NRA Journal - Spring 2011 - National Rifle Association

Northern Irelandby Richard BailieTwo major events to look out for this year are the 150thIrish Open Championships on 4 and 5 June and theComber Open/Northern Ireland Championships on24 and 25 September, both being held at Ballykinler.We would be delighted to see as many visitors aspossible at both events. There are plenty of team prizesto be had at the Irish Open, shooting concurrently withthe individual matches. Full details and entry formsare available on the NRA Marksmans Calendar.Visitors two years ago will recall that the first dayof the Irish Open was held at Magilligan Ranges inthe north of the Province. At the end of last year, agreat deal of work was put in by members of ComberRifle Club and others to try and establish long rangefacilities there but unfortunately economics wentagainst us with government cuts and range staffredundancies, though the possibilities were very real.We did however receive significant assistance from theNRA Secretary General for which we are most grateful.Whist access to ranges still remains difficult, everyeffort is made to try and ensure that we have accesson a regular basis, but this is, like most other MoDrange bookings, subject to cancellation due to militaryoperational requirements, sometimes at very shortnotice.The NatWest Island Games 2011from Barry Hall and Derek TomsJoint overall Target Shooting Co-ordinatorsOn 25 June to 1 July 2011, around 3,000 competitorswill be descending upon the Isle of Wight for theNatWest Island Games. They will come from 25islands and will be taking part in 14 different sports.The target shooting co-ordinators are offering a widerange of disciplines, mostly ISSF based but with a localflavour, on three ranges. All competitions will be shotas Pairs and as Individuals. Where possible, men’swomen’s and open competitions are being offered.On the Newtown MoD ten point range there will be300m prone rifle. It is thought that fullbore rifle canbe shot by six other islands – Gotland, Falklands,Guernsey and Jersey, St Helena and the Isle of Man.The Haseley Manor Air Arms Range will be createdfor the Games in an indoor tennis court, previouslyan agricultural barn, and will have twelve 10m lanes,all fitted with Dical target changers. Scoring will bedone with Rika scoring machines, courtesy of theWelsh Airgun Association, who are also sending downtwo scorers.Downend Range is only half a mile away on the topof a chalk ridge and is the home of Shanklin Rifle andPistol Club, which has used the range since 1966. Itwas used for the 1993 NatWest Island Games. Theshort range has a 25m lane pistol range, fitted with twobanks of five RX turning targets, where we shall shootStandard Pistol, Sport Pistol and Centrefire Pistol.Lack of range time precludes Rapid Fire Pistol. Thelong range has 12 lanes on which will be shot 50m and100 yards Prone Rifle and 50m Free Pistol.Occasions when Section 5 pistols are used incompetitions in the UK are few and very far between.Needless to say, negotiations are delicate but the eventwill be keenly watched with interest. As the Club, likemost other onetime UK pistol clubs, is out of touchwith the rules for ISSF Cartridge Pistol shooting,welcome assistance is being supplied by Olympictraining officials who will run the shoot for us.In addition to assistance being given by various people,Eley Ltd is providing all the rimfire ammunitionneeded, viz Eley Tenex and Eley Pistol Match.Please visit the NatWest Island Games 2011 website atwww.natwestislandgames2011.co.uk where you cansee the long range firing point cover as rebuilt. Thelong range has also been totally regraded. The shortrange firing point cover is similar.The International Island Games were established inthe Isle of Man in 1985 and today include 25 memberislands in, or associated with, the nine sovereignnations of Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece,Norway, Spain, Sweden, UK plus the Caribbean:Aland (Finland) AlderneyBermudaCayman IslandsFalkland Islands Faroe IslandsFroya (Denmark) GibraltarGotland (Sweden) GreenlandGuernseyHitra (Norway)Isle of ManIsle of WightJerseyMenorca (Spain)OrkneyPrince Edward Island (Canada)RhodesSarkSaareema (Estonia) ShetlandSt HelenaWestern IslesYnys MonIn 1999, NatWest became the title sponsor of theIsland Games which has become one of the largestparticipation events in the world behind the Olympicsand Commonwealth Games. The 25 member islandscompete every two years around the world in a rangeof up to 14 sports chosen by the host island from a listof 18. The NatWest Island Games were last held onthe Isle of Wight in 1993. The NatWest Island Games2011 are being run by the Island Games Association(Isle of Wight) supported by the IW Council, whichis also a sponsor.www.natwestislandgames2011.co.uk28