The Bisley Experience

The Bisley experience has simply been exceptional. People here have been consistently welcoming and open, there is a nice unhurried pace here about most everything and if one has properly supplied oneself at the local Sainsbury's there is rarely a need to leave the environs of the camp.

As international team members, we have the freedom of the clubs so I can visit any of the clubs on Camp and buy a beer or a meal. In fact, tomorrow I'll do just that as I explore what accommodations there are on offer and what condition they are in and what they cost.

One generally has to shoot Connaught (the Canadian National Championships) to be considered for a Bisley team, and I will not be shooting them after Bisley. So this lowers the odds dramatically of my being able to join next year's team.

There are a variety of housing options available, from modular new units, to the older St. George's Lodge, to rooms available to DCRA members in Canada House and in the various clubs.

I'll likely join the North London as it seems like a reasonable price and apparently has both good accommodations and good food.

Tomorrow is a day of rest, packing, cleaning gear, and then the team dinner.

Last individual result

A creditable 74-9 ex 75 in the Prince of Wales.

Still having some difficulty mounting the gun just perfectly it seems. The shot was way high out of my group by a good minute:

Team matches start at 2:00pm at 300 today. It's the Overseas Match, so teams of 12 shooters. This is a national match, so we're shooting against other countries national teams.

We received terrible news just minutes ago, that one of our teammates and super nice guys, Daniel Chisholm, has detached a retina in his (right) shooting eye overnight. He's at the hospital right now and we're hoping that they can help him.

It just puts in perspective that what we're doing is a big game and not really connected to real life except peripherally.

The last match

The parting shot for the Individuals is the Prince of Wales match (15 shots at 600 yds).

I shoot in an hour.

I'm just going to go out and have fun and try and win it.

This afternoon we have the Overseas Team Match, for which I've been selected as one of the shooters. That is shot at 300, 500, 600 yds (1 sighter and 7 for score), while being coached.

Another chance to excel as a team shooter.

The Queen's Prize, Stage 1

Long and the short of it, I don't progress to Stage II.

Started out very well with a 35-5 at 300yds. Finally managed to shoot to ability at 300. Read the wind cautiously and carefully and started with two Vs for sighters which I converted. It really helps make the shoot shorter.

Then over the hill to Stickledown, where I shot a 46-4 in very difficult conditions. It would have been an excellent 48-4 had I not missed a "flip over the nose" where the wind shifted from left wind to right wind and shot a magpie 3. As it was, I am very happy with my shooting there because when it did flip, a brief har arose and the rain came directly into our faces (for the first time ever spattering my front sight lens with water droplets making it quite hard to see).

I had learned from shooting with my friend Mike Maurer that one can center up a grey blob so I did so, and finished 5-V-V-5 in conditions where one could barely see the target.

Then race back over to Century to shoot the 2nd match in Queen's I from the 500yd line.

That's where the wheels fell off.

I have two rear sights, one of which - with Vernier scales - I've devoted to use at 800, 900, 1000. I zeroed it for this bullet (which drops precipitously at 900) and so it's two minutes up and 3/4 minute left for 500yds. Unfortunately for me, I forgot to swap it out for my short-range sight, which is dead-nuts on at 600 yds and less.

So my first sighters are way out of the bull and I have to really work my plotomatic to get my group in. Result: 32-2. When one superimposes the group over the bull with the plotomatic (one can do that, which is why we find it superior to paper graphing) I shot a group that if centered would have been a 35-6.

So now I'm down three points out of 105. That's pretty much the maximum one can drop in Queen's I and have any hope of progressing. It has to be a tough year for that score to get in, generally it takes 103 or better (out of 105).

Three hour break and back to 600 to shoot the final match.

It starts well with the short-range sight properly in place and by the 4th shot I'm thinking I might actually preserve the 102 and have a faint shot of getting into Queen's II (where the scores are erased and one starts fresh).

I think I must have lost focus because the 5th shot is an inner 4, out at 10 o'clock. I'm done for. Now no hope of making the next stage.

I fired the next two shots not caring what the result was.

I'll be back next year to do this again. It was definitely within my skill level to get through to Queen's II with a 102-103 (600 was quite a difficult shoot with winds flipping left and right) and I'll give a try again. And again. LOL

It's been a wonderful time and a frustrating time and a learning time. I'm working really hard to separate my joy about shooting here from my disappointment of not progressing in either the Georges or Queens.

That's another lesson for me. Don't equate results with happiness.

St. George's I

The St. George's match is considered by some to be more difficult to win than the Queen's Prize.

The 1st stage is 15 rounds at 300yds. In the field of about 1000, the "cut" line is 300 shooters. So the top 300 scores are selected to progress to Stage II. The cutoff is usually a score of minimum 74 out of 75. Sometimes, in a smaller field, the cut-off drops to 73 or even 72.

Not this week.

Competition was very fierce and the cut-off line was 74.4v.

I was on a 74.7v when I lost my 14th of 15 shots high over the center of the bull. Collective intake of breath on my shooting point because all of us knew I would miss the next stage.

All I can think is that I mounted the gun poorly before taking the shot, because the sight picture and release were nigh perfect.

Here's the plot sheet from the shoot. What is nice is that I held an excellent elevation for 13 of my 15 shots.

Tomorrow is the first stage of the Queen's Prize (the main event). I have to do this all over again, and also shoot a 35 (7 shots) with high v-count at each of three matches (300yds, 500yds, and 600yds). Only those scoring 103 or better will progress to Queen's II. It too, is an elimination event, with the top 300 shooters progressing to Queen's II. Then, the best 100 riflemen (and women) in the world go "over the hill" to Stickledown to the Queen's Final at 900 and 1000 yds.

Oy vey!

Turns out I am too hard on myself. While yesterday was a bit of a tough day, I was still running 156th (not a bad placing in a field of over 1000) and one more point would have seen me up to 63rd. So super competitive at the top.

Unfortunately, today I had a pretty bad day. It started well, with 5 Vs in the 10-shot 300yd match. But then I had two low shots (that position issue). Slightly later, a third one to ruin what was a likely "possible". I had a friend who designs my stock and coaches smallbore advise me on position and he had raised my buttplate before the Imperial started. It was a much more comfortable position, but new, and it led to a variable (fore and aft) head position. This is death in high-level shooting.

It was the cause of my problems. I moved the buttplate back to its original position (in which I had shot so well in the team matches) and went to 1000yds for the Corporation full of enthusiasm. But wait.. something else goes wrong? My front iris chooses that shoot to "die". These irises are adjustable and mine was locked open at 6.0 (HUGE). But the 1000yd target is pretty damn small. To shoot such a small target, one needs a balance of aperture - and the white around the bull - with the size of the bull.

A good rule of thumb is the aperture is twice the width of the bull. I had to shoot with one that is somewhere between three and four times the bull (in my estimation). I thought I was adjusting it down - I went down all the way to 4.0 but saw no visible difference.

Having no choice - and not knowing it was broken - I just soldiered on. I let go a lot of good shots but couldn't figure out the wind intensity. So I hit a lot of fours. In the end, I had a 41.0 (out of 50). Not a good score. Not terrible given the difficulty but it means I continue to drop back in the field and all hope of ending on the 1st page of the Grand Aggregate is gone.

Doing my best to realize that one can enjoy the experience if not the result. I meet such nice people at Bisley and everyone has been very kind. I'm definitely giving thought to making this an annual trip - though on my own and not with the team I think.

Keeping a positive attitude

Pretty good day shooting. Competitive (not with X class but the lower "A" and "O" classes). 49-2 at 900, 48.5 at 600, 72-8 at 500.

Have a position flaw that I need to sort out though. Lost 3 pts to 6 o'clock shots just outside the bull. Add those back in and I would have had an excellent day.

I remain positive. Diagnosis on-going. Wind reading has been very very good all day but it was a relatively easy day.

Canadian Team Reception shortly.

Shooting in the rain

I've been relatively fortunate today, having been able to shoot in readable conditions.

Give a rifleman conditions she can read and there will be a large number of high scores fired. So far my only mistakes have been mental ones and my wind reading skills have managed nicely. We are about to beard the dragon though.

Rain is forecast again and it's very blustery out (lots of gusts) so the wind looks to be becoming less predictable. One of my British colleagues termed the winds here as "interesting", "fun" or "hilarious" (depending on strength).

After my next shoot (500yds) we rush back to Canada House where we host a large reception.

Mentality

Mentality in shooting is so important.

Because we are shooting at different times of day, in sometimes very different conditions, one sees benign (no or little wind) conditions in some relays and real blows in others. Yesterday was one of those days when I had real blows in all of my relays and some people at the end of the day had totally benign ones.

All individual scores are posted in a huge matrix on the board. So I did very well indeed at 600, less well at 900 and 500. And I judge myself harshly, feeling that at least at the shorts (300, 500, 600yds) I should be losing no more than 1-2 pts at any distance. And I lost more.

But thinking about it over night, I remember the words of my coach, Bob "the Machine" Pitcairn. Over the course of a big tournament, you're going to get some easy relays and some tough ones. It's the mentality of how you approach this that will make all the difference.

So I'm thinking positively, and saying that I've had tough relays when it didn't count (these are important for trophies but not in the Grand Aggregate). One of today's matches is in the Grand, and so the real game starts today. With a new attitude.

The Expendables

So ours is not what one would label a strong team. Most of Canada's best shooters are preparing for the Palma and didn't come over. We have three X class shooters (who have one major international prizes) on the team and the other 14 have varying levels of experience and ability.

One of our coaches has nicknamed us "The Expendables", which everyone less than 60 seems to like - I imagine the others don't get the movie reference.

The Barbarians Match

I keep getting selected for the main team, and now I'm generally in the top four or five shooters. Sometimes top 3.

The Barbarians match was quite difficult, shot at 900 and 1000 in very difficult conditions.

I'm doing my best to practice good discipline in team events, getting off the mound quickly and quietly, not looking at my plots or scores. This match is shot at 900 and 1000 yards against a collection for very very good shooters, who just happen to get along well together (those two things are requirements for a club invitation).

I had a 44.0 and a 46.1 at 900 and 1000 as it turns out and was a bit distraught. I haven't even seen the plots (three days later). But come the awards ceremony, I was 5th of out 10 in our squad (and only one point of Jim Paton) and moderately happy with that. It just goes to show that the scores are all relative. I was third highest at 1000 in the team.

We lost by only three points. So it was best of eight shooters out of ten. So an 800-point aggregate and only losing by 3 wasn't a bad result at all. A difficult wind day with 10 minute spread.

Today was one of those days.. but wait.. (the Commonwealth match)

While today was one of those days - it didn't end badly at all.

Let's say you have "Coach 1" and "Coach 2". Let's further stipulate that while you have an occasional very good shoot with Coach 1, on a whole you perform significantly below par for that coach. Let's say Coach 2 gets you consistently decent results, with the last few shoots getting better and better (verging on world-class).

So that was my day. Mediocre shoots at 300, and 500 in the Commonwealth match with Coach 1. Then because I'm the anchor man (meaning that I shoot last of all shooters) and we're running out of time, I get put on a new target. It's a GB target that they have just finished shooting and they kindly allow us to use it to finish the match.

The light is almost gone (it's about 8:45 in the evening) and my iris is WAY open (a 6.5!). But I can see - quite decently though I don't have a lot of white around the bull. Coach 2 sits in the chair and I'm in the V with the 2nd sighter. Four more Vs in a row - I'm on a blinder - and lose one high (I don't know this actually because I'm just concentrating on the sight picture). And then the Range Officer says "3 minutes left". I think I have 5 shots to go. Target comes up - I fire my shot. Lose it high.

Oops. Finish with a 33-5 (very good), which could have been a possible if I was just a little bit more patient).

Lesson here - some coaches one works well with and others not well at all. I was just lucky I could change in the last detail to someone with whom I work very well.

One doesn't have to like one's coach - just trust them to deliver a solid result. And they need to learn what you're capable of, what your tendencies are, and what your weaknesses are.

My schedule for the Imperial Meeting shoots

Looks quite civilized.

The Queen's Prize

The Queen's Prize (actually the Sovereign's Prize and it becomes the King's or Queen's depending on who is sitting on the thrown) is a multi-stage match that takes place next week. The first three matches are at short range (300, 500, 600) yds on Century Range and the last two are at 900 and 1000 ("over the hill") at Stickledown.

It's an elimination match, and the starting field all the shooters in the Grand Aggregate. There are somewhere between 800-1500 competitors who start the Grand, so it's only the best shooters to get to compete for the prize (determined by their shooting over the week).

After the first three stages, the field is cut down to the top 100 scorers who go over the hill to Stickledown.

After the winner is decided, he (or she since we shoot with a mixed field of women and men) is "chaired" (carried on a huge chair) from Stickledown to all the clubhouses on Bisley Camp. Where the Queen's Prize winner is feted with champagne, spirits and much noise.

When she reaches Canada House, the winner is carried in the chair into our foyer where by tradition she will grab the Stetson and cigarette (we are politically incorrect) from the horns of the Bison over the fireplace:

Commonwealth match team selection

We apparently are entering all sixteen shooters in two teams. I'm on the "coached" team, whereas the other team will self-coach.

This is a good thing.

Stickledown (900 and 1000yd range) this morning.

So this is what Stickledown range looked like this morning. 15-17mph winds forecast and perhaps a wee bit of rain:

My matches today are the Commonwealth team matches (300, 500, 600yds) with coaches and we don't start until the schools matches are over. This is a picture from this morning of the schools teams on Century Range (where we will hold the evening matches):

British Commonwealth match

Tonight is the British Commonwealth club's match. We shoot at 300, 500, and 600, starting at 5:30pm.

One of my friends on the team who has shot this before says "whichever team finishes first, finishes first". Smart expression and this will be a good exercise in teamwork and coaching. I think we'll have 45 minutes at each distance for the 4 shooters to get done with the target.

Don't know if I'm shooting or marking, and my team seems to like to leave the decision to the last minute.

BBQ tonight after the match over at that BCRC club.

Match rifle shooting

This is a crazed sport. These guys and gals shoot at 1000, 1100 and 1200 yds with a .308 and very heavy bullets. Basically, jam all the powder that will go into the case and then jam a bullet down, compressing the powder.

The rules allow one to shoot reclining, or with a rest under your forehand.

Wales v Canada

Canada wins by two points and one V out of 675 possible.

I won top score for Canada with a 99-13, 2nd top overall to a Welshman with a 100-13.

Very happy I performed to potential and very happy the team won a solid victory.

Now it's off to the pub for dinner with the Welsh.

A photo of the winning team:

This is Yoxter at dawn this morning:

Wales v Canada

Our match is done. Very changeable weather, a bit murky for the individual 10-rounder to start the match. Sunny in the 500yd stage and then very, very wet over lunch.

Had a blinder in the 500 (49-8) and an even better 50-5 at 600. Points beat Vs. thanks to my coach for Paul Dudzinski.

We don't know the overall results yet but most if not all of our shooters did well. Ceremony is in ½ hour.

The Castle of Comfort

Yes, the name does call up certain images. But it is actually the nearest pub to our base in Somerset. Reputedly the name comes from a rest stop for prisoners being able to stop there as they were hauled off to gaol. Seems reasonable!

We met the Welsh team this afternoon and after a bit of rest, headed out for a pub dinner. they serve "real ales", which I'm still getting used to as they seem under-carbonated to me. But the food was good, company better, and prices were very reasonable.

As we left to head back to the base, what did we find but a lovely Aston Martin Vantage parked next to us. There's some money in them thar hills!

Tomorrow's matches will be shot "au naturel" - without the benefit of flags. Looking forward to it!

Somerset

Off to Somerset (Yoxter Training Ground) to shoot against the Welsh national team. What a lovely day today.

The North London

Well, that was very interesting.

We set up on 900 yds on Stickledown and then receive our ammo. It is NOT Imperial Meeting ammo. It is HPS ammo (very good quality) but it is loaded with 2156 bullets. This is the evolution of the 2155 that we shoot in the Imperial. It is "slipperier" and has a much shorter drive band. This means that our zeroes at long range are now going to be completely different as well as we worry that the different bullet profile may not match our carefully-selected chambers.

We proceed with the match and I'm the second shooter behind two of our best shooters (we shoot on two points at once), Serge Bissonnette and Jim Paton. Serge gets a 45 and Jim a 48 in testy right winds. I laid down, and in the words of Sandy Peden when I got up, had a "good shoot". A 48-7 which is near the top of the team list.

But I don't know this. That is, the Canadian system is really to have the shooter remove themselves from the mound and do a post-mortem on their shoot later. Sandy's comment to me means I did well, I just don't know how well.

I move to the 1000 yd line when it's time and follow Serge up again. This time he shoots a 42. Wow, I think. This guy is very good, there must be something wrong with his position or his rifle (it doesn't occur to me to question the ammunition).

I shoot - and I call every shot good - in the 5-ring - but for one. I get up with a 43-0. Devastated.

It is not until our formal dinner at the North London - absolutely first-rate by the way and home to some very good shooters - that I see everyone else's scores. I was lower mid-pack at 1000 in the team with only 1 person on the team getting over a 45 at 1000.

Normally, I would just attribute my poor result to a bad day at the office at 1000, but this was quite extraordinary.

Well, we'll not see that ammunition again in the next couple of weeks and I'll just tell myself not to let the result bother me. In the end, I think we had a very decent opening match and if I remember the scores correctly a 1000 consistent with our very good 900 would have had us in the running.

Everyone from the North London Club was very kind to us, the dinner was excellent and the conversation better, and the entire team has been invited to make use of their meeting membership at the North London.

Ran across this lovely old banner in the Club. I plan to go back sometime next week and look through all the pictures in their dining hall with a good glass of bitters in hand.

Selected

Selected, I am.

Awaiting selection results - North London match

The Shooting Committee is selecting team members for today's match right now.

In my self evaluation, I would say - world class at 300, average at 600, average at 900, with a final string that was knocking on excellent (one high, one low, otherwise a tad less than a minute).

Did my best, still sorting out my sight picture on Stickledown as I'm having to run a tighter aperture to avoid having the upper and lower berms in my sight picture. But getting close.

I did my best, and if I'm not selected today, I don't have any regrets. I'll just keep getting better as we go along.

Team practices and The Expendables

Shot out first coached practices yesterday and 300 went brilliantly, 50-10v.

600 was a bigger group but I determined that I had been rushing my shots (the wind was a bit dodgy) and I didn't want to spoil the coaches calls.

This morning is 900yd practice and then a match against the North London Rifle Club. Interesting mix of youth and experience on the team - whom someone nicknamed "The Expandables" last night.

The Truttmann experience

[This post was delayed because I left my laptop in the UK]

I had a phenomenal time at the Truttman shop. Herr Martin Truttman has been shooting for many years (he is 71 now) and has run this shop for something like fourty years. I had tried to reach his UK representative half a dozen times over the last few months to have measurements made but never got a response. When I looked at the cost and flight times to Switzerland (his shop is in Lucerne) it seemed an obvious choice to simply go there and have several fittings over a day.

They offer a one-day express service and that made it just possible in the time before my team shooting commitments began.

Notice the SIG auto rifles used for fitting (for Swiss competitors) and the rack of 300m rifles (for the rest of us). I actually got to be fitted using Martin's 1972 Olympic 300m rifle (must be good luck!).

Here is a photo of Martin's chief helper making my jacket:

Martin was kind enough to fit me himself. The initial fitting happened Tuesday afternoon and I was instructed to come back Wednesday morning at 10am. I actually ran into Canada's famous shooter, Bob Best, a friend from BC at the shop (small world):

Here is a picture of Martin and I with the finished jacket. Quite beautiful (red and white on the back - to keep the heat from the sun down) and red and black on the front. I'll post better pictures when I'm back home in a couple of weeks to show it in its full glory.

A visit to Switzerland

[this post was delayed because I was traveling light to Switzerland]

I'm going to Switzerland for a couple of days to I can get a jacket made my Truttman. They are, reputedly, the finest makers of shooting jackets in the world. It's a lightning visit, out on EasyJet on a 7am flight and back Wednesday night on a 925pm flight.

I take a train from Zurich (where the bahnhof is right underneath the airport - a very smart arrangement we would do well to copy) and thus head right to Lucerne from the airport. It's about an hour train ride. Then a bus to the BnB I've arranged through AirBnB and off to the Truttman shop for my first fitting at 2pm.

Here are a few photos I took of Lucerne: