Sandra for pushing the buttons and scoring.

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next meeting:

Sunday 14th July for the small bore Trophy for 16B guns and smaller. 30 bird singles. Singles and doubles targets will also be set for those not shooting the competition.

 

Mike & Jon provided the words.

 

 

 

 

Another fine and very warm summer’s day awaited the good turnout of 16 shooters for our fourth competition of the year.

 

The Small Bore Trophy, for guns of 16B or smaller firing 7/8 oz max shot load. It is shot over 30 single targets. 10 guns entered this popular competition the remaining 6 shooting either larger singles or doubles. Paul D brought along his daughter Louise again, she can’t keep away from that buggy! The course was set over 5 stands with 3x2 singles or 4x O/R pairs as usual being shown on each stand as follows:

 

Stand 5: a L-R fast & quartering up the bank blaze and a slow L-R crosser.

Stand 6: an incoming pair of magpies.

Stand 7: a fast going away teal and a R-L high crosser from the tower.

Stand 8: a nasty L-R quartering away bird and a L-R looper.

Stand 12: a R-L high crossing looper and a R-L high crosser.

 

Clare’s Squad:

All 6 of Clare's squad were shooting small bore guns with the exception of Fred and Paul who both shot double barrel guns.  A tricky start awaited us on Stand 5 by way of a high left to right blaze crosser. Derek, Viking & Dave did best with a score of 2 from 3. The B target was straightforward with only 2 targets dropped by the entire squad. Dave Elvin, using his small bore flinter was leading with only one lost target.  Stand 6 was tackled well  with only 4 target missed n total by the entire squad.

 

The next stand, No.8, proved to be much more difficult. The rangey quartering away teal A target suddenly appearing over the treetops caught nearly everyone out as they consistently gave it too much lead or shot over the top. Martin did best with 2 ex 3. The B target was much kinder.  On to Stand 7 and Paul Dixon shot brilliantly in the doubles dropping only 2 targets. One of the funniest moment happened when, Graham called for one of his B birds, a high right to left crosser when a dark butterfly flew in the direction of the targets. Instinctively, he swung on to the butterfly before realising that the clay was elsewhere - the ensuing confusion caused a miss!

 

We wrapped up our shoot on stand 12 which proved difficult for most.  All in all a really enjoyable competition with interesting and sensible targets. Dave Elvin had a really good shoot with 22 scored and it was good to see Paul Dixon in good form much to the delight of his daughter, Louise, who loves coming out with her Dad on the muzzle loading shoots. I'm not sure why but the top  shooters all came from Clare's squad - Viking, Dave and Martin - maybe we tip the scorer better?

 

Sandra’s Squad:

 We had 4 small bore competitors in this squad plus Phil and Rodney who were shooting singles with their larger caliber guns and finally Tony and Mike shooting doubles. Bev had opted to use a flint gun.

 

Starting on stand 12 the small bore shooters really struggled with these targets with only Rob and Bev getting half marks. Phil with his larger gun showed that it was possible to hit these, missing only one. Mike shot brilliantly in the doubles only missing 1 of the 8 targets. The ‘A’ bird on our next port-of-call, stand 8, proved tricky for most with only Rob out of the small bore shooters mastering them missing only 1. Most connected with the ‘B’ target. With the exception of Bushey and Kevin who were so far having a BAD day!! Out of the other singles shooters Phil shot half of the targets and in the doubles Mike shot 5. Stand 6 was quite a relief with everyone shooting most of the targets. In the small bore Bev hit all 6. Kevin only missed 1, Rob and Bushey 2. Phil also hit the lot. In the doubles both Tony and Mike straighted this stand. Confidence was starting to seep back! Spoke too soon. The ‘A’ bird on stand 5 caught most out. Out of the small bore chaps it was Kevin and Bushey who did best each hitting 4 of the 6 targets. Bev managed 3 and Rob 2. Both Phil and Rodney hit 4 and in the doubles Mike was on fire, breaking all 8 targets. For the small bore shooters stand 7 was unremarkable. Bushey top-scored connecting with 4. Rob and Bev each got 3 and Kevin less. Phil shot these well missing only 1. Rodney who had been noisily keeping his head down, if that is possible, burst into the lime-light also only missing 1. In the doubles Tony shot these well hitting 6 and Mike who struggled with the ‘A’ bird hit 5.

 

To sum up then, in this squad out if the 4 small bore competitors Bev was top with a meagre 18 followed by Rob with 17. Phil shot consistently well in the non-comp singles hitting 21 and Rodney surprised everyone including himself getting 15 ex 30. In the doubles Mike shot like a man possessed. To hit 33 of the 40 mostly tricky targets was quite an achievement. Thank you Sandra for scoring etc. in this squad.

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next meeting:

Sunday 4th August for the Archie Owens Flintlock Trophy. 30 bird singles. Singles and doubles targets will also be set for those not shooting the competition.

 

Mike, Bev & Martin provided the words.

A fine summer’s day, thankfully not too warm, awaited the good turnout of 15 shooters for the fifth competition of the year.

 

The Archie Owens Flintlock Cup, shot over 30 single targets, is another hotly contested competition just for the flinter boys, and 7 guns entered. The remaining 8 shooting either single or double percussion guns. The course was set over 5 stands with 3x2 singles or 4x O/R pairs as usual being shown on each stand as follows:

 

Grouse: a high incomer and a fast L-R quartering in crosser.

Stand 10: a going away overhead target and a L-R quartering away looper.

Stand 9: a L-R going away teal and a L-R high, distant and fast crosser.

Stand 7: a R-L going away teal and a R-L high and slow crosser from the tower.

Stand 3: a R-L crosser and a L-R looper.

 

 

Rachel’s Comp Squad:

This promised to be an exciting shoot. The 7 competitors were all experienced ‘flinters’. Viking who had missed this competition for the last couple of years was even able to join us.  The squad started on stand 3 where we had ‘straights’ from Martin, Dave E and Viking. Dave C and Graham only missed one. Bev was disappointed with his start getting only three. Fred who was having ignition problems hit two. Stand 7 caused all competitors problems. Surprisingly Martin did not score on this stand, but no one did well. Top scorers were Viking, Dave E and Fred who each hit three the remainder just two. Most fared better on stand 10. Fred, who was now getting totally cheesed-off with misfire after misfire amazingly straighted this stand. Bev also managed to hit all the targets. Dave C and Graham only missed one. Viking got half marks. Dave E uncharacteristically only hit two and Martin was struggling. Stand 9 saw lots of zeros appear on the score sheet. Most could connect with the ‘A’ target but only Fred and Bev managed to each hit one the ‘B’ targets. Our final six targets were at the grouse stand. Dave C was the only competitor to straight this stand. Viking, Bev and Dave E each hit five Graham four and Martin three. Time for a tot up. It was really close. Dave C, Viking and Bev all hit 20. Graham and Dave E each hit 19 and Fred 17. Shoot-off time! As we were on the grouse stand one of the trickier driven targets was chosen, a very quick quartering incoming target. Dave C was first to miss so ended up in third place, Bev then missed his second target but Viking didn’t so Viking was the proud winner of the Archie Owens Cup for 2024. Congratulations!

 

A big thanks to Rachel who scored, button-pushed and took some excellent photos – all simultaneously! Now that’s what you call multi-tasking!!

 

Clare’s Others Squad:

There were 8 in this squad, all shooting percussion guns, 5 on singles, 3 on pairs. We started on the grouse butt, in the pairs Rob managed 5, Matthew and Jon less. In the singles Rodney put in the highest score of 5/6, Mike 4, Kevin 3 with Dick and Phil struggling on these. Onto stand 10 and the pairs all score 4/8. In the singles, Dick shot a superb straight card, Kevin just one behind on 5, the rest had lesser scores! Stand 9 next, in the singles we all struggled on the B bird except for Rodney again, taking 2/3 of those difficult targets! In the pairs, Rob and Matthew managed 2/4 each on the same target, Jon just taking the A birds.  Onto Stand 7 and in the singles it was Mike on a straight stand, Rodney again shooting like a man possessed with a 5, Kevin and Phil on 4 and Dick struggled with these. In the pairs, 6’s and 5’s was the outcome. The last stand was 3, where the targets looked a little easier, Rob was high gun here with 6/8, Matthew and Jon half marks. In the singles it was Phil’s turn to straight the stand, Mike and Kevin with 5, Dick and Rodney on 3.

 

So the final tally gave Rob as high gun in the pairs with a reasonable 25/40, Mike was top in the singles with 20/30 closely followed by Kevin and Rodney both with 19/30. Man of the squad has got to be Rodney with another personal best score. If he practised on teals and loopers, who knows what he could achieve! He did mention something about ordering a team GB blazer!

 

Thanks to Clare for trapping and scoring.

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next meeting:

On Sunday 8th September the Anglian Muzzle Loaders are hosting the Holts National Shoot. This is a 40 bird single target competition with a perpetual tankard for the winner and medals presented to the first 3 places.

 

Mike & Bev provided the words.

A fine summer’s day, thankfully not too warm, awaited the good turnout of 15 shooters for the fifth competition of the year.

 

Well, it was the day of Storm Ashley, but fortunately being on the edge of it in Cambridgeshire, it was just quite breezy with little in the way of rain. 14 members turned up, 12 shooting for the coveted brass pig trophy for big bore guns, the remaining 2 shooting lesser guns at the same 30 single targets. The course was set over 2 covered stands, as worse weather was anticipated, those being the Pond and ABT layouts.

 

The Pond stand: 8 different targets shot at once or mainly twice to score 15.

An ominous mixture of mostly quite testing wind affected targets, and even a long quartering away rabbit to test the guns.

 

The ABT stand: 7 different targets shot at thrice or mainly twice to score 15.

An even harder stand with mostly very rangy crossing, looping and incoming targets to test us even more!

 

Although difficult, all targets were hittable by the big guns and the lesser pieces also took some good kills.

 

Sandra’s Squad:

Out of the 7 shooters in this squad only Rodney (Rodders) was not shooting in the competition. Not having a big bore, he was using his little 15 bore single with 1 oz of shot. The squad started on the ABT layout. You definitely needed a big bore with a big load to shoot these targets. Graham shot these well and ended up hitting 11 out of the 15 targets, Viking and Bushey scored 8, Rob and Rodders 6, Bev 5 and Tony who was nursing a very painful shoulder 3. Tony ended up reverting to his breechloader as he was having ignition problems and the weight of his big bore was taking its toll. We moved on to the pond which we hoped would be a little easier which it was –slightly. This time Viking was way ahead of the field hitting 12, Graham and Bushey 9, Tony and Bev 8 and Rodders 7. So, our top scorers were Graham and Viking both with 20 which put them in joint 3 position overall. Everybody enjoyed this challenging shoot which was befitting the Big Bore competition. As appears to be normal now, a special mention of Rodders who broke some impressive targets with his little gun.

 

Thanks to Sandra for button pushing and scoring.

 

Clare’s Others Squad:

There were 7 in this squad, 6 shooting for the pig and Dick not. The first stand was the Pond and looking at the target board which read “side on 30+ yards hard” for one target, didn’t fill the squad with confidence from the start! As it turned out, this target was one of the easier ones but many more were not! Fred left the stand with a lower than normal 8/15, Kevin and Dave E Snr on 10, Dave E Jnr on 11, Martin and Mike both on 13. Dick leaving with 9. Not a bad start for all on this stand considering the targets and breezy adjustments to their flight paths!

We moved to the ABT stand and saw the other squad’s glum faces leaving with “only half marks” mutterings! Could this stand be harder? Yes it could! Fred was the only shooter to better his first stand score with a good 9/15, Dave Snr with 8, Kevin with 5, Dave Jnr with a 3 and Dick who had been shooting well, with a lowly 1. Martin and Mike continued their battle, after the 7th target Mike was 2 points ahead and there it stayed until the last 2 targets. Martin needed both to tie, Mike needed just 1 to win outright. Target 29 Martin scored, Mike missed, a shoot-off still possible. Target 30 both missed! Nail biting stuff!!! So Mike was declared winner, for the 2nd consecutive year.

A most enjoyable competition, and it was most noticeable that none of the big guns misfired on the day. This in itself made the shoot even better.

 

Thanks to Clare for trapping and scoring.

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next meeting:

Sunday 17th November for the Hammer Gun tankard. 40 bird O/R doubles, BP cartridges only. Singles and doubles targets will also be set for those not shooting the competition.

 

Mike & Bev provided the words.

 

 

A good turnout of 17 shooters on what was a somewhat cooler day than of late, with a chilly fen wind, just strong enough to make you feel uncomfortable.

 

The competition was shot over 5 stands with 8 on-report pairs to be shot on each of them. Rodney did not compete in the competition as he was shooting 30 birds with his single barrel gun, and Matthew was shooting his double muzzle loader. The remainder split into 2 squads of 8, Sandra’s squad and Bev’s squad.

 

Bev’s Squad:

A baptism of fire would sum up the ‘A’ bird on our first stand. A horrible L to R quartering target which was launched up a high bank in front of the shooter. On clearing the bank the target became very wind-affected, often soaring in an unpredictable fashion. Very few of these targets were hit. The ‘B’ bird was a straight forward L to R crosser along the top of the bank which most hit. Kevin and Fred did well on this stand hitting 6 from the 8 targets. Stand 6 was our next stand. Two L to R slow loopers, easy to hit but easy to miss if complacency set in. Rob, Fred and Simmo hit the lot and the remainder only missed one or two. On to stand 7. The ‘A’ bird was a nasty and very fast rising teal which caught out many. The ‘B’ bird was a medium range R to L crosser launched from the cherry picker which needed a fair bit of lead. It was Bev who shot this well, hitting 6 from the 8 targets. Viking and Kevin hit 5, the remainder less.

 

Stand 8 was another nasty one. The ‘A’ bird was a quartering L to R target which appeared over some tall bushes. By the time most shooters caught up with the target it had started dropping making it a very difficult target to read. The ‘B’ bird was a medium range dropping target. Good judgement was needed here to estimate how much underneath the target you needed to be. Martin top-scored here hitting 7 of the 8 targets. The best of the rest was Viking and Simmo who both hit 4. Stand 10, our last one, was quite a contrast to the previous ones, both targets being very close. The ‘A’ bird was launched from behind and above the shooter disappearing over the high bank in front. It needed to be shot very quickly. The ‘B’ target was a very nippy and close L to R looper, a very instinctive shot. Most did well here with Simmo hitting the lot and most others only missing one or two. So that was it. The scores in this squad were mostly very close with Kevin rising to the top hitting 29 from the 40 targets closely followed by Martin with 28, Viking and Bev followed up with 27 apiece. Kevin’s score was the highest in both squads and won him the hammer gun trophy. Well done Kevin.

 

Sandra's Squad:

It was a pleasure to join the A team on stand 10 on a bright but chilly day, first out of the blocks was Dick followed by Rodney, Tony, Derek, Phil & Bushy. The letter ‘A ‘ in their case meaning Ancient as the squad had an average age nearing 80. All shot well including Paul, Richard and Muzzle Matthew. Phil smashed his first pair and the young guns, Paul and Richard enjoyed watching their seniors  with Bushy missing only two and the two D’s, Dick and Derek only dropped one each. Stand 8 was a genuine struggle for all except Paul who shot a brilliant six out of the eight targets. Phil once again nicked his first pair but like the rest of us, he failed to master the rest.

Stand 7 was much kinder to us. Rodney, shooting his single had four from the six he shot, Richard, who used shot in his cartridges for the first time only dropped two as did Derek. The next stand, stand 6 was by far our best stand with many straights. Richard again had his eye in as now smashing them all. Tony had a good seven. Stand 5 was like the score card, OK, with Paul once again showing us all how to do it dropping only two.  Matthew with his muzzle loading gun dropped 3, so a good effort by him. A challenging round with highs and lows but all enjoyed each other's company and friendly banter.

Our thanks go to our scorer Sandra.

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next meeting:

Our next club shoot is on Sunday 15th December and this will be for the coveted Brad Randall Powder Horn Trophy. This competition will be shot over 30 single targets.

 

Words provided by Bev and Derek

 

 

 

 

So the last club shoot of the year for the much coveted Brad Randall powder horn trophy shot over 30 single targets.

 

A good turnout of 18 shooters with 16 shooting in the competition and newcomers James and his young son Henry just shooting 20 targets as they were sharing a gun. It was a fine day, warmer than late, but the wind at times made it feel cooler. The course was set over 5 stands with targets as follows:

 

Stand 3 A L-R highish looper and a R-L quartering away bird.

Stand 7 A R-L slightly quartering away teal and a R-L high crosser.

Stand 8 A nasty L-R quartering away bird And a R-L high looper.

Stand 9 A R-L quartering away teal and a L-R high and fast crosser.

Stand 11 A L-R slow and near crosser and a very similar one.

 

All targets were readily hittable by the guns, the fast crosser on stand 9 proved difficult for most.

 

Sandra's Squad:

All 9 in this squad were shooting in the competition. Fred was shooting his latest acquisition which I believe was a birthday present, a very pretty Purdey double barrel 16 bore. We started on stand 11, probably the easiest one in the competition. Most shot this well with the majority hitting the lot. Rodders struggled a bit with these, but generally a good start. It was a different story on stand 9 where the top score was 4 ex 6 which Bushey, Fred and Bev achieved. Rodders, who hit 3, surprised us and himself by hitting 2 of the 3 fast and rangy ‘B’ birds. This earned him the wooden trophy of the month! Everybody struggled on the next stand (No.8). Only Bushey out of the whole squad connected with one ‘A’ bird and was met with a loud cheer! The ‘B’ bird allowed some kills to be entered on the score sheet with Bev hitting all three, Rob, Bushey and Fred two and the remainder less. Stand 7 was our next port-of-call. Rob shot these particularly well hitting 5 followed by Viking, and Bev with 4. Fred who was shooting his new gun really well was now unfortunately starting to experience the occasional misfire, not good for the concentration! Stand 3 was our final stand. The low sun was now shining brightly in a clear blue sky. Unfortunately it was beaming straight in our faces making these targets tricky. It was not possible to shoot them in the ideal place, but even so there were some good scores with Graham, who obviously shoots well if he can’t see the target, hitting the lot, Bushey only missed 1 and rest hit 3’s and 4’s.

 Top scorers in this squad were Bushey and Bev who both shot 21 ex 30 which put them in joint 2nd position overall.

A big thanks to Sandra who button-pushed and scored for this squad.

 

Clare's Squad:

There were 9 in this squad, 7 shooting the competition + James and his young son Henry who were trying out the dark side. Our first stand was 3, Paul got off to a brilliant start taking all 6, Dave with 5, the rest less. James made a great start taking 3 of his 4, and his son Henry with 2 from 4. Oh err we all thought, these 2 are looking good! On to stand 8 and the quartering away bird caught most out with only half marks for Martin, Phil and Paul, being the high scores. After good starts, James and Henry faltered on these and some of the remaining targets. A back trudge to stand 7 next and Mike shifted gear taking all 6, the others on 4’s and less. There was a brief interlude whilst we searched for Mike’s hammer screw, it was then discovered it had sheared off in the tumbler, so search abandoned! Fortunately the hammer was a good fit on the tumbler square, so Mike and the gun continued cautiously on. Onwards to stand 9 and the teal was hit generally well by all except James, Henry and unusually Dave! The crosser was not easy, Martin shot all 3 superbly, Mike got 2 the rest less! The last stand 11 was the easy to hit, easy to miss pair of slow targets. Mike and Dave took all 6, Martin and Paul with 5, the others 4 and less.

Martin and Paul tied for 2nd place in the squad and joint 4th overall, Mike was top in squad and overall to take the fine trophy for the first time.

Thanks to Clare for loading for James and Henry, who I’m sure had an enjoyable baptism to the world of black powder and old guns.

 

Scores:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next meeting:

Sunday 12th January 2025 for the Bushey’s Sim pairs Tankard. 40 bird Sim pairs. Singles targets will also be set for those not shooting the competition.

 

Mike & Bev provided the words and wish all their readers a very peaceful Christmas and a muzzling new year!