This years event served up the usual array of ever changing conditions to challenge the 400 shooters who attended. The event draws all the top shooters, with X-class loaded with internationalists, including USA star Mark del Cotto.
The week begun with dry, cloudy and strong winds from the north west, and ended with sunshine, a few wet days and moderate winds from the south and east. As normal at Bisley - every day is different and challenging!
The Weekend Aggregate, based on 50m/100yd shoots from Saturday and Sunday saw creditable performances from James Paterson (7th in class X), Alan Gordon and Robin Law finishing 10th=, Gad Habiby finishing 6th in A-class, Jeremy Newman (3rd in class B) and some great results from the juniors in C and D class, who had been at Bisley as part of the successful Junior International week.
The Championship Aggregate is based in competition scores from each day (Monday to Thursday). In class X, James Paterson was the leading Scot in 10th place, with Alan Gordon and Lenny Thomson finishing 16th and 19th respectively, and Robin Law 21st.
In class A Gad finished 6th , narrowly missing out on promotion, but a fine performance all the same, while Jeremy Newman was the clear winner of class B, earning promotion for next year’s meeting. His impressive score would have put him in the top 40 in class X.
As a result of the aggregate performances, James has qualified for the training squad for the 2025 Roberts team against the USA, while James, Lenny, Alan, Robin and Mel qualified for the GBR team Dewar Trials next year for the annual postal match with the USA.
There are also a number of other 'unsquadded' competitions during the week which had notable successes, including Lenny winning the high profile Double English match on the Lord Roberts centre 50m electronics.
Finally, the end of the week rounded off with the Home Countries International. A team of 10 selected from the championship aggregate took on England and Wales teams at 50m and 100yds. The team members and their scores are listed below:
| James Paterson | 387 | Jeremy Newman | 381 |
| Lenny Thomson | 390 | Gad Habiby | 389 |
| Alan Gordon | 393 | Bill Baird | 383 |
| Robin Law | 381 | Charles Allan | 376 |
| Mel Mutch | 386 | Bill Brown | 380 |
| 3846 | |||
| Bill Hamilton (captain) | Sheena Sharp (secretary) | ||
| England | 3877 | Wales | 3822 |
Despite some impressive shooting in a changeable strong breeze, the team came up just short against a very experienced England team. Notable performances from Jeremy Newman on winning his second full Scottish cap and a debut for Scotland for Gad Habiby, shooting an impressive 389. A full historical list of teams and caps is shown here.
Report by James Paterson, Smallbore AMG Chair