A competition supported by BSA Guns, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) and Airgun Shooter is under way, with lots of fun and prizes won!
The multi-club contest has kicked off with an HFT shoot with a difference thanks to the members of Westleton Airgun Club.
Club official Joe Hill explained: “It was named the Tactical HFT Shoot, although we did allow several knob-twiddling FT shooters to take part!
“The basic idea was a 28-target course, four points for a knockdown standing, three for kneeling and one for seated or prone. Failing to knock the target over incurred a two-point penalty.
“Four targets were designated kneeling and four were designated standing. This gave us a potential score range between -56 (miss them all) and +108 (hit them all standing, except the kneelers).
“We only had 13 participants, thin on the ground, but it made for a cosy atmosphere – in spite of the 40km/h winds!”
Joint third place was shared by David Lugo and Geoff Wilcox, shooting in a hybrid FT/HFT style, while second place went to Paul Puttock, who Joe described as being one of the “knob-twiddlers”!
First place went to Joe Hill, who said he’d been “shooting properly – I mean HFT!”.
David Lugo said of the comp: “(It was) a challenging course, made even more challenging by the weather. Excellent, for a small club, and lots of fun.”
Geoff Willcox, true to his usual sense of humour, commented: “I have strong suspicions the winner cheated… until I heard I’d come third – at which point I thought it was great!”
Paul Puttock stated: “It’s unusual for me to come second.” Too much info Paul!
Andy Rider is the club’s newest member, and this was his first competition. He won the lucky-dip at the end of the shoot, and went home with the multitool prize.
Joe added: “I’d like to say a big thanks to Airgun Shooter, BSA and BASC for the prizes, and a thanks to all who took part. Thanks also to Gordon Smith for assisting with organising and target-setting. And in my defence against Geoff’s comments, I took every shot standing and racked up more four-point kills than misses. Simples!”
Meanwhile, Reading Air Target Shooting club (RATSc) has held the first round of its BSA/BASC-supported competition.
Grazely Green-based RATSc members have to submit four cards between now and September. Competing against the clock, they have 10 shots to score a maximum of 100 points over 30 yards each time from a rested, bench position.
“We’ve kept things simple, as the emphasis here is on fun,” said RATSc chairman Scott Lovell. “People can use a PCP or a springer, and even borrow someone else’s rifle if they want to. And we’re not making any distinction between any men, women and junior members, because the kids are actually much better shots than most of the senior shooters here!”
With around 140 members, competition is likely to be hot.
After the first round, Martin Chuddy is the early leader with a score of 86, followed by Stuart Reay on 83.
Edward Barnwell, one of the club’s juniors and one of several members with special needs/disabilities, sat in third after scoring an impressive 78 points with his HW 100KT.
“It’s a great initiative,” said Scott. “We don’t normally have competitions, but this has really got the place buzzing. Everyone wants to know each other’s scores and there’s a great atmosphere of good-natured banter and encouragement.”
Do you want to get involved? Head online and get your club or range
to register.
Just go to https://basc.org.uk/airgunning/airgun-club-competition, start shooting and enjoy yourself!
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