Clay Shooting March 2021

Well here we are in another lockdown – it’s beginning to feel a lot like Groundhog Day. My favourite gun has been locked away in the gunshop for weeks since it was repaired. I still can’t go and fetch it, and even if I did I couldn’t use it anywhere. Still, there’s light at the end of the tunnel, what with the vaccines being rolled out and spring on the way – and I’m delighted to see that shooting’s governing bodies are making plans for a full calendar of events and competitions this year. On our news pages you’ll see that there’s a list of events planned, starting next month and building to a season that looks packed. There’s all the usual British and English Open Championships, the Worlds at EJ…

British Shooting has named the athletes to represent Team GB and Paralympic GB at the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer. In the shotgun events, Kirsty Hegarty (Women’s Trap), Matt Coward-Holley (Men’s Trap) and Aaron Heading (Men’s Trap) will all make their debuts at the rescheduled 2020 Games, which will take place from 23 July to 8 August 2021. GB’s Olympic and Paralympic rifle and pistol competitors were also announced. Matt Coward-Holley, from Chelmsford, won gold in Olympic trap shooting at the ISSF World Championships in 2019, and was Britain’s first world champion in Olympic Trap. Aaron Heading, 33, who is from Kings Lynn in Norfolk, is a four-time Commonwealth Games medallist, four-time World Cup medallist and a European Games medallist. Kirsty Barr, 32, is from Craigavon in Northern Ireland and the daughter of…

The 2021 shooting calendar is taking shape, with dates announced for CPSA championships and selection shoots, as well as a host of independent competitions. The CPSA posted their provisional 2021 calendar mid-January, but warned that the dates were only provisional, and subject to change without notice. First event in the CPSA’s draft calendar is the English Open Fitasc Sporting, scheduled for 13-14 March at Roundwood Shooting Ground in Hampshire. That’s followed by a bevy of England Team selection shoots in the home disciplines, and the UK Fitasc Championships at Mount Farm on 3-4 April. British Shooting is planning to run its Shotgun Series of OT and OSK competitions this year, after the series was cut back to a single Grand Festival in 2020. Three qualification rounds are planned for April, June and July,…

22 Feb-5 Mar ISSF World Cup Cairo13-14 Mar English Open FSP Roundwood18-29 Mar ISSF World Cup New Delhi20 Mar CPSA AGM Kenilworth21 Mar English Open Compak Orston2-4 Apr DTL 300 Grand Prix Fauxdegla2-11 Apr Cyprus Grand Prix Cyprus3-4 Apr BS Shotgun Series Round 1 – OT & OSK East Yorkshire3-4 Apr UK FSP Championships Mount Farm10-18 Apr Essex Gun Masters Hepworth Hall16-27 Apr ISSF World Cup Korea18 Apr UK Compak Championships Eriswell24-25 Apr UK OTR Championships Fauxdegla25-30 Apr Tokyo Test Event Japan1-2 May British UTR Grand Prix Fauxdegla6-9 May Compak European Cup France7-17 May ISSF World Cup Lonato8-9 May Northern Shooting Show Harrogate12-16 May English Open ESP Barbury15 May Benelli Sp’Auto Atkin Grant & Lang21-23 May English Open ESK Eriswell22-23 May UK UTR Championships Bisley23 May-6 Jun ISSF European Championships…

British Shooting Show cancelled The British Shooting Show and the British Shooting & Country Show have been cancelled. The organisers say that holding the events in the current climate could be miscommunicated as the industry being irresponsible. “It’s the sacrifice that we all make now, that will allow us to enjoy events once again in 2022,” they say. They plan to hold the next British Shooting Show at the NEC Birmingham in February 2022, and the British Shooting and Countryman Show at the East of England Arena, Peterborough, in July 2022. Obituary: Chris Darvell Chris Darvell, a passionate Trap shooter who was part of the international Trap shooting scene for nearly fifty years, died before Christmas. Chris appeared in the CPSA averages in 1970, shooting 50 registered DTL targets. Olympic and Universal Trap…

Like other shooting grounds up and down the country, West London Shooting School have had to close their doors once again due to the third national lockdown – but they still have some exciting diary dates planned for March onwards, including several simulated game days at their Great Tew Estate, 10 miles from Banbury. Described as the quintessential English country estate, Great Tew has a renowned game shoot that lends itself to offering some memorable simulated clay drives. The estate is so passionate about its shooting that it has built a line of eight stone grouse butts for a uniquely authentic experience. Price for a day’s simulated shooting in March and April is £255 per person, and the available dates are: Saturday 6 and Friday 26 March, and Friday 9 and…