Category: Competitions

Rugeley Captain makes National Championship Final

by RichHin Competitions

Club Captain Richard Hemingway became the first Rugeley member to qualify in the top-20 for the British Long Range Smallbore Championship Final since Martyn Buttery in 2013. Shooting at 50metres and 100yards, Richard finished 9th in his first stage squad, comfortably qualifying for the second stage where he finished 12th, with the top 20 progressing to the final.

Richard started the final strong with a 199/200, placing him narrowly in the lead after his first card. Changeable winds caused a struggle in the middle with a pair of 191s, managing a 193 to finish joint 9th, ranked 10th on count-back.

Concurrent to the British Championship, Richard was also the highest ranking Welsh competitor, earning him the title of Welsh Long-Range Champion and the Western Mail & Echo Cup.

Richard had previously qualified for the final of the 100th Roberts Champhionship in 2023, when 40 finalists were taken forward as was the practice in 1923. He finished 27th.

Two smiling men take a selfie on a shooting range between details. A plotting board is visible where one of them will mark the fall of shot and estimate scores for the benefit of spectators.
Richard & Club Chair Martyn before the match
A man stands in front of a table and a row of flags holding a silver trophy. He is suited with a red and green tie and a black blazer bearing a gold, red and green badge. The badge reads "Welsh Target Shooting Federation" and is embroidered with the Prince of Wales Feathers.
Richard with the Western Mail & Echo cup for leading Welsh competitor
A man kneels next to a plotting board on a shooting range. He is holding an unloaded target rifle and wearing a red and green shooting jacket. The board is titled "Earl Roberts Final" and the shots on the target have been marked by a spotter along with estimated scores for the benefit of spectators.
Richard with plotting board after the match
A man lies on a blue shooting mat aiming a rifle on a shooting range. A row of targets are visible in the distance. He is wearing brown shorts and a red and white shooting jacket.

Rugeley win top prizes at County Championship

by RichHin Competitions

Rugeley collected a table of silverware at the Staffordshire Smallbore Rifle Association’s Championships on Sunday.

Richard Hemingway retained his title as County Long Range Champion, winning the double dewar match by four points thanks to an excellent set of 100yard cards. Dave Glover was second, and claimed the County 50Metre Championship, pipping Richard at the shorter distance.

Paul Baron became Staffordshire C-Class Champion. Phoebe Haughton – Rugeley’s 2024 Young Gun champion – was Staffordshire Junior Champion and also Staffordshire Ladies Championship.

Steve Rowe of City of Stoke RC was Staffordshire Veteran Champion, whilst Olivia Kirkland of Altrincham Rifle Club was Open Ladies Champion.

Martyn Buttery and Dave Glover won the Pairs competition. Rugeley’s team won the Astor Tankard for best club team.

At the start of the prizegiving, Richard – Staffordshire’s County Captain and representative to NSRA Shooting Council – presented a special service award to County Treasurer Judith Simcock of Market Drayton Rifle Club. Judith has served on her club committee for over 15 years and became Treasurer to the County in 2010, which makes this year her 15th anniversary in post. In addition to committee duties, Judith has been the supervising scorer at the County Championship for 8 years.

Two men walk up a shooting range, one carries wooden target frames and a yellow bag. A wind flag is visible to the left.
Silver trophies stand on a table awaiting their winners.
A young shooter adjusts their spotting scope before the start of a shooting match. They are wearing a red visor and blue ear defenders, along with a teal shooting jacket.
A group of target shooters stand and kneel in front of a shed, bearing a banner.
A man watches the shooting through a tripod-mounted spotting scope. He holds a white umbrella bearing the logo of Rugeley Rifle Club.
Two smiling shooters walk up a target shooting range after changing targets. One is wearing shorts and a blue t-shirt. The other is wearing jeans and a canvas shooting jacket in bright pink and cyan colours.
A group of five target shooters stand behind a table loaded with silverware that they have won.

Gold and Silver for Olivia and Richard in Wales

by RichHin Competitions

Rugeley members Olivia Beech and Richard Hemingway claimed medals at the weekend competing in the Welsh 50Metre Championships at Tondu Target Shooting Club in South Wales.

Shooting in the Welsh Confined Prone Championship on Sunday 22nd June, Richard took second, following friend of Rugeley Liam Webster who became Welsh Confined 50Metre Champion for the first time.

The afternoon saw the wind pick up in time for the Three-Position match where Olivia was pitted against a number of GB Pathway athletes. Maintaining a steady shoot in difficult conditions, Olivia finished with a score of 564, edging out Alun Evans on 562 and Louis Norman on 558.

Full Results

A female athlete loads a round into a smallbore target rifle The rearsight is mounted on tall sight raising blocks. The silver chassis bears the Walther logo.
Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a red, white and green top presents a prize to an athlete.

Rugeley takes narrow win over Alton Rifle Club

by RichHin Competitions

Rugeley Rifle Club earned a close win against Hampshire-based Alton Rifle Club in a friendly today. Shooting on their home ranges, Prone and Benchrest teams shot Shoulder-to-Shoulder over two cards each, with the best five scores to count from teams of up to seven.

The prone teams fought a close battle, with Alton slipping ahead by just three points. Alton’s J. Mullins took the highest individual score of 198/200.

In the Benchrest, S. Forster of Alton was the only shooter to go clean, but Rugeley benefited from depth, with a lowest counting score of 197, which saw them take a decisive lead overall.

We look forward to a rematch in 2026!

RugeleyAlton
G. Green100 5x99 2x199 7xS. Forster100 4x100 4x200 8x
99 2x100 4x199 6xR. Forster99 1x96 1x195 2x
W. Morgan98 4x99 5x197 9xT. Charrington96 0x95 1x191 1x
C. Gould99 2x98 3x197 5xC. Perry94 2x94 0x188 2x
A. Bullock98 1x99 2x197 3xJ. Jones89 0x94 2x183 2x
E. Vickers95 0x99 2x194 2x
Benchrest Sub-Total989 30x957 15x
R Hemingway10097197J. Mullins9999198
D Glover9697193D. Hartley9897195
P Baron9696192M. Buttery9599194
C Kimberley9495189M. Naude9498192
C Taylor9295187L. Garner8993182
I Ward9195186A. Simcock8489173
M Williams9291183
Prone Sub-Total958961
Total1947 30x1918 15x

British Championship medals for Rugeley shooters

by RichHin Competitions

Rugeley shooters have had a very successful weekend at the British Open Airgun Championships at Bisley.

Kicking off on Thursday, Abbi Beech took bronze in the Sporter Rifle championship.

On Friday, Pippa Waterson qualified fourth in the Junior Women’s Air Pistol, improving to bronze medal position in the final, whilst Oliver Hill qualified as the youngest finallist in the Junior Men’s Air Rifle, improving from seventh to fifth place.

Olivia Beech took bronze in the Women’s Air Rifle and silver in the University Championship. Megan Bamsey also qualified for the Women’s Final, finishing fifth.

In the Seniors, Paul Watkiss qualified for the Men’s Air Pistol final in 6th position, unluckily finishing just out of the medals in fourth place after a strong final.

Paul Barker won the SH1 Air Rifle, and placed third in the SH1 Prone Rifle.

Three young women stand smiling on a shooting range. They are holding match air rifles and wear the specialised jackets and trousers used in ISSF style target shooting.
Olivia Beech wins Bronze in Women’s Air Rifle
An empty shooting range stands ready. In the foreground, a row of boxes stretch off into the distance, each bearing a computer monitor that shows the outcome of shots. The row of targets is visible in the background.
The range awaits
Three young people stand smiling on a podium clutching medals. The one in the middle is holding a trophy.
Abbi takes Bronze in Jr Women’s Air Pistol
Two men stand in front of a podium, the one on the left is presenting a trophy to the man on the right who wears a top bearing the British Shooting logo.
Paul Barker wins SH1 WSPS Air Rifle
Three young women stand smiling on a podium clutching medals
Pippa Waterson takes Bronze in Jr Women’s Air Pistol

All photos courtesy Eleanor Shorey, nsratheshorey.com

Medals and Schools Championship Regional Heats

by RichHin Competitions

Rugeley shooters have been in action at the regional heats of the British Shooting Schools Championship. On the 20th November, Abbi and Pippa competed at Ellesmere College in the West Midlands Pistol Regionals.

Qualifying fifth, Abbi shot a strong final to picking up bronze in the Junior class, whilst Pippa climbed from third place in qualification to win Silver in the Intermediates.

A few days later, Abbi was in action again at the NSRA’s West Midlands Regional Centre at Aldersley, shooting in the West Midlands Rifle Regionals, where she took a decisive win in the Junior 10M Sporter Rifle class!

Abbi and Pippa will both be finding themselves busy at the National Finals at Chase Leisure Centre in February!

Two girls stand with medals in front of a backdrop reading "British Shooting Schools Championship"
Abbi takes Junior Bronze and Pippa takes Intermediate Silver in the 10M Air Pistol Regionals at Ellesmere College
A girl stands with a gold medal in front of a backdrop reading "British Shooting Schools Championship"
Abbi takes Junior Gold in the 10M Sporter Air Rifle Regionals at Aldersley

Ed takes on champions at Benchrest Nationals

by RichHin Club News, Competitions

Ed Vickers attended the Benchrest UK National Open at Portishead Shooting Club in Somerset this weekend, where he faced off against some of the UK’s top Benchrest shooters, including Trevor Eling – who recently ran a workshop at Rugeley. Shooting at 50metres, the matches were shot to International WRABF rather than NSRA rules, allowing the use of a rear rest under the butt of the rifle, in addition to the front rest.

In the “Light” Air Rifle (<10.5lb) event on Saturday, Ed fought tricky conditions to finish 38th of 40. On Sunday, Ed rallied in the “Heavy” Air Rifle (<15lb) to place 14th/35, edging Trevor into 15th place by three points!

Rugeley represent at Welsh International Airgun Championships

by RichHin Competitions

Rugeley shooters represented this weekend at the Welsh International Airgun Championships in Cardiff.

Shot over three days, athletes contest three matches – the Cardiff Grand Prix and AiroShoot Qualification are contested over Friday and Saturday in Senior and Junior classes, with the Welsh Open Championship contested on Sunday as one class. WIAC is part of the AiroShoot circuit, alongside the InterShoot match in the Netherlands, RIAC in Luxembourg and other matches in Scotland, Denmark and Belgium. As a result, it attracts international shooters in addition to the predominantly British entry.

Paul Watkiss placed 13th and 12th in his Air Pistol matches, finishing 21st in the Open Match with a series of very steady shoots.

Pippa Watterson placed 7th and 17th in her Junior AP matches, and 25th in the Welsh Open.

In the Air Rifle, Megan Bamsey placed 5th and 8th in her Senior matches, and 25th in the Open.

Izzy Ward placed 23rd and 24th in the Junior Women’s Air Rifle, and 22rd in the Open.

Bill Clark placed 16th and 15th in his Men’s Air Rifle events.

Gold and Silver for Izzy and Bill at Aldersley

by RichHin Competitions

Izzy Ward and Bill Clark competed at Aldersley this weekend in the NSRA West Midlands Airgun Open. In the B-Class Air Rifle Championship, Izzy took Gold and Bill Silver. Bill shot two days and also claimed Gold in the B-Class Aggregate.

Club representation at Bisley

by RichHin Competitions

Rugeley members represented at the NSRA’s National Smallbore Meeting this year, winning County and Home Country selections.

Six members shot the Weekend Aggregate, spanning Classes X to D.

  • Richard Hemingway – X, 20th
  • Alex Buttery – C, 21st
  • Ian Abbotts – C, 33rd
  • Liz Garner – C, 35th
  • Brian Parker – C, 43rd
  • Deb Truman – D, 20th

Martyn Buttery finished 42nd in the X-Class Grand Aggregate and represented Hampshire. Martyn won Silver with the County Sextette, and Bronze in the County 50Metre match.

Richard Hemingway was selected for Wales, placing third in the Home Countries International.

Richard and Liz both qualified for the Eley Postal Final, with Richard placing 17th in A, and Liz taking 3rd in E.

Paul Watkiss placed 9th in A-Class in the Benchrest Weekend Aggregate. John Passey placed 11th.