We recently came across a rusted, and jammed solid, target in the undergrowth. It must have been there nearly 20 years without anyone noticing it. I set about a renovation job to the target with the before and after pictures below, very satisfying.

With the newly inaugurated CSFTA Summer League well under way, it was Carisbrooke's turn to host Sunday, 16th July round. Despite the cost of the ferry, a good number of competitors turned up. They had the sense to offer lifts to others from their clubs. The day was very windy but, many of the shooters achieved above their average scores. Top shot of the day was Steve Privett from Southampton Buccaneers with 37x40. Club shooters were, Allan Dyke 34; Richard Green 34; Barry Warren 31, and Andy Winch 24. Good feedback from everyone, makes all the hard work worth it.

Our esteemed target producer, Richard Green, has made a specific Island based target which is now on the course. You have to shoot the white disc located within the red squirrel for it to score a hit. Yes, we know, Red Squirrels are a protected species but it will have to do until we locate some grey paint!

Walking back across the mini range I tripped on something metallic partially buried in the ground. After much effort digging it up, I found not only a brake disc but a dishevelled target attached to it. The mechanism had seized solid and, judging by the rust and pitting, must have been buried years. After clearing the mud and weeds the target was oiled extensively to get it moving again. The target was then sanded and repainted, rather a satisfying job. Here are the before and after pictures.

After 7 rounds contesting the winter league, the Carisbrooke team finished in a creditable third place, not bad for such a small club. The CSFTA winter league is contested by 7 clubs within the region, these are, Frobury, Bisley, Meon Valley, Soton Buccaneers, N. Oxon, Newbury and us. Five club members, sometimes six, regularly undertook the ferry crossings to travel to these clubs for the season 2022-23. Apart from the team event, club member, Richard Green, achieved 1st place in C grade, Dave Hollingdale 1st in Open grade and Barry Warren 3rd in AA grade.

The early part of this year, the club committee discussed the possibility of erecting a covered range that members could shoot from, all year round, without having to worry about the weather. Hopefully this would encourage new members to join the club which, essentially, is an outdoor pursuit. Once the plans, and finances, were agreed on, work started in June 2022 progressing through a very hot summer and finished October 2022. A few pictures are shown here of the work at various stages.

After nearly 5 months of working on our new covered range, we have finally finished what is undoubtedly a great facility for the club. The range offers all round shooting, whatever the weather, it even includes 20 mini hit zone targets set in trees and bushes at varying distances. These can be shot in any position you wish, be it at a bench, prone, kneeling, or whatever. The other side of this area is devoted to novelty targets where the action is "having fun". Thanks must go to Andy Winch, Richard Green, Barry Warren and Allan Dyke, our "builders". Thanks are also due to Terry Grant and Wayne Challender for sourcing and transportation of some of the materials. We must not forget Holly who held on to a piece of timber while we sawed it! Apart from the club paying for a lot of the materials, contributions were also received from Andy Winch, Richard Green and Barry Warren.

Well done to Andy and Richard on starting to build the new covered zero range. The skeleton of the structure is almost complete however, we will need quite a number of OSB boards so if anyone knows of a competitive retailer, then please let us know. We are experiencing a lot of interest in attracting new members and feel the covered range is a great facility for these visitors.