BLAIR ATHOLL
INTERNATIONAL F/TR REPORT
points, 357.8v against the visitors’ 346.8v putting them into a four-point lead. The youngest American shooter produced the best individual score though - Sierra Scott shooting 65.2v ahead of my 63.3v and fellow team member Jim Wilson’s 62.1v.
their shooters scoring 295.2v, 23 points ahead of the visitors and seeing three out of the four individual results that broke 50. Top scorer Paul Crosbie was now shooting 210gn Bergers to help earn 59 points. Michelle Gallagher put in an excellent 57 for the USA with the same company’s 155.5s ahead of Scotland’s Peter Burbridge on 55, also now using ‘heavies’ (208gn Hornady A-Max) and me on 54 confounding those who said the ‘mouse gun’ wouldn’t cope with this distance.
So, it was a win for the home team against the world’s best, not to mention Blair Atholl keeping its ‘difficult’ reputation intact. Whilst disappointed, the visitors knew they had done well, given their inexperience with the range’s quirks and lack of coaches with local experience. Everybody had a great time, old friendships such as that of team captains Darrell Buell and Paul Crosbie were renewed, new ones made. This really was F/TR at its most enjoyable with four days shooting that nobody involved will ever forget, lively social activities complementing the time spent on the range.
Nail biting stuff – US captain Darrel Buell is just visible biting his knuckles while Nancy Tompkins and Michelle Gallagher try to read the mirage at 1,114yd.
With the teams’ aggregate scores now only separated by four points after 1000 yards, it was the third and hardest distance that would determine the outcome - another 15 rounds each at 1100 yards, actually a true 1114 yards on this range. Conditions were as for 1000 only more so – warmer, yet more variable winds and intermittent difficulty in aiming precisely due to boiling mirage appearing at the far end of the range – so scores dropped further. The Scottish coaches’ experience paid off yet again,
There was even an informal 1233 yard 15-round competition amongst six of the participants late on the Saturday afternoon after the individual matches had finished, which was won by US team captain Darrell Buell. (While not having enough of my 90gn VLD loaded ammunition to participate in this contest, I was able to put a rapid string of 10 shots downrange before the close for 37 or 38 ex 50 with good elevation consistency – so .223 Rem with the right loads will stay in the black at 1,200yd plus too!)
As well as listing the key scores, it only remains to congratulate Paul Crosbie and other members of West Atholl RC who put in a huge amount of effort to organise and run the events, make the range available and provide the off-range activities, as well as thanking the US shooters for being such great sports and wonderful guests. For full results, visit http://
www.westatholl.org.uk/Results/2011/SRAlong2011/ Long2011.pdf and I’ve put 139 images of the four days’ shooting up on
http://s912.photobucket.com/ home/laurieh2
The US F/TR team look happy. 20
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