Discover blind shooting!

Here we have a recent article that I wrote for our local charity, Disability Cornwall and their "Discover" magazine...

Blind and visually impaired shooters using rifles? Not the most sensible combination you may think! However at CABS (Cornwall Association Blind Shooting) that is exactly what happens.

Based at Helston and District Rifle Club, they meet every Wednesday afternoon between 2 and 4pm and have gone from strength to strength since forming in 2001. Open to anybody with a visual impairment it provides an invaluable opportunity to take part in a sport usually the domain of sighted individuals.

British Blind Sport and the National Small-Bore Rifle association have helped to increase awareness and run National postal competitions that club members participate in throughout the year. This keeps the CABS members on their toes and provides a constant challenge for those wanting to see how they compare with others. Once a year members have the chance to travel to Wolverhampton for the British Open, where shooters get to compete shoulder to shoulder against the best in the country. Locally though, the club provides its own internal competitions and often invites other groups to attend for friendly events. Most recently the Police Equality and Diversity team put up a good set of scores and had a chance to see just how much of a hindrance sight could be when trying to use the specialist equipment.

To the casual observer the sight, which is designed for use on an air rifle at a range of 10m looks like a conventional telescope sight. However, that is where the similarity ends. The sight is designed to collect and measure the level of light reflected from the
target. The centre of the target is brilliant white and then moving outwards from the centre
it is increasingly darker. The closer to the centre of the target you are aiming the greater
the level of light reflected and hence the higher the frequency of sound which is heard by the shooter via a pair of headphones.

There are two disciplines, one is shooting supported where the weight of the rifle is taken by a sprung stand and is ideal for those with physical impairments or weaker participants. Unsupported is a much tougher discipline and requires the shooter to hold the rifle on target whilst standing upright bearing the weight through the body, much the same as sighted shooters.

CABS is keen to hear from new members, groups wishing to attend for a friendly shoot and also anyone wishing to join the highly valued group of volunteers at the club.

Shooting Starse

Deep breaths, the feel of rapid heartbeat, the increase of adrenaline flowing through the body, preparing for the fight or flight instinct to kick in... and fight it was...

My second trip up to Wolverhampton for the British Blind Open shooting championships was more of a struggle this year. Standing on the range with the above emotions hitting home, I realised that I had set myself a high standard to beat last year. 587 out of a possible 600 points was going to be hard to beat. As it turned out I scored 579 this year, although I am pretty happy with the result as it was only my 3rd week of using my new rifle, and as such had not customized it to my liking yet.
Tony and Joe, fellow shooters from the club at Helston also made the trip up with us, Tony geting a personal best score. My score placed me at second in class B, the class I won last year.
This year however, I joined Joe in shooting in the unsupported discipline, something that requires great concentration and stamina to hold a rifle at shoulder height and to within a few millimetres of movement. 60 shots over 30 targets in the space of an hour and 45 mins. Again with the new rifle and never having competed in unsupported in competition before, I realised a score of 546 which put me at 3rd overall in the unsupported category which bodes well for next year. At least there is some silverwear on its way back home!

Blind drunk in charge of a weapon, yeah!


Bounty hunters R us

The Blind and The Bill Battle for the Bull

This afternoons regular shooting practice was livened up by a little friendly competition between our club and the Police. Representatives from the Police diversity team visited us at the club, among whom were ex firearms officers hoping to put their years of experience to use. After a little intimidation and trash talking from us regulars the event got under way.
Blindfolds were used for the Police, not that sight would have helped them, the rifles used at the club are adapted to use sound to indicate when you are on target. Having no optical scope to look down means the only way to get on the centre of the target is to listen to the subtle pitch changes in your headphones based on the amount of light reflected off the black and white targets. Scoring was out of 100 points per shooter, based on 2 targets with 5 shots on each with a max 10 points per shot. Give them their due, the guys from the Police did really well considering the lack of practice, they were turning in scores in the high 80s and early 90s. Our guys were on the ball however with our best shots returning consistent 90 plus scores. We all got the chance to have 3 goes each and for my first 2 attempts I got 97 and 96, My 3rd go was after we had stuffed ourselves with food and cake. This must have done the trick as I laid to rest any doubts as to who was going to win with my score of a maximum 100. The smackdown had been well and truely served, with an overall win of 34 points to our club over the Feds.

Track of the day = Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze of Glory