Saturday 18 July 2009

2009 Nordic P&TI

The 2009 Nordic P&TI competition took place in Copenhagen at the Kalvebod ranges for the 50m and 25m events and at the basement range of the DGI byen sports complex for the 10m events.

No teams from Finland were able to join us this year.

The weather forecast was windy and showers, but in the event it was hot and sunny all week.

The much-reduced team of four assembled on the Monday morning at Manchester airport for the 2 hour flight to Copenhagen. Baggage weight limits were always going to be a problem, as we were way over the limits, but in the end we didn't have to pay anything extra. I'd taken the precaution of letting the airline know we were travelling with firearms, and that part of the check-in also happened without too much bother.

We were met at Copenhagen airport and managed to squeeze everything and everybody into the Skoda plus roofbox and were taken to the Danhostel Amager hostel (after a couple of small detours), which would be our accommodation for the next week.

The hostel accommodation was fairly basic, some rooms were en-suite (ours wasn't) and the space in each room was tight for two beds. No air conditioning meant that the window needed to stay open at night, which gave the Danish airforce free reign to buzz in and bite.

The technical meeting on the Monday evening decided that teams would be three nominated people in all events, with more than one team allowed. 50m rifle events were shot on fairly old Sius electronic targets. 25m was on paper targets, as was the 10m air rifle (strips of 5) and air pistol (2 shots per target).

The Danes loaned us .22 pistols and two types of RWS pistol ammunition was available to purchase.

Tuesday was a training day for all disciplines, however the only training offered with the .22 pistols was a full Standard Pistol match in the morning and a full Sport Pistol match in the afternoon - no range time outside these matches even to adjust the trigger or sights. Adjusting the sights was done during the match, which meant that we were struggling to begin with.

I only did the Standard Pistol match training as I wanted to train on the DGI byen range with air pistol. The airgun range (also used for .22 at 15m) is a two-level range with 20 firing points on each level. I trained on the upper level, which was a mistake as I was scheduled to shoot the match on the lower level, where the level of light on the targets was much lower.

We had dinner at the Danhostel Amager on the Monday and Tuesday evenings and the food was good, as was the breakfast each morning (from 7am).

Wednesday saw the matches start, with Dave and Bryan squeezing the 50m prone over lunchtime between shooting the Standard Pistol and the Sport Pistol. None of us shone on the cartridge pistol, but we did end up taking 3rd place and Bronze in both events.

Dave had his first misfortune of the week when a spring broke in the trigger of his borrowed Walther GSP half-way through his Standard Pistol match. The Range Officer went home and got his own Walther GSP, which allowed Dave to shoot the rest of the match (20secs and 10 secs) after his prone match and before the Sport Pistol (not getting a chance to adjust the sights).

The prone team of Bryan, Dave and Geof took 1st place and Gold, with Bryan taking 3rd place for a Bronze. Geof was our only entry in the 3P half-match (3 x 20) and also bagged 3rd place and Bronze. Medals were presented at an evening dinner at a restaurant at a fun-fair, after a meal of all-you-could-eat wild boar (and very tasty it was too).

Thursday saw all the action at the DGI byen range for air rifle and pistol. The range, despite being in the basement, was quite warm. I struggled with the low light level, eventually finding a lens for my glasses which allowed me to focus on the foresight instead of the target, and ended up with a score of 368x400, giving me 2nd place and the Silver, two points behind my long-term rival from Sweden, Kent, who took 1st place and the Gold.

Dave, shooting air rifle, had the misfortune to knock his rifle off the bench onto its butt hook, snapping the aluminium stock, after only firing 6 shots in the match.

Dave and Bryan also shot the air pistol and we bagged more Bronze medals with 3rd place in the team event.

The evening programme took place at a restaurant where the day’s medals and some cups were handed out.

The Norwegians could still be heard partying at 6am on the Friday morning as we were driven away from the Danhostel Amager to Copenhagen airport, where we joined a very long queue in Terminal 3 at check-in.

As on the outward flight, we somehow managed to avoid paying for our excess baggage, but did get caught for a DKK 150.00 each for a firearms handling fee. The security office was a long walk over to Terminal 2 and then a long return walk to the gate in Terminal 3 where I found two security people waiting for me as the rifle bolt that Bryan had put in his normal luggage (and not declared) had been spotted on the x-ray picture and they wanted to talk to me (as all the luggage was in my name).

All was eventually sorted out when Bryan opened his suitcase and they were satisfied that it had been a mistake on Bryan’s part in not declaring the bolt ... and the .22 ammunition ... and the air pistol … after apologising for wasting their time we escaped up the steps onto the aircraft for our return flight to a chilly and damp Manchester.

Kristianstad in Sweden is the venue for the next Nordic P&TI competition in 2011.