May [4-6] NRAI F-Class International

Sparks

From the Countryside Alliance Ireland website:

F-CLASS INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
4th, 5th and 6th MAY 2007



It is with great honour and credit to the members of the NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND (NRAI) and the MIDLANDS NATIONAL SHOOTING CENTRE OF IRELAND (MNSCI) that we now have a regular international full-bore shooting competition.

This competition is now a major feature of the calendar of shooting events for f-class competitor’s world wide. This year we will have two USA teams which include three former all American champions.

Our other guests include one team from Canada and from Scotland and England there will be three teams each. England will have the current UK f-class champion Peter Wilson he will be shooting a 7mm boo boo.

We will also have the current defending champions of the Irish challenge trophy by Scotland and Paul Crosbie defending his individual title.

It will be very interesting to compare how the 7mm compare to the 6.5 x284 rifles.

There are on the Irish squad four squad members with 7mm rifles, other members of the Irish squad shoot 6.5x284’s

There will be on display the very best in the world and this tournament should not be missed if you are interested in long range rifle shooting. The international shoot last year was so successful due to the reception put on by the members of the MNSCI and the NRAI that it has attracted competitors from around the world

So put the dates above in your diary and visit the Midlands National shooting Centre of Ireland, Blueball, Tullamore, Co Offaly, and just maybe you will get to see or even better speak to some of the best rifle shooters in the world.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Umiq88

Suprised theres no mention of this its on from the 4th to the 6th anyone from here going i'll prob be up for one of the days

Edit
There was an article about it in last issue of shooters digest shooting teams from america canada england and of course ireland. Apparently some of the top shooters in the world so def worth a trip imo.

Does anyone know of the range will be open to the public on the day i assume not but just in case.

Vegeta

interesting my birthday is the 5th so I could make an excuse to drag the girlfriend along. My brother is also a member so could be worth the spin

i'll look into it

Sparks

It was up in the "Upcoming competitions" sticky for weeks and it's just been moved to the "This Weekend's Events" sticky. Sheesh
Brian Cowen is firing the first shot apparently.

Bananaman

I was of the impression that midlands only allowed people with a license for the firearm they are using to use the range i.e no Authorisations or Club firearms.

Does this mean that

a) Brian Cowen is a licensed firearm holder? or
b) Brian Cowen is a member of Midlands?

Sparks

or maybe:
c) You had the wrong impression?
d) The person who told me about Cowen firing the first shot was incorrect?

Vegeta

yeah is it open to normal useage over the course of the weekend

civdef

I was of the impression that midlands only allowed people with a license for the firearm they are using to use the range i.e no Authorisations or Club firearms.

Your impression is wrong, there are rimfire club rifles.

bullets

I might make it up there on the Sunday all going well as
one of the guys I work with said he's up for a travel Sunday.
So might see some of ye there.

If the F-Class event is on I am wondering how it will effect the
other ranges and also if they will still be shooting clays.

Last time in Midlands they were running a rimmy competition they
kept calling cease fires to check the targets and also to change
poeple in the butts of the 600m. There was about 3-4 cease fires
before I got the chance to fire off a few rounds. Very frustrating.

From Rules point of view in Midlands I thought..
As a non member you can only fire .22
As a non member you can hire club rifles (which are only .22)
For anything else you needed your own rifle and be a member.

Rules may be different for an actual event where you have
an international thing going or where people are Invited so
are guest shooters.

~B

hillybilly

You can shoot full bore rifle at the range if you are a member or if your club is affiliated to the MNSCI.You can also shoot there if you are amember of the NRAI .

Umiq88

Is this an all day thing or whats the best time to go. I'd also like to use the range as well i take it it cant be used while the comp is on....

Also realised i've no idea where the range is could someone give me some quick directions from the nearest town

hillybilly

P, what direction are you comming from ? . The handiest way is when you get to the Blueball village (on the main Tullamore/Birr road) take the Cloghan road.It is approx 2.5 mile from the pub on the right hand side.

jaycee

psittacosis wrote:

Is this an all day thing or whats the best time to go. I'd also like to use the range as well i take it it cant be used while the comp is on....

Also realised i've no idea where the range is could someone give me some quick directions from the nearest town

It's an International FClass competition , It's a 2 day event,
Saturday and Sunday.

The "Range" or grounds is actually a collection of several different ranges..
Since It's an FClass event it will take place on the 600meter range ...
The 100,200.300, 50 meter and pistol ranges shouldn't be involved, Having said that , with an event of this size and importance some disruption to the normal routine is likely.

bullets

When you are aproaching blue ball there is a sign saying blueball that
is now knocked to the ground so you may not see it. There is a turn off
to the left just after this sign that will lead you to the range.

Anyway aproaching blueball assuming you are travelling from Cork area
to Offaly. Just before blueball there is a left turn off from the main road.
The first few times I went there with the buddy we missed the turn as
its a small road. There is a set of small white stakes in the road with
green reflectors that indicate a turn.

You will know this turn off because there is a house that has a shop that
sells Wedding Dresses and there is a sign for it just at the entrance of
the left turn. Across from that there is a house that
looks as though the owners plan to do some work with some rocks or boulders
in front of it. Once your on this side road (small tiny thing) keep going to the end of it and take your next left. After that your on a fairly good road keep going until you pass a school sign and the school and shortly after that
you see some flags and a turn off to the right which is midlands.

psittacosis What day are your going? I'll hopefully be their Sunday so you will know me via
the pics of my rifle and scope. Not many HMR owners at the range.
I will be at the 50 or 100m range most likely
wont arrive until about/after 14:00pm

~B

hillybilly

Just home from the F class practice .What a beautyful day we had ,no wind but plenty of mirage whitch is a killer for the target shooters , 48 shooters were on the line at 9.30 am and ended at 12.00 followed by lunch (chickrn curry or irish stew ). really looking foreward to tomorrow and sunday.Hope the weather holds.

bullets

Anyone out there taking Pics ? It would be nice if the midlands
website got a major update it has not been touched for ages.

How is it being run tommorow/Sunday.
ie I plan on being there as a spectator Sunday so am
I gonna need a bionic eye to watch it or will there be people
in the butts indicating scores for poeple watching.

~B

Umiq88

What time will the competetion be on i imagine they wont be shooting all day wont be there for the whole thing so best to go in the morning or after dinner or when

hillybilly

psittacosis wrote:

What time will the competetion be on i imagine they wont be shooting all day wont be there for the whole thing so best to go in the morning or after dinner or when

Shooters on the line at 9.00 am ,comp starting at 9.30 till 12.00 approx.A pair of binoculars will be handy. Last year the public were behind the fireing line so you do get a good viev of what the shooters are at .It was very enjoyable to watch last year ,this year its going to be better with the usa, canada, uk, scotland and ireland all competing . Arrive early and get a good spot. You wont be dissapointed .

hillybilly

bullets wrote:

Anyone out there taking Pics ? It would be nice if the midlands
website got a major update it has not been touched for ages.

How is it being run tommorow/Sunday.
ie I plan on being there as a spectator Sunday so am
I gonna need a bionic eye to watch it or will there be people
in the butts indicating scores for poeple watching.

~B

The scores are marked after every shot ,the shot is marked with an orange disc that is put in to the strike hole , however the disc is hard to spot with the naked eye espichally at 600, the markers also indicate the score along the bottom of the target board with either a red square or a black square. Red square on the bottom left of target board = v bull ,black square in same pos = 5 then according to score the black square is moved across the bottom of the target board the lower the score the further to the right the square is moved again can be difficult to spot with the naked eye.

jaycee

Some pics from the shoot.....









Please do not adjust your set.....







And ... "The big gun....



Excellent day..great food , great company ..great shooting ..
Can't wait for the Team shooting Tomorrow morning...

PS: Congrats to the many Irish shooters who "Did us proud"

Vegeta

savage pictures

Umiq88

cant see anything

bullets

Cant see the Photos at all.
I just get an image not available box from photobox.

~B

UPDATE: They appear now thanks!

Sparks

Quick mention in the RTE news this evening apparently (missed it myself )

Rovi

Sparks wrote:

Quick mention in the RTE news this evening apparently (missed it myself )

All of 11 seconds...
There's a link to it here-
http://www.rte.ie/news/6news/

Here's an attempt at constructing a direct link, no guarantee it'll work-
http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0505/6news_av.html?2245314,null,230

Sparks

That's 11 seconds in the middle of a pretty heavy news cycle rovi, with the entire government about to split up and rumours running around about Ahern having to resign before the election. Just bad luck - if that hadn't come out this weekend, you'd probably have seen a good minute of footage.

jaycee

Some more Pictures from Sundays shooting......











Another great day...

bullets

Some of the Team members today. Not very good pics as
there was a big crowd.
There was free food and booze at it.

I had a bit of a wasted day as it was all over when I got there
and then they closed down the range while chatting drinking and
making speeches etc so did not get much shooting done.

People in the pics were poseing for pics. So they are not exactly trying to hide
their faces or anything so I am guessing its ok to post them here.
(If not let me know and I will edit and delete)

Sparks

Merging the two threads.