So the first club shoot of 2025 for the much coveted Bushey’s Pairs Crystal Tankard.

20 simultaneous pairs set over 5 stands. Despite the -6 deg C start, it was a splendid turnout of 15 shooters plus Clare trapping, scoring and admining. Fortunately there was little wind and the sun behind us, but still very cold and especially for the hands!

Newcomer Stewart, a friend of Rob’s, was made welcome and joined us for the day shooting one of Rob’s guns.

The targets were as follows, 4 sim pairs on each stand:

Stand 11 A L-R pair of slow and near crossers.

Stand 12 A fast R-L crosser and a High and distant R-L fast dropping bird.

Stand 14 A pair crows.

Stand 15 A L-R fast quartering away bird and a R-L fast and low quartering away looper.

Stand 16 (Grouse) A high midi driven and a mid-height L-R crosser.

All targets were hittable by the guns (just!) but Stand 12 proved very difficult for everyone.

Clare’s Cool Squad:

The excitement of getting the muzzle guns going again in 2025 in the eagerly anticipated Bushey’s Pairs was only cooled by the minus six temperatures at the Cambridge Gun Club. It was bitterly cold, every conceivable method of keeping fingers warm was being tested, and even Derek’s welding gloves were being used! The first stand was the well-loved Grouse Butt, a fast incoming high bird that tested the reflexes of overclothed shooters with a much slower angled incomer. Viking Pete, Rob and our host Bushy showed the way by only dropping one apiece. The next set of targets on stand 12 were a wicked combination of fast high R-L crosser with a rapidly dropping, going away, fast R-L bird which caused complete panic. Only Paul D, Derek, Martin and newbie Stewart managed two apiece, the others less and not a single B bird was hit! Sadly Viking’s gun’s balls dropped off with the cold in the Brass Monkey weather, and he completed the competition with his trusted hammer gun. Stand 14 was the calm after the storm with a couple of gentle incomers, Rob and Bushy dropped only one apiece and were now eager to get at stand 11. A pair of L-R incoming pigeons were offered here and Derek in his welding gloves dropped only one, with Kevin and Bushy chasing with only two dropped. Stand 15 was tucked away but had a wicked sting in the tail with two very different targets, the L-R fast crosser was hard enough, but the going away teal was only visible for a moment or two. The vertically challenged amongst us struggled to see it long enough to get a chance, so it was almost miraculous that Kevin the carpet, (although with his new taller hips) dropped only two as did the very much taller Bushy, with Martin and Derek following with three dropped.

A challenging round in the conditions with Bushy managing a very respectable 27, with Derek 25, Martin and Rob 22, Kevin 21, newbie Stewart a very commendable 19, Paul 15 and a disappointed Viking. Kevin’s eyes eventually went back into their sockets after trying to push frozen goose fat felt wads down his tubes even though Derek had warmed up a few in his undies as a special treat to help. A very enjoyable challenging round, as any pair’s competition should be, with a huge well done to an unbeatable Mike at the moment.

Bev’s Pair Bashing Squad:

There were 7 in this squad all shooting the competition. Our first stand was 15, one of the more difficult as it turned out. Mike and Paul R got off to a good start with 7, Fred with 6, the rest less. On to stand 11 and most did well on what should have been an easy card filler. Stand 16, (The Grouse Butt) was next. Here Bev livened up taking all 8, the others on 6’s and 7’s and Graham less. Onwards to stand 12, we watched the targets as singles from the outgoing nitro squad, could they be shot as a sim pair we asked? The answer was “with great difficulty”, only Bev managed a pair and ended on 3, the rest on 2’s and 1’s!! The distant R-L fast dropping bird was only hit once by Bev in both this, and the other squad! We agreed later that we should have concentrated on the fast R-L crosser only and settled for 4 points. The last stand was 14, we watched the other squad come away from it and were relieved when they said it was not as bad as 12! It was indeed kinder and in fact one of the easier stands once we had had mastered the trap buttons! 7’s, 6’s and 5’s were recorded except for Bev who cleanly missed his first 2 pairs!

A good variation of targets and generally the scoring was very good in this squad, despite some of the targets and the cold conditions, and that Stand 12 was a real tester!

Mike, Paul R and Fred came 123 in the squad and the same overall with little between them. Dave, Paul M and Bev were not far behind. Graham, I’m sure, was a little disappointed today, but he did have his fair share of malfunctioning traps.

Results:

Next Club Meet:

Sunday 23rd February, club meet, no competition, bring and shoot whatever gives you pleasure. Single and double targets will be set.

Mike & Derek provided the words

After a taste of spring, the temperature remained up but so did the wind! At least it was dry and overcast today.

A fine turnout of 18 shooters plus Sandra helping made for a good morning’s sport. The 2 squads split easily between single and double guns with 9 in each.

The targets were as follows:

Stand 5 Two L-R crossers, medium speed, and one a little higher.

Stand 6 Another two L-R crossers, slow and dropping

Stand 8 A nasty L-R fast and low quartering away teal and a R-L high and distant bird.

Stand 9 A L-R steeply climbing and high target and a L-R fast and distant crosser.

Stand 10 An overhead target just skimming the bank top and a fast and close L-R looper.

All targets were hittable by the guns (just!) but Stands 8 & 9 proved particularly difficult for everyone. The wind affected most targets at times, so it was challenging shoot.

Clare’s Sorrowful Singles Squad:

Our squad of 9 started on stand 10. These were very sharp targets which demanded fast reflexes, just what you want for your first stand! Although no one hit all the targets, everybody shot well only missing one or two. The whole squad found stand 9 testing with most only hitting one or two. We noticed Martin was starting to sneak out in front hitting three. The other squad by this time had commandeered our next port-of-call stand 8, so we hiked to stand 5. These targets were more hittable. With a couple of nameless exceptions (Dick and Rob), most shot these targets well missing only one or two. Rodney, who had been shooting really well and claimed that he was ‘on fire’ found his flames dowsed a little on this stand. Again we noticed that Martin hit the lot and stretched out his lead! Stand 6 looked like a confidence booster. Fairly simple-looking targets, but only Dick hit the lot, most shot well on this stand missing only one or two. We noticed that the wind was now quite strong and having a detrimental effect on the targets, just what we didn’t want as we moved to Number 8 our last stand. A few figures here: There were 9 shooters, each had 6 shots on this stand making a grand total of 54 bangs. Total targets broken ONE!!! The rows of zeros only interrupted by Viking who ruined everything by hitting one. Here come the excuses. The wind had made these targets totally unpredictable. The ‘A’ bird was inconsistent and the ‘B’ bird—well I mean! The wind just took this bird out of the range of our guns. Everything was tried by all the guns to connect, but to no avail. So that was it. Martin top scored in the singles hitting 19 with Dave E and Viking who was using his flinter, joint second with 16. Everybody enjoyed this challenging shoot and it was great to see Clare shooting again after her convalescence.

Sandra’s Troubled Doubles Squad:

We started on Stand 5, with most doing reasonably well on this straightforward pair. Fred taking them all, with Bushey and Mike dropping only 1. On to Stand 6, and the slow pair did not present too many problems. Fred again took the lot, Bushey dropped just the one again and Simmo took a fine 6 with his flinter. There was a fast walk around the corner to Stand 8, to try and get there before the other squad to save doubling back, we wished we hadn’t when the targets were seen! Several 1’s and 0’s were recorded, but Mike managed to hit 5 of the targets! On to Stand 9 and things didn’t get too much better. The A bird looked easy enough, but it surprised everyone as to how few were broken. The long B bird took its toll, Jon managed one but Bushey hit 3, the rest missed them all! Top score here was Bushey with just 4, with a row of 0’s for 3 unnamed shooters! So the troubled doubles squad tramped to their last Stand 10, things could only get better, couldn’t they? Not much, Fred was high scorer with a very good 6, Bushey and Tony on 5 apiece, the remainder less.

So back to the clubhouse for a warming cup of tea and a slice of that splendid cherry and almond sponge! Here we perused the score sheet. Fred was top man with an excellent 28/40, Bushey next with 23, the remainder on 18 or less. We’ll blame it on the weather and targets!!!  Thanks as always to Sandra for trapping, scoring and keeping the squad under control.

Results:

Next Club Meet:

Sunday 23rd March, club meet, no competition, bring and shoot whatever gives you pleasure. Single and double targets will be set.

Mike & Bev provided the words

23 March - Club Shoot

Well the forecast said low chance of any rain, little wind, no sun and overcast. They got the wind, sun and overcast bit right, but the rain was on and off and made it a miserable start for all 14 shooters who mostly were not dressed for the wet! The targets were as follows:

Stand 3: all 8 targets were shown for the doubles, 6 for the singles.

Pond: 6 targets from the 8 available were shown.

Skeet: 5 targets from the 8 available were shown.

Stand 18: A pair of quick and low quartering away targets.

Stand 11: A pair if slow incomers, shot as a sim pair for the doubles.

We split into singles and doubles squads.

A big thankyou to Sandra for stepping up and making a fine job of the admin for the day, she also buttoned and scored for the singles, all in the wet. What a star!

Sandra’s Shady Singles Squad:

There were 6 in the squad and Sandra tried her best to keep the score board dry. With a wet Start on stand 11, there were 2 easy targets, but even easier to miss if you got complacent, but only one or two missed a few and with Dave E Snr straighting it, it was a good start from all. We progressed on to stand 18, they were quick targets with little time to hang around, little Dave had two go sky high but hit them with ease and tony kept dropping his percussion caps with sticky fingers! We went on to the skeet stand next and started going through the alphabet, we didn't get a chance to shoot the same target twice and with the “A” bird button playing up, it was called a few times but we got through it. There was a particular right to left crosser which only Dave E Snr managed to hit for another clear stand. We progressed on to the pond next and kept out of the rain. There were Some long targets shown which Rob W managed to straight with ease, the remainder finding these targets more difficult. We finished on stand 3 in the rain again and we all seemed to lack concentration! Dick had a few miss fires and problems so he gave up with only 4 clays left to shoot. At the end Dave E Snr and Rob W finished on 24 each, a very good score considering the conditions, followed by little Dave in 3rd with 18 and Phil in 4th with 17. Thanks to Sandra on the button and keeping scores.

Mike’s Dirty Doubles Squad:

There were 8 in the squad with Bev and Graham bringing their flint guns, hoping for dry weather. We started on stand 3. No sooner than when we were ready to go, the rain started! Black hands, misfires we had the lot! Jon retired after very few shots with nipple blockages in his recently acquired gun. Only Viking and Matthew did well here, the rest on half marks and less. We skipped the Pond stand as it was occupied and arrived at the covered Skeet layout in the dry! Both Paul M and Mike cleared them all, Bev dropping just one and Matthew’s good start diminished! On to Stand 18 and the O/R pair of the quick and low targets caught most out. Mike managed three pairs and Bev scored 5 when he eventually got his gun to go off! Stand 11 was next, and back outside the rain held off to see most do well on this easier stand even though the targets were shown as a sim pair. Bev took them all, Mike, Viking and Paul D (who had a good stand after earlier low scores) all on 7. Back to the pond to finish with a selection of tricky targets. Bev and Paul M managed 5 here with the rest 4’s and less. The final scores showed it to be a very close thing with only 3 points separating the top 4 guns, but it was Bev to be top gun in the doubles on 29, and considering the damp conditions and use of his double flint, he was also awarded the wooden cup for his performance.

Results:

Next Club Meet:

Sunday 20th April (Easter Sunday), club meet, no competition, bring and shoot whatever gives you pleasure. Single and double targets will be set.

Mike & Rob provided the words.

So a fine and warm day greeted the 12 shooters, a little low on numbers, but it was Easter Sunday!

The targets were as follows:

Stand 3: A sneaky L-R mid height looper and a higher R-L crosser into the sun.

Stand 6: A mid height L-R crosser and another L-R crosser, a little closer and lower.

Stand 7: A crafty R-L incomer, very wind affected and a high R-L crosser from the tower.

Stand 9: A high and distant L-R crosser and a L-R high and fast dropping target.

Stand 10: An overhead going away target and a fast L-R looper from behind the bank.

We split into 2 squads with singles and doubles in each.

Sandra’s Stumbling Squad:

There were 6 in the squad, Mike and Tony shooting doubles, Rodney, Dave E, Rob and Phil shooting singles. We started on stand 9, a very shaky start for the doubles with only 2 apiece, the singles performed better with a great 5 from Phil, 4’s from Rodney and Dave and 3 for Rob with his Flinter. Dave was particularly pleased as he hit 2 of the elusive long crossers. Rodney was wearing his surgical compression socks and put his scoring down to this! Back to stand 10 and Mike continued his poor start with just 3, Tony also struggling with just the one!  Much the same for Rob and Phil with only one, but Dave took 4 and Rodney an amazing 5, well done Rodders and his socks! Sandra was relieved as had Rodney cleared the stand, he was going to kiss her! Around the corner to stand 7 and the double boys picked up a little with Mike on 6 and Tony on 5. Dave continued his form with a fine 5, Phil 3 and Rodders losing form with just 2 this time, we believe he tightened his socks too much for this and subsequent stands. We won’t mention Rob’s zero! Onto stand 6 and the double boys repeated their previous stands scores, Dave cleared the lot, Phil with 5, Rob on 2 and Rodders continued his loosing form with just the 1. Our final stand was 3 down the old concrete path, here that sneaky looper “A” bird caught many out, only Dave and Rob hit one apiece and the 50% or less scores across the squad reflected this.

So at the end only Dave’s score really stood out with a good 22/30 to end up joint 2nd overall in the singles with Rodney just missing his 50% target. Phil shot a good 16 but Mike, Tony and especially Rob, all had lesser best forgotten days!

Thanks to Sandra on the button and keeping scores.

For sale: one pair of surgical compression socks, used once only, contact Rodney.

Clare’s Competent Squad:

Out of the squad of 6 we had 4 shooting the singles and 2 shooting the doubles. Graham, Viking and Bev were using their flintlocks. The compact layout on stand 3 was shot first. Bev made a storming start in the singles hitting 5, with Martin close behind on 4. In the doubles it was Graham who top-scored with 4. Stand 6 saw some good scores with Martin and Bev getting full marks and Clare only missing 1. Viking unusually struggled on this stand. Fred got full marks in the doubles with Graham only missing 2. The squad moved on to stand 7. Bev maintained upward momentum by hitting all 6, Martin 3 and the remainder less. Fred hit 5 in the doubles and Graham 3. Whilst we were shooting this stand a couple of suppository (breech-loading) shooters took an interest in what we were up to. As is normal, we offered to let them have a shot. The younger gentleman of the two had 4 shots with Fred’s gun and hit the lot. He quite rightly left the stand with a large grin as these were tricky targets. Perhaps we have a convert! Poor Viking in the meantime had decided to retire as he was starting to feel unwell which in turn was having a detrimental effect on his shooting. Stand 9 saw each of the single shooters getting 4. Fred shot particularly well in the doubles hitting 6 of the 8 targets. On to stand 10 our final stand where, in the singles, Martin and Bev each hit 5 and Clare 3. Fred shot the lot in the doubles with Graham struggling a little hitting 3. Overall, a testing but enjoyable shoot.

Fred ended up with a final score of 30 ex 40 which put him in the top spot in the doubles and Bev was VERY pleased with himself breaking 26 of the 30 targets with his flinter in the singles. He received the wooden trophy for his efforts.

Results:

Singles ex 30:-

Bev (Fltlk) 26

Martin 22

Dave E 22

Phil 16

Clare 15

Rodney    14

Rob W (Fltlk) 7

Viking  (Fltlk) DNF

Doubles ex 40:-

Fred 30

Mike 21

Graham (Fltlk) 18

Tony 16

Next Club Meet:

Sunday 25th May for the Trevor Watling double barrel cup, 40 on report targets. Single and double targets will be set for those not entering the competition.

Mike & Bev provided the words.