Summer 2015 – Volume XCIV No
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NATIONAL RIFLE JOURNAL ASSOCIATION Summer 2015 – Volume XCIV No. 2 £4.25£4.25 PHOENIX MEETING EVERY DISCIPLINE COVERED PLUS HANDGUN LEAGUE KICKS OFF LEUPOLD GOES F CLASS MATCH REPORTS LONG-RANGE SMALLBORE SOUTH AFRICA U19 TOUR CSR WINTER LEAGUE ENGLISH VIII ROMSEY VX-6 7X42 REVIEWED BISLEY AT WAR TREASURY REPORT IMPERIAL PREVIEW DISCIPLINE DAYS 001 NRA Summer Cover_REV2.indd 1 02/06/2015 12:00 2 www.nra.org.uk 002.indd 2 02/06/2015 12:34 NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION Summer 2015 – Volume XCIV No. 2 4 INTRODUCTION 48 THE RETURN OF 1500 Andrew Mercer reports on Bisley’s latest Ted George calls for a new generation improvement works of GB 1500 competitors 6 NEWS 50 GR&P INSTRUCTOR COURSES Handbook updates, fee increases and A new course helps clubs to train their important safety warnings plus more own GR&P instructors NRA news 51 UNDER 19S IN SOUTH AFRICA 8 LETTERS How the GB team fared in the South Your views – email correspondence to African Open Bisley championships [email protected] 52 CLUB CALL 10 SCOPE REVIEW This edition, the spotlight is on Offa’s Nick Parrish weighs in on the Leupold Dyke Rifl e Club, Shield Shooting Centre VX-6 scope and the Highpower Rifl e Association Front cover: Neil Brooklyn of FDPC 13 BISLEY AT WAR 57 OBITUARIES Cover photo by James Marchington As we celebrate Bisley’s 125th year, The lives of Din and Viv Collings, David Managing editor: Colin Fallon Christopher Bunch looks back at Huw Curtis-Lewis and Allan Arthur Dogan Assistant editor: Jessica Hanson wartime Bisley Graphic design: Jess Riley 58 RESULTS Ad design: Matt Smith Get up to date with the latest Advertising sales: Josie Millar 20 PHOENIX MEETING Operations director: James Folkard A report from the 2015 Phoenix Meeting competition results Assistant publisher: Ruth Burgess at Bisley Publisher: Wes Stanton 60 NOTICES Contributors: Christian Barr, Mark Bradley, Christopher Bunch, Peter 22 SHOOT FLORIDA Important information from the Association Cottrell, Norman Edwards, Simon Fraser, Christian Barr reports on a week of Ted George, George Granycome, James shooting in the USA 62 MARKSMAN’S CALENDAR Harris, Silke Lohmann, Derek Lowe, Katia Plan ahead for the rest of the year Malcaus Cooper, John Masefi eld, Des Parr, Nick Parrish, Steve Pike 24 REPORTS Stock photography by Lee Bowditch, All the latest from competitions held 64 TRADE MEMBERS Matt Limb and James Marchington across the country this spring A list of NRA-affi liated trade members NRA chief executive: Andrew Mercer Chairman: John Webster 34 IMPERIAL MEETING 66 MESSAGE 10 Address: National Rifl e Association, Prepare for Imperial with a rundown of We profi le young shooter Brittany Pugh Bisley, Brookwood, Surrey GU24 0PB the events this year from Peter Cottrell T: 01483 797777 F: 01483 797285 W: www.nra.org.uk 36 HANDGUN LEAGUE The NRA Journal is published on behalf The Phoenix Meeting saw the new of the National Rifl e Association by Blaze Handgun League kick off Publishing Limited. Address: Lawrence House, Morrell Street, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, 38 DISCIPLINE TRAINING CV32 5SZ. Katia Malcaus Cooper investigates the T: 01926 339808 13 new ‘Intro to’ discipline days F: 01926 470400 E: [email protected] 41 TREASURY REPORT © Blaze Publishing Limited, 2015 The latest fi nancial report from Derek All rights reserved. Editorial matter, pictures and text may not be reproduced Lowe, NRA treasurer without permission. Views expressed are not necessarily those 45 SARTS TECHNOLOGY of the National Rifl e James Harris gets a crash course in the Association. high-tech targetry system 48 National Rifl e Association 3 003 Contents_REV4.indd 3 02/06/2015 11:59 WELCOME | Chief Executive Home improvements Chief executive Andrew Mercer has all the latest updates and news from the ongoing improvement works at Bisley ith spring well and truly have already, slightly worryingly, to minimise costs and improve services upon us it is a delight to see highlighted the importance of “long- will deliver further increases to the W the ranges busy. A recent term temporary structures” such as the number of competitors this year. weekend as duty manager took me away barrack-style accommodation blocks. Our decision to discount the cost from the phone and laptop, instead The range improvements are of online entries for the Imperial has spending rewarding time in the range beginning to bear fruit. Butt Zero and provoked an interesting response. I am office and on firing points. So much of Cheylesmore are busy and the new struggling to rationalise the argument what our members and guests require is designs are performing well. We had an that charging an admin fee for paper simple: correct targets, efficient radios, alarming case of unexplained ‘popovers’ entries rather than offering lower prices accurate and speedy markers. We are from Melville range; prompt remedial for online entries does anything other beginning to develop a team at Bisley works solved the problem, which had than yield the same net result. capable of delivering all of these to a startled shooters at 900 yards on Our new training team are starting decent standard. Stickledown range. to flourish in their new facilities at New innovations and improvements Our new membership database is Wimbledon House and we are now at Bisley prompt at times surprising yielding some fascinating statistics. expanding our range of activities. We responses. I thought the first session Club affiliations recently caught my recently delivered a three-day course of road improvements this year attention and it was interesting to for the Met Police’s Firearms Licensing would generate gratitude; the fierce find that our affiliated clubs have Team that explained the finer details criticism and enthusiastic forecasts of over 50,000 members, of which some of the many forms of target shooting. disaster came as a surprise. Time will 22,000 are non-NRA members who The course demanded considerable tell whether the works deliver good regularly shoot fullbore. Add 8,000 or investment in resources from both the value to the Association, or prove I so NRA members and we get 30,000 NRA and Met Police, and we were both am as incompetent as some vociferous regular fullbore shooters. Quite which pleased with the result. Better trained members have proclaimed. ranges accommodate this number of and informed FEOs will without doubt I am heartened that another recent fullbore shooters is unclear; a review deliver better services to licence holders, change is proving successful – the new and analysis of regional ranges will be and allow them more time to identify Spencer caravan site has but three plots the top priority for our new regional the rare individuals who should never remaining and we have achieved sales in ranges manager, Nic Couldrey, who be allowed access to firearms. excess of £1m to date. Decorators have starts in early July. Even more sobering been out in force with the NRA Offices is the realisation that more than 2,500 now looking rather fine; Wimbledon of our RCOs are not full members of the House is next on the list as we start to NRA. Exactly what this means and what, catch up on basic maintenance. Two if anything, we should do about it is new toilet blocks have also arrived; generating considerable debate. the appearance of warm water, soap Entries for our competitions are dispensers and clean floors has shocked looking promising. I hope our efforts some long-standing shooters. I am keen to develop an overarching plan for the camp that helps us with the Time will tell whether the phasing and design of future projects works deliver good value that protect and enhance the unique atmosphere of Bisley. Trees, roads, to the Association or prove car parking, and assessing the myriad I am as incompetent as buildings are key elements in this review. Landscape architect Dominic some vociferous members Cole and conservation architect Gary have proclaimed Butler are assisting us with this. They 4 www.nra.org.uk 004 Chief exec intro_REV7JH.indd 4 02/06/2015 12:09 National Rifle Association 5 005.indd 5 02/06/2015 12:37 WARNING FOR KRAG-JORGENSEN OWNERS REPORTS The NRA has recently completed an investigation on behalf of the MOD NEWS after an accident involving a Krag- Jorgensen rifle at a UK military range. Three people were taken to hospital after the rupture of the cartridge case in the rifle, causing a CLUB HANDBOOK UPDATED “catastrophic failure”, according to the official report. There’s a new, revised version of Joint Service Publication 403 (JSP403), also Th e technical investigation has known as the Handbook of Defence Land Ranges Safety. Developed by the MOD revealed evidence of substandard in conjunction with NRA staff, the handbook deals with the regulations and rebarrelling work on some Krag- procedures relating to the design and construction of rifle ranges. Jorgensen rifl es; particularly those New to this edition of the handbook, the requirement to obtain Home Office rebarrelled shortly after World War II. approval to shoot on MOD ranges is removed for clubs only using shotguns. Therefore, the NRA requires all Also for the first time, the handbook acknowledges the use of handloaded members owning Krag-Jorgensen ammunition on MOD ranges, setting out the conditions for its use. rifles fitted with replacement It is also made clear in the guide that the default position as regards young barrels to have their rifle checked people on the ranges is that there should not be age restrictions when they are by a competent gunsmith, excepting shooting as club members. replacements carried out under the There is a change to RCO qualification procedures, a detail change in the NRA current owner’s instructions and Shooter’s Competency Certificate, and a new procedure for firing high muzzle bearing proof marks issued under energy firearms.