NSRA Scottish Championships

Lauder 29 June - 5 July 2019

2019 was a very special year for “The Scottish”, celebrating the 100th meeting since the event was first held at Perth in 1909. This year’s event took place in the grounds of Thirlestane Castle, near Lauder in the Scottish Borders.

To mark the occasion, The NSRA had carried out very welcome improvements to the range, introduced special competitions for the event and published a very interesting Commemorative Booklet with the historical background.

The Special Competitions for the 100th Meeting were;

The Scottish 100 - shot unsquadded at 100yds

and

The Champion of Champions which attracted 12 previous winners of the Earl Haig Memorial Trophy and was won by Ian Shanks of Bon Accord.

Improvements included raising and levelling the firing point and covering with new industrial matting along with protection from the local cows for future events.

Competitors were delighted with the result since there has always been a firing point issue at 100yds. The main comment heard was “…..should have been done 10 years ago….”

Additionally, the much sought after and distinctive prize of a whisky glass engraved with “I Shot 100 at Scotland 100” was presented to 32 shooters who achieved a “100” at the meeting.

Although it is very difficult to have a week of good weather in Scotland, the meeting was lucky with fair weather for most of the event with only a couple of brief showers.

However, strong winds were a feature of the week and competitors found it extremely challenging. But, this is what outdoor shooting is all about. Many competitors commented that they learned a lot about shooting in the wind during the week!

The meeting was well attended compared to previous years, with a 30% rise in entrants which is thought to be mainly due to increased marketing of the anniversary meeting. For the first time in many years A Class was split into two squads for the Squadded competitions.

You can find all the competition results on the NSRA website but Championships results were.

Earl Haig Scottish Champion - Lenny Thomson Banff & Macduff

Champion of Champions - Ian Shanks Bon Accord

Scottish Ladies Champion - Susan Jackson Watsonians

Scottish Junior Champion - Lucy Richards George Watson’s College

100yds Team Championship - Banff & Macduff

50m Team Championship - Watsonians

Main International Team - England

Women’s International Team - England

It is hoped to attract the same competitors next year and add additional entries. Bench Rest was added a couple of years ago and the entries have increased each year. Planning for next year includes adding Target Sprint to the programme. The NSRA propose to seek help from experts to research how this would be developed and set up.

It was a very enjoyable week and we look forward to repeating it again next year.

If you would like a copy of the NSRA Commemorative Booklet
you can download a copy from the NSRA website here
or contact Sue Warren at the NSRA at marketing@nsra.co.uk