6th September 2008
The day started with a 6.57am meeting after a chaotic scramble for breakfast and sandwich making in one of the three kitchens (the other two being used for drinks and the dinner). A bit of a frantic departure via the cars to the range, was followed by a fairly casual start. The team got a chance to meet many of the other competitors and a congregation was called by the chief range officer to give us details of the safety and procedures of the range.
The captain then arranged who was to mark targets first and who was to shoot first. There were four people to a target and half were sent to the butts. We then had the surprise of being transported to the butts or pitts as the Americans call it, in yellow school buses! Said buses were clearly designed for small people as the seats were very uncomfortable.
For those of our readers who have had the (I won’t say pleasure) experience of marking targets at Bisley will appreciate how tough the targets are to pull down… over here in Raton you can pull them down whilst sitting on your bench via a rope, they are that easy! The time in the Butts was quite fun with two team members working together and commenting on our counterparts’ shooting. Nick and John W were marking for James and Holly with a few message 7s sent in a row, to which Hinch shouted to the Butts officer “When we get a bl**dy shot on the target we will mark it”. It later transpired that James had difficulty finding new zeroes with the average score of his first shot at each range averaging 1.25!
During our time on the range we also had a few dramas that caused some amusement. The ranges are set in the valley of a mountain range and as a result there is a fair bit of wildlife around. Millions of biting bugs through to herds of Antelope, one of which stopped us shooting for a few minutes as it took a casual stroll right in front of the firers. A competitor shouted some abuse at it and off it went! The second drama was caused by our very own Ed after he managed to lock the keys inside the car about half an hour before we were due to move back. A locksmith was called, but there was no need as an American competitor and Tom worked together using a very technical collection of a wire coat hanger and a cleaning rod. They broke in within 5 minutes! They clearly have both missed their callings by following a lawful life!
After what seemed like a very long day we returned to our accommodation, where we all relaxed before doing various jobs, including the ammunition team getting work making our ammunition for the following day, and the chefs cooking another delicious meal. All of their hard work was greatly appreciated and I’m sure it will continue to be for the rest of the tour…
Dinner was enjoyed by all with exception of a panic from John W when he found out after several mouths full that the dish contained prawns, our captain being allergic to shellfish! All was well in the end and a sigh of relief was breathed by all.
In JJ’s euphoria after seeing his ammunition advert in the brochure (he produced all of our ammunition) he kept repeating yesterday’s quote “blow my socks down” Dave Dyson found this amusing and asked “Did it blow your socks down JJ?” To which he replied with “It blew my doors off”!