HCM 2012 proved to be a bit fraught as Wales were unable to muster a team of ten shooters to travel to Bisley.
As they could not meet the requirements of the competition, the meeting ended as a battle between the reigning champions England and the 2011 runners up, Scotland.
The results were very close and I will leave it to Colin to summarise the events of the day.
Meanwhile here are the results, details of which can be found on the NRA website:
ENGLAND total 3287 (215X)
SCOTLAND total 3263 (178X)
– a matter of 24 points representing a difference of 0.7% overall.
Not bad, but not good enough, so the Scotland team collected a Silver medal.
Below are some photos taken at the event, but only showing some prize winners who stayed behind for the ceremony.
Alan Convery, Jon Cormie and Robert J Tonner were notably successful, as will be seen from Colin’s report.
I would like to thank Colin for his hard work and dedication in completing this task which was NOT helped by the NRA neglecting to put Standard Medal positions in their results. Colin therefore had to check EVERY score against the tables in the Gallery Rifle Handbook, no mean task especially without help!
REPORT BY COLIN OSWALD, SCOTLAND GALLERY RIFLE SQUAD MANAGER.
National Gallery Rifle Championships
Bisley August 2012
17 members of the Scottish Gallery Rifle Squad attended the National Gallery Rifle Championships at Bisley.
10 members made up the Scottish Team – 5 shooting Centre Fire and 5 shooting Small Bore.
In all, the members took part in 179 individual entries ranging from Small Bore Precision to Advancing Target.
| Small Bore Team : | Centre Fire Team : | Back Up : |
| Vic BeaumontCharles Bestwick
Alan Convery Glenn Gordon Robert J Tonner
|
Jonathon CormieLeslie Kong
Chris Mclean Greg Rastall Robert Tonner
|
Iain McFadyenBill Pow
Bill Vaughan Mike Hibberd Lara Bestwick Scott Lyon Colin Oswald
|
The Home Countries Match is the Premier Competition of the Weekend and is a Shoulder to Shoulder match. The competition and pressure are intense.
Our teams acquitted themselves well, losing to England by only 24 points 3263 against 3287 equipment malfunctions accounting for the difference.
As can be seen below, all our members shot well and came away with a considerable haul of awards in a wide variety of disciplines.
Worthy of particular mention is the performance of Jonathon Cormie :
British Champion – Aggregate of Timed & Precision and Multi Target Gallery Rifle Small Bore.
The following abbreviations are used throughout :
T&P Timed & Precision GRSB Gallery Rifle Small Bore SSC Speed Steel Challenge
MT Multi Target GRCF Gallery Rifle Centre Fire Ph A Phoenix A
AT Advancing Target LBR Long Barrelled Revolver Prec. Precision
LBP Long Barrelled Pistol SG Shot Gun AM America Match
It should be noted that there are three divisions in some disciplines.
All listed below are members of the Scottish Gallery Rifle Squad.
Twenty Gold Place Medals :
Robert Tonner T&P GRSB
Vic Beaumont T&P GRCF
Greg Rastall T&P GRCF Open
Alan Convery T&P LBP
Robert J Tonner T&P LBP
Jon Cormie MT GRSB
Greg Rastall MT GRCF Open
Alan Convery MT LBP
Robert J Tonner MT LBP
Greg Rastall MT LBR
Jon Cormie MT LBR
Jon Cormie Phoenix A GRSB
Robert Tonner Phoenix A GRSB
Scott Lyon Phoenix A GRCF
Robert J Tonner MT 3 GRSB
Alan Convery AT GRSB
Jon Cormie AT GRSB
Leslie Kong AT GRCF
Alan Convery SSC GRSB
Jonathon Cormie – British Championship – Aggregate of T&P and MT GRSB British Record
Eleven Silver Place Medals :
Greg Rastall 25m Prec GRCF Open
Robert J Tonner T&P GRSB
Bill Vaughan T&P LBP
Alan Convery MT GRSB
Robert J Tonner AT GRSB
Greg Rastall AT GRCF Open
Alan Convery AT LBP
Robert J Tonner AT LBP
Bill Vaughan AT LBP
Jon Cormie AT LBR
Alan Convery SSC LBP
Thirteen Bronze Place Medals :
Bill Pow T&P GRSB
Iain McFadyen T&P GRCF
Iain McFadyen T&P LBP
Iain McFadyen MT GRCF
Mike Hibberd MT GRCF Classic
Bill Vaughan MT LBP
Chris McLean MT LBR
Greg Rastall Ph A GRCF
Robert Tonner AT GRSB
Mike Hibberd AT GRCF Classic
Leslie Kong AT LBP
Charles Bestwick AT LBP
Alan Convery British Championships Aggregate GRSB
Standard medals are awarded for scores that reach a Set High Standard. (No actual medals are given )
Twenty Gold Standard Medals :
Greg Rastall 25m Prec GRCF
Robert Tonner T&P GRSB
Vic Beaumont T&P GRCF
Alan Convery T&P LBP
Robert J Tonner T&P LBP
Robert J Tonner T&P 2 GRCF
Jon Cormie MT GRSB
Alan Convery MT GRSB
Iain McFadyen MT GRSB
Greg Rastall MT GRCF Open
Robert J Tonner MT LBP
Bill Vaughan MT LBP
Robert Tonner Ph A GRSB
Scott Lyon Ph A GRCF
Alan Convery AT GRSB
Bill Pow AT GRSB
Robert J Tonner AT LBP
Alan Convery SSC GRSB
Alan Convery SSC LBP
Iain McFadyen SSC LBP
Thirty Two Silver Standard Medals :
Charles Bestwick 25m Prec GRSB
Bill Pow 25m Prec GRSB
Colin Oswald 25m Prec GRCF
Chris McLean 25m Prec GRCF
Robert J Tonner T&P GRSB
Bill Pow T&P GRSB
Bill Vaughan T&P GRCF
Iain McFadyen T&P GRCF
Iain McFadyen T&P LBP
Bill Vaughan T&P LBP
Glenn Gordon T&P LBR
Charles Bestwick MT GRSB
Robert J Tonner MT GRSB
Bill Pow MT GRSB
Greg Rastall MT GRCF
Jon Cormie MT GRCF
Charles Bestwick MT GRCF
Leslie Kong MT LBP
Jon Cormie MT LBR
Jon Cormie Ph A GRSB
Greg Rastall Ph A GRCF
Jon Cormie AT GRSB
Leslie Kong AT GRCF
Bill Pow AT GRCF
Bill Vaughan AT GRCF
Vic Beaumont AT GRCF
Alan Convery AT LBP
Leslie Kong AT LBP
Iain McFadyen AT LBP
Bill Vaughan AT LBP
Jon Cormie AT LBR
Scott Lyon SSC GRSB
Thirty Nine Bronze Standard Medals :
Bill Pow 25m Prec GRCF
Jon Cormie 25m Prec GRCF
Greg Rastall 25m Prec GRCF Open
Chris McLean 50m GRCF
Robert Tonner AM GRSB
Bill Pow AM GRSB
Scott Lyon T&P GRSB
Jon Cormie T&P GRSB
Scott Lyon T&P GRCF
Greg Rastall T&P GRCF Open
Leslie Kong T&P LBP
Greg Rastall T&P LBR
Jon Cormie T&P LBR
Glenn Gordon T&P 2 GRCF
Glenn Gordon MT GRSB
Bill Vaughan MT GRSB
Lara Bestwick MT GRSB
Robert Tonner MT GRSB
Iain McFadyen MT GRCF
Mike Hibberd MT GRCF Classic
Charles Bestwick MT GRCF Classic
Alan Convery MT LBP
Iain McFadyen MT LBP
Chris McLean MT LBR
Scott Lyon Ph A GRSB
Jon Cormie Ph A GRCF
Robert Tonner AT GRSB
Greg Rastall AT GRCF
Charles Bestwick AT GRCF
Jon Cormie AT GRCF
Glenn Gordon AT GRCF
Iain McFadyen AT GRCF
Robert Tonner AT GRCF
Colin Oswald AT GRCF
Charles Bestwick AT LBP
Lara Bestwick AT LBP
Greg Rastall AT LBR
Iain McFadyen SSC GRSB
Alan Convery BDMP Embassy Cup SG
Home Countries Match :
1st England 3287 215 X
2nd Scotland 3263 178 x
Our Captain Charles Bestwick writes :
“The development of ‘Scotland Gallery Rifle’ as a strong force in GR-Team matches and the establishment of Scottish GR shooters as amongst the best short-action practitioners in the UK has been pretty much cemented over the last two years. However, if any further proof was needed then the array of class, overall match and National Championship wins by squad members and the strong presence of Scotland shooters in the top level placings for the T&P 1 – MT GRSB and GRCF National aggregates speaks for itself. Unfortunately our focus for the ‘Nationals’ , the Home Countries Match was subject to a dispute over the conditions under which teams can compete and this ultimately led to Wales withdrawing. This was extremely regrettable but I will not dwell on it. It happened and must be avoided in the future. Despite technical gremlins for one or two of the squad (and a near ‘John Cleese’ like moment of talking to certain misbehaving rifle), the match with England proved a very close run affair. As Robert (J) pointed out, our opponents were ‘scoping’ our scores, clearly concerned as to how close the match was proving and demonstrating how much respect and expectation there is for the performance that the squad can deliver. Ultimately the honours went to England and many congratulations are due to them, the match being conducted in a very friendly and sporting atmosphere. So, we finish 2012 as the Phoenix International Team GRCF Champions (a title we also won in 2011) and we are getting closer than ever to England in the shoulder-to-shoulder matches. It’s been quite amazing progress for the squad since the hectic rush of shooters to answer the call of the inaugural 2008 HCN Match but a constant feature has been the spirit and camaraderie of the squad and win, lose or draw, the GR Squad continues to represent Scotland with commitment and sportsmanship.”
SCOTLAND GALLERY RIFLE SQUAD AT BISLEY 08.2012
Greg Rastall collecting one of his medals from Chris Farr
Leslie Kong managed to shoot the Advancing target GRCF at last
Scott Lyon from Dundee with 2012 Nationals Champion Jon Cormie