land, features multiple bays on the
lower level most with semi-permanent
British Open
2005
Gamin’ it up in the
Motherland of
Shotgun
BY PATRICK KELLEY, TY-14401
I
n 1997 our British brothers in
practical shooting took a hit when
their government squashed their
access to handguns, effectively
eliminating practical shooting as we
have come to know it here in the
United States.
Practical shooting has many forms,
so with dogged determination and a
stiff upper lip, a true stand-alone form
of practical shooting has come of age in
the U.K. and its name is Practical Shot-
gunning.
My wife Karen and I made our first
journey across the pond and found
ourselves in the midst of the best
British practical shotgunners at the
2005 British Open Practical Shotgun
Championships!
14
Terri Price leans out for a weak-
shoulder target. Terri shoots on the
top-ranked European ladies’ practi-
cal shotgun team.
The 2005 British Open was hosted
by the Shield Shooting Centre, con-
structed as a dedicated practical shoot-
ing facility during the reign of
practical pistol; this venue has
been well adapted to the
needs of the practical shot-
gunner. The facility, cut out
of 425 acres of working farm-
Arvid Elstroot proudly dis-
plays his F-numbered
USPSA membership card.
Pat Kelley reports that quite
a few of the Britons had
memberships in both
UKPSA and USPSA.
props and vision screens. The Shield
also has an exceptionally picturesque
upper range consisting of once-farmed
open green areas bordered by lush for-
est. This “little slice of heaven” as my
girl called it, is owned and maintained
by a longtime practical shooter Steve
Pike.
Steve took special pride in making
sure the competitors had a good time
during the match even providing a
“hay ride” via his farm tractor and
trailer to the upper range. My lovely
bride Karen commented that Steve’s
efforts and the beauty of The Shield
Shooting Centre provided a holiday-
like feel to our working vacation.
Practical Shotgunning is not a sub-
stitute for pistol shooting, nor is it a
sub-category of practical shooting. It is,
my friends, as witnessed in the U.K., a
complete and complex thinking man’s
sport! In talking with our brothers in
competition it was apparent that I had
only scratched the surface on the ver-
satility of the shotgun and the many
ways to employ it on the field of prac-
tical shooting.
The 2005 British Open consisted of
12 stages requiring 115 rounds of bird-
shot, 42 rounds of buckshot and 32
slugs. Over the 12 stages targets
ranged from 11 to 65 yards and were
engaged standing and kneeling, using
both shoulders, and if you wanted to
lead the pack, shot on the move.
The international paper target, re-
plete with its smaller scoring zones,
was punctured by both slug and buck
for score. Yes, paper targets shot with
00 buck with the two best hits count-
ing for score. One needed to know
one’s choke and pattern lest the call
would not be “two alpha.” One stage
featured two very tough slug shots on
hanging clays at 25 yards along with a
self-activated paper swinger. A Cooper
tunnel was even in use on the 24-round
slug stage.
Our British brothers are not afraid
of accuracy work with birdshot. Choke
tight and pick off the steel “shoot” tar-
gets from around the tightly spaced
and overlapping “no-shoot” steel using promote practical shooting in ALL its Shooters gather around the “wail-
only part of your payload for surest re- forms. ing wall” at the Shield shooting
sults. This is the everyday stuff that the complex.
UKPSA throws at its members. No Having researched, interviewed,
queried, cajoled and conquered all the above matches and knows a thing or
wonder they are among the best! “The
obstacles that go into writing a com- two about practical shooting. Addi-
best” is not an idle statement, as we
prehensive international rule book, tionally, Neil functions as a walking en-
shot with members of the 2004 Euro-
Neil has recently completed the IPSC’s cyclopedia of IPSC history and knowl-
pean Championship Ladies team.
shotgun competition rule book. In his edge.
The governing body in the U.K. spare time he designed a safer and According to Neil, shotgunning as a
and counterpart to the USPSA is the more reliable steel target stand, a de- practical discipline made its debut in
UKPSA. One of the movers and shak- tailed drawing of which can be found the U.K. at various Practical Rifle
ers in the UKPSA is Neil Beverley. This at www.ipsc.org . Neil is currently the matches as a side event in the spring of
chap is driven to broaden, improve and IPSC course reviewer for Level III and 1979. With practical handgunning the

Zero Ammunition

HARD COPY

September/October 2005 • FRONT SIGHT 15

 Ade Sell strikes fear into the hearts of other pump-gunners.
He’s a whiz on the Benelli Nova. Note the shell carriers sewn
to a padded belt.

dominant discipline at the time and lit-
tle initial support from IPSC the only
way to get this “new” discipline out of
side match status and into the main-
stream was through grass roots efforts.
A group of competitors with a passion
for practical shotgunning worked
within the UKPSA to establish the Prac-
tical Shotgun Commission in 1981. Its
duties were to promote, organize and
monitor PSG events giving shotguns a
legitimate place in practical shooting. I
think the efforts have paid off!
You will find that most sports
evolve over time and PSG has too, as
many of our British practical shooting
compatriots will attest. Today many of
the shooters involved with PSG have
never fired a pistol. To them, “practical
shooting” is a shotgun sport that some
people play with pistols! It seems that
PSG as well as the other practical disci-
plines have mellowed over the years
and are less physically demanding. For
clarity, Neil took me on a sightseeing /
fact-finding trek into the back woods
of the Shield complex pointing out the
“Jungle Run” streambed. According to
legend, stages had been run, or rather

Europe’s top female shotgunners were on hand, burning down many a

course of fire. Above we see Lorna Jones, and at right, we see Helen Ken-
neth unleashing the fury as the timer rolls. Note how Lorna’s shell carriers
do not wrap all the way around each shell. This lets her peel them straight
out and onto the gun, rather than lifting them.

16 FRONT SIGHT • September/October 2005

swum, while enduring minor flood wa- arms.” In my experi-
ters up to one’s waist! Methinks things ence, no clear defini-
have gotten better. tion outside of the
military has been es-
Other than driving on the other tablished. Heck, it’s
side of the road, what might a U.S. hard to find a consen-
practical shotgunner find different? I sus from squad to
noted at least one loading technique squad at a major 3-
that I had not seen before used by a Gun match! Enter
number of competitors at the Open. It the “at trail” start po-
is an adaptation of the Wall Low Roll sition.
that you may remember from past is-
sues of Front Sight. The British version Defined here in
has the shotgun in the same position at the latest edition of
the waist, but the shotgun is flipped IPSC shotgun rule
over (instead of maintaining a firing book:
grip) and the strong hand pinches the
receiver with the fingers on the top and Standing erect and re-
the thumb holding the loading gate laxed. With the shot-
down. It may seem like a little thing, gun in the ready con-
but not having to depress the loading dition held naturally Ade Sell performing the “British Low Roll.” Ade’s ver-
gate with every shell makes for a fast in the strong hand sion is unusual in that he puts a round on the carrier
load! Combine this technique with only, barrel parallel to first, then uses the next round to push it into the mag
cleverly modified and/or created belt the ground, muzzle tube. Since the Benelli Nova’s carrier stays down
mounted shell holders that clip onto pointing downrange when you push it down, the Nova works particularly
the shell (think of a standard plastic with fingers outside well with this technique.
shell loop cut in half), this innovation the trigger guard and
weak hand hanging naturally at the I found this start position intrigu-
allows the rounds to be stripped out of ing, and will make use of it at my Oct.
the clips as the competitor moves the side.
1, 2005 Practical Shotgun Challenge
loading port to meet the shells while
moving the gun along the belt.
Another notable UK difference was
the start position. Here in the United
States we have many regional, and
match director-based variations of
“high ready,” “low ready,” and “port

September/October 2005 • FRONT SIGHT 17

held in Ephrata, Wash.
The Standard Auto match winner and fellow
American Kurt Miller has worked his evil ways
infecting the British with the weak-hand Col-
orado (a.k.a. the Rhoads High and Tight)
method of reloading. This “foreign” technique,
adopted by the locals, was put to good use by
2nd and 3rd place Standard Auto competitors
Barry Sullivan and Mike Darby.
A strong field of pump gunners was in the
mix and it looks like the new Benelli Nova is the
Manual Standard tool of choice. Ade Sell took
the match win in this division in no small part
due to his “two shell” version of the British Low
Roll. Here is Ade’s twist: taking advantage of the
Nova’s loading gate (which once depressed stays
depressed) and the Nova’s extra long loading Kurt Miller did the Americans
port (to accommodate 3.5” shells) he loads two proud, winning high Standard
shells at a time by dropping one on the depressed Auto at the 2005 British Open.
gate and pushing it in with the second shell. Sim-
ple, neat, and highly effective. So much so that
As mentioned previously, the 2004 European Champi-
“Mr. Weak Hand Miller” commented that on a number of
onship Ladies team was in full force and rightfully took the
stages where loading was at a premium, this pump gunner
top spots with Vanessa Duffy 1st, Helen Kenneth 2nd, and
was able to out-load him! A Winchester 1300 pilot and past
Sharon Strowger 3rd (Terri Jones is the fourth member of
British Open Champion Iain Guy took his well used Ameri-
the team). Watching these ladies shoot made me feel less ma-
can icon to 2nd place. Another in the cadre of Benelli users
cho about my handling of the “last great power tool” of
was Graham Hill, no, not the F1 driver; although he did
practical shooting. All demonstrated superior recoil man-
drive his newly-acquired Nova to 3rd place.

Integrated Systems Management Inc.

18 FRONT SIGHT • September/October 2005

 agement and gun handling skills which
mightily contributes to their team’s
winning ways!
In addition to the Open division
won by Richard Ingram, the UKPSA /
IPSC recognizes a Modified division.
Akin to the IPSC pistol modified divi-
sion, shotguns may be fitted with com-
pensators, porting and extended mag-
azines provided the gun fits “the box.”
With no specific limitation on capacity,
short shells are the hot ticket for a few
more rounds on board. However,
POWER FACTORS are in place with
520 as the minimum floor for ALL di-
visions! Modified division bars the use
of optical and electronic sights and the
same goes for detachable magazines
and speed loaders. This class was well
represented at the Open with good
number of competitors willing to ma-
neuver a longish shotgun for a substan-
tial reduction in reloading and an ad-
ditional reduction in recoil. This hotly
contested division was won by Neil
Smith with Colin Alden in second and
Dave Clegg working for third.
The 2005 British Open proved to
20
be a worthwhile reason to make my
first venture out of North America.
Not only did this make for a wonder-
ful holiday but gave me some insight
into what practical shotgunning can
grow to be here in the United States.
With IPSC now fully behind the effort
and working to promote this great dis-
cipline, Level III matches are hosted in
venues as exotic as Bali, Italy, and
Greece — where the 2006 European
Practical Shotgun Championships will
be held. This level of participation
demonstrates the rest of the World’s
commitment to practical shotgunning
as a stand alone discipline.
The accomplishments of UKPSA in
the face of a potential total gun ban
cannot be overstated. They found the
courage to move ahead through partic-
ipation and their governing capacity,
broadening the appeal and world-wide
acceptance of the practical shotgun in
sport. For this I say thank you.
FRONT SIGHT • September/October 2005