IT is midway through the Devon County Smallbore Rifle Association’s ten metre individual air pistol and air rifle winter league with Okehampton Smallbore Club’s shooters returning some excellent results this season.

There are ten divisions in the league, with eight shooters in each division; entries come from far and wide, from Cornwall to Essex, Jersey and Gibraltar. It is a postal league, where each round of 60 shots is shot on the competitor’s home range which are scored by a club official and then reported to the league organiser to compile the results.

The competition follows Olympic shooting rules and competitors use match quality equipment. Shooters are allocated to divisions depending on their normal average scores, so all levels of ability are catered for.

OSC’s Sharon Bartlett shooting air rifle is in first place in division four after five rounds; club members shooting air pistol are doing well in division eight with Richard Elliott in place with Rachel Martyn in third.

The RWS 10 metre air rifle league is a nation wide winter competition for teams of three air rifle shooters and is run by the National Smallbore Rifle Association. This comprises 10 rounds, each of 20 shots.

This season, Okehampton Smallbore Club has entered the team of Steve Lloyd, Sharon Bartlett and Neil Abernethy. Okehampton are competing in division two along with teams from Leicester and District, Maidenhead, City of Oxford, Down Hatherly and MPSC. After six rounds OSC is currently in first place, having won all six rounds.

The club’s air pistol team is also entered in the similar RWS ten metre national air pistol league. The team of Bernard Rendle, Sharon Bartlett and Jason Ponsford are lying fourth in division six.

At the recent British Open Championships held at the National Shooting Centre at Bisley, Surrey, Okehampton’s Georgina Geike won first place in the ladies’ air pistol, beating stiff competition in the final ‘shoulder to shoulder’ Olympic style shoot. Sharon Bartlett shooting air rifle, was ninth in the British Ladies Open Championship. A really excellent result for both.

The club’s 10m air match secretary Neil Abernethy is really thrilled with the results all his shooters have achieved so far this season.