Bill Long 1947 - 2006

18th December 2006

It is hoped that a fuller account of Bill's shooting career, and his contributions to the sport will appear in the Rifleman in due course.

Commonwealth Youth Games, 2008

18th December 2006

Membership & Winter Entry forms available

29th November 2006

Individual Membership and Club Affiliation forms are now available from the Executive Officer, along with entry forms for the winter postal competitions, Air Rifle & Pistol Grand Prix meetings and the All Ranges match next April.

Athlete Pathways available to members

29th November 2006

2005/6 members should already have a received copies of the Athlete Pathways document, which contains information on selection policies and training squads operated by the SSRA.  This document is only available to individual members and affiliated clubs - a summary for non-members is available here.

Law scrapes home in Air Rifle

21st November 2006

The 2006/7 Air Rifle & Pistol Grand Prix series kicked off last weekend at Callander.  With the remainder of the Commonwealth Games team absent, Robin Law won the Air Rifle, but was chased all the way to the end by Shirley McIntosh, winning a very low scoring match by a margin of 1.5 points.  Bruce McIntosh won the Air Pistol with a comfortable margin, Mark Joyce taking second place.

Cole-Hamilton returns to Pilsen

21st November 2006

Emma Cole-Hamilton returns to Pilsen in the Czech Republic this week, taking part in Women's Air Rifle at the Grand Prix Kooperativa as part of a GB team.

Scotland slump to defeat against North Island, New Zealand

2nd November 2006

A new record score by the Scottish team in the annual postal international against North Island was ten points off the pace, as the Kiwi's shattered the record for the match by twenty points, even exceeding their own highest score on the 1966 series targets by two points with a total of 1926.  Alasdair Horne was top scorer in the Scottish team with 398 behind New Zealand's Martin Hunt with 400 and Robbie Eastham with 399.  The Scottish Juniors performed somewhat better however, winning their match with a comfortable eight point margin.  Both junior teams exceeded the previous high-score for the match, top scorer being Robbie Eastham 399, Kay Copland the best Scot with 398.  The results are available here.

Sharp third in Lonsdale Trophy

2nd November 2006

Sheena Sharp's achievements at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year were recognised last weekend at the annual Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland awards dinner, where she took third place in the Lonsdale Trophy award for the best Scottish Sportsman or Sportswoman of 2005/6.  The event was won by swimmer Gregor Tait, who won four medals in Melbourne, with cyclist Craig McLean in second place.  All four of Scotland's Commonwealth Games shooting medallists, along with World Junior Champion Matthew Thomson and World Universities medallist Emma Cole-Hamilton were amongst the guests at the black-tie dinner, which was held at the Radisson SAS Hotel in Glasgow.

Prone Grand Prix to be added at Lauder

2nd November 2006

SSRA has agreed in principle with Scottish Southern Counties Association to hold a prone Grand Prix in addition to the regular series of five on the Saturday after the conclusion of the NSRA Scottish Meeting at Lauder, i.e. 7^th July.  This event will include the usual programme of open meeting in 4 classes with Under-21 medal, pairs and sweepstakes plus C&D Grand Prix and A&B Grand Prix with ISSF final.  Entry forms will be available soon after Christmas.

Revised Squads announced

12th October 2006

Revised A and Under 25 squads, along with newly selected B and Under 21 squads, have been announced by the SSRA.  Full details are available on the Squads & Athletes page.

McIntosh completes ISSF 'B' Certification

24th September 2006

Donald McIntosh has successfully completed the second tier of coaching qualifications offered by the ISSF Coaching Academy.  He now holds an International 'B' license, having completed the 'C' course last October.

Prone Grand Prix Series for Bruce

3rd September 2006

Neil Stirton picked up nine points at Gagie, winning the fifth and final Prone Grand Prix of 2006 ahead of Matthew Thomson and David Cummings.  Sinclair Bruce's two points were enough to give him victory in the Prone Grand Prix Series however, with Matthew Thomson in second place.  Earlier in the day Matthew had equalled the Scottish Junior Record of 596 in winning Class A of the Gagie Open - he started with a perfect 400, but dropped away across the two final strings to equal the record jointly held by Jon Hammond and Neil Stirton.  Cyril De Jonckheere was not far behind, with 594 to win Class B, with Rory McAlpine and Finlay Craig winning Classes C & D respectively.  Finlay Craig went on to win the C&D Grand Prix with an excellent 395, Rory taking second and Bruce McIntosh third.

Gold for Motion in Northern Ireland

3rd September 2006

There were two more medals for Scotland at the CSF(ED) Championships in Northern Ireland today.  Gordon Motion won the Men's Prone match, successfully defending his lead in the final from a stern challenge by Allan Lewis of Northern Ireland.  Kay Copland took the bronze in the Women's Prone, beating team mate Nicola Sammels into fourth place.  The performances of the two Scottish ladies - both still 16 - are all the more remarkable considering that the Gold and Silver medals went to 2006 Commonwealth Games medallists from Wales and England respectively!

Scottish Record for Cole-Hamilton

2nd September 2006

Emma Cole-Hamilton equalled the Scottish Women's 3x20 record of 578 at the final SSRA Grand Prix of 2006.  The original record was set by Shirley McIntosh in 1998, and the highest score shot by other Scottish shooters in the intervening years has been 573.  Graham Rudd took the 3x40 Grand Prix series for the first time, with Emma topping the 3x20 table.

Wins for Love and Copland/Sammels at CSF(ED)

updated 3rd September 2006

Graham Love and Andrew Coates took Gold and Silver in the Men's Three Positions event yesterday at the CSF(ED) Smallbore Championships in Northern Ireland, with James Paterson taking fourth.

There was further Gold Medal success today, with Kay Copland & Nicola Sammels winning the Women's Prone Pairs event.  Dave Caughey and Gordon Motion picked up Silver in the Men's Prone Pairs, with James Paterson & Charles Allan second & third respectively in the Development section of the Men's Prone.

World Champion heads for Copenhagen

2nd September 2006

Matthew Thomson is the sole Scot included in the NSRA's team to compete in the Nordic Junior Championships next week in Copenhagen.  Matthew will team up with his fellow World Championship winning team members in the Men's Prone.

Four Scots head for Pilsen

2nd September 2006

Four Scottish shooters have been included in the British Universities team to attend the International Universities Championships next week in Pilsen, CZE.  Graham Rudd competes in the Men's Prone, Three Position and Air Rifle matches, and will be joined in the Prone by James Paterson.  Heather Rudd also competes in all three events, with Emma Cole-Hamilton shooting in the Three Positions and Prone matches.

Allan secures C&D Grand Prix Series

28th August 2006

Charles Allan won the C&D Grand Prix Series with one event to spare at Denwood yesterday.  An excellent score of 396 in the final earned him nine points for the second time this year, and extended his series lead to an unassailable 12 points.  The A&B series is considerably tighter, with Sinclair Bruce earning six points yesterday to draw level with his 2002 Commonwealth Games partner Jim Cole-Hamilton on 16 points.  Gordon Motion's first ever Grand Prix win means he becomes one of seven people who could theoretically still take the title, so it is all to play for at Gagie next Sunday.

Earlier in the day there had been some steady performances in the Denwood Open, with Alasdair Horne winning Class A with 594, a single point ahead of Sinclair Bruce.  Tom Hodgson won Class B ahead of Dumfries team-mate Graham Shedden who has returned to Grand Prix shooting after a very lengthy absence.  Charles Allan had started his day well, nipping in ahead of Colin Gall to win Class C, with Pat Gray - very unfortunate to miss promotion at Bisley last week - winning Class D.

The previous day had seen Donald McIntosh win the 3x40 Grand Prix, beating Martin Sinclair's six year old Scottish standing final record by 0.1 in the process.  The 3x40 series remains a tussle between Graham Rudd and Andrew Coates, and will be settled next week Saturday at Denwood.

National Meeting Summary

28th August 2006

In addition to those results already listed, the following wins were recorded by Scottish shooters and clubs at the recent NSRA National Meeting:

Three Scots in Roberts Final

20th August 2006

Three Scottish shooters qualified for the final of the Earl Roberts British Championship at Bisley. Graham Rudd was best placed, at 12th, with Mel Mutch and Charles Allan 17th and 18th respectively.  Nicola Sammels won the "Bobs" final for competitors in Classes B, C & D, while Mel Mutch was top scorer in the Second Stage.

Scottish Teams crash at Bisley

20th August 2006

The Scottish Teams in the Home Countries Prone Internationals all fared poorly.  The Main Team, faced with an unprecedented opportunity to take the match for three consecutive years, was in the hunt after the first detail at 100 yards, but fell away badly at the shorter distance to end up in third place behind England and Wales.  The Ladies and Junior teams also struggled, the Ladies also third, with the Juniors just managing to get ahead of the Welsh for second place.  The results are available here.

Scottish Teams for CSF(ED) Championships

17th August 2006

The following team from Scotland will take part in the CSF(ED) Championships in Northern Ireland at the beginning of September:

Scottish Teams for Home Countries Prone Matches

17th August 2006

The following teams from Scotland will take part in the Home Countries Prone Matches at Bisley on Friday 18th August:

Sharp in Randle Team

17th August 2006

Sheena Sharp was the only Scottish shooter to qualify for the ten-strong GBR Randle Team, which shot their Dewar course on American targets at Bisley early this morning.  The scores are still being kept quiet while other teams complete their course of fire.

Grand Aggregate Started

14th August 2006

The Grand Agg at the NSRA National Rifle Meeting commenced today, although only the first of the two scheduled competitions was held due to the flooding on the range (additional pictures have been added to the Picture Gallery).  Sheena Sharp was top scorer, winning Class X with 395, while Rory McAlpine and Nicola Sammels won Classes B & C with 393 and 389 respectively.

McIntosh & Rudd Seeded into International Teams

14th August 2006

Donald McIntosh and Heather Rudd have been seeded into the Open and Women's teams for the Home Countries prone matches this coming Friday.  Both are present at Bisley, and have recorded scores over the weekend, but are not entered in the Aggregate and have been included under the published selection policy.

Weekend Aggregate Incomplete

13th August 2006

The Weekend Aggregate was not completed by Sunday night at Bisley.  Torrential rain and thunderstorms for most of Sunday afternoon and evening resulted in the final details being cancelled, and with unprecedented levels of flooding across Century range it is not year clear when shooting will be able to continue.  There are pictures of the range in the Picture Gallery.

Home Countries Win in 3x20 for Scotland

13th August 2006

The Scottish Women's team of Shirley McIntosh, Heather Rudd and Emma Cole-Hamilton won the 3x20 Home Countries Match for the first time this year, putting 20 points past England, with Wales in third place.  McIntosh was the top scorer in the team with 565 - good enough for fourth place individually, second amongst the British shooters.

The 3x40 team fared less well, coming in third behind first-time winners Wales, with England in second place.  Donald McIntosh was the top placed Scot in the British Championship, with 1129 earning 4th place.

Scots on top at Inter-Region Match

13th August 2006

The Individual Matches at the NSRA/Eley Inter-Region Match were all won by members of the Scottish teams.  Kay Copland started the ball rolling with a Personal Best of 588 to win the Women's Prone match.  Cliff Ogle was top score in the Men's Prone match with 587, while Graham Rudd and Heather Rudd were top scorers in the 3x40 and 3x20 respectively.  The 3x40 paid of Andrew Coates and James Paterson won their team match - the only Scottish team to do so.

Scottish Teams for Home Countries 3P Matches

8th August 2006

The following teams from Scotland will take part in the Home Countries 3P Matches at Bisley on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th August:

Scottish Teams for Inter-Region Match

4th August 2006

The following teams from Scotland will take part in the NSRA/Eley Inter-Region Match at Bisley on Friday 11th August:

Buchan and McIntosh to shoot in Junior International

4th August 2006

Gordon Buchan and Jennifer McIntosh will be the only two Scots to take part in the NSRA's annual Junior International match at Bisley, logistical difficulties having prevented other members of the SSRA's Junior Squad from attending.

World Championship for Thomson

26th July 2006

Matthew Thomson became the second Scottish shooter in the space of eight years to become the World Junior Men's Prone Champion.  Shooting as part of the British team at the ISSF World Championships in Zagreb, Matthew recorded a score of 593 in very tricky conditions to secure victory. 

Matthew also led the British team home to victory in the Junior Men's team title - Britain's first rifle team Gold for 24 years.  More details are available on the GBTSF website.

50m Championships Summary

24th July 2006

The 50m Championships held last weekend at Denwood were less well attended than in previous years, in part due to the absence of many regular competitors at the ISSF World Championships in Zagreb, but also due to the the lack of a British ranking scheme based on domestic scores being operated by either the NSRA or GBTSF this year.

Sheena Sharp was the first victor of the weekend, winning the Women's Prone title for the fourth time, with Shirley McIntosh taking second place.  The Men's 3x40 was also decided on Saturday, with Martin Sinclair producing an excellent 1157 to secure the title for the eighth time, with Graham Rudd in second place.

The Women's 3x20 was particularly badly hit by low numbers, with Emma Cole-Hamilton taking the title ahead of Shirley McIntosh.  The Men's Prone was however somewhat more competitive, Sinclair Bruce coming through from third place to take the title, with Martin Sinclair and Cliff Ogle second and third respectively.

July Grand Prix Round Up

24th July 2006

The third SSRA 50m Open and Prone Grand Prix were held on the 8th of July on the Scottish Meeting range in Castletown.  In very trying conditions, Sinclair Bruce lead the way in A Class, his 593 six points clear of Gordon Motion, with Hugh Simpson in third place a further point behind.  Things were tighter in Class B, with David Cummings beating James Henderson on countback, both with 581 - Bill Vaughan third with 580.  Colin Gall secured Class C with 582 ahead of Oliver Barron on 580 and Charles Allan on 578, while in Class D the honours went to M Mackay (566), with Findlay Craig (562) and Nick Czemerys (559) in second and third respectively.

Oliver overturned the tables on Colin in the C&D Grand Prix final, taking Gold with 387, while a set of identical scores from Charles and Colin meant the tie being broken on the number of tens fires - Charles sneaking the silver.  In the main Grand Prix final Michelle Smith was top scorer 594, and remained there after the final, ahead of Matthew Thomson and Keith Ridgway - Matthew taking the nine Grand Prix points as the highest placed eligible competitor.

With two events remaining, Jim Cole-Hamilton remains six points clear of the A&B table, with Sinclair Bruce in second place.  In the C&D section, Charles Allan has extended his lead to 9 points, with Bruce McIntosh in second place.

The third Three Positions Grand Prix event of the summer was poorly attended, with only three entries in the 3x40 and no-one in the 3x20 match.  Ronnie Sellar overcame a three point deficit to Andrew Coates in the final to take Gold.

Fundraising

added 21st July 2006

SSRA wishes to thank everyone who bought a Commonwealth Team Supporter's Fleece or Polo-shirt.  These were being sold to support the Smallbore Rifle team who travelled to Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games, and due to your generosity, SSRA was recently able to distribute a cheque to each of the eight athletes who made the trip. It was good to see so many of these items being worn at the 2006 Scottish Meeting

There are still a few poloshirts left - mainly white - if anyone wishes to buy, the money will go into SSRA general funds .

Jim Cole-Hamilton - Development Officer

Haig win for Copland

updated 12th July 2006

Bill Copland won the Scottish Long Range Prone Championship for the Haig trophy today in Castletown, ahead of Sheena Sharp and Matthew Thomson.  Matthew started well, with a two point lead over Sheena after his first card of 197, however Bill fought back with 197s for both his second and third cards while only Sheena - with 197 for her final card - could break 195. 

There was some excellent shooting in the B, C & D section, with Robin Thomson taking the honours with an excellent 586, including cards of 196 in the second and third details, while Mike Low and Kay Copland were close behind in second and third with 584 and 583 respectively - scores that would comfortably have placed them in the top four of the main final!  More details of the results are available here.

Double Win for Scottish Teams

updated 21st July 2006

Scotland won both the Main and Ladies Home Countries matches today in Castletown.  This is the first win for the Ladies in Scotland since Irvine in 1987, and also the first double win at the Scottish Meeting since then.  The scores are available here.

In a repeat of last year, there was no Junior international match as only Scotland were able to field a team.  A match was held instead between a team of five juniors and a veteran's select, with victory going to the more experienced unit by a very small margin.  Results are available here.

Results Round-Up from Castletown

12th July 2006

In addition to the results already mentioned, there were a number of other wins for Scottish shooters and clubs at the Scottish Meeting:

Scottish Teams for Home Countries Matches

6th July 2006

The following teams have been declared for tomorrow's Home Countries Matches:

Main Team Martin MacGill Gordon Motion Jim Cole-Hamilton Matthew Thomson Sinclair Bruce David Cummings Bill Copland Jim Mudie Cyril De Jonckheere Sheena Sharp Reserves: Bill Hamilton James Paterson Hugh Simpson

Ladies Team Sheena Sharp Emma Cole-Hamilton Kay Copland Mary Melvin Barbara Mackay Reserves: Chris Tighe-Ford Janis Thomson

Congratulations to David Cummings to qualifying for the team at his first Scottish Meeting.

Freuchie wins for Cole-Hamilton and McDougall

6th July 2006

Jim Cole-Hamilton won the SSRA's Freuchie competition today, beating Walter Griffin and Colin Gall in the final.  Ian McDougall won the Class C&D event for the Sgian Dhu, beating Oliver Barron and Robert Spence en route to the trophy.

Aggregate Complete for Classes X & A

6th July 2006

Classes X & A completed their Aggregate today in Castletown.  Gordon Motion and Jim Cole-Hamilton held on in tricky conditions for second and third place respectively in Class X, however the performance of the day was from Matthew Thomson who won both competitions in Class A to win the Aggregate as well.  David Cummings performed very well in his first Scottish Meeting to take third in Class A.

Aggregate Complete for Classes B, C & D

5th July 2006

Classes B, C & D completed their Aggregate today in Castletown.  Robin Thomson had an excellent day to sneak in ahead of Emma Cole-Hamilton in Class B as James Henderson and Mike Low fell away in the last match.  Oliver Barron continued his domination of Class C, winning both of today's competitions, while Gregor Bremner's 50m score pulled him clear of the field in Class D.

Aggregate Half Way Through

4th July 2006

At the half-way stage in the Aggregate competitions at the Scottish Meeting, there have been a number of Scottish successes, and Scots are well placed in each class.

MacGill seeded into Scottish Team

3rd July 2006

Martin MacGill has been seeded into the Scottish Team for the Home Countries International on Friday.  Martin is not shooting the Aggregate at the Scottish Meeting, and as such has been selected on the basis of his performances over the first weekend.

Haig Finalists

2nd July 2006

The following shooters, including five former champions, have qualified for the final of the NSRA Scottish Long Range Championship, aka "The Haig", which will be held on Friday afternoon:

Weekend Summary from Castletown

2nd July 2006

There were a considerable number of Scots in amongst the medals over the weekend competitions at the NSRA Scottish Meeting.

Three Scots in World Championship Team

26th June 2006

Three Scottish Smallbore shooters have been included in the British team for the ISSF World Championships, which will be held in Zagreb, Croatia, at the end of July.  Sheena Sharp, Neil Stirton and Matthew Thomson will compete in the Senior Women's Prone, Senior Men's Prone and Junior Men's Prone respectively.

SSRA Chairman takes Silver at British Championship

22nd June 2006

Ian Thomson, the Chairman of the SSRA, took the Silver medal in the Men's Prone at the British 50m Championships at Bisley last weekend.  A score of 590 took him into the final in equal second place, and despite three identically scoring shots of 9.4 to start, he came through to take second place.  Martin MacGill, also with a qualification round of 590, was fourth, with Gordon Motion and Bill Brown seventh and eighth.

There were Bronze medals for Scots in both of the Three Positions events - Martin Sinclair in the 3x40 and Emma Cole-Hamilton in the 3x20, with Graham Rudd fourth in the Men's event.  Emma also came close to the medals in the Women's Prone, taking fourth place with Sheena Sharp in fifth.

Rudd excels in Aberdeen

12th June 2006

Graham Rudd continued his rapid improvement in the three positions event, with a superb score, and new personal best, of 1160 at Denwood on the 3rd of June.  This performance, including a new Scottish record of 383 in the standing position and a new personal best of 385 in the kneeling position, is the highest score by a Scottish shooter for two years, and secured a comfortable win in the 3x40 match.  In the 3x20 match, Emma Cole-Hamilton and Heather Rudd made a return to competition following a post-Commonwealth Games break - Emma the winner with 558.

At Gagie on the 4th of June, as at Denwood the month before, the top score of the day came in Class B - David Cummings winning with an excellent 597.  Class A went to Gordon Motion, his 593 beating Sinclair Bruce on countback, while Charles Allan and Pat Gray won Classes C & D respectively.  There were some fairly high scores in the Grand Prix also - Jim Cole-Hamilton the eventual winner after the ten-shot final, with Martin MacGill and Tom Hodgson in second and third.  In the C&D Grand Prix Charles Allan had a one point advantage over Richard Leather and Ron Nilsen, Richard taking the silver on countback.

The third Grand Prix in the 2006 series will be held in Caithness, on the Saturday immediately following the NSRA Scottish Meeting.

Brown and Aitken on top at Ash

18th May 2006

Bill Brown and Ali Aitken were successful at the Army Target Shooting Club's open meeting last Saturday at the Ash Ranges, winning Classes X and B respectively.

Grand Prix wins for Rudd & Horne

16th May 2006

Graham Rudd marked his return to competition after the Commonwealth Games with a Personal Best score of 1148, for a comfortable win in the the first SSRA Grand Prix event of 2006.  Andrew Coates also recorded a PB, this one of 1132, to take second place, with Ronnie Sellar in third.

The Denwood Open and Prone Grand Prix also saw some high scoring - Neil Stirton winning Class A with 594 while Dave Caughey won Class B with 595!  Richard Leather finished strongly to take Class C, with Gavin Walker taking Class D.  In the Grand Prix events, Bruce McIntosh won the C&D Grand Prix from Charles Allan and Gordon Cox.  The A&B scores were high - eleven shooters on scores of 590 or more.  Alasdair Horne entered the final with a single point lead over Sinclair Bruce, and those two remained in Gold and Silver positions after the additional ten shots.  There was more drama surrounding third place, with Jim Cole-Hamilton and Neil Stirton overhauling a one point deficit on Martin MacGill and Tom Hodgson - Jim taking the Bronze.

British Universities Title for Cole-Hamilton

9th May 2006

Three Scottish shooters dominated the British Universities Championship last weekend at Appleton.  Emma Cole-Hamilton won the overall individual title, with Tom Hunter and Matthew Thomson second and third respectively.

British Short Range Title for Jackson

9th May 2006

Susan Jackson won the NSRA's British Short Range 3P Championships with a score of 573, with fellow Commonwealth Games team member Martin Sinclair in third place.

Third for Sharp in Czech Republic

8th May 2006

Sheena Sharp equalled the Scottish Record for the second time on Saturday.  Shooting in the Women's Prone at the Grand Prix of Liberation in Pilsen she recorded a score of 594 for third place in a field of well over 100 athletes.  Two days earlier, Gordon Motion had recorded his best international performance, with 593 for a share of 20th place in the Men's Prone.

English Open title for Stirton

1st May 2006

Neil Stirton returned to competition this weekend, with a solid victory in the English Open at Bisley.  Scores of 593 and 595 placed him at the top of his elimination relay yesterday, and in harder conditions today a steady 589 was three points ahead of the field.  This margin proved very useful, as an unusually erratic final reduced his lead a little, with 17 year old Ken Parr taking second place.

Horne tops list at All Ranges Match

24th April 2006

The inaugural All Ranges Match, held yesterday at Denwood, attracted a reasonable entry, although it was disappointing to see a lack of numbers in the lower classes.  Alasdair Horne was the top individual scorer, with 399 at 25 yards and 395 at 100 yards the highest scores at those distances - Donald McIntosh with 397 the top scorer at 50m.  Alasdair combined with Richard Leather to win the indoor pairs event, while Donald teamed up with Cliff Ogle to lift the the outdoor and overall pairs titles.  Watsonians won the indoor team, with Callander winning the outdoor and overall versions and Lothian winning both of the inter-region matches.  Full results will be made available as soon as they are available.

Brown wins Silver Medal

24th April 2006

Bill Brown has won Class A of the annual "Salvers" competition with a perfect score of 300, just in front of Hugh Simpson on 299.  As top score in any of the four classes, Bill also wins the SSRA Silver Medal, although it was a close-run thing, with Oliver Barron winning Class B with 299.  A re-gauge was required to determine the winner of Class C - Robert Spence coming out on top - while G Bremner won Class D.  Oliver's 299 also secured the Junior event, with Bill Hamilton winning the Veterans.

The graduated gauges were also required to split a three-way tie in the CanDicap, George Lawson taking the trophy after both the .25 and .30 gauges had been used.  Full results are available here.

Sharp & Motion head for Czech Republic

24th April 2006

Gordon Motion and Sheena Sharp return to Plzen next month to take part in the annual Grand Prix of Liberation.  This event, held as part of the celebrations to commemorate the liberation of Plzen by the US Army at the end of World War II, is a high-standard international match which normally attracts world class shooters from all over Europe and beyond.  Gordon competes in the Men's Prone, while Sheena will take part in the Women's Prone and 3x20 matches.

Prone Win for Bruce on Isle of Man

24th April 2006

Sinclair Bruce started his outdoor season with a win in the prone at the Isle of Man Easter Open.  In a low scoring match his qualification round of 589, combined with a final of 102.6 was just enough for victory - the winning margin being 0.3 points.  Sheena Sharp took third place, losing silver on a tie shot, with Matthew Thomson in fourth place.

15th April 2006

Entry forms for the SSRA's programme of events are now available - please contact the Executive Officer if you would like a paper copy, or either the Exec or Webmaster if you would like a PDF version by email (235Kb).  This package includes entry forms for the Prone Grand Prix events, the Three Positions Grand Prix Series, the Freuchie and the new All Ranges competition.  The 2006 list of classifications for the Open Meeting section of the Prone events is available here.

The All Ranges match, which will be held at Denwood on the 23rd of April, will be run in five classes and consists of twenty shots at each of 25yd, 50m and 100yds under NSRA rules and on conventional NSRA targets.  The short and long-range inter-region matches will be held concurrently, as will events for club teams of three and handicap pairs.  There will be concurrent events for women, juniors (U21 and U18) and veterans (O55).  This match has been created in response to a number of requests for the association to do more for club shooters, and we hope that it well attract a considerable entry from those who do not necessarily attend our 50m Grand Prix events, and it would make an ideal introduction to outdoor open meeting shooting to those who have not attended one before.

15th April 2006

Watsonian Rifle Club completed a remarkable run in the NSRA's British Short Range Team of Six Championship last weekend at Bedford.  Having been top scoring team in each of the three postal rounds, Watsonians defeated Wick Old Stagers (1182 to 1167) in the semi-final.  Callander were unfortunately unable to raise a team, giving Bedford a walkover in the other semi-final with 1179.  Watsonians slipped a little in the final, but their 1173 was good enough to give them a four point win over the hosts.  The team comprised Bill Hamilton, Ronnie Sellar, Matthew Thomson, Ian Thomson, Nick Baker and Martin MacGill - the latter of whom completed the competition having scored a remarkable 996 ex 1000 in the five rounds of the competition.

30th March 2006

30th March 2006

Congratulations to Scott Dixon, Martin MacGill & Nick Baker for shooting in this team for the first time.  The results will be published once the New Zealand team has shot, probably in September.

30th March 2006

Matthew Thomson was a clear winner in the NSRA's Scottish Short Range Championship, an excellent 399 giving him a three point lead over defending champion Gordon Motion, with John Sinclair picking up third place.

14th March 2006

17th March 2006

12th March 2006

24th February 2006

Bon Accord, Balerno & Currie and Callander have all reached the penultimate round of the team of four, with Bon facing Welsh side Torfaen while B&C and Callander face off in the other semi.  In the team of six, Callander are joined by Watsonians and Wick Old Stagers for the shoulder-shoulder stage, to be held at the home range of the fourth qualifiers Bedford in mid April.  Wick are also through to the semi-final of the team of eight, where they are joined by Bon Accord.

The semi-finals & final of the Scottish Cup will be contested at Balerno & Currie in mid March, with Wick Old Stagers meeting Bon Accord and St Andrews meeting Halkirk.

24th February 2006

A new trophy, donated by Council Member Jim McIntosh, was also presented to Susan Jackson for winning the 3x20 Grand Prix series in 2005.

20th February 2006

Emma and Heather Rudd were two of three shooters who entered the Senior Women's final tied on 383, nine points behind the English pair of Becky Spicer and Louise Minett.  The three shooters changed positions throughout the final, with Emma grabbing the Bronze thanks to a final shot of 10.8.

Both the Scottish teams came second in their Home Countries matches, the main team losing to first-time winners Wales, while the Ladies were defeated by England.

The only Scottish record set over the weekend was by Shirley McIntosh, who equalled the 390 shot by Heather Rudd two weeks previously at Intershoot.

4th February 2006

3rd February 2006

Intershoot comes to a conclusion tomorrow, with the third and final matches commencing with the Women's Air Rifle at 9am.

2nd February 2006

In the men's match, Graham Rudd produced his best international performance to date, with 583 earning him 26th place.  Intershoot continues tomorrow, with a new set of matches for the five-strong Scottish team.  A full results service is available here.

1st February 2006

24th January 2006