Over the weekend of 8th and 9th October the NRA held the 13th European Long Range Championships on the Stickledown Range at Bisley. The competition was for teams of 12 shooters plus coaches and the course of fire was 2 convertible sighters and 15 counting shots at 900 and 1000 yards on both Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon and a final 1000 yard shoot on Sunday morning. The more challenging ICFRA long range targets were used rather than the NRA long range target. 4 teams entered for the Championship: Scotland, England, Wales and Channel Islands.

Outdoor shoots in October can be quite a lottery in terms of the weather and previous European Long Range Championships have been held in sheets of rain, freezing cold, howling gales and often curtailed by fog. However, this year’s shooting, after a cold start, had clear skies, long periods of sunshine and moderate, if sometimes very changeable, wind conditions.

Awaiting opening Shot 900 yards Saturday am

Andy Sturrock acting as main wind coach (with new Scotland headset)

After a warm up which ironed out some sight wrinkles and got the coaching team used to using the new wireless headsets, Scotland got off to a blistering start at 900 yards scoring 887 and 76 V-Bulls out of a possible 900.180v (averaging just under 74.07v ex 75.15v per shooter) and jumping out to a 15 point lead over Wales. Wales did claw back 11 at the next 1000 yard shoot, when Scotland faced tricky winds and variable marking.

James Anderson shooting, Dave Parkinson (R) wind coach, Henry Watson (L) plotter

After lunch (courtesy of the Army Target Rifle club), both teams shot fairly consistently through the afternoon ranges and the first day ended with Scotland 5 ahead of Wales on 3360.207v vs 3355.212v. England were 28 and Channel Islands 64 points behind Scotland respectively. All to play for on Sunday’s final 1000 yards…

After a fantastic team dinner in the North London Rifle Club (a shooting team marches on its stomach), Scotland again had a cracking morning shoot scoring 870 and 75 V-bulls, outscoring Wales by 35 points and achieving a 40 point victory margin, 48 points ahead of England and 88 points ahead of the Channel Islands.

Final Team Scores:

    
        Scotland
        4230.282v 
    
        Wales
        4190.266v 
    
        England
        4182.280v 
    
        Channel Islands
        4142.237v

This last range also saw Scotland “win” the Junior championship made up of a pre-nominated 8 on 2829.193v to Wales on 2826.197v, although a quirk of the match is that you cannot win both Senior and Junior, so we were allocated runners-up slot for that match.

Scotland Adjutant Irene Rowley - also linked up to the headsets

This is only the second time Scotland has won the European Long Range Championships – previous win was in 2014.

Angus McLeod was the top score ln the Championships with a score of 364.35v which included two possibles at 1000X (75 ex 75). Throughout the weekend all the wind coaches rotated through the Head Coach chair so Simon Dickson, David Parkinson, Lindsay Peden, and Andy Sturrock all contributed to the final result. The team was marshalled by Irene Rowley as adjutant, supported by Henry Watson as reserve.

After the team match there was an individual competition at 1000 yards. Claire Halleran was the top individual Scot placed 5th with a score of 71.05v. The individual competition was won by Ms L.Taylor (England) with a score of 74.2v.

David Lacey Chairman NRA presenting Bruce Logan, Scotland match captain, with the winning badges

It was a really fun weekend and this is only the second time Scotland have won this match. This is pretty much the final match of the fullbore regular season and it was excellent to end on a high. Full scores from the event can be found below:

    
        
        
        Saturday
        
        
        Sunday
        
    

        
        900X
        1000X
        900X
        1000X
        1000X
        Total
    

        Angus McLeod
        74.11v
        69.2v
        71.5v
        75.10v
        75.7v
        364.35v
    

        Claire Halleran
        75.5v
        68.2v
        74.5v
        68.6v
        73.9v
        358.27v
    

        James Shepherd
        74.6v
        67.1v
        69.3v
        73.3v
        73.8v
        356.21v
    

        Alice Ogilvie
        73.7v
        70.2v
        70.4v
        68.4v
        74.4v
        355.21v
    

        Lewis Reid
        73.4v
        65.36v
        75.4v
        69.2v
        72.3v
        354.16v
    

        Lindsey Mckerrell
        73.9v
        65.0v
        70.7v
        71.5v
        73.6v
        352.27v
    

        James Anderson
        74.7v
        69.5v
        70.4v
        67.4v
        72.7v
        352.27v
    

        Ron Scaglione
        75.3v
        64.1v
        71.4v
        70.5v
        71.8v
        351.21v
    

        James Mehta
        75.7v
        66.6v
        68.3v
        70.4v
        71.5v
        350.25v
    

        Alex Hunter
        74.4v
        68.2v
        65.5v
        70.1v
        72.10v
        349.22v
    

        Bruce Logan
        73.7v
        53.2v
        75.6v
        70.4v
        74.5v
        345.24v
    

        Alan Haggerty
        74.6v
        71.0v
        68.4v
        61.3v
        70.3v
        344.16v
    

        Team Total
        887.76v
        795.26v
        846.54v
        832.51v
        870.75v
        4230.282v
    

Report and Photos by Bruce Logan, Scotland Match Captain (Edited by Tim Kidner & Oliver Barsby)

Full Results from NRA

Scotland Win 2022 European Long Range Championships

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