Jump to content

500yd Fly Shoot


DoubleTap
 Share

Recommended Posts

With all the gear ready and one hundred 90gr Lapua Scenar's loaded up I set my alarm for 04:00am (or so I thought), put my head down at 11:00pm and tried to get 5 hours sleep. Like an idiot I'd set my alarm for pm instead of am so had to be awoken by a quick switch of the light by dad which dazzled my eyes. I got some clothes on and headed downstairs were all the gear was laid out on the floor. I didnt have any breakfast because we normally get a bacon butty on the way ??? Dad had taken the dogs down the field first thing otherwise they would have chewed everything in the kitchen due to us not taken them. We loaded the gear into the car and left the house at 05:00am. We drove through Ashridge Common near Berkhampstead on the way and saw very few Fallow and Munts to what we normally see in the early hours of the day. They were only in two's and three's which is different from their normal big groups. Anyway we were on the motorway shortly after and were heading for the North of the Pennines in which Diggle is situated. Halfway up and we were starting to build an appetite so we broke into the lunch bag and ate a whole cold pizza between us, and then a packet of Walkers Sensations grab bag was gone before heading onto the 2l water bottle which was gone in a flash. We decided not to get a Bacon Butty as we had already had breakfast so we headed all the way to the ranges. The last few miles of the journey are down small country lanes across the heather coated mountains where we saw roughly around 15 Grouse all sat beside the road. We then descended down the final mountain into Diggle. We then headed up the extremely narrow road to the range.

We were in the club house by 08:30am and Dad was speaking to a few friends about the usual, shooting, shooting, and more shooting :good: It was a very slow start as all the locals always turn up right at the last minute and sign in. After 20 minutes in the yellow painted, cigarrette smoke and coffee smelling stuffy room I felt ill and decided not to shoot however after some fresh air and persuasion I put my name down to shoot. The man who runs the shoot gave us the instructions and rules of the Fly Shoot and we started the short walk down to the firing point. It was good weather so we shot off the usual grass platforms. When it is raining we either shoot from the 400yd or 600yd firing point which are both under cover. Dad was put in the first detail(group of shooters) and I was in the last so Dad could spectate me and assist me with the reloading and windage on the scope. There were 4 details so it was quite a while until I shot but never the less it is always fun watching.

While everyone else was shooting I sat down and took a few pics(shown at the end). We went back up for lunch after the 2nd detail. Lunch took a good hour or so, by that time I was starting to get slightly impacient and wanted to get shooting. The shooting commenced and soon it was my turn to shoot. My name was called out and I got set up with Dad laying down next to me.

The scoring of the Fly Shoot is done basically by the number of rings you hit. The rings are numbered 10 in the middle all the way down to 1 on the outer ring. You can also score points for your group size. How you shoot is entirely up to you whether you want to shoot off a bi-pod or a rest. Dad tried setting up the rest however it wouldnt quite extend high enough so we had to move onto the bi-pod. It was a cheap replica of a Harrison bi-pod, it isnt great however it did the job, there was a bit of wobble coming from the bi-pod but proved no drama. You get 5 minutes of sighting and in that period you can shoot off as many rounds as you want. Your sighting is done in a pair with the shooter layd down next to you. You will shoot then the people working the targets in the butts will then pull the target down and stick a pink patch over your bullet hole. They then slide the target back up before your partner shoots. The same process happens over and over until you are happy with your scope settings. It took me about 4 shots to get my accuracy spot on but then had one more when the wind changed. I was sorted and ready for my three 5 shot groups. I had miscalculated the size of the target so when the bullet holes were 2" away from the fly positioned in the middle I had said they were about 6". This caused dad to wind the scope too far across the paper making me put two bullets just off the edge of the target :yes: I fired my 15 shots and we then headed back to the club house for the results. Dads smallest group was 4.478" and mine was 5.563" which I was absolutely over the moon with as it was my first time at 500yds. The awards were given out back in the club house. There were awards for smallest group for both Custom Guns and Factory Guns and there were awards for Best Score overall, not to mention the 20 odd badges handed out for hitting the fly. The Brititsh Record for 500yds was broken with a group of I think about 1.5". Neither Dad or me hit the fly however both shot really well. Dads offered me to shoot again but this time at the 1000yd Bench Rest in about a month :hmm: Hopefully I beat him next time as Im gutted that I just missed out this time by 2 points.

We stopped off for a well wearned Mcflurry from Mcdonlads on the way back and then started our 3 hour journey all the way back down the motorway to Amersham where a dinner was awaiting.

Really enjoyed myself and cant wait to thrash the pants off dad next time ???

 

A few pictures:

post-20062-1282040510.jpg

Dad shooting his Remington .243 Factory Gun with a Leupold scope

post-20062-1282040557.jpg

Me shooting the same

 

More Pics to come

 

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alex you been on the sherry again :good:

 

 

why?

 

thats what the fallow do round us, same every year summer you see small groups with young and often bucks together then they seem to herd up later in the year. We've a couple of groups you see through the winter at 100 plus you never see the same number at this time of year

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fister ChrisV etc?

Probably do know them however dont know who they are on here. Please say if you are reading. If any of you other diggle shooters on here are reading the post we were listed Small A (dad) and Small T (me) on the targets. We are right down at the bottom of the score board in the link :good: It turns out that I have beaten dad but he wont admit it. Hes saying that if it wasnt for him reloading for me I wouldnt have hit the target. Im never gonna let him forget the day I beat him B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:good: Nice right up...i take it you are a zombieland fan by your user name!! What significance has the fly got?Is it the bull? :lol:

The Fly is what everyone wants to put a bullet through so yes its like the bullseye

 

Me thinks you have a talent for writing magazine articles.Anyone else agree with me.

Thanks, never thought of it like that :good:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...