The weather was looking bleak with grey clouds and heavy winds, but we drove on to Edgehill. It’s a beautiful place with the said hill bifurcating the shooting club and the village. The first thing we saw was a couple of Labradors immersed in a boisterous wrestling match surrounded by a small group of cheerleaders whose average age was six. When we stepped into the club house, silence took over for a couple of seconds, as the folks there are not very used to seeing Indians and Chinese on the grounds and vice versa. The very momentary ice evaporated with the little terrier rushing to greet Qi Qi .A few friendly nods and howdys, my mates were alright. The oldest members present were a pair of elderly gentlemen who were very well into their eighties. They came to shoot and were ready to leave with their guns sheathed and shouldered.They made a point to bid adieu to my friends too when they said good bye to everyone.
My friends were initially loath to step away from the merrily crackling fire into the cold gusts without. And then bigman, I mean very big , Dave stormed in and led us out on to the range. Dave is a lovely man with a rare sense of humour, wit and an utterly disarming smile who immediately put my friends at ease. I am told that he is an accomplished shooter and competes in big tourneys. A brief instruction in gun safety,handling and shooting basics, voilà that class was ready to shoot.
Initially, we were taken to the beginners’ area and we started off and how! Qi Qi drives with the precision of a robot and that is reflected in his shooting. These guys, never ever held a gun in their life before this and they started blasting the clays dead centre right from the first shot. And this continued when we moved on to the full speed and slightly difficult targets. One of my observations about the Chinese in general is that you communicate your message "very clearly" and that is stuck to the “T”. They were told to bust the clays and bust clays what our champs did.
Xiao
Joe
The recoil rocks Qi Qi a bit.
When my turn came, I was determined not to put a bad show and I do not think I did though the gun was a tad small for me.
You can see the clay streaking away.
At the end of the shoot, we wanted to shoot more. But, as we did not have a license, we must be accompanied by a member of the club and that is not cheap. We reluctantly had to call it a day.And you know what, by the time we finished, we hardly felt any cold.
I was a bit apprehensive if my friends would enjoy the sport. They absolutely loved the experience with determined oaths made to return and buy guns of their own ( In China, people are not allowed to own guns legally). A great part of the credit goes to Dave and these.
2.5",1400 fps and a pleasure to shoot.No unpleasant recoilas I was fearing which might put off new shooters.
The only grumbling part was when they found out the gun they shot so well with was a Japanese made Miroku. LOL.
Next on my plans, to get my Manager Gary a shotgun at the price he wants and a reintroduction to clay shooting and take all my work mates to shooting in batches especially the one who said “ I would not like to hold a weapon that kills”. Understandable as that person comes from a country torn with civil war. That feeling will evaporate when a clay disintegrates in the air with the first shot. You hear KGB?
Best-
Vikram
