Pictured, Left to Right – Richie, Ste, Julie, John (at the rear), Paul and Adam
Captain’s report by Richard ‘Richie’ Jones
Competition: Round 2 of the Great Britain F-Class Association League – “The Diggle Long Range Challenge”
Dates: Saturday 18th – Sunday 19th May 2019
Ranges: Diggle Rifle Ranges near Oldham, Manchester in England
Distance being shot: 800 & 1000 yards
Targets being used: Official F-Class targets with manual marking
Course of Fire:
Saturday – 2+20 at 800 yards then a 2+20 at 1000 yards
Sunday – 2+15 at 800 yards then a 2+20 at 1000 yards
No of Overall entries: 34x F/TR & 23 F-Open National Competitors
“Conditions at the weekend were dull and overcast with mild temperatures keeping any mirage in check. This allowed for a good sight picture at all distances and apart from a light shower on
Saturday morning, we managed to remain dry all weekend which was a bonus for Diggle standards and helped keep everyone’s spirits high.
Wind conditions throughout the weekend were very tricky and although the winds weren’t gusting heavily, they were fishtailing left to right with a bracket of 2MOA Left through to 1.5MOA Right with plenty of subtle changes that caught out anyone who wasn’t paying attention to the flags. This made for a very challenging competition on all details and certainly split the field. Twitchy tail winds like we experienced really suited our Lapua 175gr Scenar-L bullets and we didn’t have the elevation issues that competitors using heavier 185, 200 and 210’s experienced. This certainly highlighted the conditions that these bullets really excel in. The only frustrating thing we had to deal with was the amount of line cutters that landed mm’s outside of the 5 Ring and into the four ring. This was down to wind reading though and not bullet performance so although frustrating we were all very happy with our overall level of accuracy, ES’s and SD’s.
I’m very pleased that our team members picked up several stage medals along the way as this was a great booster for everyone. Ste Donaldson won Gold on count back in Saturday’s Stage 1 at 800 yards with a 100.11 out of 100.20 and only a few V-Bulls short of a new range record with Adam being beaten to 4th on a count back. Adam Bagnall then won Silver in Stage 3 at 800 yards with Paul Harkins taking Gold in Stage 4 at 1000 yards. After all the scores were in and the Grand Aggregate worked out, Adam Bagnall managed another 3rd Overall which is great and shows he has his 175’s tuned really well. The rest of us have some minor tweeks to make but we’re all very happy and this was clear for everyone to see as all our remaining Lapua 101 team members finished in the Top 10 and dominated a field of very talented and experienced shooters.
Our next big competition is in a weeks time and I’ll be taking our Lapua team and six other hand picked 101/GB shooters to Southern Ireland to compete in the Emerald Cup and make several
rutland teams for the International teams match on the final day of competition. Shooting will be over a full week at distances from 800 – 1200 yards and I’m expecting some of the big hitters from the National US, Canadian, Italian and Spanish F/TR teams to be there. This will be a great test for us and we’re really looking forward to it!”
