Kerfuffle at Gatwick

So when I came through Gatwick yesterday, I found two of my three checked bags quite easily. The third was my armored gun case. After wandering about for a minute or two I paused between the two carousels where our flight baggage came off and happened to look down. Eh, voila! At my feet was my gun case.

Now this should NEVER have happened. Firearms are very tightly controlled in the UK, especially in a vulnerable area like an airport baggage claim.

I grabbed the case and headed to the "red zone" (customs declaration area) where I mentioned to the Border Force agent what had happened and passed over my firearms permit.

Shortly thereafter, I was in a crowd. Border Force, a WestJet representative, a baggage handling firm representative, and police.

Lots of photos of the case were taken, my paperwork examined, and a discussion ensued about how the mistake had happened. The possible impact was quite dramatic, as someone else could have simply loaded my case on their cart and walked out of the baggage claim area through the "nothing to declare" area.

I found no armed police, and no police of any kind in baggage claim. No Border Force either. Unlike previous year's visits, security was notably absent.

Hoping that my teammates coming through tomorrow and the next week don't encounter any such issues.

About markers and Friday practice

Markers are young men (mostly) who are employed for a day to go down to the butts (pits in American English) and pull our target frames up and down out of sight. They are protected by earthworks and a concrete abutment from shot impacts. These frames hold our targets, with a new target face pasted on for every match.

After a shot is made, they pull down the target, put a white or red disc in the shot hole (whilst patching the last shot hole from which the disc was removed), put a scoring marker indicating score value of the shot, and then run the target back up for the score to be confirmed. After it is recorded and confirmed, the next shooter can fire a shot. Speed of service is essential in tough wind conditions. Acceptable speed (in America is 5-7 seconds). Here, we can occasionally see much longer times. But it is what it is.

Today was a pub lunch with family. Then tomorrow morning I head off to Bisley with my hire car for an afternoon practice shoot, followed by a major tournament (the British Commonwealth Rifle Club match) over the weekend. About 250-350 shooters participate in this, making it about the size of the US Fullbore Nationals or the Berger Nationals (the two largest target rifle events in the USA).

I've syndicated my afternoon practice target tomorrow with a few friends and thus lowered the cost quite a bit (£77 for target and marker for the afternoon). We'll shoot at 900/1000x with likely two sessions of 2 sighters and 15 rounds on score (depending on available time and the weather).

This is really for me to get a feel for Stickledown (the long range range at Bisley) again and to get my rifle sighted in and zeroed with the new 2016 GGG ammunition (we are issued ammunition for the Imperial Meeting).

Saturday we have the BCRC match, which is held over two days. First day is short range (out to 600yds) and the second day is long range (900 and 1000 yds).

Followed by cream teas in the clubhouse. Very civilized and very tasty.

Je suis arrivee

I have arrived. Rather nice flight with Westjet. Super service in the Plus class. Made the upgrade totally worth it.

Will be staying up late tonight to get on the local time. Had a scary moment at the airport where they mishandled my gun case and left it unsecured, where anyone could have picked it up and walked out with it.

I went into Customs with it and we had a round-robin discussion with the WestJet representative, the police, the Border Force, and the company handling the loading of the plane. Case clearly marked with a Weapons tag. Took about 1/2 hr with everyone repeatedly telling me that I had done nothing wrong.

About to pass out now.. been a long day.

Foam cut

Getting to be a master at this:

24 hrs to departure

Just about everything packed. Still cutting new foam in the gun case (different stock = new foam).

Had very interesting conversations with coaches and mentors. Folks seem unanimous that I must focus on having fun, and not worry about scores day to day. I think they're quite right and that's going to be my focus on this trip. See friends, have a great experience, and make some good memories.

I've confirmed that my gun case can hit as much as 30kg (as apart to the regular 23kg limit placed on checked baggage) which is a relief since the case itself is about 10.5kg (armored metal cases are heavy).

Among other things, I have a work call today, and have to work on fixing our electric gate on the farm. Plus servicing all the farm vehicles before I leave. It will be a huge relief to actually board the plane and leave all things other than shooting behind.

Here's my friend Emil Praslick coaching me on wind direction:

anticipation..

Workload is crushing at the moment. 12 hour days. Trying to develop a coverage plan for my absence (lots of critical work happening for my teams while I'm gone and at least two critical enterprise-level deliverables).

But it will be a huge relief to check out next Monday.

I have remaining stuff around the house.. have to clean rifles, pack and weigh gear, clean up the house, garage and workroom (hate coming home to a mess). I've already loaded enough ammunition for the BC Provincials on my return, as well as enough extra for practice.

Now if I can just keep everything under weight. It's going to cost me a $100 for my extra bag (rifle case) but since it's "Sporting Equipment" the Canadian airline allows me a 32kg limit rather than the standard 23kg. So I'll have to see how much gear I can jam in the bag.

My Truttmann jacket has landed in UK, so I'm good on that plan. Really nothing left to do other than rent my car, figure out how to get to Amsterdam (and back) and other minutiae while traveling.

Preparations continue

Working on the million things one needs to do before leaving for an entire month.

Cataloging all my bills, making sure enough money is in the right accounts, and sorting things like an English phone number and English car rental.

Also had my last visit to my gunsmith and had a couple of subtle alterations to my wood stock that I expect will help a great deal. Placing one's finger on the trigger (and holding the grip) the same way are absolutely critical at the top level of shooting. So at his suggestion, I had him put in a couple of subtle finger grooves in the grip so I can "register" my hand and hold the grip the same way every time.

Here's what it looks like:

Beyond that, ordered and had delivered a new cooling vest (in case it's a hot summer) as well as a "fishing trolley" on which to carry all my gear to and fro in the camp.

The anticipation is mounting, and there are about nine days left before I depart.

My Truttman jacket

The jacket arrived in Switzerland safely and has had repairs (new right elbow pad and minor sewing).

Cost about $100US to ship it there in a timely manner through the USPS and have it insured. Then another $90US for repairs and finally, another $50US to have it shipped back to the UK, so it's waiting for me at the Imperial.

They've made no changes other than a cosmetic one (adding CANADA) to the back and a functional one, replacing the right elbow rubber so I anticipate no "fit" changes.

Apparently today and tomorrow are a holiday in Switzerland so I think I won't see it shipped out to the UK until Monday. As a backup, my Anschutz jacket (perfectly comfortable but requiring a sweater underneath to fit snugly) will go with me to the UK in carryon.

Part One of the Plan is in order.

Jackets - covering my bases

So I've been using two jackets most of this winter. Largely because I gained weight over the winter in my shoulders (weight-lifting) and in the belly (eating!).

So my Truttman is quite a tight squeeze right now. However, it's perfectly comfortable and stable while I'm in position so it's still my number 1 choice. The elbow rubber on the right elbow is worn smooth after 18 months of shooting, so I'm sending it back to Switzerland tomorrow to have it repaired. They'll send it back to my aunt's address in England before I arrive there on 28 June (or so they promise).

In the event that it is delayed for some reason, I've had my Anschutz jacket repaired (new rubber) and will carry it over to the UK. I shot in it yesterday again and it fits quite well (and is easier to get in and out of). Covering my bases. Though I'll have to figure out if my weight allowance will allow me to bring two jackets back from the UK. Worst come to worst, I'll wear one in the cabin and pack the other in my bags for the return.

Each jacket has it's own "matched" sling, so I don't have to make changes to fit.

Final preparations for Bisley 2017 are under way

Did my last live-fire training session for Bisley yesterday.

With either bullet, it can clean an NRA target with ease at all distances.

No issues with chambers this year I think so if I have elevation issues at Bisley, it's all on me not on the ammo and chamber combination (as in the last two years).

I'm taking one of my 1-13 barrels over as a spare, just in case some issue crops up that I don't anticipate with the issue ammo.

I'm bringing several spare triggers, a spare bolt, and a complete set of spare sights. Not taking a spare action will save me several pounds in baggage (which will be very useful).

I've been afraid of over-training this year so my next live-fire session will be 30 June, in about three weeks. In the mean time, I'll probably put in a few hours of Scatt to refine my trigger pull. Other than that, I will be spending time with family and friends and will work on improving my cardio fitness in the gym. I'm also going to focus on catching up on sleep and get at least 7 hrs/night.

Bisley 2016 conclusion

So I was quite unable to recover from the disastrous score in the Corp, though I spent the day after rehydrating to get back in form. I almost made it through Queen's I (I was in until the next to last shoot at 600 where I missed an angle change and took a perfectly level magpie on the left side). Quite frustrating really but nothing to be done about it. I believe I finished somewhere in the 500s (in position) after having dropped 200 hundred places in the standings as a result of my disaster in the Corp.