Author: Mike Kelly

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Small Bore Rifle Competition (Stellarton 2023)

And we’re off and running!

MRPC kicked off the 2023 shooting season with a small bore match.

Sunday, April 23rd Metro sent the A – Team up to Stellarton to compete in an invitational .22LR cal small bore rifle match. It was brought to the attention of the membership during the AGM and we hastily assembled a dominating team!

Top Team with all but 2 of our riflemen in the top 10 in F-Class and 3 Position Olympic Rifle in Nova Scotia, in our first competition small bore match since the 1970s. Pretty friggin awesome !

Tops in F -Class for the club was Hawkeye Holland (Mike) followed by Long Shot Long John (McQueen), with Tomie 2 Target’s (Victor), GI Joe (MacHoll), and Paul the hammer Browne nailed it with a middle of the pack placing….. and they never shot a small bore competition before! This of course all due to the phenomenal coaching of our resident rifle Guru Peter Campbell. Thanks Peter!

Following the match we had a private coaching seminar put on by a Nova Scotia legend, Al Roland from Truro. Al has been shooting and coaching small bore competitions since, well darn near since the invention of gunpowder, and has been a Chief Range Officer for the ISSF on matches all over the world. His insights on breathing, heart rate trigger control, and positioning were profound and insightful. Not only did they apply to rifle shooting but I can see how they relate to golf, archery, and pool billard as well. Probably the best coaching session I have ever had!  Al (who won the competition in 3 Position) is coming down this summer to spend some time with those interested. If ya want to run with big dogs his coaching will get you there!  

In summation, it was an awesome match with a great bunch. We shot well, and learned lots for the next matches, all with loads of laughter along the way! Followed up with ‘Mother Webb’s Steakhouse’!  An awesome day was had by all!! 

Regards
Mike Kelly

TO OPEN THE GALLERY CLICK ON A PHOTO
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NSRA OPEN HANDGUN MATCHES July 16, 2022

History repeats itself!  

The ‘dead shots’, AKA ‘The Metro Rifle & Pistol Team’, headed off to the Provincial Championships held at Bull Meadow Range, and once against emerge victorious!  
 
The MacDonald Challenge, an ISSF Standard Pistol Match held at the Nova Scotia Rifle Association since the 1960’s is the regional championship for Standard Pistol Shooting. The Metro R&P Club has won the match more times in the last quarter century than any other club in Atlantic Canada. This year we won it again. Joe MacHoll and Andy Maxwell started the match on fire, shooting ’bulls’ so often they made it look easy!  Mike Kelly narrowly squeezed past Joe MacHoll in the final Rapid Fire event taking first place leaving Joe with the silver and Andy in the top 5 in Atlantic Canada. 
 
 
The Selig Free Pistol Match, an ISSF- 50m Match is the regional Championship held by the Nova Scotia Rifle Association and Metro won that cup as well. The Selig Free Pistol Match is named after volunteer Bob Selig to commemorate his long-time commitment to the shooting sports in Atlantic Canada.
Again it was Andy, Joe, and Mike neck and neck kicking mainlander ass all the way 😆, and when the final scores were tallied the Metro Rifle & Pistol Club reined supreme. Mike taking gold, Joe taking silver, and Andy missing bronze because of one errant shot.
That Day the Metro Rifle & Pistol Club tasted again from the cup of Victory!
 
At the end of the day, all the shooters present, no matter their individual placing, had a fabulous day. The weather was perfect, Bob’s burgers and dessert were exemplary, and all had loads of laughter and fun!
Impressions (click on a photo to open the gallery)
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Atlantic Canada PPC Competition 2021

  The annual Practical Police Combat Shooting, Atlantic Canadian Championships (PPC) was held Sunday September 26, 2021at the Nova Scotia Rifle Association (NSRA) Facility in Halifax.

 

The PPC Atlantics is the final event of the summer shooting season

Top pistoliers from all disciplines in Atlantic Canada, as well as law enforcement, come vying for the immortalization of having their name engraved on the huge trophy.

 

  As always, The Metro Rifle & Pistol Club (MRPC) sent a team of exceptional talent to keep the mainland Teams in check…:-) and we did! New Brunswick and PEI sent teams and competitors trying to do the same! This year was a particularly tough shoot as there was continuous heavy rain and gusts with winds over 40km/hrs. The match that started as a test of shooting ability soon became a grueling endurance test. As the temperature plummeted in that crucible so did many competitors; but not the Metro Rifle and Pistol Competition Team!  We did not let our club down! The Metro “A team” took it in stride fighting furiously for the top position!  Towards the end of the match, ankle deep in freezing rain, soaked to the core, two teams were at the pinnacle!

  It teetered back and forth between Metro and the NSRA Team during the last event.  With a huge number of local competitors to choose from and the home team advantage NSRA narrowly squeaked by to take the Gold.

The Metro Rifle and Pistol Club are now Proud Silver Medalists
  PEI’s team took the Bronze Medals for third place.  The Bullet Box, a new indoor range in Sydney, NS fielded a Cape Breton team as well placing a close fourth, narrowly missing a Bronze finish.  I expect to see a much better result next year after a year’s training.  Also of Note, another Cape Breton Team, “Sugarloaf” centered in Margaree took fifth place in the team division.  With two of their shooters under 16 I’m expecting a much stronger finish from them in future years. Three of the top five teams in Atlantic Canada are from Cape Breton which speaks immensely to the quality of the shooters on our island.

As expected, on an individual basis Metro shooters dominated as well….

  No surprise there!  First and Second place in the expert classification was taken by Terry Eldridge (1402/1500) and Joe McHoll (1328/1500).  Terry is now a member of the “1400’s” club; a score above this number classifies you as a Master, a ‘Black Belt’ of PPC!  Way to go Terry! How Joe managed to move so quickly through the ranks with only 5 years’ experience speaks to his tenacity and raw talent.  I have a feeling Joe will be attaining the top shot in the match in the not too distant future.  Lars Kummer, no slouch with his CZ,  took a strong 6th position (1277/1500). His brother Sven (1123/1500), after multiple malfunctions placing him back in the rankings farther than perhaps he out to have been, took 9th place. First time competitor Trysten MacPhee (1070/1500) comfortably landed in the top 10 in Atlantic Canada. Good Job!  Ryan Ledrew, the new guy on the MRPC Team, beat out droves of other competitors and almost all of Law Enforcement placing 5th in the Marksman category with a total score of 1192/1500. Great work Ryan!

  Metro President Mike Kelly (1463/1500) was no slouch either, taking the Masters Category by storm and the Trophy back to Cape Breton shattering the previous PPC record (which Mike set in 2020) by 30 points.

  A great weekend was had by all participants and big thanks to Bob Selig that puts on the match every year.  Thank Bob and especially his wife that makes the burgers for the match  the best homemade cookies ever!

  See you all on the range!

©2026 Metro Rifle & Pistol Club