Trinity Resources multi-gun practical shooting match a success

The Inaugural Trinity Resources sponsored Multi-Gun Practical Shooting Match proved to be challenging and

fun for local practical shooters competing under the USPSA Practical Shooting Handgun Rules at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Yarrowkabra Range.
Every Guyana Sport Shooting Federation (GSSF) Practical Shooting Match is made up of stages that seek to measure a shooter’s ability in all three elements of the sport and are coordinated under strict safety guidelines marshaled by experienced Range Officials. The Match was held on Saturday October 1, 2016 was no different as shooters competed in 5 stages, considering technical aspects and shooting positions to take based solely on target presentation.
The targets were some 25 yards away and each stage target array tested different skills for the shooters of different levels.
For the experienced multi-gun competitors, no task was too difficult, each however had to have been well executed to be competitive. With the three elements of practical shooting on their mind – speed, accuracy and power, the competitors were judged based on their hit factor in the five stages. In the first stage called “15M Dash”, shooters had to do just as the name suggested and move the breadth of the range 15 M to engage various targets.
The second stage called ‘Bowling Alley’ was deemed a fun one which consisted of nine pepper poppers set out in a typical bowling alley design. Needless to say, a few extra shots were taken to make the poppers fall but it was a satisfying race against time to the pinging sound of the steel falling.
The third stage called ‘Hitting Rock Bottom’ required shooters to start in Box A with gun loaded and holstered. Upon start signal shooters were required to engage 3 classic targets and 2 poppers before racing downrange to Box B to engage the remaining 3 targets from under a screen. This second position saw various positions adopted by shooters from going prone to kneeling.
The fourth stage ‘Speed Reload’ whilst seemingly a simple set up with 1 classic target and 3 plates, required a lot of concentration as shooters were required to start by standing relaxed facing uprange with handgun loaded but chamber empty and holstered. Upon the start signal, the classic target was to be engaged with minimum 2 rounds, then a mandatory reload had to be performed before engaging the plates. Final mandatory reload was required before shooters could engage the classic target with a minimum of 2 rounds, all within a designated box.
The afternoon culminated in the Final 5th Stage, all designed by the Match Director, David Dharry. The stage called ‘Wing-Ding’ required shooters to stand relaxed on the start line, gun loaded with empty chamber is holstered. On start signal, competitors had to engage 4 clay targets with the shotgun. They were required to then clear the shotgun and engage the safety and place on a table before proceeding along a corridor to engage 4 paper targets with the handgun only. Further at the end of the corridor was another table with a rifle and shooters were required to engage the only 4 plates beyond with the rifle only. Thereafter the same safety rule applied with the rifle being cleared prior to handling of any other firearm. The remaining 3 plates and 2 paper targets were behind and under a screen forcing shooters to once again adopt individual positions to engage the targets.
Scoring was tallied by an official scoring software for the sport and managed by Stats Officers Dr. Pravesh Harry. The top three in the two divisions received plaques for their efforts as follows;
Overall Production
1st – Rajiv Latchana 226.1275
2nd – David Dharry 184.6844
3rd – Aleemul Ali 177.3635
Overall Limited Division
1st – Ryan McKinnon 295.0000
2nd Ray Beharry 175.5658
3rd – Pravesh Harry 122.8716
At the closing ceremony, President of the Federation, Ms Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon commended the Match Director, David Dharry, Range Master Ryan McKinnon, Quarter Master, Romesh Latchana, Range officials and other Committee Members for the hard work in ensuring the efficiency and high safety standards with which the match was run. She went on to thank Trinity Resources and it’s Director Ray Beharry for unhesitatingly supporting the federation.
In his invited comment, Beharry, expressed his commitment to sport shooting and undertook to continue the annual sponsorship of this Match to make it an annual event on GSSF’s Calendar.
Ms Persaud-McKinnon also conveyed special thanks to Harold Hopkinson for the use of the props, steel target and other range equipment.