SARY ANNIV ER
Scotland 100th Celebrating 100 years of the Scottish Rifle Meeting
Saturday 29th June to Friday 5th July 2019 SARY ANNIV ER the A699 heading east, which runs close to the bank of the River Tweed. Not only do you Foreword get a marvellous view of Floors Castle, but the road brings you straight into the town of Kelso which is worth a visit. The bridge across the Tweed gives wonderful river views and I was surprised to be asked to write the foreword for this year’s programme and photo opportunities of Floors Castle. Kelso Abbey is close by and the town itself has some whilst I doubt that it will ever win the Baillie Gifford prize for non-fiction, the content wonderful shops, along with free parking in the town square. Although I initially visited for is none-the-less an interesting read. the culture, I was also on a gin hunt, there being some wonderful distilleries in Scotland producing not just whisky but also gin. There is a lovely shop in Kelso selling spirits and local If this is your first National Meeting, then this booklet should give you a good overview beers too, which is great for stocking up on my favourites before I head south. of what goes on. There are squadded (fixed firing point and detail) and unsquadded (choose your own firing point and detail) competitions. The “3 card system” targets are On my wish list for future visits are to actually look around Thirlestane Castle (as I’ve only used (2 sighters and 4 diagrams at 50 metres and 1 sighter and 2 diagrams at 100 yards). seen it from the outside), walk part of St Cuthberts Way which starts at Melrose and ends up Competition stickers are placed at the top of the targets. Range commands and timings on the East Coast, and takes in St Boswells on its route, and to visit Jedburgh Abbey, another will be in the event programme. The details of each competition is on the entry form. Don’t sight which I’ve seen from the car, but haven’t had time to stop and visit. forget bull dog clips to affix targets to their frames. I hope that the above gives you a flavour of what the Scottish Meeting is about and an When you arrive on the range you’ll find a line of tents the main one of which is the admin/ idea of what you can see and do once you’ve made the journey. Look forward to seeing stats marquee, where you can collect your stickers, targets and find your scores once you in Lauder! shooting commences. If shooting unsquadded competitions, this is the place where you can Yvette Edwards select your firing points, a list of the available spaces being displayed each day on the Target Control sheets. The NSRA Shop is also here, which is useful if you have left anything behind, or are just browsing for something new. The needs of inner man (or woman) are also taken care of in the catering tent (alongside the main marquee) ably staffed by Harris Catering. I 1973 Dumbarton - extremely wet and windy. No. X or A shooters made England Team but can certainly recommend the roast pork rolls! selection finally done on known performers after an uprising. Main marquee nearly collapses. Other tents are available to hire by associations, counties and clubs, and a competitor’s tent is also provided, all of which are useful for setting up your kit. You can also nip off for a bite to eat or a comfort break (yes there are toilet facilities too). The car park is in close proximity, so if you prefer to set up there, the firing point is only a short walk away. The range we use now is set in the grounds of Thirlestane Castle in a very different location Lauderdale Hotel to the one which flooded all those years ago. The firing point is covered, so you are partly protected from the elements. Scotland does have a reputation for rain, so you should come The Lauderdale Hotel is a family owned and operated prepared for wet weather. The sunshine last year was exceptional, with complaints of it being hotel located in the Royal and Ancient Burgh of Lauder. Situated in large private gardens, the hotel offers guests too hot and the ensuing mirage causing problems. It’s hoped that for our 100th Scottish a warm and welcoming base to explore the many Meeting we are blessed with good, dry weather. attractions and activities available in the Scottish Due to the competition structure of the Scottish Meeting, the squadded events are held on Borders whilst being close enough to the nation’s alternate days and whilst you can shoot unsquadded events on your “off” days, if you are capital to explore all that Edinburgh has to offer. making the trip with family or friends you can use your non-shooting days as an opportunity Originally built in the late 19th century the Lauderdale Hotel is the oldest continually operating to get out and about and enjoy some sightseeing. This booklet contains a list of the local hotel in the area, having started life as a ‘Temperance House’ and is just one of a number of sights and what you can see and do in the area. My last two years at Lauder, as part of historic buildings in the immediate area. the organising team, have only provided me with occasional chances to explore, but what The hotel offers a range of comfortable and well appointed rooms for single, double and family I have seen has left me wanting to do more. On the drive along the A68, heading north occupancy. The public spaces offer a choice of comfortable lounge bar with open fire and a bistro towards the range as you cross the River Tweed, there’s the Leaderfoot Viaduct on the left, area. There is also a small and comfortable residents lounge should you wish to relax in privacy. with the old Drygrange road bridge almost hidden from view underneath the new road. The hotel will be glad to advise you on local attractions and activities during your stay and On my return from the range, again along the A68, I kept seeing signs for Scotts View, can even organise shooting, fishing, mountain biking or walking experiences at your request. so after a short detour along the B6356 I ended up in a circular layby with breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside. My journey home also takes in a detour following +44 (0) 1578 722231 | [email protected] Of these, all except the Ian Hamilton Cup and the Pullar Targe were lost on the night of History of the Scottish Meeting 10th/11th May 1941 when the SMRC’s Headquarters building, the original “Codrington House” at 23 Black Friars Lane, Ludgate, was completely destroyed during the blitz. Only The Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs was formed early in 1903 from the merger of the three of the 48 trophies that were in the basement that night were repairable, the remainder Society of Working Men’s Rifle Clubs and the British Rifle League. It was immediately thrown being reduced to a pool of silver with a scrap value of £18. This was a catastrophe, as the into the organisation of open meetings and the first of these was held on 23rd March to 1st SMRC not only lost all its paper records as well, but the destruction the same night included April 1903 at Crystal Palace. The pace started to grow in 1905 with five meetings being the premises of the Society’s solicitors, its auditors and its printers with the loss of the entire held, including the first in Wales at Caerleon. However, not until the Society’s 20th meeting stock of targets. did it reach north of the border for a meeting at Perth, shot on Craigie Hill, Cherrybank on A ninth trophy was also contested at Perth, this being the Colonel Stewart Cup which was 5th to 7th August 1909. Since that time there has been a Scottish Meeting organised by the lent for the purpose by the Masonic Rifle Club of Edinburgh. It was given for what would SMRC/NSRA every year with the exception of interruptions caused by the two World Wars now be considered the Aggregate, but which was then termed the Meeting Championship, and the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001. over a course of 40 shots to count. It was awarded on the total of the scores in the Inevitably the format of meetings has changed and developed over the intervening 110 Dominion, Longstaff and New Zealand competitions plus an additional 10 shots in 90 years, but they have retained throughout the three core elements of individual competitions, seconds at 50 yards. The loan of this trophy only continued until the following year at the club team competitions and a match for teams representing the Home Countries. Edinburgh Meeting, and from 1911 to World War I the role of challenge trophy attached to A competition for juniors has always been in the programme, but one for ladies did not the “Scottish Meeting Championship” passed to the Longstaff Cup. appear until 1911 at the Dechmont Range, near Glasgow. The formation of county The meeting was considered to be a considerable success. It had the benefit of good associations made slow progress before World War I and matches for county teams at weather, a spectacular view over the town of Perth, the butts being on the top of the hill, national meetings did not start until 1931, although the Queen Alexandra Cup started in and excellent organisation under the direct superintendence of Herbert Pullar, who also 1907 and there had been the postal competition for the County Cup since 1913. undertook the role of Chief Range Officer with Lewis MacGregor as his assistant. Mr Pullar The first meetings had all competitors in individual competitions shooting for a place in invested not only his time in making this a memorable meeting, but also his money. He a single prize list, thus meaning that the very top shooters tended to pick up a number of remains well known for the donation of the Pullar Targe, of which more later, but he also prizes whilst others only gained the satisfaction of having taken part. However with entries guaranteed a large sum towards the expenses of the meeting and paid for the dinner on growing the first steps in classification soon began, starting with some prizes reserved for Friday evening to which all the competitors were invited. those considered to be “Tyros”, before moving on to them having separate competitions. The meeting attracted competitors not only from Scotland, England and Wales, but also a Between the Wars this separation turned into the Expert group and the rest, who were at contingent of Irish shooters who had never previously taken part in such a meeting in Great times variously described as one or more of Inexpert, Tyros, Newcomers and Beginners. Britain. Although the total number of competitors is not recorded, there were 2,500 targets The more formal classification as we know it today began with the resumption of SMRC shot during the three days as well as a record number of 1,080 entries for the four unlimited meetings in 1946 when the entry was divided by average into Classes A, B, C and D, with competitions in the programme. Thus there was scarcely a vacant firing point during the Class X appearing for the Championship Aggregates of Bisley in 1970 and the Scottish whole of the meeting. Meeting in 1972. At the end of the meeting the prizes were presented by Mrs. Herbert Pullar, and the Midland Railway club was perhaps The first SMRC Scottish Meeting – Perth 1909 the principal beneficiary. In particular N V Moore won the At the inaugural SMRC Scottish Rifle Meeting 1909 in Perth, there were eight SMRC Dominion and the Longstaff, and was second in the New challenge trophies contested: Zealand, these being three of the four constituent parts of the Championship. However, he had a very under-par The Ian Hamilton Challenge Cup performance in the fourth part, the 50 yard time limit, as his The Patriotic Challenge Shield No. 6 score of 76 ex 100 gave him an aggregate of 370. After the The Pullar Challenge Targe time limit shoot Moore found that his barrel was very badly Sir John A Dewar’s Challenge Cup [later The Lord Forteviot Challenge Cup] leaded. The Longstaff Challenge Cup The Dominion Challenge Cup Nevertheless the strength of the Midland Railway is shown The New Zealand Challenge Shield N V Moore, by the fact that Moore was beaten into second place in Midland Railway Derby The Earl Grey Challenge Cup the New Zealand by his club-mate C Bryant, whilst in the Championship, Midland Railway shooters finished 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and The Trophies at the Perth Meeting 1909 10th. The winner of the Championship was W Errington of Houghton-le- Spring with 376, one point ahead of J A Boucher of Maesteg. Earlier in the year Errington had been a member of Great Britain’s victorious team in the The Ian Hamilton International Challenge Cup first Dewar International Match against the United States and Australia. International matches were introduced at SMRC Meetings in 1907 The other individual trophy was in the Junior Competition for competitors and have subsequently been contested at two of the SMRC/NSRA under the age of 21. This was won by R Barlas of Bridge of Earn with a meetings each year. In the earliest years conditions varied and eligibility score of 100 at 25 yards – the only individual cup going to a Scottish was somewhat lax. For 1907 the Bovril Challenge Shield was the resident. Another competitor in this event was the 18 year-old George trophy for both meetings – at Southfields and Pontypool. For 1908 a Colton of Midland Railway, who finished joint 4th with 98. Colton had only second trophy was added, being the Ian Hamilton Cup, and it was W Errington, a month earlier won the Queen Alexandra Cup for Derbyshire, this being in first awarded at the Ham & Petersham Meeting when England beat Houghton- the period when each County in the final was represented by a Sweden, the latter being present for reasons related to the Olympic le-Spring The Ian Hamilton Cup single shooter. Games being held that year at Bisley. The most important of the three competitions for club teams has to be the Pullar Targe for Then in 1909 the cup came to the Scottish Meeting for the first time. When the SMRC the Miniature Rifle Team Championship of Scotland. This was won by Wallacetown Parish established its main national meeting at Bisley in 1922, this and the Scottish Meetings Church Rifle Club was a score of 747 over a course of 10 shots deliberate and 10 shots became the permanent venues for the Internationals. In the 1920s and early 1930s the rapid at 25 yards. Guardbridge took second place with 739, the remaining awards going to trophies alternated between the two meetings, much as the Chas Bell and Daily Mail Bridge of Earn 1st team on 734 and Perth B team on 732. trophies do now, but from the 1936 Aberdeen Meeting onwards the Ian Hamilton Cup has been permanently stationed at the Scottish. The other two club team competitions were open to all. The Midland Railway team of four, including Moore, Bryant and Colton, won the Sir John A Dewar Trophy, over a 50 General Sir Ian Hamilton was one of a number of senior military yard skirmisher course and was second behind Perth B team in the Patriotic Shield, disc officers involved with the SMRC in its early days, and he was a breaking at 100 yards. The last trophy was the Ian Hamilton Cup for the Home Countries member of the SMRC Council at the time of presentation of his trophy. International. This fell to the England team which was drawn exclusively from members of the He had spent much of his service overseas in conflicts of the time, Midland Railway and Houghton clubs. The margin of victory was 26 points, 2729 ex 3000 including the Afghan and both Boer Wars. It is reputed that he was to Scotland’s 2703, with Ireland scoring 2592. twice recommended for the Victoria Cross, but the recommendations were not approved, on the first occasion because he was considered It is noticeable that the scores at Perth were generally lower than at the other SMRC too young and on the second because he was too senior. He had a meetings held further south that year, no doubt due in part to having the range on top of a brief period in the UK in 1898/99 as Commandant of the School of hill! However even on less exposed ranges this has been a regular feature at many of the Musketry at Hythe. Gen Sir Ian Hamilton subsequent 98 Scottish Meetings; a fact to which many Scottish Meeting regulars will be able to attest. There is a second connection between the Hamilton family and the early Scottish The Perth Meeting also provided the opportunity to hold a meeting of delegates with a Meetings. There were comparatively few view to forming an association for miniature rifle clubs in Scotland. This proposal received medals awarded for the competitions, most widespread support, with various suggestions being made as to suitable persons to be prizes being cash, but of those that were officials, and possible venues for its headquarters. But it was eventually agreed that such presented a good proportion will have been details would be best left for further consideration by a smaller group and this was put in of the “Roberts Badge” design. These had the hands of an interim committee of 14 people under the chairmanship of Mr. Pullar. In a bust of Field Marshal Lord Roberts on this group was Captain Stevens who came with a mandate on behalf of 22 clubs in the one side and a seated angel on the other. Edinburgh District, not only to support the formation of an association, but also to offer a The family connection is that the medal range in Edinburgh for a Scottish Meeting in 1910 – an offer which was taken up. There was The Roberts Badge, one of the two oldest SMRC medals was designed by Lilian Hamilton, Sir Ian’s only a short delay before the Scottish Miniature Rifle Association (SMRA) was born. sister-in-law who was married to his younger brother Vereker. The Roberts bust remains in use to this day as it is on one side of the medals used in the Queen Alexandra’s Cup competition, and the seated angel is on one side of the winner’s medals for the Dewar International Match. England were the first winners of the Ian Hamilton Cup and are also the current holders, The Pullar Challenge Targe having won for the last three years. England’s most successful period was a string of 15 wins in a row from 1950 to 1964. However, Scotland have also and more recently had their period of dominance, winning nine times in 10 years from 2006 to 2015, the series only The Targe was presented to the SMRC by Mr Herbert S Pullar, a being interrupted by England at Dumfries in 2012. director of the Pullar Dye Works, the largest employer in Perth. Mr Pullar was also closely involved with shooting organisations in Perth, being a Patron of the Perth & District Civilian RC and The Patriotic Challenge Shield No. 6 Vice-President of the Perth City & County RC and also involved with the Bridge of Earn club. At the Perth Meeting Mr Pullar There were six such shields, all of which were first contested as acted as the Chief Range Officer. His generosity continued for a individual competitions at the first (and only) meeting organised number of years in sponsoring the cash prizes in the competition by The Patriotic Society at the Royal Horticultural Society’s as well as the specially-designed medals which were produced Hall, Westminster on 24th and 25th June 1908. The Patriotic Herbert Pullar, the donor of in gold (assumed to be 9ct), silver and bronze. Society was the brainchild of Major-General Charles Luard, the Targe who was the founding father of the SMRC. General Luard had ideas on the development of competitive shooting which were At the time, Mr Pullar informed the SMRC, “a targe is somewhat adrift of those of his SMRC colleagues, and this was simply a form of shield which was worn by clansmen exhibited in his choice of competitions for the June meeting, on the left arm, and had two leather slings at the back which included shooting with magazine and automatic rifles at which distinguished it from the round Oriental shields. scaled-down targets representing the head and shoulders of a Patriotic Shield Original targes are now [i.e. over a century ago] very man at 500 yards. The meeting was not very well supported. difficult to get, in fact much more so than even two- The Luard family was struck by tragedy in late August 1908 with the murder of the General’s handed claymores, as the wood or leather of which they wife, closely followed by his own death a few weeks later. As a result the Patriotic Society were composed has been affected much more by time quickly folded and all six shields were passed on to the SMRC. They were next used in 1909 than the steel itself.” Mr Pullar considered that it would at SMRC meetings, all for club team events which were contested at the four meetings be more appropriate as a Scottish rifle shooting trophy held outside London – two shields each at Newcastle and Market Rasen, one at Buxton than a shield of the ordinary shape. In design the silver and Shield No. 6 coming to the Scottish Meeting in Perth. There it was won by Perth City & shield follows closely an old Jacobite targe. The body is County “B” team in the Sharpshooter Competition, a disc-breaking match at 100 yards. of walnut, 15 inches in diameter and covered with silver The Pullar Targe bosses in geometrical figures, and triangular plates are This was the only time that the No. 6 shield appeared in the programme of a Scottish arranged at intervals to carry the winners’ names. The large round centre forms a handsome Meeting. It was contested at SMRC Regional Meetings in England until 1914, then between piece of silver work on which rests a wreath of thistles with a garter bearing an inscription. the wars it was awarded to the winners of the London League Division 1, and from 1925 in In the centre are two finely modelled riflemen in repoussé work. The targe was designed and one of the divisions of the National League. It was destroyed in the blitz and was not replaced. manufactured by Messrs R F Macaulay & Co, art dealers, Perth. That is not to say that 1909 was the only Scottish Meeting to have been graced by the presence of one of these magnificent shields. The Targe has always been awarded for a club team In fact all six have been contested north of the border and only competition open only to clubs in Scotland. For the the No.5 shield has not been in the programme of a subsequent competition at Perth, the medals for the leading teams appear meeting held in Perth. The greatest Scottish connection is with to have been a mixture of the Roberts Badge and the SMRC the No. 1 shield, which did survive the war and has been the Maltese Cross. However within a very short period, almost trophy attached to the Scottish Meeting County Sextette since the certainly from 1910, a new special badge was given. This competition was inaugurated at Stonehaven in 1931 – a continuous was of a design that did not refer to rifles, either in words or run of 81 contests over 88 years. The No. 2 shield is also now in the design, beyond using the initials “SMRA”. It is therefore permanently based at the Scottish meeting as the trophy for the not immediately apparent that it is a shooting medal linked to Sharpshooter competition. The special medal for the Pullar the SMRC. Only one of these badges is known to the NSRA, The County Sextette Targe competition in use before being an unengraved bronze example. Fortunately it was part Medal, in use since 1931 World War I of a small group of medals including an NRA Donegall Badge engraved with the name of Frank Potter of Montrose RC, who was a member of the Pullar Sir John A Dewar’s Challenge Cup [later the Lord Forteviot Cup] Targe Bronze Badge-winning team in 1913. The name of Dewar is a familiar one to small-bore rifle shooters Unlike most trophies held by the SMRC both before and after at home and abroad, not only as shorthand for the course of fire World War II, the Targe continued to be contested annually of 20 shots at each of 50 yards/50 metres and 100 yards, but throughout the war. This was possible because the West of also for the trophies given to the shooting sports. For the SMRC/ Scotland Rifle Association kindly allowed the competition to NSRA the most significant is that given by Sir Thomas Robert be shot at its annual meetings, which were not interrupted by Dewar (elevated to the peerage as 1st Baron Dewar in 1919) for hostilities. During the war years and on into the early 1950s, the International Match between Great Britain, the United States the SMRC/NSRA had great difficulty in sourcing medals for its and countries of the Empire/Commonwealth. Less well known competition awards. A few medals from the SMRC’s special dies these days is the cup given in 1909 by Sir John A Dewar, Sir did continue to be available, but for most it was a case of using Thomas’s elder brother, and first contested at the Perth Meeting. anything suitable that was available from commercial sources. It Sir John A Dewar, This current unfamiliarity can be put down to the fact that the title later Lord Forteviot The medal for the Pullar is accordingly suspected that the Pullar Targe holds the record as of the trophy was changed in the mid-1920s to the Lord Forteviot Targe from between the the SMRC/NSRA competition which has had the most medals of 1920s and 1930s Cup, Sir John having been elevated to the peerage with that title on ceasing to be the different designs used over its lifetime. Member of Parliament for Inverness-shire. 2019 marks a particular milestone for the Targe. The Scottish meetings resumed after the John and Thomas were respectively the fourth and last of the seven sons of John Dewar, the Great War in 1920 at Glasgow and the Targe has been contested every year since then. founder of the Scotch whisky distillery company, and they took over the running of the firm Thus 2019 will be the 100th consecutive annual competition without a break. This run is on the death of their father. only exceeded by that of the News of the World Cup, currently the trophy of the British Postal Club Team-of-Six Rifle Championship. This started its run in 1911, although the present cup The original cup was destroyed in 1941 and replaced by the 2nd Lord Forteviot in late is the second to have been used, provided by the proprietors of the News of the World in 1946, shortly before his death in 1947. 1942 to replace the original, another of those lost at Codrington House the year before. For the Perth Meeting in 1909, the cup was won by the Midland Railway (Derby) team over The notes above on the Pullar Targe present a story with a rounded and complete feel to it, a 50 yard skirmisher course. This involved one minute’s firing at a target representing the from its first outing at Perth in 1909, having been presented by the prime local organiser head and shoulders of a man at 500 yards (reduced to scale) on a natural background. and Chief Range Officer of that meeting, to its completion of 100 consecutive annual Rifles in this competition had to be fitted with military sights and orthoptic spectacles were competitions in 2019. But one important and perhaps surprising fact has not yet been not permitted. mentioned – 1909 was NOT the first competition for the Targe. In fact Mr Pullar presented it The competition now is over a more familiar course of 40 shots per team member at 50 for its first competition in 1908 at an event that was not organised by the SMRC. metres, and it is fired concurrently with Competition 4 of the Aggregate. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries a major form of entertainment and education for the masses, and of promotion of the arts, sciences and industry, were the gigantic The Dominion Challenge Cup exhibitions mounted around the country, each normally lasting several months. These The Dominion Challenge Cup was presented to the SMRC by Messrs Buck and Co, included events from Prince Albert’s Great Exhibition of 1851 to the Festival of Britain held ammunition manufacturers. It was one of the three trophies at the Perth Meeting which had 100 years later. In 1908 the Scottish National Exhibition was held from 1st May to 31st been presented to the SMRC in 1903 and first contested at the Crystal Palace Meeting, the October at Saughton Park, Edinburgh and was visited by almost 3.5 million people. Many of others being the Longstaff and the Earl Grey. Little is known about the Dominion except that the exhibitions in the early 20th century had miniature rifle ranges as one of the attractions, in both design and size it is very reminiscent of the Earl Roberts Memorial Trophy, the current and Edinburgh was no different. And on 1st to 3rd October there was a competition for British Long Range Championship. teams of six representing Scottish clubs affiliated to either the SMRC or the NRA. At the Perth Meeting it was awarded for the 25 yard competition in the Championship and The competition attracted 18 entries, one of the competition conditions being that a was won by N V Moore of Midland Railway (Derby) with an HPS of 100. In most other years team could not include more than three shooters who belonged to the Territorial Army. it was an individual competition at one of the meetings and was contested all over the British The shooting distance was 25 yards, with seven shots at each of two targets representing Isles, including six more times in Scotland (including the 1922 Perth Meeting), as well as 200 and 500 yards, for a highest possible team score of 420. The honour of winning twice in Belfast, once at Porthcawl and once at Douglas in the Isle of Man. this inaugural competition for the Targe went to Guardbridge with a score of 368, closely followed by Perth on 366 and the Edinburgh Citizens B Team with 363. The cup was destroyed by enemy action in 1941and not replaced. The Longstaff Challenge Cup Despite the junior competition at the Perth Meeting being only the sixth contest for the cup, in other circumstances The Longstaff Challenge Cup was presented in 1903 by Lt-Col it might not have been available for the purpose. It was Llewellyn Wood Longstaff, an English industrialist and Fellow of the not unusual for challenge trophies donated around Royal Geographical Society. Col. Longstaff is perhaps most noted as this time to come with a condition that it would be won being the principal private-sector patron of Scott’s expedition to the outright and retained in perpetuity by a person who won Antarctic and he donated a significant part of the money to build the it a total of five times, or three times in a row. The latter RSS Discovery. circumstance applied in the case of the Earl Grey Cup as Little detail of the cup is known beyond the picture of it that appeared Edgar Dent Schacht of Blackheath School Cadet Corps on the front page of The Rifleman in January 1914. It was destroyed in won it in 1904 at the London Meeting at Olympia, in 1941 and not replaced. 1905 at Newcastle and in 1907 at Liverpool (the cup was not contested in 1906). It is not known if there was such At the Perth Meeting it was given for the 50 yard competition in the The Longstaff Cup as condition attached to the Earl Grey Cup, but even if Championship when it was also won by N V Moore. there was Schacht clearly chose not to invoke it, and the cup continued to be used for its original purpose, which The New Zealand Challenge Shield it did for a further 30 years. The picture shows Schacht Edgar Schacht, three-time winner of in 1907, then aged 16 years and eight months, with the the Earl Grey Cup The original shield was presented to the SMRC in 1906 by Mr three silver SMRC Maltese Crosses he won in the Earl Douglas McLean of Maraekakaha, Napier, New Zealand. It Grey competitions on his arm. Schacht was the first person to win an SMRC individual trophy was a 24-inch tall shield made of a mottled New Zealand wood three times in a row. known as the Pacific Kauri (Agathis macrophylla), with a silver decorative plate. This depicted a range scene in the centre The 2019 Scottish Meeting Junior Championship will be for The Rucker Challenge Trophy. surrounded with a combination of Maori and British weapons This was presented to the SMRC in 1903 by Alderman J B Rucker, and its first competition and symbols including a Maori chieftain’s head, a hei-tiki (an was, like the Earl Grey Cup, for juniors at the first SMRC meeting at Crystal Palace that year. ornamental pendant) and also featured a slab of New Zealand It has been a cup for a junior competition throughout its 116 years with the SMRC/NSRA. greenstone. The shield was made by Frank Hyams Ltd of New Bond Street, London and late of Dunedin, New Zealand, and was destroyed by enemy action in 1941. Major Trophies added to the Scottish Meeting in later years The original New Zealand Shield A replacement shield was presented to the NSRA in March 1948 by the High Commissioner, The Rt Hon William Jordan, on behalf of the New Zealand Government and was even taller than the original. This was The Earl Haig Memorial Challenge Trophy first contested at the 1950 Scottish Meeting in Glasgow, since when it has been permanently The death of Field Marshal Lord Roberts VC in 1914 left the SMRC without a President and based at the Scottish Meeting as a club team competition at 100 yards open to any club with the Great War in progress, nothing was done immediately to appoint a successor. It was affiliated to the NSRA. not until1917 that the Presidency was offered to Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, later Earl Haig, and he held the position until his death in January 1928. The Earl Grey Challenge Cup The Dewars and Earl Haig carried out their main public service in different spheres – Presented to the SMRC in 1903 by Captain The Rt Hon Earl Grey, then Lord Lieutenant of the Dewars in politics and Earl Haig in the armed forces. However they were connected in Northumberland and later the 9th Governor-General of Canada (1904 to 1911). more than just their Scottish birth – both their fathers established whisky distilling companies The cup was destroyed in 1941 and not replaced. bearing their family names; John A Dewar & Sons and John Haig & Co. Throughout its time it was a trophy for competitions for juniors. The SMRC’s first meeting There was a long delay between the death of Lord Roberts and the acquisition of a trophy as at Crystal Palace was opened by General Sir Ian Hamilton with Earl Grey in support. At a memorial to him in 1923. This trophy became the British Championship, the donors being this meeting Earl Grey’s cup was for teams of five from School and Cadet Corps, won by Messrs. Vickers, the rifle manufacturers. There was no similar delay in respect of Earl Haig. Whitgift Grammar School CC, but thereafter it became an individual event for competitors The Earl’s obituary appeared in The Rifleman edition of February 1928 and seven pages aged under 18. later in the same edition there was the following in the “Notes and Comments” column. “The suggestion has emanated from one of our Scottish clubs that Meeting as a team match restricted to Scottish clubs, although the other conditions have the SMRC should perpetuate the memory of their late president, Field developed over the years into its current format of an unsquadded match at 100 yards for Marshal Earl Haig, by Memorial Competitions, one in Scotland and club teams-of-three. the other for the rest of Great Britain, or alternatively for the whole of The first competition at Stonehaven in 1931 also saw ICI Great Britain. The offer of a generous donation towards a trophy for providing new specially-designed medals, which were awarded Scotland accompanies the suggestion, and it is felt that as other parts in sterling silver and bronze to the winners and runners-up of the country would welcome such an idea it is advisable to call respectively. These medals were used throughout the 1930s for for comments from our readers, who might like to support such the competitions they sponsored at various SMRC meetings, a memorial.” Earl Haig Trophy including the Scottish and Bisley meetings and the Indoor meeting at Alexandra Palace. Some of them were individual competitions, By the following month the SMRC Executive Committee had referred the matter to the for which the winner received the medal in 9ct gold. Despite Scottish Advisory Committee to consider when they met during the 1928 Scottish Meeting being awarded at 31 SMRC meetings between 1931 and 1939, in Montrose. This then led on to the decision to have a competition for a Scottish Individual only 205 such medals were issued, so they are quite a scarce find Champion to be run along similar lines to the Roberts, but held at the Scottish Meeting of in the medal collector’s market. the year. No doubt the Scots take pleasure in the knowledge that the Scottish was the first Within this total of 205 medals, there were only 27 gold ones. Individual Home Country Championship in this format, the English equivalent for the Royal The special ICI Medal used There were a significant number of leading shooters in the 1930s Society of St George Trophy not being introduced until 1938, and the Welsh and Northern in the 1930s who went to meetings all over the country, so it is perhaps a little Irish versions in 1947 and 1950 respectively. against the odds that no person won two of the gold medals. It might have happened but The competition commenced in 1929 at Dunoon, the inaugural winner being J D Nicoll of for an employment issue. Arthur Traies, who went on to be NSRA Chairman in the early Pitlochry. He also won the Championship in 1941 and 1943, whilst in the intervening year 1960s, shot in many of the ICI competitions and finished in first place twice. However as he it was won by his son A J Nicoll. Another family triumph belonged to the McKenzies, Jim was an employee of ICI he withdrew from the prize list and the relevant medals and cash winning in 1938 and his wife Ella in 1954. With this win Ella became the first woman to win passed further down the line. The most successful amasser of ICI medals was W Man of one of the Home Country Championships, the first English success coming to Val Hills of St Guardbridge with a gold, four silver and two bronze. Nicholas four years later. Ella McKenzie is also one of only six shooters who have mounted a successful defence of The Nobel Challenge Statuette and the McQueen Challenge Trophy the Haig, winning it in 1957 and 1958. The first to do so was A A Smith of Glasgow Police (1947, 48), the others being Alister (Jock) Allan (1973, 74), Cyril de Jonckheere (1979, 80), These two trophies have between them served as the awards for the highest class of the R R Simpson (1981, 82) and Jim Cole-Hamilton (2007, 08 and the reigning Champion of Scottish Meeting Aggregate since 1950, and they have therefore seen a period of great 2018). However the ultimate performance is that of Jock Allan, as he also notched up four stability in the use of trophies. This is in marked contrast to the 20 years from 1920 to 1939 wins in a row from 1967 to 1970, no doubt an important precursor to his Olympic Games when the winner was presented with one of eight different trophies – the Duke of Westminster and World and European Championship successes in later years. being used on seven occasions, the Sir Power Palmer and the Oxo four times each, and the remaining five trophies only once each. I.C.I. (Scottish) Challenge Cup From 1950 the top group was Class A, and from then to the present day the winner of this class has received the Nobel Challenge Statuette. Originally presented to the SMRC Imperial Chemical Industries was in its time the largest manufacturing company in Britain. in 1927, it was one of the Bisley trophies up to 1949 with the exception of a trip to the Founded in 1926, it was formed by the merger of several existing companies including Hastings Meeting of 1931, and to the Ham and Petersham Meetings when Bisley could not Nobel Explosives and was therefore a major player in the .22 ammunition market. It be used in 1939 and 1946. continued Nobel’s practice of sponsoring target shooting with the provision, inter alia, of trophies and cash prizes for competitions at meetings. The new elite group of Class X made its debut at the Bisley Meeting of 1970, and was brought into the Scottish programme for the 1972 meeting at Galashiels. For the Scottish In 1931 ICI presented a cup to be awarded in a new club team-of-four competition at the Meeting Class X Aggregate the NSRA received a new donation, the McQueen Challenge Scottish Meeting, open only to Scottish clubs and shot concurrently with the existing Nobel Trophy, appropriately given by John McQueen & Son Ltd, the SMRC/NSRA’s long-time target Competition, which was an individual single-entry competition fired through the ranges (i.e. suppliers based in Galashiels. 10 shots at each of 25, 50 and 100 yards). Since then the cup has remained at the Scottish A few of the most successful shooters In the paragraphs opposite one name appears with such regularity it will not come as a surprise that this There are many notable shooters to whom reference could be made. For example Geoff individual achievedTHE the ultimate PERFECT performance, which Doe, the NSRA’s former Director of Shooting, who holds the record for having won the Chas might be termed the Grand Slam. In just seven weeks R E Bell Trophy at five Scottish Meetings between 1974 and 1984, as well as twice at Bisley in 1992 JohnSCOTTISH Oliphant won the BORDERSScottish Aggregate in 1971 and 1987. However, for reasons of brevity, perhaps this section should be confined and the Haig at Lauder, and then completed the rout to outstanding performances in a single year. with the Aggregate andLOCATION Roberts at Bisley. Typically for the Scottish Meeting there was a period at this Shooters qualified for England, Scotland, Wales and Jersey have two national long-range Lauder Meeting when conditions made high scoring prone-rifle Championships open to them at NSRA National Meetings, the British (the difficult and he was well down on the prize winners Roberts) and that of their particular Home Country. The English, Welsh and Jersey titles in the 100-yard course. His score of 377, compared are shot at Bisley concurrently with the British Championship, so whoever wins the Roberts John Oliphant having just completed with the winner’s 388, left him one competition short automatically receives their appropriate Home Country title as well. But for the Scots this his final card in the Earl Roberts Final is of a clean sweep because he did win the other three double is harder as they need to win the British title at Bisley and the Scottish title at the congratulated by Jon Stern, the 1990 Roberts winner. shoots in the Aggregate. However the Scottish Clean Scottish Meeting. That the Roberts/Haig double in the same year has been achieved only Sweep was done two years earlier by another Scottish three times in 90 years is testament to the difficulty of the feat. The most recent case was exile, Bill Murray of EU Alumni, who in 1990 was working at Lord Roberts House as the over a quarter of a century ago, in 1992 by John Oliphant (of whom more later). The other NSRA’s Coaching Manager. Murray’s win of all four of its constituent competitions gave him two occasions where in a period of just three years by two of the great Scottish pre-war a comfortable win in the Aggregate at Strathpeffer with a score of 1559 ex 1600, against shooters, J G Proudfoot of Edinburgh Citizens in 1936, and Jim McKenzie of Perth City & the runner-up’s 1538. The runner-up was Murray’s clubmate, Gordon Winch who at least County in 1938. had the satisfaction of winning the Haig. Another major double only open to Scots is the Haig plus the Brian Woodall Scottish Meeting Aggregate and the four people who have done it comprise a nicely rounded group of a Scottish resident, an RELAXING ACCOMMODATION exile, a lady and a junior. The first in 1958 was the lady (also a Scottish resident), being Ella McKenzie, Jim’s wife, who was by then shooting for Dundee & Strathmore. John Oliphant, the exile shooting at Basildon, was next in 1992, followed in 2000 by Jonathan Hammond of Bon Accord, the 1998 World Junior The Scottish Borders Guide Champion, shooting in what was his last year as a junior. The last to join this exclusive band was Ken Greenaway of St Andrews as https://www.scotlandinfo.eu/scottish-borders/ recently as 2016.
The double of the Scottish and Bisley Aggregates in the same Jonathan Hammond, year requires the good fortune to avoid any even slightly below- the 1998 Junior World par shoots over two long and keenly-contested competitions. Champion who started The first time it occurred was in 1921 when A Wright of Falkirk his shooting career at Ardvreck School. Lord Roberts, won the Scottish Aggregate at Barry. To be accurate this was not a Scottish/Bisley double, as the SMRC’s first meeting at Bisley was not held until the following year, but Wright did win the Aggregate at the 1921 London Meeting at Ham & Petersham, then the equivalent of the Bisley Meeting. The other two shooters to collect both Aggregate trophies were Cliff Ogle of EU (Edinburgh University) Alumni in 1989 and John Oliphant in 1992. With Wright being Scottish, Oliphant being a Scot resident in England and Ogle qualified for Northern Ireland, though living in Scotland, this challenge still remains open for an Englishman or Welshman to conquer for the first time.
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MELROSE SCOTTISH BORDERS TD6 9PL 01896 822285 [email protected] www.burtshotel.co.uk List of Venues of the Scottish Meetings Earl Haig Winners
Aberdeen 1927, 1936, 1949, 1954, 1962, 1970, 1982 1929 J Nicoll, Pitlochry 1974 A M Allan, Maidenhead Arbroath 1939, 1961, 1998 1930 J Purves, Edinburgh Citizens 1975 J E Scobie, Falkirk Lord Roberts 1931 J Eddie, Arbroath 1976 J N Knowles, Ardeer Aviemore 1974 1932 W Walker, Bon Accord 1977 A McConnell, Redcraig Ayr 1938, 1960, 1965 1933 W Ferrier, Arbroath 1978 H Milne, Bon Accord Barry 1921 1934 T Bury, Renfield 1979 C G de Jonckheere, Bon Accord Berwick 1956, 1964 1935 W Mitchell, Greenock 1980 C G de Jonckheere, Bon Accord 1936 J Proudfoot, Edinburgh Citizens 1981 R R Simpson, Greenock Blair Atholl 1963, 1971, 1984 1937 W Mann, Guardbridge 1982 R R Simpson, Greenock Blairgowrie 1993, 1997 1938 J McKenzie, Perth City & County 1983 H Milne, Bon Accord Carnoustie 1957, 1967 1939 T Walker, Kinross & Milnathort 1984 Mrs A M Hamilton, Eastfield Castletown 2005, 2006, 2011 1940 A Smith, Glasgow Police 1985 G J B Winch, Edinburgh University Dumbarton 1969, 1973 1941 J Nicol, Perth City & County 1986 W Moonie, Stirling Royal Infirmary 1942 A Nicol, Perth City & County 1987 W Low, Edinburgh University Dumfries 1977, 1991, 2008, 2012 1943 J Nicol, Perth City & County 1988 I Shanks, Bon Accord Dundee 1913, 1945 1944 S Borthwick, Glasgow Police 1989 W G Gibbon, Balerno & Currie Dunfermline 1933 1945 J Proudfoot, Edinburgh Citizens 1990 G J B Winch, EU Alumni Dunoon 1929 1946 J Young, Portlethen 1991 W H J Mitchell, Bon Accord Edinburgh 1910, 1912, 1924, 1925, 1946, 1952, 1976, 1980 1947 A Smith, Glasgow Police 1992 J D A Oliphant, Basildon 1948 A Smith, Glasgow Police 1993 G J B Winch, EU Alumni Forres 1996, 1999, 2003, 2009 1949 A Leighton, Hampton 1994 W J Long, Steeple Fort William 2000, 2004 1950 R Ramsey, Irvine 1995 H Simpson, Wick Old Stagers Galashiels 1972 1951 W Bain, Wick Old Stagers 1996 D W Garrow, Dallas Glasgow 1911, 1920, 1950, 1953 1952 A Nicol, Perth City & County 1997 A S Bruce, Alloa & District 1953 C Glen, Irvine 1998 W M J Cole-Hamilton, Bon Accord Grantown-on-Spey 1958 1954 Mrs E McKenzie, Dundee & Strathmore 1999 C G de Jonckheere, Bon Accord Inverness 1926, 1978 1955 T Band, Perth City & County 2000 J Hammond, Bon Accord Irvine 1987 1956 A Smith, Glasgow Police 2001 M Sinclair, EU Alumni Larbert 1923 1957 Mrs E McKenzie, Dundee & Strathmore 2002 J Mudie, Andover Largs 1932, 1948 1958 Mrs E McKenzie, Dundee & Strathmore 2003 J Hammond, Bon Accord 1959 W Smillie, Falkirk Lord Roberts 2004 N Stirton, Bon Accord Lauder 1986, 1989, 1992, 1995, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 1960 G Russell, Watford & District 2005 Mrs S M Jackson, Watsonians Montrose 1928, 1951 1961 H Duncan, P I Montrose 2006 W A Copland, Banff & Macduff Nairn 1966 1962 W Beattie, Dundee & Strathmore 2007 W M J Cole-Hamilton, Bon Accord Oban 1934 1963 A Gordon, Bon Accord 2008 W M J Cole-Hamilton, Bon Accord 1964 T Kidd, Steeple 2009 M J Ozmond, Alloa & District Peebles 1937 1965 Miss S Watt, Bon Accord 2010 Mrs S Sharp, Bon Accord Perth 1909, 1914, 1922, 1947 1966 J E Scobie, City of Glasgow 2011 A S Bruce, Alloa & District St Andrews 1935, 1955, 1979, 1983, 1985 1967 A M Allan, Maidenhead 2012 Miss E J Cole-Hamilton, Bon Accord Selkirk 1968 1968 A M Allan, Maidenhead 2013 T F Hodgson, Dumfries Stirling 1930, 1959, 1975, 1981 1969 A M Allan, Maidenhead 2014 W A Copland, Banff & Macduff 1970 A M Allan, Maidenhead 2015 Mrs S M Jackson, Watsonians Stonehaven 1931 1971 P Shand, Bon Accord 2016 K Greenaway, St Andrews Strathpeffer 1990 1972 C M Y Trotter, Guernsey 2017 Mrs S Sharp, Bon Accord Tain 1994 1973 A M Allan, Maidenhead 2018 W M J Cole-Hamilton, Bon Accord
Wick 1988 Thank you to Lothian SSA for compiling this record. In 2018 it was the excessive heat whilst at Aviemore in 1974 you could be breaking ice in Ian Gray Reminiscences the puddles on your way to change targets. More recently shooters will remember a very muddy Lauder, when it was held away from Thirlestane Castle, followed a couple of years Memories of the Scottish Rifle Meetings later in Dumfries where I think it was the only time that you got as wet on the firing point as elsewhere on the range. In contrast it was very dry at Fort William in 2000 and 2004 and Ian Gray writes that he has been one of the shooters’ cars were easily recognisable off the range as they were covered in dust since the competitors with the highest number of attendances range was a couple of miles up a dusty forestry commission. at 52 out of 57 since 1961 more than half of all the meetings (the 2001 Scottish was cancelled due to In 2004 shooting was suspended for more than a the foot and mouth epidemic). His reminiscences are detail when the forestry commission had to move reproduced here. one of their large machines down the road and cars not in the car park had to be moved off “My first Scottish was at Arbroath in 1961 when I was a the track. very inexperienced shooter; I must have enjoyed it as I have kept coming back. Possibly one of the things that Wind has often been a problem and usually only enticed me was that all competitors were to be given affects shooting conditions but there have been an embroidered cloth badge to celebrate the diamond times when it was more serious. At Blairgowrie in jubilee of the NSRA. 1997 the wind was so strong that it blew the steel Ian being presented by the Chairman of butt plates down which caused the loss of a whole days shooting. How the large marquees I cannot remember very much about that first meeting Perth & Kinross Sports Council with the stood up I don’t know as the main support poles were being lifted off the floor of the tent. NSRA Bronze Award in 2016. Ian was a but there was no such thing as the three card system, member of Perth City & County for you only had one ten bull card up at a time either it over 50 years. His present club is There were some wonderful settings, as well as challenges, as the range moved around Kinross & Milnathort. was a practice card or a competition card, there was Scotland and at Tain in 1994 the firing point and targets were on the side of a hill with one no sighting diagrams as such. end of the range considerably higher than the other. As the firing point was on fairly rough The procedure if I remember correctly was that you gave your card to the person changing ground there were heaps of soil provided so the targets who went down the range for you. You were only allowed to shoot ten rounds at that you could fill in some of the unevenness the single card in front of you and to comply with this ruling there were ammo boxes on sale of your firing point and yet some still which, although holding 50 rounds, only had one block of ten showing. These boxes are complain about Lauder. still available and are convenient when shooting at 100 yards when you might have a group There is obviously a lot of work in setting up where you cannot easily see every shot. a new range each year and on one of the At that Arbroath meeting you shot less than you do currently in the squadded aggregate and few occasions I did not attend in Edinburgh shooting was at 25, 50 and 100 yards as we had not gone metric then. Squadding at the 1980 there was a major blunder when the Scottish had not been introduced and finding a firing point was a free for all! 100 yard targets were erected at 90 yards and this was noticed too late to rectify. I think the weather played an important part in the introduction of squadding. For a number of years the “Earl Haig” was shot on the Wednesday and most of those not in the Haig For my first meeting in 1961 the entry fee for left the range free for those who were but at Nairn in 1966 it was very windy the first few the aggregate was £1 7s 6d in real money days which meant that a lot of shooters who would not normally have been on the range or £1.37½p in today’s decimal currency. on the Wednesday turned up that day. The wind was so strong that it even blew one of the Tenex cost 12s 6d (62½p) per 100 and marquees down. A couple of years earlier, at Berwick, the weather also played havoc with ICI 100, now called Eley Match cost 9s 6d the shooting and this time it was fog. Some form of squadding was introduced reducing the (47½p). Individual membership of the NSRA number of consecutive details you could have and with bookings for the afternoon session was only 7s 6d (37½p) per year. not available until lunchtime. The winner of Class A won a BSA Mk3, quite A local printer was given an emergency job to print booking cards and if I remember a prize in those days (there was no Class X at correctly, the international matches were reduced to 50 yards only due to the fog. the time).” For all the years I have been at the Scottish the weather has always been a challenge. Overview of Competition Please refer to the Key below.
Detail Saturday Detail Sunday Detail Monday Detail Tuesday Detail Wednesday Detail Thursday Detail Friday 50m 50m 50m 50m 4 C 50m 9.00 31 51 71 91 111 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds 5 D 100 Yds
50m 8 A 50m 2 B 50m 2 A 50m 4 C 50m 4 X 50m H/C 9.35 32 52 72 92 112 132 100 Yds 8 X 100 Yds 3 C 100 Yds 3 X 100 Yds 5 D 100 Yds 5 A 100 Yds
50m 8C & D 50m 2 B 50m 2 A 50m 50m 4 X 50m 10.10 33 53 73 93 113 133 100 Yds 8 B 100 Yds 3 C 100 Yds 3 X 100 Yds 5 D 100 Yds 5 A 100 Yds H/C
50m 50m 8 X 50m 2 B 50m 2 A 50m 50m 50m 10.45 12 34 54 74 94 114 134 100 Yds 100 Yds 8 A 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds 5 B 100 Yds 5 A 100 Yds H/C
50m 50m 8 B 50m 2 D 50m 50m 50m 11.20 13 35 55 75 95 115 100 Yds 100 Yds 8 C & D 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds 5 B 100 Yds
50m 50m 50m 2 D 50m 50m 50m 11.55 14 36 56 76 96 116 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds 5 B 100 Yds
50m 2 D 50m 50m 50m 12.30 - - 57 77 - 117 137 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds EH
50m 13.05 ------138 100 Yds EH
50m 50m EH SQ 1 50m 4 D 50m 13.40 17 39 - - 100 - 139 100 Yds 100 Yds EH SQ 2 100 Yds 5 C 100 Yds EH
50m 7 X 50m 50m 2 C 50m 2 X 50m 4 D 50m 4 A 14.15 18 40 60 80 101 120 100 Yds 7 A 100 Yds 100 Yds 3 B 100 Yds 3 A 100 Yds 5 C 100 Yds 5 X
50m 7 B 50m EH SQ 2 50m 2 C 50m 2 X 50m 4 B 50m 4 A 14.50 19 41 61 81 102 121 100 Yds 7 C & D 100 Yds EH SQ 1 100 Yds 3 B 100 Yds 3 A 100 Yds 5 C 100 Yds 5 X
50m 7 A 50m 50m 2 C 50m 2 X 50m 4 B 50m 15.25 20 42 62 82 103 122 100 Yds 7 X 100 Yds 100 Yds 3 D 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds 5 X
50m 7 C & D 50m 50m 50m 50m 50m PRESENTATION 16.00 21 43 63 83 104 123 100 Yds 7 B 100 Yds 9 X-D 100 Yds 3D 100 Yds 100 Yds EH CoC 100 Yds
50m 50m 50m 50m 50m 50m 16.35 22 44 64 84 105 124 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds Sharpshooter 100 Yds EH CoC 100 Yds 50m 50m 9 X-D 50m 50m 50m 50m 17.10 23 45 65 85 106 125 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds 100 Yds Sharpshooter 100 Yds EH CoC 100 Yds
Key
The detail column contains the number used to identify the squad detail. Each detail lasts for 35 minutes. Each detail has targets at 50 metres and 100 yards. Any detail where squadded competitions are shot will have either a number and letter or just letters next to the target distance.
50m 7 X Denotes the squadding for Class X shooting in Competition Number 7 at 50 metres. EH SQ1 and EH SQ2 Shows the squads for the Earl Haig Scottish Championship Stage 1. EH CoC Shows the squads for the Earl Haig Champion of Champions. EH Shows the squads for the Earl Haig Final. H/C Shows the squads for the Home Countries Competition. Any detail where there are no numbers or letters next to the target distance is an "unsquadded detail" where a shooter can nominate to shoot their other competitions.
For example:
A shooter in Class B who only wants to shoot at the weekend could enter: Competition 7 (Early Birds) - Saturday. 14:50 50m Detail 19 and 16:00 100yds Detail 21 Competition 8 (Dewar) - Sunday. 10:10 100yds Detail 33 and 11:20 50m Detail 35 Competition 9 (Any Sights Squadded) - Sunday. 16:00 100yds Detail 43 and 17:10 50m Detail 45 Competition 41 (Unrestricted Dewar Competition) - Unsquadded. Select details and firing points when arriving at Stats Tent Competition 39 (Help for Heroes) - Concurrent. 10:45 50m Detail 12 and 11:55 100yds Detail 14 Stickers can be affixed to any of the squadded competitions. THE PERFECT List of Sponsors and SCOTTISH BORDERS Raffle Prize Donors LOCATION The NSRA would like to thank the following sponsors:
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