First ISSF Air Pistol match in Ireland since 1972...

[Sparks]

Thought this might be a nice bit of good news in terms of progress for the sport, even if noone can make it to it!

Wilkinstown Airgun Open 2
Wilkinstown, Co.Meath
April 16-17, 2005

Competitions
Standard ISSF Air Rifle 60-shot match.
Standard ISSF Air Pistol 60-shot match.

Prizes
Air Rifle: Prizes for Overall, as well as for Classes, Ladies and Juniors.
Air Pistol: Prizes for Overall; Commerative prizes for all competitors. Classifications currently have not been drafted for this event in Ireland and we need more data on people's shooting levels to do this, so for the moment, we won't be seeing class prizes (But then, virtually everyone in the republic is at the same beginner level anyway at the moment!)

Schedule of shooting details
All details will have ten minutes of preparation time as per ISSF rules before the scheduled start time - ie. Prep time for the 1000 detail will begin at 0950, etc. There will be 35 minutes between details just in case any glitches arise.

Saturday: Air Rifle and Air Pistol
Detail 1 : 1000
Detail 2 : 1230
Detail 3 : 1500
(A fourth detail may be run at 1730 if absolutely necessary)

Sunday: Air Rifle and Air Pistol
Detail 1 : 1000
Detail 2 : 1230

Finals, Air Rifle:
Sunday, 1500

Entries
Air Pistol Match: 15 euro (10 euro for juniors and students)
Air Rifle Match: 15 euro (10 euro for juniors and students)
Both Matches: 25 euro (15 euro for juniors and students)
(Junior here refers to ISSF juniors, ie. under 21 on 31st December 2005)

Notes

* This will be the first ISSF Pistol match held in the Republic since 1972 (outside of an army barracks at any rate). We're not certain, but we believe it will be the first ISSF Air Pistol match held ever outside an army barracks in the Republic (anyone remember the history on this better?).
* Safety will be paramount for this event. Range Officer instructions must be obeyed at all times!
* Commerative awards will be issued to all competitors in the air pistol match (but allow a few weeks for them to arrive).
* We're trying to arrange for club air pistols for those shooters who do not presently own air pistols, or those from N.Ireland who wish to participate but have insufficient time to arrange paperwork to use their own air pistols. However, we're not sure how many will be available at present. Updates on this to follow.
* Since this is the first competition of its type in the Republic, we have no data for classification, and the entire competition is going to be a learning experience. We'll be asking for competitors to pass on any notes they might have on what gets done wrong (because this isn't going to be a finely tuned machine!) or what could be done better.


We already have a few shooters coming up from Tralee, from Leitrim, from the college clubs, and a few other places, so the more the merrier!

[j-team]

So, why no ISSF Air Pistol shooting in the Republic since 1972?

[RobStubbs]

So, why no ISSF Air Pistol shooting in the Republic since 1972?

Because it was banned

[Sparks]

Yes, when the Troubles kicked off up north in the early 70's, licences for all rifles over .22 calibre and all pistols were refused, giving a de facto ban on large sections of target shooting. That ban's been lifted in the last few months but not in a very clear-cut way, so it's taken till now to get this organised. I just thought it might make for a nice bit of news compared to the usual sort of range closures and extra regulations that make up most of our bad news these days :(

[Sparks]

Okay, so here are the final results for the Open. And here are the results as a spreadsheet.

[Walisongo]

Hi Sparks. I'm really sorry I missed that, first I've heard of it. Is there any more planned? If so will ya drop me a line and let me know?
Sean

[Fortitudo Dei]

Okay, so here are the final results for the Open. And here are the results as a spreadsheet.

Wow! For the first match in over 30 years, there are some pretty impressive scores there. Would some of these competitors have been shooting AP in the UK before this - or have they come over from shooting rifle? (or is it simply the luck of the Irish? :)
Also great to see women shooting against the chaps in the Men's AP and giving them a run for their money.

[Sparks]

Wow! For the first match in over 30 years, there are some pretty impressive scores there. Would some of these competitors have been shooting AP in the UK before this - or have they come over from shooting rifle? (or is it simply the luck of the Irish? :)

Well, the chap who won (Tim Scannel) was in the Irish army so he would have been able to train with pistols during the 32 years that the rest of us couldn't. He's also (if I've got my history right) the first Irish shooter to take a gold medal home from Bisley for pistol shooting and was sent as far afield as the states to compete in a world cup, shooting pistol for Ireland - but he hadn't picked up a pistol in a decade when he shot that match, hence the low (for him) score.

Also great to see women shooting against the chaps in the Men's AP and giving them a run for their money.

*hehe*
Well, it's an old story here. The Irish Air Rifle National Champion has been a woman every year for the past decade or more, with only a single year missed. It generally came down to a contest between the same three ladies as well an awful lot of the time. The guys seem content to take the .22 medals, mainly because it's belly shooting!

Hi Sparks. I'm really sorry I missed that, first I've heard of it. Is there any more planned? If so will ya drop me a line and let me know?
Sean

Certainly are more being planned Sean, but we don't have details yet (we had three people to run the match and 70-odd entries in total, so we were a bit exhausted by the whole thing and we're still waiting on the medals to be struck so we haven't even been able to issue the prizes yet!). I'll stick the details of any more ISSF matches I hear of up on the boards.ie shooting forum (rather than swamp here, which is really more US than Irish shooting!)