Götterdämmerung
Match 4, the only 15 rounder of the weekend, saw poor Liam Fenlon ‘crash & burn’ as his WSM barrel suddenly packed up – as they are prone to do. Two bull-five sighters converted, another five, another .... then inexplicably into the two-ring. After that, it was all over for the likeable Kent based Irishman – in a match that saw half the Open field breach 70, he ended up in the third from bottom slot on 62.1v pulling him down to 9th overall on aggregate. Wow! When a ‘seven’ has the barrel go, it really goes! (960 rounds, Liam told me afterwards.)
Gary Costello took the match on 74.5v, an excellent score given the difficulty in simply seeing the target clearly in the conditions. Paul Sandie, Peter Wilson and Simon Rodgers were a whisker behind on 73s – more than enough to give Paul first place overall and Simon second – while Gary’s strong finish helped him into third.
F/TR saw a Match 4 upset too, albeit without such drastic repercussions. Steve Thornton’s remaining hopes of an overall class win also crashed and burned with an un-explained ‘one’ at 12 o’clock, in the midst of a string of fives and Vs – almost certainly a wet and hence over-pressure round. This one poor shot saw him down in the fourth last match slot on 67.5v such are the standards pertaining these days.
Four F/TR shooters shared 71 points and another five were just behind on 70 but it was Altcar 101 Club’s Steve Lynch who got the glassware with a superb nine Vs from his 15 shots, better than any ‘Open’ competitor. Ramon Fito took second place on six Vs and John Cross third with five, the other 71 and fourth match place going to Paul Harkins.
Adam Bagnall was just behind on 70.3v and that was enough to place him first overall F/TR and 20 League points on 349.17v, Paul Harkins second on 346.17v and Steve Thornton got his first league podium place with 344.15v.
Those few readers still awake at this stage may have picked up on John Cross being third F/TR in this last match – hadn’t he retired? He’d brought a very un- exotic Remington 700 of some sort – probably a PSS – for another shooter to use. It had been rebarrelled with a quality heavy 30 inch barrel and graced with an off-the-shelf height-adjustable buttplate. They shared this rifle in the final match and John proved yet again you don’t need thousands of pounds worth of custom
91
Blair Atholl F Class 6th Round
OCTOBER 2011
rifle to be competitive in F/TR even at 1000 yards. So, despite the weather, GBFCA League Round 6 still produced a full shooting programme and its share of thrills and spills on and off the firing-point. I should also add that this was not the miserable weekend you might think with glum-faced and moaning competitors hanging around with rainwater dripping off the ends of their noses desperate only to finish shooting and leave for drier climes. It was a remarkably cheerful occasion with spirits high throughout. There is something about Blair Atholl that always makes it a great shooting experience and ‘effers are a resilient and cheerful bunch.
Laurie – thanks for a great report. Full scores and a larger selection of photographs are available on the GB F Class Association’s website
http://www.gbfclass.co.uk as is the provisional 2012 events calendar.
It should be noted that for 2012, GBFCA League Round 2 at Blair Atholl and currently listed for the weekend of 12/13th May is likely to be rescheduled to another date. It clashes with the Etape Caledonia 2012 cycle race based on closed public roads around Pitlochry that sees 5,000 competitors and several times as many spectators flood into the region soaking up all accommodation from Perth to Aviemore. Now that is a sporting fixture on a grand scale - Les.
Final Placings (HPS = 375.75v)
F Class 1. Paul Sandie
2. Simon Rodgers 3. Gary Costello 4. Tony Marsh
5. Anthony Dunne 6. Les Bacon
F/TR 1. Adam Bagnall 2. Paul Harkins
3. Steve Thornton
358.28v 356.14v 355.32v 353.22v 352.22v 350.21v
349.17
346.17v 344.15v
4. Mick Longbottom 342.18v 5. Enrique Cabrera 6. Steve Lynch
340.11v 339.18v
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