Latest News

Training Day

The breakfast buffet was pretty busy this morning, as all of GB, GBU25, England, and USA turned up at 6am. A relatively late breakfast, compared to the rest of the tour where we’ll be up an hour earlier, but today was a practice day with a gentler start.

Preparation

After the excitement and stresses of traveling, and an impressive thunderstorm overnight, Wednesday was set to be a day of rest and preparation. Some squad members started the morning in the gym or the pool, others opted to take advantage of one of a very small number of lie in days on the tour.

Arrival

The team landed at Johannesburg shortly after 1030 this morning, about an hour ahead of schedule. Immigration and baggage reclaim went remarkably smoothly, and even processing 41 rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition was surprisingly speedy.

Featured Team Members

Derek Lowe
England
Cap #:
774
Big 5 Caps:
16

Derek began his shooting in the cadet force at RGS Guildford, moving on to the Athelings in 1991, Oxford University over 1991 – 1994 and the Surrey county team since the late 1990s. He has been fortunate enough to represent England or Great Britain in various guises in Australia, Canada, Jersey, Kenya, Namibia, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

This tour will be Derek’s 5th to South Africa, and 3rd as Adjutant. Keenest at long range and in a team environment, he also spends a lot of time in match rifle. Aside from coaching and shooting (usually in that order), Derek sits on various committees in order to delay the inevitable moments when he has to leave Bisley. He is an experienced charity trustee both in shooting circles and at the church he attends in central London, and works in corporate finance as a Group Company Secretary.

Bill Richards
SM SB
England
Cap #:
685
Big 5 Caps:
78

This will be Bill’s twelfth GB tour and his fourth to South Africa, including once with England in 2009. Although best known as a coach, Bill has appeared in the final of HM Queen’s Prize final 25 times and 18 times in the top 50 of the Grand Aggregate, so he can occasionally point his rifle in the right direction.

Bill has been a Maths teacher since 2003 and is extremely grateful to his school for allowing him time off during term time to tour. When Bill isn’t teaching or on the range, Bill is involved in running Space Design Competitions, inspiring the next generation of rocket scientists! He is rarely found without his Kindle, reading mostly a diet of science fiction and fantasy.

David Luckman
GM2 GC3 SM SB3 SC6
England
Cap #:
775
Big 5 Caps:
84

David will be touring South Africa for an eighth time having first visited with the Great Britain team 25 years ago. He is looking forward to the opportunity to catch up with friends both local and from other international teams following an unforeseen four year break from touring.

David’s successes include winning HM the Queens Prize (twice), Grand Aggregate (3 times), the St George’s (4 times) and four Gold Medals at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2015, after a long eight years, he finally managed to shed the title of ‘the oldest ever World Individual Long Range rifle champion’ but his new long term goal is to one day regain that title.

David started shooting with Sedgemoor Target Shooting Club and represents Somerset. He is married to Susie and they live in Bristol with their son Thomas and daughter Sophie. When he has time, David is a keen sports player and enjoys cycling, tennis, and swimming.

Glyn Barnett
GM3 GC3 SC3
England
Cap #:
713
Big 5 Caps:
80

Glyn is an Emergency Medicine Consultant and is planning not to use his medical skills whilst on tour.

His first Bisley Imperial was in 1985 at the age of 14 and earned his Great Britain Cap in 1990. He’s been fortunate enough to have toured many times, but mostly in the 20th Century. This will only be his third tour in this Millennium, all of which have been to the General De Wet range. He holds 4 “Palma” Team medals, 4 Commonwealth Games medals (including Pairs Gold in 2006) and is one of 5 people to have won Her Majesty the Queen’s Prize 3 times. His family of girls (and The Dog) keep him on his toes and in his rightful place in the pecking order.

Meet the Team

Tour Information

Captain’s Foreword

My family has a long tradition of fullbore rifle shooting with substantial links to South Africa. My Grandfather Major Tom Anstey, captained the 1953 GB Team to South Africa whilst my father, Major David Scott-Langley, was Adjutant to the 1963 GB Team. In 1993 I made my first trip to South Africa as a member of that year’s Great Britain Rifle Team…

South Africa 2023 Team Announcement

GBRT South Africa 2023 team announcement
I am delighted to announce the names of those selected for the GB Rifle Team to South Africa, touring in March 2023…
More Information