OLD TONBRIDGIAN RIFLE CLUB

Our membership is from past pupils at the School and we promote the sport of Rifle Shooting with Full-bore and Small-bore rifles. Practise days and matches against the School team are held at Bisley in Surrey and at the School.

A club rifle and all necessary equipment are provided for members on shooting days.

Contact the Secretary David Stevens for more information. Any OT is welcome to come along on one of our shoots. We do however need some notice, so please do let David Stevens know you plan to attend.

David Stevens, Grafton House, Grafton Lane, Hereford HR2 8BL.

Tel: 01432 274232 or Email

The President: Chris Boucher
Vice Presidents: Brian Barfoot & Richard Hoole
Chairman: Will Kemp email
Vice Chairman: Jules Corin
Secretary: David Stevens
Treasurer: Ian Mitchell
Committee: Ben Meredith & Toby Noar

For past years' articles and details of the Club Tie...CLICK HERE.

SHOOTING FIXTURES FOR 2010

Saturday 27 February	Tonbridge School	0.22 Match v Sch pm   Fletcher Cup
Sunday 25 April	Bisley	7.62 Match v Sch 300x am then 900x pm
Sunday 6 June	Bisley	7.62 practise 600x and 500x
Thursday 15 July	Bisley	7.62 Schools Veterans Match 500x  4.30pm
Saturday 11 September	Bisley	Clays / Gallery Rifle  pm
		Dinner  7.30pm
Sunday 12 September	Bisley	7.62 practise 900x & 1000x  am
Saturday 4 December	Tonbridge School	AGM 12.00
		0.22 fun shoot v School pm

Annual Dinner 2009

The annual dinner was once again a hugely enjoyable affair, preceded as usual for a few of us with an afternoon's clay pigeon shoot, using the National Clay Shooting Centre at Bisley. This is a departure from the usual style of shooting for the club, but we find it is always interesting and fun to diversify. Normally I, although I suspect I am alone here, find clays impossible to hit. However this year I discovered the secret - aim the shotgun at the clay! I have for years been labouring under the mistaken belief that I was meant to 'lead', i.e. shoot just in front of the clay. So hard was I trying to aim everywhere other than the clay itself, I failed to simply aim at the clay - my eureka moment.

With an excellent reason to celebrate, not that I need one, we retired to the clubhouse for tea and chocolate buscuits, before changing for dinner and welcoming the rest of the party with aperitifs all round. A new chef provided a sumptuous feast of deep fried brie, pan fried trout and passion fruit bavarois, followed by the traditional cheese, biscuits, port and coffee, and a faultering speech by your truely thanking everyone for the year's successes.

Once again our customary long range match against the School the following day could not happen this year, and indeed I believe that it is unlikely that we will ever be able to reinstigate it due to the academic commitments of today's generation. So we OTs shot alone, on a beautiful September morning with the sun breaking through the mist, remeniscent of the last scene of Pride and Prejudice (the one with Keira Knightly). There is something ethereal about Bisley in the early morning. If you haven't experienced it, I do urge you to join us in 2010.

Veterans Match - Bisley 16 July 2009

Full results will be out in the next few days, which I will publish later. Our scores were excellent with the A Team exceeding last year's total by 8 points.

A Team
Toby Noar 49.4v
Olly Siddall 48.5v
Ben Meredith 48.4v
Simon Hunter 48.2v
Ian Mitchell 45.3v Total 238.18v (last year 230.11v and 07 was 232.17v)

B Team
Kieran Bhati 45.3v
Jules Corin 43.2v
Robert Mitchell 43.2v
Duncan Pierce 43.0v
Alec Goulden 41.0v Total 215.8v

Many thanks to those who shared the Coaching and Register keeping, particularly Kieran who stood in as a last minute replacement for Will Kemp who spent the afternoon/evening on the hard shoulder of the M1.DS

Practise shoot 7 June 2009 - Bisley
Yet again the rain stayed away for this afternoon's shoot. Sadly the School could not join us once again so instead we had a rather lonely practise shoot followed by a competitive shoot for the Chairman's Cup.
There were seven OTs to shoot, and we were also joined by Ben's wife Claire and young son Max who, at seven weeks, is certainly the youngest spectator we have ever had. The fact that he managed to sleep in the car through most of it, despite the noise, didn't single him out either. Not sure whether Foultons sell ear defenders that small.
The practise shoot produced some respectable scores from Will (46.3), Alec (44.2) and Ben (44.3) and the conditions were very good with light winds. Having 'got our eye in', we then embarked on the match for the Chairman's Cup. Will produced a 45.3 which was immediately trumped by a 47.5 from Ben, evidently helped by his supporters. Nobody it seemed could match it and Ben left early with his family, sure of his victory. However the last shoot of the day by Ian Mitchell produced an incredible 48.6 (incredible due to the fact that his first sighting shot scored 2 out of 5, and he scored 39.2 in the practise earlier in the day), meaning that he retains the Cup for the third year running. Congratulations to Ian, the dark horse! WK

Practise shoot May 2009 - Bisley
I thought I might have jinxed it for this year, but yet again the sun was shining on us at Bisley, although sadly the School could not join us this year for the short range match due to a number of reasons. We did nevertheless meet in the afternoon for a much needed practise, and a big thank you yet again to David for organising the lunch beforehand. Attending today were Ben Meredith, Ian Mitchell, David Stevens, Jules Corin, Victor Dauppe, Alec Goulden and Will Kemp. Thanks to Ian for the photo, it was an ice cream kind of day!

It was also the NRA Open Day today, which meant lots of activity at Bisley with the usual historical weapons shoot, archery, pistols, clay pigeon shoots etc. All in all a very pleasant and relaxed day. WK

.22 Match at Tonbridge - 7 Feb 2009
It is with regret, disappointment and not a little frustration that I have to report once again a defeat at the hands of the School. For the third year running the OTRC have lost to the School despite achieving a very good score. As Andrew Penfold said, magnanimous in victory as always, it was very close. The School scored a total of 552 compared with the Old Tonbridgians' 543. The highest scorers were Paul Lanigan for the School with 94 and Toby Noar for the OTs with 97. Thanks to Andrew and the boys for their usual hospitality, and we look forward to the next outing which is at Bisley on Saturday May 2nd. Everyone welcome as usual, new shooters please email me or David Stevens before hand. WK

AGM and .22 fun shoot - Tonbridge 6 Dec 2008
A good turn out for the AGM and subsequent lunch in the Lowrey Room, followed by the annual fun shoot on the School's miniature range, a knockout shoot with OTs and boys pairing up in teams to snap shoot at polo mints. This year Andrew Penfold intoduced a slightly more complex style of shoot which worked well, culminating with the winning team of Ollie Ridd and Duncan Pierce. Their accuracy and frugality with their limited rounds was exemplary, although Tom Hendricks and Jules Corin were snapping at their heels all the way through to the final.

The minutes from the AGM and the Secretary's report can be found by clicking here, and all members who are handy with a .22 are reminded that the Fletcher Cup is imminent and David Stevens will send you a sticker for the back of the target if you contact him. Targets can also be shot at the School - to do this contact Andrew Penfold at arp@tonbridge-school.org or alternatively they could be shot on Saturday 7 February at the next .22 match against the School.

Golden Jubilee Dinner - Bisley 13 September 2008
Yet another delightful weekend at Bisley, and what good fortune that it fell on the same day as the open day, when Bisley opens its doors to the public and lays on a variety of interesting activities. Visitors were able to try shotgun, archery, air rifle, fullbore rifle, sporting rifle, laser clays, precision snap, practical and historical rifles and pistols to name but a few, all with one-to-one coaching.
It did sadly mean that we were unable to book the Melvile Range and have it all to ourselves as we have in past years, to spend some time firing gallery rifles. It also meant no group shotgun firing either, but then I personally am not so upset about that, not being able to hit a shotgun with a barn door, let alone the other way around.
After having some fun in the sun sampling what Bisley had to offer, the OTs met on the veranda of the Army Rifle Club for 'sundowners', before changing for a sumptuous dinner attended by Jonathan Absom who founded the OTRC exactly fifty years ago along with Chris Boucher. His presence, for the first time in fifty years, was much appreciated, and he found that the place hadn't changed all that much.

The following morning we congregated with our customary sore heads for the thousand yard shoot, scores for which are immaterial, irrelevant and - not so sadly - missing. Needless to say everyone did extremely well considering.

Veterans Match - Bisley 17 July 2008
As the practice in June had to be cancelled due to a particularly busy month for OTRC members, it was always going to be a challenge to improve on our scores last year at the prestigious Veterans Match. Last year we managed 33rd place out of 50 with an total OT score of 232.17 (17 V bulls) out of a possible 250.
The OTRC fielded one and a half teams in an involuntary innovation. We had hoped that ten OTs would be able to get away to Century Range at Bisley for this annual competition with two sighters and ten shots to count. We therefore entered two teams rather than turn away interested OTs. The competition is on the first Thursday of the Annual Meeting at the National Shooting Centre starting at 5pm. Those shooting included the magnificent seven below:
Robert and Ian formed the core of the B team but being incomplete could not enter.
The weather was hot but threatened rain, just like last year, but thankfully held off making a pleasant day out. The scores were as follows:
A team
Simon Hunter 47.5v
Toby Noar 47.3v
Ben Meredith 47.0v
Jules Corin 46.2v
Ollie Siddall 43.1v
TOTAL..... 230.11v 39th. from 52 teams.
B team
Robert Mitchell 41.1v
Ian Mitchell 35.2v

This page is edited by Will Kemp Email