With the roadmap to Covid recovery now set out, the first key event of the 2021 season has confirmed it will be going ahead. We talk to Dan Martin about the upcoming Clay Shooting Classic.
It’s been a difficult and frustrating year for Orston Shooting Ground’s Dan Martin. He was excited about hosting the 2020 Clay Shooting Classic, but the pandemic forced it to be cancelled.
Now the event has been rescheduled for 26-30 May 2021—and Dan, Emily and the team are looking forward to showing the potential of their 53-acre site, with the grounds in tip-top condition and equipped with more than 50 brand-new Promatic traps. Dan takes up the story…
“We are extremely excited to hopefully be reopening on 31 March (fingers crossed) and getting our teeth stuck into developing and organising the events we have in the calendar for 2021. We are keen to make a lasting mark and show off the true potential that Orston Shooting Ground has to offer.
“With one of the finest clubhouses in the UK and catering facilities to match, we will provide top-notch hospitality and facilities for all competitors. A large marquee is also being attached to the clubhouse to provide extra tabled seating, along with a chill-out area with sofas.
“Our gun shop on site stocks most of the major brands of shotguns, ammunition and accessories, so our competitors will have access to some of the latest and finest kit throughout the event.
“For instance, we are one of the largest stockists of Pilla performance eyewear and have demo sets available for clients to try when shooting. We plan to have huge stocks of cartridges throughout the Classic, with brands including Hull, Gamebore and Express.”
Huge variety of targets
The team at Orston are excited to show what they can offer across their 53-acre site.
“We have already started planning the course and preparing new stand locations around the site. We will be using standard, midi, mini, battue and rabbit clays produced by Promatic Eurotarget, in colours including black, orange, pink, green and blue. To add to the variety of targets, we’re also bringing in four 65ft access lifts.
“I will be aiming to present targets that are enjoyable for all abilities, using varieties and contrasts of speeds, distances and angles. The lake at the far side of the site will be used as part of the Sporting course, adding an extra element to the target presentations.
“Each 75-bird Sporting course will have a ‘super singles’ stand where five single targets will be presented to test long- and short-range abilities.
“With new ammunition products on the market producing ballistics to perform at short as well as longer distances, this will provide the ideal stand for competitors to give those specialist loads a real test.
“The Sportrap layouts will be located along the front of the ground on the ABT, DTL and Skeet layouts—and 65ft towers will add to the target variety. Focus will be put on target combinations in the sim pairs to make it not only challenging but fun to shoot, with a few head-scratchers.”
Get booking
With bookings open for both the Sporting and Sportrap, places are expected to fill up fast. There was an early surge of bookings for the 2020 event, and that’s likely to be repeated this year.
It’s best to get booked in while you still have the choice. Spaces to shoot both the Sporting and Sportrap in one day will be the first to get booked, so if that’s your plan there’s no time to lose.
Find all the details at orston.com—follow the links to ‘competition bookings’ where you can pick your preferred date and time. Call 01949 851181
to speak to a member of the Orston team.
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