Precision Rifle World Championships

[John MH]

1 hour ago, Brushy said:

However, I disagree with your comment about ‘self appointed emperors’. Tiff and co have got off their bums and done something and it could be awesome. Others could have done so but didn’t. They have done this off their own backs in an attempt to promote the sport and raise the game. I don’t think anyone (in this country) will ever get rich by taking on such a thing. conversely it is likely to be hugely time consuming and for very little reward. 

No disputing that some people have done a huge amount of work and due credit and recognition is deserved.

However, both the identified IPRF GB Reps are know to have financial interests in the ‘sport’. The PRL is a registered company and you don’t register something as a company if it’s not to run it as a business and turn a profit. An individually ‘sponsored’ shooter has a interest in maintaining their sponsorship by promoting the products they have been given, they might even be tempted to branch out run a PR shooting related business out of it.

Bad press, whether deserved or not, taints products, although some would argue that all press is good news as it makes people talk about the brand. The PRL, GBPRA and the IPRF must be over the moon that they’re getting so much coverage.

[terryh]

1 hour ago, Brushy said:

Terry, as usual I agree with some of your points. 1 bag and no tripods for me is the way to go too but that a personal view. IMO it Reduces the kit wars and expenses for new shooters and levels the playing field.

However, I disagree with your comment about ‘self appointed emperors’. Tiff and co have got off their bums and done something and it could be awesome. Others could have done so but didn’t. They have done this off their own backs in an attempt to promote the sport and raise the game. I don’t think anyone (in this country) will ever get rich by taking on such a thing. conversely it is likely to be hugely time consuming and for very little reward. 

I am sure that the open forums will come but it is early days....and we all know Rome wasn’t build in a day. Indeed, after all this could the collisium of PR shooting

Tim,

Cannot disagree that Tiff has put some effort in, it obvious that it has been going on a while and now the likes of Scott are under the impression that Tiff and Co represent the whole of the UK’s PR shooters.

Why not put out some feelers first? Try to sort the very obvious rift ( partly instigated and created by Tiff) before nominating yourself as the grand Poobah of PR UK.
That is how say a film or a new iPhone is promoted, you create the interest, you feed a few teasers then out come the trailers/adverts. We now have a slam dunk it exists, 80% of the committee is in place and they set the rules.

I’m sad that it has gone this way, it was unnecessary and shows a complete lack of understanding of basic human psychology and the UK PR shooting scene. I do not want to sound like a cracked record but I’ve shot a good few of the pre-PRL matches that were referred to in the pod-cast, they were absolutely brilliant, the most challenging and fun competitions I’ve ever taken part in. They went to the pits with the gaming element (I.e. ‘ barricade bench rest’ shite) . Would really like it to take off in the UK.

T

 

[Brushy]

20 minutes ago, terryh said:

Tim,

Cannot disagree that Tiff has put some effort in, it obvious that it has been going on a while and now the likes of Scott are under the impression that Tiff and Co represent the whole of the UK’s PR shooters.

Why not put out some feelers first? Try to sort the very obvious rift ( partly instigated and created by Tiff) before nominating yourself as the grand Poobah of PR UK.
That is how say a film or a new iPhone is promoted, you create the interest, you feed a few teasers then out come the trailers/adverts. We now have a slam dunk it exists, 80% of the committee is in place and they set the rules.

I’m sad that it has gone this way, it was unnecessary and shows a complete lack of understanding of basic human psychology and the UK PR shooting scene. I do not want to sound like a cracked record but I’ve shot a good few of the pre-PRL matches that were referred to in the pod-cast, they were absolutely brilliant, the most challenging and fun competitions I’ve ever taken part in. They went to the pits with the gaming element (I.e. ‘ barricade bench rest’ shite) . Would really like it to take off in the UK.

T

 

We can at least agree on wanting it to take off then Terry and that I suspect is the most important thing of all!!

 

[No i deer]

Cohesion and a better strategy is needed rather than bitching amongst themselves. As already said a proper committee is needed and collective decisions made rather than individuals wanting to call the shots..

There has to be alot of groundwork done to have a chance of getting this to work..!!

Good luck

NID

 

[John MH]

This is a recording of a Zoom Meeting where the IPRF 'Officials' discuss why they got together, where they are going and what hurdles they have to overcome. Odd that the statement at minute 10:18 that 'using a bag on a rifle and placing it on a barricade' could be classed as 'para-military' training in the UK was not challenged by the GB Rep, as that is factually wrong.

Minute 46 the RSA Rep explains very well what the current situation is in the UK.

Minute 47 is where the GB Rep speaks about whats happening in the UK, he states there are '8 Ranges' in the UK where Precision Rifle Shooting can take place, anyone want to chip in where they are?

Minute 52 talks about 'Funding' and sponsors and the need for shooters to be sponsored to be able to afford it. That cuts out 95% of current GB Precision Rifle Shooters, the UK sponsorship is concentrated on a select few, as as we know in some cases sponsorship promotes 'questionable' behaviours.

Minute 54 the President of the IPRF talks about how they are getting organised in the USA and was open about who was involved.

Minute 1:09 the GB Rep explains why AI rifles appear so much in the pictures of rifles in GB events, obviously if you are 'sponsored' by AI you'll have a lot of pictures of their rifles in the publicity from your events, strange to say they are 'not competitive' as those running 6.5 Creedmoor seem to do alright from what I have seen, self funded AI shooter might challenge that statement.

"Shout Outs" start at minute 1:30 where you promote your sponsors who give you free stuff. GB Rep 'Shouts Out' at 1:32:40.

The names of the GB Reps have been published on the IPRF website but the "Committee' remains secret and invisible.

Given the issues with C19 I cannot see that there will be that many 'Matches' in the UK to qualify, we will have to wait and see. From what I do understand is that the SIS series and Diggle are not signing up to this at present, anyone know what matches are currently going to be qualifiers?

It was recorded early hours of the morning that might explain the passive responses an only about 3 minutes of input from the GB Rep and not much more from the Swedish Rep.

Anyway I recommend that, if you have an interest in Precision Rifle Shooting, that you watch it and draw your own conclusions 😀.

https://www.facebook.com/TheShootersMindset/videos/219820126454767

 

[Gandy]

Thanks for listening through and writing a summary John. 

[John MH]

GBPRA 'Provisional Committee' committee announced:

Quote

The GBPRA are pleased to confirm the membership and roles of the Provisional Executive Committee as per the following. The committee are from mixed backgrounds and the members have been carefully selected to ensure impartiality. As with any new association, a membership must be established before representatives can be identified and appointed. Therefore, it is anticipated that the provisional GBPRA committee will be in post until after the first IPRF world championship in July 2022, only. After this time, the membership will be in place to vote in a free and full election of the committee and officers.

As some of the following individuals may be unknown to the wider UK shooting community, we have provided the below summary for your information:

 

Chair - Paul Hennessey: Whilst new to Precision Rifle, Paul is not new to shooting having been involved for more than 30 years in competitive target shooting, clay shooting and hunting. He is also an NRA member and RCO. Paul sits on the committee of one of the largest target sports clubs in the north East of England. His experience gained from 27 years in the financial services industry, including board level positions in operations and compliance as well as forming and running his own businesses, will stand him in good stead to drive the initiative to the inaugural world championships and the point where the membership can elect their committee and its officers. A unanimous vote elected Paul as the Chair of the GBPRA.

 

Vice-chair – Alex White: With more than 20 years firearms experience under his belt, Alex has been a member of the NRA for over a decade and has competed at county and national level in target rifle during his time with the Army Cadet Force. He has also competed internationally in 'sniper' championships in the Czech Republic. Alex has been shooting precision rifle competitions for 7-8 years and is currently sponsored by Sassen Barrels.

 

Secretary – Tim Brush: Tim is a registered first aider and acts in this capacity at his local shooting club. He enjoys shooting competitively and is keen to encourage new shooters into the Sport.

Range Liaison Officer (1) – James Ford: James began shooting aged 15 and is a keen hunter and game shooter. He has an engineering background and owns his own company.

 

Range Liaison Officer (2) – Simon Armstrong: Simon is a keen shooter and hunter in both the UK and Europe. He is an RFD and training provider with a background in pre-hospital trauma care. He is the secretary of a home office shooting Club and works closely with Police Forces and the NRA.

 

Media Officer – Christian Westcough: Christian is a senior operations manager, a keen target shooter and hunter. He has recently taken up precision rifle and is keen to promote the sport.

Members without assigned roles (currently):

 

Brad Bourner – Brad has been shooting professionally for over two decades including seven years in the Royal Marines as Sniper and Small Weapons Instructor and latterly as a professional deer manager. He has shot competitively throughout and offers rifle tuition to public. He is also a qualified RCO and 1st aider.

 

Matt Stockman – Matt was introduced to rifle shooting as a teenager with the Air Cadets. He lived in Austria for nearly a decade, where he trained for practical pistol and shotgun competitions with members of the Austrian police force. Since returning to the UK he regularly attends precision rifle matches across the country and is a team Accuracy International shooter.

 

Charles Cooper – Charles has worked as a professional director since the age of 29. As an owner operator he has run companies on three continents. He has been the Vice-Chair, Training Chair and Chair of the Industrial Rope Access Trade Association. He has been shooting for over 4 decades, is an RCO, Instructor; shoots the PRL, has a DC2 for deer management, and holds an RFD. He is also the Chair of the One Mile Club UK.

 

Josh Martin – Josh has been a keen shooter for over a decade and was the 2019 PRL winner. He is the Director of a flat roofing company and has recently opened an RFD, C2 precision. Josh is a sponsored shooter for XLR industries and is a Ruag Ammotec sponsored shooter.

Andy Welch MBE – Andy served in the Royal Navy, in particular the Fleet Air Arm, and retired at the rank of Lt Cdr after 23 years. He was appointed to be an MBE in the 1994 Honours List. He is highly experienced in rifle, shotgun and mini rifle, a Chairman of a Home Office approved club and is also a member of the UKPSA. His contributions will be invaluable to the committee.

 

The committee would also like to take this opportunity to clarify that the range owners and match director/organisers will be invited as Stake-holders to augment the GBPRA committee and to provide expertise as appropriate. We hope to contact you shortly regarding this.

In the meantime, whilst the committee encourages and welcomes communications from interested parties and stake-holders, we ask that these are submitted to via email to info@gbpra.co.uk rather than contacting individual committee members directly. We also request for senders to be patient when awaiting replies, as the committee are all volunteers with families and jobs to support.

 

Finally, the committee recognises that there is still a lot work to do at the international (IPRF) and also national (GBPRA) level. We will work tirelessly to repair the divisions in the UK Precision rifle community with two clear aims: 1.) To enable the committee to select and send a team to the inaugural world championships in 2022 and 2.) To encourage a membership, who will be able to choose who sits on their committee immediately thereafter.

 

We look forward to working with you all to promote precision rifle shooting in GB and beyond!

 

[terryh]

On 2/6/2021 at 5:23 PM, Brushy said:

We can at least agree on wanting it to take off then Terry and that I suspect is the most important thing of all!!

 

Tim,

You're in the hot seat now then! 😎 Good luck  

[TC]

Seems a well balanced board 👍

[terryh]

13 hours ago, TC said:

Seems a well balanced board 👍

Only time will tell, bit lite on the ‘history’ in this type of shooting. 

Be interesting to see how the application of the IPSC approach to matches pans out in the UK? Commonality of commands etc. is sensible, the other 95% is baggage, and IMHO is pretending today to forget what we knew as a fact yesterday’  🤔 (flagrant steal of someone else’s line).

[John MH]

https://www.facebook.com/PrecisionRifleFederation/posts/159296246119211

 

 

Quote

 

Time for a long overdue update!

Since we became public there has been a lot of attention regarding the IPRF

Word has spread, and our plans widely discussed.

Our goal has from the beginning been to help countries unify under either a National precision rifle federation, aid in the pursuit of joining an existing one or in any way unify them.

Many countries have had multiple factions running the same sport and we can gladly announce that many have come together and joined forces to represent their country in their best possible way at the upcoming world championship.

Currently we have 20 countries on 5 continents that have joined in one way or another, many have gone straight to the important work of creating national federations to ensure the future of the sport and rifle ownership within their countries which for us is the most important task for the international sustainable growth of the sport.

Regarding the planned world championship in Spain, which was our first pick, we ran in to some trouble with local government who could not sign the permits for this type of event this far in advance. We have since shifted our focus to the other sites across Europe that we have been working with parallel to Spain. We also have a fail-safe location outside of Europe that is ready to go just in case things go south.

We are also currently working on the Factory division and Classic division and trying to nail those rules down the best possible way. Since we launched, we got a tone of good feedback from participating nations on the divisions and decided a slight re-write was in place.

Our work continues and we plan on giving you more updates further down the road as we start to spread the workload on this massive project which we all do on a voluntary basis.

 

So currently the whilst the clock is still counting down on IPRF Website there is no World Championship.

 

[John MH]

Details now available on how to join the GBPRA and what they offer:

 Apply to Join

[Ronin]

Oh dear 

[Catch-22]

Tbh, they had me at “Get a GBPRA hook and loop patch and vinyl sticker” 💪

[brown dog]

31 minutes ago, Catch-22 said:

Tbh, they had me at “Get a GBPRA hook and loop patch and vinyl sticker” 💪

😂

[terryh]

On 5/19/2021 at 2:06 PM, Catch-22 said:

Tbh, they had me at “Get a GBPRA hook and loop patch and vinyl sticker” 💪

....This and then some 🙄😁

I had a re-visit of the web site, trying to be positive but it is very easy to become a bit jaundiced, not much info, I read the only available verbiage, the Constitution & Policy and found it a bit unnecessarily Woke and contradictory in places.

With Gardeners and the RMPRA shoots being very 'inclusive' and fun (and lots of them) plus arranging my own trips to Orion etc. I'm not sure what the GBPRA can contribute - apart from being the (self nominating as) WC selectors?

Perhaps it's just the lockdown that is tainting my POV?

[gazzarM1]

Nope bandwagon jumpers....

[John MH]

So still no idea where the alleged World Championships are taking place.

[ds1]

Camberwick Green, Trumpton or Chigley would be my guess.

[lapua]

GBPRA badges are out, apparently #001 is going to be available soon when Tiff gets his collar felt 😂 #nofacnorfd

[John MH]

Hungary now, allegedly.

[John MH]

Confirmed its Hungary.

[John MH]

IPRF World Championships look unlikely as €150,000 needed to host the event and there is no money, no sponsors and no leadership. The rudderless ship ploughs on.

[John MH]

The IPRF have just announced the World Championships are now taking place in France, third country announced as hosts in less than one year.

[No i deer]

Would you have too qualify too shoot the WC some how or can anybody enter..?

Like shooting well enough in PRL too qualify to be in a team GBPRL team as you'd expect to be team shoots at such a prestigious event..