Cup Report - Christmas Shoot 2007 - 20th December 2007
 

Each year, shooters come together for the Christmas Shoot and using rifles with an "open" or "V and bead" site, compete in the Bill Amos Competition. Bill was a stalwart of the Stratford League for over 40 years. He shot for teams based at the old Phoenix pub, better known these days as the Slug and Lettuce and at Binton. When he retired from shooting, he donated his Webley Mk 3 rifle to the league and it is with this gun, a challenge in itself, that shooters compete.

There is definitely a knack to using Bill's gun. It is not just a matter of lining up the forward and rear sites as competitors found out when they came to the target. Some struggled to even hit the target and had to settle for scores in single figures from their 5 pellets. Others clearly mastered the technique which enabled them to get more respectable scores. Fred Williams, who remembers Bill won the competition with an impressive score of 24.1pts. Runner up was John Parrott with 20.1pts.

A second competition was also held using open sited guns provided by the shooters themselves. This resulted in a shoot out between Paul Clingan, Fred Williams and Ray Hodgkins who all used Paul's Webley Mk 3 and Brian Adshead who used his own gun, also a Mk 3. This competition was won by Ray Hodgkins, a veteran shooter with a score of 21 and Brian Adshead was runner-up with 20pts. Ray started shooting in 1953 at the Working Mens' Club in Rother Street. Subsequently he shot for teams based at the Brewery Club in Guild Street and at the One Elm. He gave up shooting when he had to start wearing spectacles but after a 20 year break, he returned to shoot for the MEB in the 2006/07 season.


 

Report by Juana Everett (to be published 10th January 2008)