NRA Journal - Summer 2003 - National Rifle Association

next day removing shards of plastic handle from hissocks, set up his other rifle and proceeded to produceeven better results than before; the hotel staff areprobably still finding ball bearings in their hoover.As the week wore on, scores remained generally steady,although the occasional crossfire (mentioning no names,but it’s always good to see the Captain leading from thefront) and unexpected magpies kept the Barbarians offthe top of the prize lists. On completion of the StatePresident’s Second Stage, Jim the pragmatic immediatelyentered the Encouragement Match, while the rest of theteam (standfast Cliff) waited without too much hope forthe Final list to be produced. Not that there was muchtime to dwell on the individual results, as everyone wasinvolved in the International Invitation Match; Sallyupholding Barbarian honour in the British Lions teamand everyone else selected for Cliff’s InternationalMagpies team. Partway through the afternoon, the cutoffscore for the Final filtered along the range and, asexpected, Cliff was through, but more surprisingly sowere Sally and Peter – for the moment.Since its formation, the Barbarians Rifle Club hasdonated a trophy to the local governing body of shootingon the first occasion of a tour to that country. SouthAfrica was no exception and, at the team receptionfollowing the International Invitation Match, Richardpresented the Barbarians Challenge Trophy to SABUPresident George Bramley and offered a few well chosenwords. Peter also had a few well chosen words to saythat night, although fortunately less publicly; owing toan admin error, too few F Class shooters had beenincluded in the State President’s Final, hence six TRshooters would have to be dropped from the publishedlist. Sadly, the error was compounded the followingday when it was announced on the range that thedecision had been reversed, however Peter was in thethroes of a final bout of retail therapy at the time, somissed possibly the hottest shoot of the week. WithBloemfontein flags and mirage at their most interesting,Cliff and Sally claim to have thoroughly enjoyed the finaltwo ranges, but probably not as much as they enjoyedthe cold beer on completion.Following a final team meal (steak – for a change!) inthe company of just about every other British shooter intown, it was time to pack up and head for Johannesburg.After a memorable flight home (Rory slept through thearrival of his brandy – how much more memorable doesit get?), we finally reached Bisley on a crisp springmorning, having thoroughly enjoyed the opportunityto get in a little warm weather practice at the start of theseason.The Barbarians would like to express their thanks to thefollowing for their assistance during the tour: Richardvan Lingen for stowing our rifles, Cherryll and Chrisvan Niekerk for excellent ammunition, Brian Smith forthe loan of his press and Roger and Lynne Hanley forcoming out of retirement to deliver and collect us to andfrom the airport.A. E. Clarke & Co.55 London Road, Blackwater, Camberley, Surrey GU17 0ABTel: 01276 35616 Fax: 01276 32345THE NEW LYNX TARGETRIFLE REARSIGHT£119.00plus VATMounting blocks extraThis newly developed rearsight is farstronger, more accurately made and cheaperthan any similar sight. British 1 / 4 minute or1/ 8 minute positive clicks. Threaded for allGehmann / Anschutz eyepieces, with anadaptor available for AJP / Parker-Haleeyepieces. Available from stock, withmountings for most rifles in use today.Registered Firearms Dealer Hants 19257