Great Britain Rifle Team

Canada 2023

Borden, Ontario, Canada

23 Aug 2023

Epilogue: Reflections on a wonderful tour

Now that we have all arrived back home, got some sleep, and with many of us this morning on the way back to work - it seems like an appropriate time for one last diary entry to wrap everything up. Firstly, we must tackle the serious point that we missed out on our goal of winning the Canada and Commonwealth matches. With all of the hard work and training that went into the tour, it’s inevitable that many of us felt disappointment, but it’s also important to take an objective look at what really happened. We were up against some very … Read more

Diary

22 Aug 2023

Day 17 - Packing and Departure

After a brilliant final night with birthday celebrations, rodeo, and line dancing, the team awoke in the various rooms of our motel at varying times. The task of packing our rifles and equipment to be flight ready began in earnest, and was finished in time for a lovely rooftop lunch in Barrie overlooking the lake and trips to Cabela’s outdoor shop. The team set off in time for the marathon check-in and customs process, and after some delays to departure and baggage handling, arrived safely back at the SRA yesterday. Given the relative lack of events to mention on this day, … Read more

Diary

20 Aug 2023

Day 16 - The Final Day

Today was the final day of shooting on our Canada tour. The day started with the Gatineau, a 2+15 at 1000 yards, the final shoot of the DCRA Grand Aggregate. Simon Hayton was tied for first place with a score of 75.10v, but narrowly lost out to Zevin Linse in the tie shoot scoring 24.3v to Zevin's 25.2v. This concluded the DCRA Grand Aggregate, with three GB shooters in the top 10 - Nigel Ball, Jane Messer, and Simon Hayton in 5th, 6th, and 9th place respectively. After bundling one of our hosts, Jim Paton, into a balloon-filled party car, Reg … Read more

Diary

19 Aug 2023

Day 15 - The Canada and Commonwealth Matches

Today featured the Canada and Commonwealth Team Matches. Team GB put forward our top teams, with some incredible performances such as Christina Cuming recording the top score across all teams in the Canada match, with an incredible 150.20v. Another of the GBU25s, Tom Shaw, posted the joint top score across the Commowealth match, one off with an excellent 99.13v. Overall, the U.S.A. Team won the Canada match dropping only 7 points to Team GB's 13 off. The Commonwealth match was even closer, with Canada defeating Team GB by just a single point. We offer our sincerest congratulations to both teams on … Read more

Diary

18 Aug 2023

Team Announcement

The Canada and Commonwealth Matches - Great Britain Team announcement Please click on the above link to see the teams selected to represent Great Britain. Update to team selection. Patrick Costello will now be shooting in the Commonwealth Match in place of Dave Rose.

18 Aug 2023

Day 14 - DCRA National Championships (Fourth day)

The Grand Aggregate continues today with the Gibson and the Presidents. The combined score of the Letson from yesterday and the Presidents today forms the qualifier for the Governor Generals Final, and it's the last day to impress the management for selection to the team matches that are coming in the following days. So, everyone had their game faces on! A benign start to the day lulled us all into a false sense of security. The first couple of shoots passed in a similar fashion as the rest of the week, with many 50s in the first Gibson shoot at 500 … Read more

Diary

16 Aug 2023

Day 13 - DCRA National Championships (Third day)

The weather was bright, warm, and muggy today. Whilst for at least one of us this meant he could finally get his laundry dry, it also made heat management a major factor in today's shooting. The day started with the Letson, which features in both the DCRA Grand Aggregate, and as a qualifying score for the Governor General's Finals. Nigel Ball won the match with a stellar score of 105.16v. Other notable scores include Jack Alexander and Michael Cooper with 105.14v, James Shepherd with 105.13v, Jane Messer with 105.12v, Christina Cuming and Tom Shaw with 105.11v. This leaves Nigel Ball running … Read more

Diary

15 Aug 2023

Day 12 - DCRA National Championships (Second day)

Today was day two of the DCRA National Championship, and our fifth consecutive day of shooting. Having now been in country for nearly a fortnight, the challenges of shooting away from the home comforts of Bisley are beginning to show. With long days on the range and evenings a rush of ammo distribution, sandwich making, laundry, rifle cleaning, and dinner, there's hardly enough time to enjoy a few quality sundowners at the end of it all. Yet we persevere, and the sense of teamwork and camaraderie we have developed is carrying us through. Many of Team GB continue to produce notable … Read more

Diary

14 Aug 2023

Day 11 - DCRA National Championships (First day)

Today was the first day of the DCRA 🇨🇦. A careful eye needed to be kept on the mirage and flags, and the conditions yielded some very good scores. We started with the Tilton at 500 yards, which was which was two sighters and ten to count. James Postle was third with a 50.8v, followed by Tom Rylands 5th and James Shepherd 7th with 50.7v. In the Norman Beckett, Jack Alexander was 7th with a 50.8v and Nigel Ball 10th with a 50.7v. In the overall Grand Aggregate Jane Messer then led the GB charge with a clean score of 150.20 … Read more

Diary

13 Aug 2023

Day 10 - 141st Ontario RA Provincial Championship (final day)

Today has been without doubt the most exciting and consequential day of the tour so far. Strap in. The first shoot of the day was the Des Burke at 1000 yards, which also served as the final shoot of The Mercer Grand Aggregate. Patrick and Jane both came off with 50.8v, tied for first place. An exciting tie shoot saw Jane victorious with 25.2v to Patrick’s 25.1v. This saw the conclusion of the Grand Agg leaving five members of Team GB within the top ten: Patrick C, Jon U, Jack A, Jane M, and Reg R (edging out Tom S with … Read more

Diary

12 Aug 2023

Day 9 - 141st Ontario RA Provincial Championship (continued)

On the second day of the Ontario Provincial Championship, the conditions became a little more challenging with the addition of a morning rain shower. The course of fire today consisted of two shoots at 900 yards and one at 1000. The first shoot, The Tait, featured two of Team GB within the top ten - Jane M scoring 50.8 and Tom S scoring 50.7v, with Mike B on the same score in 13th place. The Brassey featured Jack A in 5th place with 50.7v and Nigel and Jane following closely with a 50.6v. Mike Bumford, having never fired in a tie … Read more

Diary

11 Aug 2023

Day 8 - 141st Ontario RA Provincial Championship

Today was the first day of the Ontario Rifle Association meeting and the team descended on the range bright and early at 0730 to pick up squadding for the next few days. Short range was the order of the day today with 4 shoots, twice at 500 yards and twice at 600 yards. The course of fire was 2 convertible sighters and 10 scoring shots. The conditions started cool and bright in the morning and progressed slowly to hot and bright in the afternoon. Those looking at the mirage tended to fare better since the flags were much lower than the … Read more

Diary

10 Aug 2023

Day 7 - The Team Drive to Borden

An early start today, as the team rose from 6:30AM to begin loading the van, shortly after our tenacious Team Treasurer's training session in the hotel gym had concluded. After completing the mammoth 900 km journey, the team are all settled in for nine days of back to back shooting. Tomorrow marks the beginning of the 141st Ontario RA Provincial Championship, being held at Mons Range, CFB Borden, ON. The first day will be spent at short range (500 and 600 yards), followed by up to seven shoots at long range (900 and 1000 yards) over the following two days. The … Read more

Diary

9 Aug 2023

Day 6 - Waterfalls, Ziplines, and Poutine

Today was our third and final day of R&R in Quebec City. We were treated to much finer weather than yesterday’s washout, and the team had a choice of either a wonderful walking tour by Gale S from PQRA, or an adrenaline-fuelled ziplining adventure. Our tour started with a stroll from the City Hall up to St. John’s Gate and the Place D’Youville. Gale gave a wonderful explanation of the history of this part of the city, having been established as a settlement by the French Explorer Jacques Cartier in the sixteenth century. We then progressed up around La Citadelle de … Read more

Diary

9 Aug 2023

Day 5 - R&R in Quebec (Continued)

The team woke on day 2 of R+R in Quebec to find the weather had turned quite considerably rainy, and so indoor activity was the order of the day. Some team members opted for sightseeing at the Citadel, which forms part of the fortifications around Quebec City - did you know Quebec City is only one of two North American cities still enclosed with fortifications? A World Heritage site and still used as a military base today, it was well worth a visit. Meanwhile, other team members went for a relaxed brunch at a local spot. In the diarist' humble opinion, … Read more

Diary

9 Aug 2023

Day 4 - R&R in Quebec

The team have been making the most of the few days we have off before competitions start again on Friday. Some of the team took the opportunity to get out of the city and explore the stunning Canadian wilderness for a leisurely hike. The rest of us remained in Quebec for a day of sampling French-Canadian cuisine and wine in the old quarter. Written by James Shepherd

Diary

6 Aug 2023

Day 3 - Valcartier Invitational (Continued)

With the cobwebs blown out yesterday, the team once again descended on Batoche range for our second day of shooting. With Team GB occupying nine slots out of the top ten going in, and a team match on the schedule, things were suddenly becoming rather more consequential. We started the day with another 2&15 at 500 yards, which started very calmly but a fickle and misleading downrange breeze caught many off guard. Seven competitors scored a "possible" of 75/75 points, with six of these from Team GB. The wind grew more unpredictable as the day progressed. There were no possibles at … Read more

Diary

5 Aug 2023

Day 2 - The Valcartier Invitational

The team rose bright and early (one much earlier than others) for the first day of shooting in Quebec. For many of us it was our first visit to the Batoche range at Valcartier and also a new experience of using the electronic target systems on our personal devices! The morning commenced with liberal application of mosquito spray, with Tom Shaw valiently attracting most of the bugs to himself and leaving the rest of us relatively unscathed. After the sun rose and the wind picked up the biting insects subsided somewhat and it turned into a pleasant day. It was a … Read more

Diary

23 Aug 2023

Results

14 Aug 2023

Commonwealth Match

completed

Borden Range, Ontario

Canada Match

completed

Borden Range, Ontario

Featured Team Members

Vice Captain

Gary Alexander

Cap Number

796

Home Country

Ireland

Big 5

Gary Alexander

When asked to join the management team for this tour i didn’t know the world was about to be knocked sideways by a pandemic that would postpone us a couple of years and put us on course for “plan G”!

I am delighted to be returning to Borden after a very long time and very much looking forward to a first visit to Montreal.

Our team has a wide range of experiences and it has been enormous fun working with them all including my son Jack who will put a keen edge on my own competitive nature.

Off the range I enjoy scuba diving in beautiful places around the world with Zoe and getting out in the countryside with a shotgun in the crook of the arm with Fergus our springer spaniel.

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Team Member

Michael Bumford

Cap Number

939

Home Country

Wales

Big 5

Michael Bumford

Mike first began shooting at Pate’s Grammar School in Cheltenham upon joining the CCF in 2009. He shot his first Imperial Meeting in 2012, going on to represent Wales in South Africa and the UKCRT in Jersey in 2013, then GBU19 in South Africa in 2015. After a hiatus during his university years, Mike picked up shooting again in 2020, placing within the top 50 of the Grand Aggregate in 2021 and 2022, as well as shooting his first Queen’s and George’s finals, before being selected to tour the Channel Islands with the NRA team in 2022.

Mike has recently taken on the Vice-Captaincy of Wales, with 4 National and 5 Mackinnon caps to date. Aside from being part of the winning National team in 2021, Mike’s proudest shooting moments include wins over both Jersey and Guernsey on their home ranges with the 2022 NRA team, a feat not easily achieved! Having caught the touring bug again, Mike is looking forward to his first trip to Canada and the experiences that come with shooting on new ranges with new faces.

Away from the range, Mike lives in London with his wife, Katie and black labrador, Ralph. He is a retail property agency surveyor, having recently moved to Knight Frank.

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Team Member

Nigel BallGC SM SC

Cap Number

721

Home Country

England

Big 5

Nigel BallGC SM SC

Nigel is no stranger to Canada having been on a variety of GB and England teams during the last 32 years. It was his first official team there in 1991 that gave him an appetite to tour and he relishes the chance to return and compete with old friends.

Nigel’s shooting career began in the Royal Navy, where he won the Queens Medal with Service Rifle. He then branched out into Target Rifle which is now his main event and thinks that one day he will be quite good at it if he practices hard. He has gained several Grand Agg, Queens Final and George’s badges in his time but it is team shooting he relishes most. In his opinion there is nothing like a well-oiled team that flows and supports each other, to perform to the best, hence his delight on being in this team with a blend of youth and experience all willing and eager to demonstrate their shooting skills.

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Meet the Team