Sightings for 2008

I can't believe another year has gone by, and what a year? Who would have thought that we would have seen the price of oil hit $150 a barrel and Woolies go bust.

Let me start by wishing you all a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year, and hope that some of the uncertainty will go and the feel-good factor will return.

Sadly early in 2008 we all lost a good friend and committee member, Kevin John Newton, in the most tragic of circumstances. Kevin, you are missed but not forgotten.

Earlier on this year we extended the car park due to demand and continue to spend money on improvements and modernisation of our assets, changing the linotex and roofing panels, as well as the heating on the range, ensuring that the most regular and tallest among us have a healthy tan.

A club is not a building, but the people who are members, and I would like to thank you all for the continued support for the club, but in particular our officers, Mike, Gordon and Peter, as well as the committee and range officers and helpers. Without you the club would not be the organisation it is.

We continue to attract new members and our membership is now in excess of 170 and it is great to see, with young men and women taking up the sport, showing interest in the weapons our members use and having a desire to acquire their own guns.

On the social side we have had a very successful BBQ and hot pot supper.

Well done everyone and good shooting next year.

John C Shonfeld

Chairman.

Michael Williams will once again be offering a course of instruction in the New Year. If you cannot consistently keep all your shots in the black of a PL12 target when firing from an unsupported standing position at 25 metres, then you need this instruction! The course will run for five weeks, and, if you wish to take part, please contact Michael at the range between now and mid-January.

In addition, the Marple 'B' team came second in Division 4 of the Cheshire Rifle League, and MRPC shooter Ron Turnbull came second in the C. V. Wernham Cup at the Cheshire and North Wales Confined Shoot at Appleton Range on Sunday 7th September 2008.

Would all members having access to email please let Michael Williams have their current email address so that they can be kept informed of important Club news? Rest assured that you will not be bombarded with spam as there are normally no more than three or four items per year. Please send your details direct to the club's email address (shown at the foot of the Club's home page)

Will anyone wishing to be included on the monthly email list of shooting-related news items also let Michael know? If you are already on it there is no need to ask again, but do be warned that if you do not have broadband, many of the files are quite large.

Finally, you should be aware that the Club's website is at: http://www.marplerifleandpistolclub.org.uk

The Club is to arrange another National Rifle Association (NRA) training course for Range Conducting Officers during 2009. This is a national qualification that allows the holders to run shooting sessions at military ranges as well as at Bisley. We are also to arrange another Muzzle Loading range officers course and this will lead to a Muzzle Loaders Association of Great Britain (MLAGB) qualification, which like the NRA version will allow the holder to run blackpowder shooting practice at military ranges such as Sealand.

If you are interested in obtaining either, or both of the above, please register your interest on the list in the Stats Office and for more information ask either Bob Smart, Jenny Cromar, David Snelson, or Mike Williams.

The County of Lancaster Smallbore Target Shooting Association Open Shoot - September 2008

Since joining Marple R&P Club I have been learning to shoot Air Rifle, I have received loads of coaching from many other members and that has made a huge improvement in my scores and coping with the pressure of competitive spirit in the club. After taking part in Division One of the Cheshire Individual Air Rifle & Pistol postal league it seemed right to have a go at a 'real live' competition. Rick T suggested we should go to the CLSTSA open shoot that was coming up in a month's time. This was going to be a double 60 shot course of shooting and so we both sent off the entry forms.

There was still some time to prepare for the competition. Because this was going to be the longest time that I've ever had to shoot for I spent a few nights at home dry training with my rifle to hold my shooting position for long periods and improve my physical fitness.

I was kindly lent a book by Neville, which outlined the preparation required to be successful in competition. It is an excellent book, simply written, lots of pictures and very informative. It helped me a great deal.

The CLSTSA open shoot was held at Blackburn Shooting Centre, a deceivingly large shooting club based in an old mill. It has several ranges for various shooting disciplines including Archery, a club lounge, canteen and its own gun shop!

The 10m air rifle and pistol event was held in a temporary range with 24 firing points constructed specially for the weekend and occupying the space that is normally the club's indoor car park. That's right - an indoor car park!

On arrival at Blackburn the first thing to do was sign in and get your targets for the competitions, quite a lot of targets, 120 in all for two back to back 60 shot courses along with four sighting cards for each one! The second task was to get our equipment through scrutineering. This involved having our rifles measured and weighed to make sure they were legal in the eyes of the ISSF rules. The official then put a 'CLSTSA' Equipment Control sticker on our rifles to prove they had passed the check.

As we had arrived with plenty of time to spare before the start of our first detail we had time to sort out our targets, talk to some of the other shooters and sight in on some delicious looking cakes in the canteen.

We set up our gear on the firing point ready for the ten minute preparation period prior to the first detail of 1.3/4 hrs, as the Range Officer was reading out the instructions the nerves were now kicking in, the 'START' command was announced and the competition had begun!

After about fifteen sighters I was ready to go on the first match target. The first twenty shots were difficult, my pulse was racing and keeping a clear line of concentration in this new environment was a task in itself. In the next twenty shots my heart rate reduced and I felt a lot more relaxed and my shots felt better, but during the last twenty shots I was loosing some concentration and made some silly mistakes. I'd completed my first ever sixty shot course in about an hour, so had lots of time to dwell on how I might have done. After a quick drink & sandwich, a brief chat and some coaching advice from Rick, it was time to go back on the range for the Final detail.

Air Gun must be one of few disciplines where Rifle and Pistol can share the range at the same time. Having experienced the first detail I was feeling much more at ease and really looking forward to it, of course that didn't stop me making a hash of some of the shots under the competitive pressure but both of us managed to make improvements on our previous scores.

With the competition over Rick and I returned to the clubroom for a cup of tea 'n' cakes while we waited for the results to be totalled up. The result sheets were finally posted up and it was a surprise to see our names at the top: also very satisfying when our names were called out to collect our medals!

Class A

Class B

The CLSTSA open shoot was a fantastic day out, it was even better to come home with some medals. We would like to encourage more members to come along to the next open shoot in April 2009. I'll certainly be there; I'm sure Rick will as well. All are welcome so perhaps we can get a bigger team over to Blackburn next year.