Great Britain Rifle Team
Bloemfontein, South Africa
For the first time in this cycle the 2024 Palma team met early on a Friday at Bisley for a 3-day training camp. The team and reserves had been allocated into 4 target families which, whilst not set in stone for the next 9 months, will aim to foster closer working relationships as the team work towards the Palma match.
Seven weeks post-Imperial meeting, and with a new stock of range credits earned from friends and family, team members met up at Bisley for the first of three training weekends in quick succession.
Three short weeks after the first, the team re-assembled for the second of three intensive training weekends. The weather was set to be unseasonably mild (24 degrees on Sunday) with calm winds, promising pleasant conditions for most.
After the unseasonably warm weather of first two training weekends of the autumn, the Team knew that their final weekend together in 2023 was going to be far colder and more testing. Storm Ciaran had run its way across the south of England for the preceding 2 days…
After a 3 month break since our last outing in November, the team regrouped for our final full squad training weekend before we head out to South Africa in three weeks…
Back in 2020, around 100 hopefuls submitted an application to be a part of the 2023 Palma Team, with a pre-tour in 2022. One global pandemic later, and the schedule slipping by a year, today marks 1245 days since the 4th October 2020, when the initial squad was selected…
The first of three rest days for the team, this was much looked forward to and needed after the travel marathon of the weekend. By 07:42 (05:42 for our body clocks) the Captain had not only done 40 minutes of Pilates but messaged us all to humble brag. Subliminal messaging ignored, the majority of the team started with a lie in and lazy breakfast…
A second day of rest and preparation was in store for the team today. Team members were free to do as they chose, so as to prepare themselves physically or mentally for nearly 3 weeks of competition…
Today the excitement levels are building, as tomorrow we start the first of 16 days of shooting, with only one rest day (when we’ll still be on the range supporting the Veterans, Under 21s and Under 25s in their Team Matches). With that long schedule ahead of us, today was our last real chance to relax and fully get into the zone for the upcoming weeks…
After 3 days of rest and preparation the squad were keen to get stuck into the shooting. An early start (with alarms before 6am) at the hotel the unwelcome consequence! It was good to be back at the General De Wet range. The drive out from Bloemfontein is through large areas of wild grassland, with zebras, ostriches, and Wildebeests on the viewing menu as we went…
This year’s pattern sees a different schedule overall to accommodate the World Championships, but in keeping with the usual timelines Friday signalled the start of individual competition shooting in the Free State Championships, the traditional warm-up to the South African Champs (or SA Bisley as they call it)…
The SABU championship kicked off today. The 8am first detail meant alarms were set at an unsociable 5:30 to allow time for breakfast, packing the vans, and getting to the range for 7:15. The first match of the SABU Championships is the Scottish Sword, 7 scoring shots each at 300m, 600m and 900m, with a total possible score of 105.21…
Normally there is no shooting on Sundays at the South African Championships and as a result the day is given up for rest, recovery and recharging batteries. However, this year any hope of a lie-in or leisurely breakfast was thwarted with the next major difference for this World Championship year - shooting on Sundays…
After the extreme heat of the preceding 2 days, one might have hoped that the heatwave might be starting to ease off in Bloemfontein. Alas, in an African version of Groundhog Day (with fewer pianos), day 10 again promised unbroken skies, 36-degree temperatures and complex winds…
With this year’s revised schedule, only one shoot today is in the Grand Aggregate so our readers might be forgiven for assuming a quieter day lay ahead for the team. However, the morning contained the State President 2nd stage, three shoots of 2&10s at 300m, 500m and 600m. This shoot is not part of the Grand, but counts both for qualification for the State President Final and for the SA Open…
Today was the final day of the Grand Aggregate, and with three of our team in the top 10 overnight including Matthew Ensor in first place, hopes were high. Those who still wanted more practice reading the tricky Bloemfontein range or were in with a chance of a high finish in the Grand headed to the range…
This morning saw the second of our three team matches, the Protea Match; considered the most prestigious match held annually in South Africa. GB Teams have competed in various international ‘test matches’ in South Africa from the first overseas tour to visit in 1921 but the first time a GB team competed in the Protea Match, as it is now named, was in 1998…
Another adjustment in the SABU calendar saw the conclusion of the State President competition move to Friday this year. The State President’s competition is similar to the King's Prize in the UK. Competitors qualify for the 3rd and final stage via the aggregation of the scores from the first 2 stages. The score from the 1st stage is dropped for the final with the score from the second stage (out of 150) being carried forwards. The final comprises 15 shots at each of 800 and then 900m, starting at 9am local time. We usually shoot long range in the afternoon in … Read more
Day 6 was our first day of shooting, and today was our only day without scheduled shooting until Day 23 - so a very important day to rest and recover before the World Individuals. Having had a great team meal last night, with the promise of a lie in, plans were afoot for pool time, late breakfasts, even some gym time. So, obviously, both of your beloved diarists were out of the hotel pre 9am heading to the range…
After the excitement of yesterday, Sunday was a slower start for most. The afternoon marked the start of the World Individual Long-range Rifle Championships. The morning gave an opportunity for a lie in, or, for those with the need, a practice session on the range to check equipment and also sight settings for 700m…
Having rearranged our buses to group those on the same details, today was the first of three days where first detail shooters were back to the usual routine of 6am alarms and 6.45am leaving the hotel. Bus 2 was almost delayed with a shooter unable to tell the time having misplaced their watch, but having found it on their other wrist all was well…
Today again saw 2+15 at 700, 800 and 900m. The start to the day was more frantic for some than others, when they realised that they hadn’t necessarily brought all their kit to the range, they shall remain nameless, however Chris Mitchell found himself worthy of a name check for laughing about the missing kit whilst simultaneously realising he’d left his shoes behind, a whole day in flip flops on a rough range beckoned…
As we start the final day of the World Individuals, the GB team have 6 shooters in the top 10, and 9 in the top 20. The top 3 places overnight were Glyn Barnett on 520.61v, Jon Underwood on 518.58v and David Luckman on 517.55v…
Today was our final chance to practice as a team before the big match tomorrow. The team was selected last night and announced internally, with our formal team announcement today…
And so, 1849 days since the last one, it was finally time to play for the big one: the Palma. Three and a half years of training and anticipation comes down to two days, six ranges, sixteen firers, and 7,200 points. The weather forecast suggested a somewhat cooler day, with cloud cover. Alas it wasn’t to be, as the morning dawned cloudless, with a gentle breeze from the left-hand side…
Day two of the 2024 Palma dawned cooler than almost any on the tour so far, following a spectacular thunderstorm overnight. For the final time, target teams made their way to their respective vans for the drive to the General de Wet range. With just two points separating ourselves and Australia after day one, it effectively came down to a three range shootout against the reigning World Champions…
With all of us feeling slightly delicate after last night's commiserations, we gathered on the lawn outside the downstairs rooms and began to pack all the team baggage. Under strict instruction to arrive at 10am with all items that needed to be included in team kit, only half of the team managed to achieve this basic task. Others had their team kit helpfully added to the pile by room or bus mates without regaining consciousness from the night before…
Our 9am team meeting started the process of travelling home. One member of the team realised he’d need to take an opportunity to visit Peter Bramleys for final time, and by our planned 10am departure almost all the team were showered and packed. The driving teams set off in convoys with very loaded vans back to Johannesburg Airport…
