UK 22 Rimfire Nationals at Portishead 2011 by Scott Grayson
UK 22 Rimfire Nationals , Portishead 2011 by Scott Grayson
Scott is one of our top junior air- rifle and rimfire benchrest shooters recently back from the World Championships in North Carolina, where he picked up a medal or two but now, he tries his hand at writing...
The National Rimfire & Air-Rifle Benchrest Competiton is a brilliant event. It is held annually and open to any member of the UKBR22 Association.
This year, the event was held at Portishead, Bristol with match director Ken Stockham running the show. Portishead is a fabulous range situated in what looks like an old quarry. With this in mind, it has some tricky winds for both 50m rimfire and air-rifle shooters. My Dad Alan Grayson and I arrived in Portishead about lunchtime on the Thursday, meeting fellow club member Graham Freeman at our hotel. We had a relaxing day before a lovely dinner with Jake Healey (also one of our top junior shooters - Ed) and his father Richard, ahead of practice day on Friday.
Practice proved tough once again - the air rifle’s pellets being battered around by the strong gusts. The 22 Sporter event was also shot on practice day. Personally, I find Sporter Class really fun due to the
Scott at the Worlds in America
whilst I took Silver and Richard Healey the Bronze - all three rifles we used belonged to Brian! This was all celebrated with a nice meal and a few ‘humorous’ things taking place during the evening. This first day was a very enjoyable start for all.
Day one was for Light Varmint in both Air-Rifle and Rimfire and it was a closely contested day’s shooting. Conditions were warm, with a light breeze in the morning, which proved a tough affair for many of the air-rifle boys - scores ranged from the mid 230s to 242 across the board.
Indoors, the pressure was felt a great deal. I shot alongside Brian Kelly who picked up an impressive 23x count but dropped 1 giving him 249-23x. I managed to keep my cool and scored a 250-19x which I was very pleased about. The scores indoors varied across the two days between 246 to 250 , proving quite difficult for some. Outside at 50m, scores were mixed, although some shooters stood above the pack. Brian Kelly eventually took Gold with a total of 494 over two targets, the same score as Andy Dubrieul, who missed out by four ‘x’s. Andy also missed out on ‘x’ count indoors for the Gold to myself, shooting another 250- 19x to finish what had been a great day for me at 25m.
Colin Renwick won Air-Rifle Hunter Class with a 487, two points clear of Graham Freeman on 485, again two points clear of third place - which was me. Colin also shot exceptionally well in Air-Rifle Sporter class, with a total score of 483. Tony Male and Colin Evans of Clevedum were placed second and third in their first national event - so really well done. Kerry Wells also shot very well and won first Junior in Sporter. Jake
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smaller scope magnification and my inexperience was to blame for some slip ups; nevertheless a fantastic competition. It ended with Brian Kelly taking Gold,
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