Latest News
|
Comet gives plug
for shooting star |
31
January 2012 |
Lasswade's Jonty Barron, 18, has been awarded a £1000 grant
from Comet and SportsAid.
As part of Comet’s charity partnership with SportsAid, the electrical specialist
will back 20 young talented sports people around the UK with training grants,
giving them a vital boost during the defining early years of their sporting
careers. Click
here to
read more.
|
SSRA Air Rifle
Winter League and Prone Team League |
Updated 31
January 2012 |
Results from the Air Rifle Winter League are now available
here on the Domestic Results page. Also, results from the fourth round of
the SSRA Prone Team League have now been published and can also be viewed from
the Domestic Results page.
|
New date and venue
for climax to SSRA Air GP campaign |
22
January 2012 |
It has been decided to reschedule the final air grand prix of
the 2011-12 season from 26 February to Sunday 18 March. This will avoid clashing
with the British Airgun Championships at Bisley. The new date for Air GP5 also
means a new venue, and it will now take place during the Scottish ISSF 10m
Championships at Tulliallan rather than at Glenrothes. The competition
organisers are happy to run the GP cards concurrently with the Championship
series if competitors prefer. For more details please contact
Jim McIntosh.
Air Rifle GP3 was held at Denwood and was won by Andrew Ross
with a qualifying score of 574 ex 600 and then 94.0 in the final for a
total of 668, coming in ahead of Robin Law who scored 566 +99.4 for 665.4 and
Sarah Bates who scored 567 +98.3 for a total of 665.3.
The Pistol event was won by D Robertson of Bon Accord with a
score of 521 ex 600 plus 91.6 in the final for a total of 612.6 with B McIntosh
in second with 514 plus 94.6 for a total of 608.6 and C McGregor on 515 plus
89.4 for 604.4.
Detailed results are available on the Domestic Results page.
"There was no ice inside the range but it would not have been
a surprise to find some, the range was set up so we were able to start on time
and schedule," reports Jim McIntosh. "We had in all three details a full house,
this was nice. The shooting was also nice with a number finding the cold on the
first detail a problem. Looking at the scores and results make for interesting
reading, the qualifying scores were close resulting in very competitive finals,
a number of PBs were set and an enjoyable day all round. The next one at
Carlisle will find that our numbers a bit depleted as this will clash with
Intershoot in Holland where some of our stalwart will be keeping the Saltire
flying."
|
Megalink donations
keep squads on target |
22
January 2012 |
After an appeal for
sponsors to help the SSRA add to its Megalink electronic targets (30 August
2011), the association is pleased to announce that four units have been obtained
and are now in use with the Scotland squads. With a total of ten Megalinks
available it will now be possible to hold the finals at the 10m & 50m
Championships and the Grand Prix matches with them, providing a much better
experience for athletes and spectators alike as well the opportunity for
athletes to use them for day-to-day training on their home ranges. Many thanks
to all involved for providing invaluable support to Scottish target shooting.
|
SSRA Prone Team League
2011-12: First results |
Updated 22
January 2012 |
Results from rounds 1-3 of this team competition are
available on the Domestic Results page.
|
SSRA Prone League
2011-12 results |
7 January 2012 |
The first sets of results are now available on the Domestic
Results page.
|
Brown given green
light for Sports Personality award |
7 January 2012 |
 Selkirk's
Darren Brown, a new member of the Scotland Under-21 squad, has been awarded the
Sports Personality of the Year title by Tweeddale Press publication the Wee
Paper after an overwhelming response to the newspaper's inaugural poll to find
the best local sportsperson.
“The
last three years have been amazing and I have met a lot of great people along
the way. I would like to thank everyone who helped me and everyone who sent in a
nomination for this award,” said Darren.
Click
here
to read more.
|
Season's greetings
to all . . . |
26
December 2011 |
The SSRA would like to take the opportunity to wish all of
its members, and target shooters across the globe, a merry Christmas and all the
best for 2012.
Don't forget to enter the SSRA postal competitions: CanDicap,
Speedway and Medal. There is still time to enter online and entries will be
accepted until 1 January 2012. Click here
to enter or visit the Enter Domestic Competitions
online page to find out more.
|
SSRA to promote
Scottish Air Rifle Blind Shooting Championships |
4 December 2011 |
The SSRA is keen to promote target shooting for all, and to
that end will set out to assist with the Scottish Air Rifle Blind Shooting
Championships held at Denwood in 2012.
One of the successful exponents of the discipline is Hussein Patwa, and together
with Carol Brown (pictured) are delivering superb scores. Their performances at
the 2011 championships drew much attention, especially as Brown scored a 600 out
of 600 which prompted a round of applause from observers.
"This (Denwood) is the only rifle range that does acoustic shooting in the whole
of Scotland," said Patwa, 24, who started out after his father found an advert
about the competition in the local magazine for the Society of the Blind in
1997.
"It's a very technical sport," he explained, "there is a lot of tweaking. There
is a lot of room for movement and innovation and taking things further which
rather appealed to me."
The two-day British Championships take place in Wolverhampton on the first
weekend of March 2012.
For more information on the sport and how you can help
promote it, contact Jim Hammond.
|
Scotland set to
host ISSF Judges course |
26
November 2011 |
An ISSF judges
course, designed to give applicants a national British Shooting C licence
and put existing holders firmly on the road to a B licence, is set to be
held in the autumn of 2012 in central Scotland, potentially Edinburgh, with
easy access to the airport. While the course helps preparations for the 2014
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow by qualifying officials to ISSF standards, the
course will be open to anyone in the UK. This two-day course will be run by
experienced by ISSF officials and for more information or to register your
interest, contact Jim McIntosh
|
Tulliallan confirmed for 2012 Scottish Air Rifle Championships |
26
November 2011 |
The SSRA has announced that
it will stage its 10m Air Rifle Championships at the Scottish Police College
in Tulliallan by Kincardine-on-Forth on Saturday and Sunday, March 17-18 of
2012. The competition will be run along ISSF guidelines and some
accommodation is hoped to be available on site.
For
more information and to arrange for an entry form by mail or for download,
contact Ian Henderson at
executive@ssra.co.uk.
Online entering will also be made available.
|
Law has the edge
in opening grand prix |
13
November 2011 |
After an exciting and tense final, Robin Law narrowly held
off Sarah Bates in Callander to win the first SSRA Air GP of the 2011-12 season
with Kathryn Williamson in third. Earlier, Sarah Bates won A class, B
class went to Mark Joyce, Maria Bexley took the honours in C class and early
bird Bill Vaughan won D class. Detailed scores can be found
here for Rifle
and Pistol here.
|
Way cleared for
McIntosh to defend title |
13
November 2011 |
The decision by the Commonwealth Games Federation to vote for
Gold Coast to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games overshadowed another important
series of decisions made at the CGF meeting on St Kitts and Nevis in the
Caribbean. After lobbying by the Commonwealth Games Federation (European
Division) members the federation voted to resurrect a number of events to the CG
programme, including Women's Prone Rifle. While this decision does not
automatically mean that the event will be added to the 2014 Games in Glasgow,
the CG2014 organisation will review the decisions and rule on this by March
2012.
Despite this caveat it would seem highly likely that Jen
McIntosh will be given the chance to defend her title on her own soil in three
years' time and indeed offer her compatriots the opportunity to add to
Scotland's superb gold haul in target shooting. We await developments eagerly .
. .
www.cgcs.org.uk
|
Air Grand Prix
date in January amended |
12
November 2011 |
The date for SSRA Air Grand Prix 3 at Denwood has been moved
to 22 January 2012. The change from the original date of 15 January was
requested by Denwood for logistical reasons.
|
Balerno & Currie
invite entries for 2011 Open |
6
November 2011 |
Balerno & Currie Rifle Club will hold their annual Open event on the weekend
of 19 and 20 November. An entry form can be downloaded
here Email
inquiries can be made here.
|
Making the SSRA website work for
you |
19 October 2011 |
A range of new functions
has now become available at
http://forms.ssra.co.uk. for everyone to use. Now, entering competitions and
paying for fees; joining and/or renewing SSRA membership; and downloading entry
forms for a range of SSRA events throughout the year can be done by a simple
process. By now existing SSRA
members should have received an email giving
them a "get you started" link into the new membership pages. If you are a member
and have not received such an email click
here and
provide your name, SSRA membership number and your current email address.
|
Scots all smiles
after Cardiff campaign |
18 October 2011 |
|
 |
|
Robin Law, James Paterson and Janis Thomson were among those to the fore at the
Welsh Airgun Championships held in Cardiff.
Law, (pictured left) shooting in A Class, won Comp 1 with 577 ex 600 Comp 4 with
577. He was also third in Comp 2 with 577. Paterson, (shown right) in X Class,
made it to the final where he finished fourth with 579+101.1. Air Pistol shooter
Thomson won Comp 4 in B Class with 544 and was second in Comp 2 with 544 and
Comp 1 with 538. Click
here for the
results.
The event was a great success overall with a range of
competitors from as far afield as Norway and Holland and finals shot on Megalink
electronic targets. There was also the bonus of a film crew recording them and
the results streamed live on the internet.
|
|
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|
Weather too Mutch
for Mel |
14 October 2011 |
Mel Mutch had to contend with bitingly cold conditions
as the sole Scottish representative in the UK Police team at the European
Championships at Vingsted in Denmark. He came
13th with a score of 585 and 30x
in a field of 31 competitors.
"Three shooters were on 587 for a shoot-off for 7th and 8th place," explained
Mutch. "Chris Brown of Leicester was in a shoot-off and went into final 7th and
finished 6th.
"My finger kept on getting cold so lost all feeling in it. - stopped three times
to get sensation back into hand," he went on. "Others had prepped for this by
bringing heat packs that they kept near them in a bag so they could defrost
their hands between shots. A duvet in evidence too - heaven knows how much that
cost in excess baggage..."
|
Mutch gets blue
light to fly flag for Scotland in Denmark |
11 October 2011 |
Mel Mutch will fly out to Vingsted in Denmark as the sole
Scottish representative in the UK Police team at the European Championships. The
standard of the competition is high and the UK team is made up of two men in the
prone, two in the men's 3P and air. The ladies have two for prone and are also
competing in 3P and air. Mutch will look to improve on his 13th place from last
year.
|
Spence reaches a
new audience at the
CSF (ED) |
Updated: 8 October 2011 |
Bobby Spence made the final of the Men's Prone at the
Commonwealth Shooting Federation (ED) event held at Bisley but could not stop
James Huckle taking the title. Mel Mutch had delivered a superb 595 in the
elimination round but came up short in qualifying.
Spence faced a whole new experience by making the final:
Having a big audience!
"It's something I'm not used to from the (SSRA) grands prix." he said. "It
certainly puts the pressure on knowing there are a lot of folk watching you as
you shoot."
 The ISSF-style final set-up meant that scores from the Sius Ascor electronic
targets were read out for each of the finalists, shot by shot. There was no
hiding place and no way to avoid hearing what Spence's rivals were doing. That
meant it came down to mental toughness.
"Shooting the final itself, I just took it easy and tried not to pay attention
to any of the other scores though I knew Wayne Piri (from Gibraltar and in
the firing point next to him) was shooting well," he went on. "I had a good
spell of 10.6s and 10.7s in the middle which boosted me up to fourth until the
last shot which gladly I was blissfully unaware of!
"Sadly on the final shot I just couldn't get the condition I was looking for and
my aim off wasn't enough, placing the shot as a 9.5. I finished equal sixth but
got the equal highest scoring the final so left on a high."
Orcadian Spence took time to praise the contributions of the team coach and
management. "Having Sinclair Bruce and Cyril de Jonckheere there was a great
benefit and thanks must go to them that we got a training day the day before the
event where we could get set up and get some final bits of advice. During the
event they were both on hand to give out advice and tactics to keep on top of
the tricky conditions."
Bruce, Scotland's first full-time small bore coach, was also to be seen offering
vocal support throughout the final, delivering more than a few whoops from
behind the chain link fence of the firing point (erected to keep the likes of
him from causing trouble, a source close to the judges claimed).
As with many of the Scotland competitors, Spence had a long, costly and arduous
round trip to Bisley, with a lengthy delay returning north of the Border on the
Monday due to traffic snarl-ups. However, he has at least found
some help in the shape of local sponsors.
"I was lucky enough Scotrenewables Tidal Power was able to sponsor me for the
event. Travelling to so many events is always a strain on the finances and any
help that can be had is always appreciated. Further sponsorship I have achieved
recently is from Northlink ferries which will be a big boost over the winter to
attend the squad training
and Air grands prix."
And talking of sponsors, Spence - along with the majority of the team based in
Scotland - was indebted to his uncle for the loan of a vehicle to make the
journey south.
For detailed results
from the CSF programme of events, visit the ESSU
site.
|
'Tenshun! Scots see off Army |
8
October 2011 |
The Scotland team won the annual ATSC match against the Army
at the Ash Ranges. Scores of 1154 from Bill Brown, 1164 from Bill Baird, 1149
from Lenny Thomson and 1145 from Ian Henderson secured victory.
|
Harris steps into hot-seat at
British Shooting |
4
October 2011 |
John Harris has been unveiled as the first independent chair
of British Shooting. With considerable experience in the fields of engineering
and commerce, he takes the post for an initial term of two years and will be
present for a busy period in the sport, with the 2012 Olympics followed by the
Paralympics and of course the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. Harris will
head a board consisting of the following members: David Wathen: British
International Clay Target Shoot Federation (BICTSF); David Parish: National
Small-bore Rifle Association (NSRA); Robin Pizer: National Rifle Association
(NRA); Trevor Budgen: Disabled Target Shooting Great Britain (DTSGB); Nick
Fellows: Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (CPSA); Peter Underhill: Accountable
Officer.
|
North Island take honours in
2011 match |
29
September 2011 |
Scotland's score of 5903 was agonisingly not enough to see
off the New Zealanders of North Island in the annual postal match, with the
Kiwi side scoring 5907. The Scots junior side scored 1944 to North Island's
1957. Click here for
detailed Scottish scores and here
for North Island's.
|
Reprieve for The Scottish in
2012 |
26
September 2011 |
The NSRA has announced that the 2012 Scottish Meeting will be
held at Dumfries. After a lengthy consultation period in which competitors at
The Scottish in Caithness were asked for their opinions and during which Huntly
and indeed a meeting held in the north of England were mooted, it was decided
that the meeting will return to Dumfries for the first time since 2008, on 23-28
June 2012.
|
SSRA Winter competitions
2011-2012 |
22
September 2011 |
Entry forms will shortly be made available for the SSRA
Winter postal competitions such as the Speedway, Medal and CanDicap. In
addition, it will also be possible to download entry forms, enter the
competitions, pay for competition fees and indeed SSRA membership using a secure
online system via this site. Check back with
www.ssra.co.uk regularly for updates on this development.
|
Swarm of Scottish Bs head for
Bisley |
21
September 2011 |
The Scotland team for this week's Commonwealth
Shooting Federation (European Division) event at Bisley has been
unveiled and the line-up is...
 Men's Prone: Mel Mutch, Robert Spence
Women's Prone: Sarah Bates, Sarah Brown
Development: Julie Ballantyne, Maria Bexley
Women's 3P: Sarah Bates, Maria Bexley
Women's Air Rifle: Sarah Bates
(Yes, that's right, four Bs from the B-squad plus Bobby
and a.... bobby.)
Thanks to Willie McAulay at Alloa RC, the Tullygarth 50m
range was made available for Sarah Bates (pictured top) and Sarah Brown to
get some final practice in before heading south...
|
Mac makes his point at Gagie |
6 September 2011 |
 Donald
McIntosh proved there was "still some life in this old dog" when he took the
honours in the final SSRA prone grand prix of the season with a
win that eclipsed Tom Hodgson by just 0.1 in the final. Class A had been
won by David Caughey, Class B by Jonty Barron, Perth's Stephen Gemmell picked up
C Class, while Ian Henderson saw off Ron Nilsen on countback for Class D.
Nilsen rallied for the C&D final, however, and took the title with 577, ahead of
Gemmell's 571.
Into the ISSF style ten-shot final then, and McIntosh added
to his qualification score of 593 with 101.7 for a total of 694.7. Tom
Hodgson, starting the final with 594, scored 100.6 for a total of 694.6. Jonty
Barron came third with the highest score, 103.7, for a final total of 693.7
after his qualifying 590.
Donald accepts a dose of cough syrup from Jim McIntosh, left,
while Sheena Sharp was rewarded for her century of Scotland caps with the
presentation of a trophy from SSRA chairman Ian Thomson.
The previous day at Denwood saw the fifth and final 3P grand
prix of the season. Iain Malone won the men's 3x40 event and Sheena Sharp the
women's 3x20.
The inaugural SSRA C&D Prone League reached its conclusion
and congratulations go to Nick Brown for taking the title. Full results for all
the above competitions are available on the Domestic Results page.
|
Funding boost is recognition
of shooting sports success |
31
August 2011 |
Scotland's success at last year's Commonwealth Games and our potential for more
shooting sports achievements was recognised by the Scottish government when
Minister for Commonwealth Games & Sport
Shona Robison announced the launch of the sportscotland
Athlete Personal Awards (SAPAs).
Managed by the sportscotland
institute of sport, this new three-year initiative offers an annual financial
award of £3,000, £5,000 or £10,000 to individual athletes who are considered to
have the potential to deliver a medal winning performance at the Glasgow 2014
Commonwealth Games (and / or London 2012 Olympics).
In the first of three, annual award announcements, forty-five athletes across 13
sports will receive awards totalling £204,000. And Scotland's shooters -
Jen McIntosh, Jon Hammond, Neil Stirton, Matt Thomson, Shona Marshall and John
MacDonald - have all been awarded between £5000 and £10,000 each.
Click
here for more details of the awards.
|
Spence beats the gremlins to
win at Denwood |
31
August 2011 |
Orkney's Bobby Spence survived target changers that blew open
in the gusts of Denwood to win SSRA grand prix IV and the Grampian Open title.
In the ISSF-style final his 101.4 added to his qualifying score of
591 for a total of 692.4 and kept Tom Hodgson at Sinclair Bruce at bay. Hodgson
scored an excellent 103.2 in the final and, added to his qualifying 587, gave
him a total of 690.2. Scotland coach Bruce, pictured right, who must have won
the award for best-dressed tartan rug wearer in the chilly conditions, scored
588+ 101.6 for a total of 689.6 and third place.
The conditions tested the skills - and the patience - of the
competitors after a series of power failures on the Saturday led to the
cancellation of the finals for the 3P event. Mark Szymankiewicz won the
men's 3X40 event with a score of 1132 and Sheena Sharp the women's 3X20 with
560. The inclement weather - well it was August in Scotland after all - meant
that rain squalls and wind gusts led to a game of musical chairs over the whole
weekend as a number of Gehmann target changers failed and shooters had to be
shunted around for workable firing points. The event's apprentice range officers
found themselves kept on their toes as they battled to beat the gremlins.
In the end, though, it was Spence who came out on
top. And thanks to some generous contributions of kit from fellow competitors,
he will make his first venture into 3P at the final 3P GP on 3 September, also
in Aberdeen. Of his preparations he commented:
"Bobby's 3P challenge....starting to tweak things! Some for
better some for worse! One day left to prepare.... challenge is
definitely
the right word!" on Facebook.
For full class results from the weekend, go to the Domestic
Results page.
|
Help Scotland's squads keep
on target for success |
30
August 2011 |
One of the major steps
forward for the Scottish rifle shooters in the four years between the 2006 and
2010 Commonwealth Games was the increasing availability of electronic targets to
train on. An initial purchase of two Megalink 4K300 units in early 2006 was
followed over the next three years with four more of these units – suitable for
use with smallbore rifles at 50m and with air rifles and air pistols at 10m –
along with two of the larger 4K560 units suitable for use with smallbore rifles
and free pistols at 50m.
There are currently
insufficient for our whole squad to train on them at once, which leads to
continued reliance on the ageing set of paper target changers at Denwood, and
makes it much harder for the coaches to have good visibility of how the athletes
are progressing within a training session.
A
longer term objective of having sufficient units to allow the SSRA Grand Prix
and Championship events at Denwood to be run on them would reduce substantially
the workload on the volunteers, provide results in real time and narrow the gap
between the experience of competing in domestic competitions and the realities
of international shooting. The competition for medals at the Commonwealth Games
such as India and Australia have such facilities in abundance, providing top
class facilities all year round. A significant advantage over our athletes.
The 4K300 units are the
preferred option for these purposes, with the flexibility to use them for both
Air Rifle and Smallbore events. With four additional units it would be possible
to hold the finals at the 10m & 50m Championships and the Grand Prix matches
with them, providing a much better experience for athletes and spectators
alike. They are also relatively portable, providing the opportunity for
athletes to use them for day to day training on their home ranges.
We are seeking sponsors
to help with providing more of these targets in order to support the progress of
the current generation of rifle shooters who have done Scotland proud in recent
Commonwealth Games and other international competitions, along with the next
generation of young athletes who are inspired by the prospect of a home
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. 
One target costs
somewhere about the £3,700 mark – depending on the vagaries of the Pound/Euro
exchange rate and shipping costs – with some additional infrastructure costs
likely if we can progress beyond ten targets. We are happy to discuss all kinds
of options with individuals, clubs, associations, businesses and anyone else who
would be interested in supporting our ongoing programme. Please feel free to
contact Donald McIntosh (donald@maccoach.co.uk)
or Sinclair Bruce (performance@ssra.co.uk)
for more details or if you have any questions.
Visit
http://www.megalink.no/defaultEN.htm for technical information about
Megalink electronic targets.
News Archive
All of the news stories that
appear here will be archived periodically. Follow the links to see each archive
The current 2011 archive runs up to 22 January 2012.
News Archive
2009 News Archive
2010 News Archive
2011
|
Scottish Smallbore Rifle
Association
