.22 RIMFIRE BENCHREST: MAMMA MIA!

Created on 26th May 2009

CARL BOSWELL previews the inaugural Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest World Championship

WITH NEWS of the dates for the first Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest World Championship confirmed as 27 July to 3 August 2008 I thought this a suitable topic to air as we begin the season. Milan is again the venue as it is easily accessible and has the range built for this type of competition. We were hoping that the event would be in San Marino, as its Olympic committee came to the European Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Shooting Federation and asked if they could provide the venue. Unfortunately this didn't happen in time and the details as to why are a little vague. Maybe next time.

The individual classes or matches will be held at about the same time, so Unlimited at 25yd and 50m, for instance, will be held over two consecutive days. In this way we are trying to reduce costs for those travelling a great distance. The final details at the moment are still coming through, but the event diary should look something like the table opposite.

One thing you have to remember is this sport is still growing, and the venues that are available for rimfire and air rifle benchrest across Europe are few and far between. Hopefully this will change as things grow, especially in this country where I know a number of clubs have done excellent conversions and a lot of range improvement to get this sport off the ground. It will be interesting to see if we have a development in the UK where a national range will be available for future events. This is something I would like to see, as I am not sure we would be able to host a European or World Championship at the moment.

TSN Milano is a very hospitable club, as I wrote when recounting our experiences at the European Championship. The UK team had a lot of hard work to do and also had a great deal of fun. I think we were all amazed at the sheer size of TSN Milano. It has 75 lanes in the main gallery, which comprise prone, rifle and pistol stands. Within this particular ‘gallery' there are 25 benches to 50m and 10 to 25m. This can be extended, as the administrators of the World Championship hope to borrowmore benches to increase the number of shooters at each relay of each match. On top of this TSN Milano has a large number of air rifle and pistol galleries dotted around the complex. It is worth going just to see it! While I was there last summer, I found the pistol range and watched the local police training. I was even offered a go and the only thing that stopped me was having to get a plane home.

The club itself can be found on the outskirts of the main city, in the Fiera Milano City region, about two or three kilometres from the Duomo cathedral, so not that far if you want to do a bit of sightseeing. Linate Airport is about 15 kilometres away and this is the one that UK shooters should be aiming for, as it is the closest to the city. Malpensa airport is a bit further away, at 48 kilometres, and will cost extra in a taxi fare. The facilities are good with lots of places to eat cheaply and a number of hotels in the area and further into the city. An excellent and easy-to-reach spot that will make it that bit easier for shooters to attend.

One thing I do hope is that the wind is a bit kinder to us this year. I have been told that TSN Milano is doing some substantial development work to reduce the path and erratic direction change of the wind at the club. I hope this is true as it is the only fault I can see at this shooting range. Whatever happens we will be shooting in the same conditions as everyone else, so a great deal of practice will have to be put in by UK team members between now and then. This is something we are working on at the moment. We do hope to have a training weekend a month or so before the championship, so everyone can meet and hopefully have some coaching to raise our shooting to the standard we need to compete with others in the world. The weekend will also provide time to discuss our shooting and adapt and perfect our techniques.

This may sound like a lot of preparation, but the best from around the globe will be attending this championship, with teams coming from the USA, Australia, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Poland and South Africa (so far). All these will be training as well to ensure their teams will have a good chance at bringing home the winning medals. There are a number of countries that have not yet come back to us with a decision about what they are going to do. However, there is a bit of time to make this decision and updates will be coming via the From the Bench column.

Further information will be on both the UKBR22 website (www.benchrest22.org) and the the European Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Shooting Federation (ERABSF) website (www.erabsf.org) as it comes to me. For more about the World Championship from overseas shooters, it may also be worth looking at the Benchrest Central forum at www.benchrest.com.

The UK team is being picked at the moment based on score averages achieved over the last 18 months. This will include teams and individuals for air rifle and rimfire, so we can compete with all other countries that are sending complete teams to the championship. Hopefully we will have a full team list that covers all classes on the UKBR22 website in the near future. As a national team we would obviously like to be represented in all classes at the championship. We have shooters who are capable of achieving very high scores and hopefully bringing home a few medals. Clearly this all costs and we are seeking sponsorship quite vigorously at the moment to help out with travel and training costs. Any help will be much appreciated.

This is certainly a chance for all of us to be part of something that is a first of its kind. It is something that will become historic and grow, so we will have such championships in other areas of the world, in the future. I would not have imagined a World Championship a few years ago, as we had no real parity or context to make this happen with other countries. Now for the first time the UK, with others, has made a huge impact on this minority shooting sport. It has taken a long time, but we have established quite a lot. Hopefully, with the support of our members and other associates, we will bring home a few medals. Now that would be nice!

As a side note to this, the ERABSF is just starting to promote the next European Championship in 2010. The venue for this is not decided at present and I know a few countries are interested. The problem here is having a suitable, well constructed rimfire and air rifle benchrest-friendly venue able to support up to 120 shooters (more probably) with appropriate hotel facilities in the area. The deadline for this is early this year and I hope to have more information in the near future.

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