Cadet Direct have just held their annual Shooting Competition. Because our staff are mostly serving or former cadet and regular forces personnel this is always a good opportunity to separate the snipers from the shotgunners and the big talkers from the big shooters.

We visited an amazing new range facility complete with lighting and patio heaters so the evening timescale was no problem, although it was still  quite cold (Some under-performers claimed they were shivering too much to shoot straight!). The facility also has some very nice Walther .22 target rifles with incredibly light triggers! At over £2000 a piece these are quite a step up from the No.8 rifles most of the staff originally trained on.

Walther .22 target rifles at the local range

We were met by the local instructor who gave us a quick skill at arms briefing and explained how the shooting competition would work. We were to use the standard 25 Yard Cadet and Schools 1971 target. He had arranged for us to have 5 practice shots (to get used to the new rifles), which was sensible - since they have very light competition triggers (quite different to the old No.8 cadet target rifles most of us were used to). This was to be followed by a further five practice shots, and then 5 practice shots aimed  ‘in your own time’ and 5 rapid fire in 40 seconds.

One of Cadet Direct's MDs gets off to a good start with the first practice.

After a short pause to calm nerves and generally pour derision on everyone’s efforts the actual competition shooting took place. Ear defenders were applied and 5 rounds aimed and 5 rounds rapid (with 45 seconds permitted).

Staff from Cadet Direct firing 5 rounds rapid! Danni Merchant Crowborough ACF  in foreground.

Just like the Eurovision song contest we needed to keep ourselves entertained while the scores were calculated by the instructors.  Whilst this was underway, Andy Salmon, General Manager at Cadet Direct had brought his CZ magazine fed bolt action .22 complete with a decent size telescopic scope and we all had a go.

Andy, General Manager, wearing his lucky shemagh, produces a tight 5 shot grouping using the mag fed .22 rifle.

We had two staff who had never shot before, and they were a little surprised it didn’t look like the movies when you shoot with a scope - but in fairness they both produced excellent groupings and were far from being the worst shots!

Hannah, a former Kent ACF cadet, cradles the magazine fed CZ .22

Finally the results were in and just like the Eurovision Song Contest there were immediate calls for recounts, accusations that Serbia always votes for Montenegro, that names must have been changed and all sorts of uncalled for comments and complaints, so the team building element of the evening was a great success!

Dan Baldock of Sussex ACF squeezes off a carefully aimed shot - and misses (again)!

For the record Dan Cooper, Purchasing Manager and former Kent ACF cadet, won the overall competition, Greg Potter, Commercial Director came second (winning the rapid fire element) and Dave Shearn, MD came third.  This was a bit of a surprise result, as Andy and James won by a clear margin last year, but apparently they had problems with the wrong sort of ammunition, calibration of the sights, rough grain of the stocks etc etc!

Dan Cooper's winning target from the Cadet Direct shooting competition 2018.

We then all retired to a local hostelry where we inaugurated the Cadet Direct Big Eater Competition. David put in a great last minute performance piling two Yorkshire puddings on his plate and getting back to the table without dropping them, Hannah polished off a surprisingly large low fat pudding option (opting for custard instead of cream was a cunning move), I was doing well until the small wine turned out to be a thimble taster, but Andy was unbeatable and claimed that his pedometer told him he had burned more calories carrying the plate to the table than were on it!

A great evening all round, and if it is anything like last year we will still be arguing about the results for the rest of the year!