The Guyana Sport Shooting Foundation, officially opened its sport shooting season last Saturday 16^th January, 2016 by hosting a Practice Session for its members in the usual regulated manner at the GDF Range at Yarrowkabra.

Members who turned out after the long Christmas holidays returned to the range to warm up their trigger fingers in both handgun practice sessions and Trapshooting fun.

Trapshooting is a specific form of clay target shooting utilising shotguns. It is a game of movement, action and split-second timing which requires the accuracy and skill to repeatedly aim, fire one shot in an attempt to break the 108mm clay discs which are hurled through the air at speeds surpassing 65kmh.

In registered trapshooting, the rules specify that targets must be thrown no more than 52 yards and should reach a height of between 8 and 12 feet at 10 yards from the trap house. Shooters stand a minimum of 16 yards from the trap houses and take turns at calling “Pull” for the targets to be launched when they are ready.

The Guyana Sport Shooting Foundation Practical Pistol Section brought the curtains down for 2015 on Saturday 5^th December, 2015, when they hosted the P&P Insurance Brokers & Consultants Practical Pistol Match at the GDF Timehri Range. The event saw local practical shooters testing their skills in four dynamic stages setup by the GSSF Match Committee competing for prizes in two divisions. The Production Division shooters used out of the factory firearms which were limited to a magazine capacity of 10 rounds only while the Limited or Standard Division shooters where allowed some add-ons to make their guns more race worthy for the sport.

Match Director for the event, Mr. Ryan McKinnon in his opening remarks, welcomed the shooters and encouraged all to follow the strict safety rules set out by the discipline and introduced the range safety officers who would be monitoring the action. McKinnon also noted the attendance of sanctioned and established practical shooters of IPSC Guyana along with the Regional Director Mr. Harold Hopkinson. The stages selected for the competition from the get go appeared to be a rigid test of the ability of the shooters to balance the three elements of practical shooting: Speed, Power and Accuracy. To get things on the way the MD introduced the Range Master for the event, Mr. David Dharry, who was tasked with ensuring all the rules of the sport were followed correctly.

Archery Guyana, a discipline under the Guyana Sport Shooting Foundation, announced that plans are on stream to host their final archery event for 2015. The group will put on their “Christmas Archery Extravaganza 2015” this weekend at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.

Members of the GSSF present at the indoor facility will be able to try the Foundation’s member-made PVC Olympic-styled Bows that were fabricated with the assistance of World Archery Americas through their Archery Development Seminar that was held in Guyana a few months ago by Top Columbian Archer Mr. Diego Torres. New members in attendance will be able to obtain instructional training and in order to practice the art with a bias towards Indoor Olympic Style shooting in this upcoming Archery Extravaganza.