Clay Shooting Classic and Sporting Gun Clubman return

Clay Shooting Classic 2026: 1–4 October

• Open to all. 125 targets. 15 stands.
• 3 x qualifying days
• 1 x final day (shooters that have qualified in Lettered Class or Category – over 100 shooters), with a top-six super final at the end

Finals day on Sunday.

The Classic’s format has always rewarded the shooter who can maintain output across a full card without leaking targets in the middle. 15 stands over 125 birds means there is nowhere to hide a bad patch and nothing to bail you out if your concentration drops at the wrong moment. The shooters who have won it previously will tell you the same thing: the margins at the top are small, and they are decided by the stands you almost took for granted.

Phil Gray, the reigning champion, will be the man to beat. Whether you are coming to take his crown or to put your own name on the trophy for the first time, the field is open.

The prize list is currently being secured, but based on the 2022 benchmark – £4,000 in cash and £4,000 in product – it will be substantial. High Gun is anticipated to carry a top-end gun from one of the major manufacturers, with Ladies and Junior category prizes alongside. Full details will be published once sponsorship is finalised.

To find out more about Phil’s victory and the competition itself, read our full report on the Clay Shooting Classic 2022.

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Sporting Gun Clubman Championship 2026: 3–4 October

• Open to individuals and teams who are B Class and below, or non-CPSA registered
• 100 targets: 25 single-barrel DTL, 25 English Skeet, 50 English Sporting
• Teams – 5 person (2 x SNR, 1 x LDY, 1 x JNR, 1 x VET); 2 person team (any category)

This one needs to be said clearly: the Clubman has been gone since 2012. That is not a brief hiatus. That is 14 years without one of grassroots clay shooting’s most distinctive competitions – a championship with its own identity, its own history, and a prize structure built specifically to reward club shooters rather than the elite. That changes this autumn.

The format is 100 targets: 25 single-barrel DTL, 25 English Skeet, 50 English Sporting. B Class and below, or non-CPSA registered. A Class need not apply – this is not their competition. The Clubman was always about finding the best club shooter operating below the elite tier, and the best team any club can put on the line. That brief has not changed.

The discipline mix is unforgiving in the way that all-round formats are unforgiving. You cannot carry a weakness into this competition and expect it to stay hidden. Solid DTL, composed skeet, and the ability to read and execute on English Sporting targets – that is what the winner will have. That is what the winning team will have.

Team prizes: a Laporte trap for the winners, a pallet of clays for the runners-up. Individual prizes across High Gun, Ladies, Junior and Veterans. If entries come in fast enough, the competition may open from Friday 2 October – so do not leave your entry late and find yourself squeezed on squad times.

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Enter both – the Classic and the Clubman

The overlap is obvious and deliberate. Classic shooters who are eligible for the Clubman – B Class and below – can shoot Thursday and Friday in the Classic before moving straight into the Clubman on Saturday and Sunday. Four competition days, two titles, one venue. For the shooter with the form and the stamina to back it up, the double is there to be done.

The Clubman has been gone 14 years. The Classic for three. Both are back, the ground is booked, and the only question that remains is who is going to step up and get their name on these trophies.

Book your place now