Countdown to the Classic: Dan Martin of Orston Shooting Ground interview

It’s one of the highlights of the Sporting calendar, and Orston’s Dan Martin is planning something really special for 28-30 May 2021.

Last year was a difficult and frustrating one 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 28-30 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 over 50 brand new Promatic traps. Dan takes up the story…

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.

The team at Orston are excited to show what they can offer at the 53-acre site

Huge variety of targets

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 additional 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 and 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!

Richard Faulds swept in at the last minute to scoop the trophy last year at Garlands

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 www.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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