Spring 2019 Updates

It's been a busy couple months with training and travel. May and June I was away quite a bit with multiple stops to Toronto. The Shooting Federation of Canada's high performance team trials for the 2020 team were in May, then the ISSF World Cup stage in Munich end of May then a team training camp early June at the Pan Am Games legacy range in Cookstown, ON.

My competitor number for the 2019 HPTT

Lynda Kiejko, Allan Harding, Kim Britton, Liz Gustafson

Mark Hynes and Allan Harding

Do it!

After the high performance team trials I stopped in and shot at Target Sports Canada with Nicolas from TheGunBlog.ca. Fun times! Noisy club but great to see how many people were out and interested in target sports.

Visiting Target Sports Canada range with Nic from TheGunBlog.ca

On my way to Munich, Germany! Thanks for the upgrade Air Canada!

Competitor number for ISSF Munich World Cup stage

Lynda, Lea, Lisa, me

Team Canada out for food and drinks

The busy indoor 10m range in Munich

I stopped in to visit ELEY to test out their tenex air pellets for my Steyr evo10e air pistol.

Barrel testing ELEY tenex air in my Steyr evo10e

ELEY tenex air acquired! Let's do this!

After getting back from Munich I had a few days at home before flying back out to Toronto for a training camp. I stopped in and visited a couple ranges while there. I stopped in and met with members of Toronto Revolver Club and also stopped in and visited Silverdale Gun Club.

Visiting Toronto Revolver Club!

Shooting 25m distance at Silverdale. Beautiful day!

Then back at the high performance team training camp to train with my Team Canada teammates on their way to the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru.

Stuart Burns and Mark Hynes shooting 10m at training camp 

I'm currently in Whitehorse, Yukon and back to training soon to get ready for the 2019 Canadian National Pistol Championships. Stay tuned!

Also find me on Twitter and Instagram as @alharding!

Testing ELEY ammunition in Canada

Last month I visited Korth Group to do some ELEY batch testing at their test range! The experience is pretty cool! I was given a tour of their facility and ranges and then they got everything ready to test. We went through 15 different ELEY lots and a couple competitor ammo which I brought in that I had been using in training and competition.

ELEY tenex for shooting 10x's!

We went through several rounds of testing over several hours until we found the one that was the most consistent with my Pardini SP RF barrel. Ultimately I ended up with some ELEY Tenex (not pistol version) that worked best. The non-pistol Tenex has a higher velocity and grouped better.

ELEY testing at 25m distance

So fun! :)

Awesome!

Next up for me is the 2019 Pan Am Games team selection match this weekend in Cookstown, Ontario. I will also be visiting Target Sports Canada range to meet up and shoot! Come by May 20th @ 2pm!

From the news:

• National champ aiming for Richmond airgun title
• Records broken at Richmond shooting competition
• One of the kids I coach: Nine-year-old rifle shooter ‘one to watch’ 

Intershoot results

I've been asked about Intershoot results and realized I haven't posted in awhile. Intershoot 2019 Netherlands results!

At The Pier in The Hague

The first match went well but I know I could have done better. There were some easy points I lost which I shouldn't have let go. It doesn't take much of a break in focus though when you're dealing with millimeters at a distance of 10m. After the first match I ended up not feeling well due to something I ate and stayed in bed a couple days only getting up to go compete and make the best of the situation.

Also got a chance to meet up with Ramon from Olympic Pistol which was pretty cool! Thank you for the t-shirt and Belgium chocolates!

Kim Britton, Ramon Suarez, and me @ Intershoot 2019

Next up are the BC Airgun Championships in Richmond, BC in a couple weeks!

Pan Am Games quota spot acquired for Canada!

At the Championship of the Americas in Guadalajara, Mexico I won the first shooting quota spot for Canada to attend the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru this July!

First quota spot for Canada won!

Me shooting at the 2018 CAT Games in Mexico 

Updates for Fall 2018

What a busy summer it was between work and shooting. I was in Changwon, South Korea for the 52nd ISSF World Championships and just finished getting caught up on work related projects.

Shooting at the World Championships. Jongoh Jin far left would go on to make
an epic comeback and defend his World Champion title

The World Championships went well but unfortunately I had ran into some mechanical issues with my Steyr. There was an inconsistency with one of the cylinders and it wasn't shooting as accurate as it should have been. It's not something I had ever looked at or thought could be an issue. Steyr was on-site at the World Championships and they found the problem and made the adjustment and repairs.

I found some time to help out a couple Avengers in Changwon!

My attempt to make a Canadian maple leaf on my toast... looks more like a Batman logo??
What do you think? Leave a reply in the comments below.

Just me enjoying a moment at Gwangalli Beach in Busan.

Next up, I will be competing in Calgary at the end of October for the 2018 Western Canadian Airgun Championships then I'm off to Guadalajara for the 12th Championships of the Americas.

What it’s like to be a Canadian sport shooter

I wrote down thoughts around what it's like to be a Canadian sport shooter and they were published on Vancouver Is Awesome. Check it out here!

52nd ISSF World Championships are 3 weeks away! Stay tuned for updates on my trip to Changwon, South Korea. Event details can be found at changwon2018.com.

2018 Canadian National Pistol Champion!

Just getting caught up after a whirlwind of events, work, and trips... well sort of caught up. ;)

A couple weeks ago I became the 2018 Canadian National Pistol Champion, defending my title and setting a new Canadian Nationals 10m Men's Final record! I also teamed up with 2016 Olympian Lynda Kiejko in the new 10m mixed team event and together we won the National title in the mixed team 10m event!

Kiejko and Harding our National Champions in 10m mixed team event
Photo credit: Kim Britton

Today I took home the gold in the men's 10m pistol event and defended my title to become the 2018 Canadian National Pistol Champion! Also took the 2018 10m mixed team National Champion title with Lynda Kiejko @Cdnshootingstar #targetsports #issf ...dedicated to my grandma ❤️ pic.twitter.com/L3d8p90wmt

— Allan Harding (@alharding) July 12, 2018

Some nice articles from the last couple of months of competing:

• Kiejko and Harding Win Golds, Set Records at Pistol Championship
• Gibsons pistol shooter achieves world ranking
• Pistol Champion Allan Harding Comments on Bill C-71, Competition

In May, I was at the ISSF World Cup stage in Munich, Germany for the final stage of the 2018 ISSF World Cup Series. I shot a 568/600. Awesome!

Here's the grouping from one of my better series of the match:

This is the grouping from my second series at 10m. 10-ring is 11.5mm in diameter. I need to do this every time. #issf_shooters #issf #issfwc @issf_official

A post shared by Allan Harding (@alharding) on May 25, 2018 at 3:24am PDT

Next up in the 52nd ISSF World Championships in Changwon, Korea

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @alharding for my latest updates!

2018 ISSF World Cup Series updates

I am currently at Fort Benning, Georgia for the USA stage of the 2018 ISSF World Cup Series. Finished up today's men's 10m pistol event with a 562 and 17x's. This is my second highest World Cup score and I believe the most x's I've ever shot.

The competition is going well. Picked up on a couple things I need to work on after having a similar mid-match performance in Guadalajara, Mexico a couple months ago in March. The 3rd and 4th series in the match giving me a bit of trouble then I finish strong. I'll get the middle of the match as consistent as the start and end and it will give my scores a boost.

Mexico went well in March. I shot at that range in 2014 at the Championship of the Americas and went back there this year to work on some of the issues I ran into in 2014. So far this ISSF season has been going well.

Me shooting in Guadalajara at the start of the
2018 ISSF World Cup season in March 

Coming up next will be the Canadian Team Trials in Cookstown, Ontario and then I'll go from Toronto to Munich, Germany for the World Cup stage there.

Shot my qualification scores and set a new Canadian 10m Finals Record!

October has been a great month! I shot in Cookstown, Ontario a couple weekends ago and shot 1 of the 2 qualification scores I needed to make the 2018 Canadian Team. I also set a new Canadian Men's 10m Finals record with a score of 235.2!

New Canadian Men's 10m pistol record of 235.2!

This past weekend in Calgary, Alberta at the 2017 Western Canadian Airgun Championships I shot my 2nd qualification score with a 567/600! It's been a long road this year shifting focus back to 10m from the last 2 years of 50m focus I'd been doing. This past month things really came together to secure my spot on the team. Focus!

I've got a new target sports program for youth starting up in November at the Sunshine Coast Rod & Gun club and will post updates once that program kicks off. I'm looking forward to helping a new generation of Olympic style shooters get started!

2017 Canadian National Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun Championsips!

The 2017 Canadian Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun Nationals are all finished and it was a great experience for me. I was able to secure the gold and take the national title in the men's 10m pistol event and took bronze in the 50m pistol event.

Canada's Top 3 10m men's finalists:
Mark Hynes (silver), Allan Harding (gold), Stan Wills (bronze)

My hometown newspaper did a couple of great stories about my 2017 National's journey ("Harding wins 10m, sets sights on 50m" and "Allan Harding working toward Olympic target")

Huge thank you's to Sarah @ URPower, Donna and Katie @ Fortius, Harvey @ Airguns Plus!

Up next are a couple of competitions in Ontario next month and in Manitoba in October! More details to come! Thanks for all the support and follow my journey on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

2017 upcoming competitions and activities!

What a year 2016 was... lots happened in every part of my life! I shot a personal best in Munich, Germany at the World Cup stage hosted there and I became the National Champion at Olympic 50m pistol. I also made a lot of decisions that would help lead me to a path of making it to Tokyo in 2020.

2016 Canadian 50m Pistol National Champion
Photo: Jaclynne Mary

This year I'm scaling back on my competition schedule to focus on a few select events. I'm also focusing on both 10m _and_ 50m. I was planning to stay focused on the 50m event but with the possible change in shooting events proposed by the ISSF I'm going to focus on both events.

The ISSF is meeting this week in New Delhi, India to go over the proposed changes to the Olympic program across all shooting disciplines. A petition was started by Bruce Quick to save the 50m event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Sadly, this is the very event I've been working towards.

Upcoming major Canadian competitions:

• Canadian Airgun Grand Prix - May 5-7, 2017
• Canadian National Pistol Championships - Jul 20 - Aug 7, 2017

I also want to give a massive thank you to BC Target Sports for some funding to help with my training and travel this year. I very much appreciate it! Thank you!!

Summer 2016 Update!

So much has been happening since my last blog post. Don't get me started on the blog posting frequency! ;) I really should be better at it.

Rio... eventful World Cup. My pistol arrived with a beat up gun case, broken locks, and a grip that was all loose and out of alignment. Lots of learning happened from this event.

Munich... I shot a new personal best at an international competition shooting a 540/600 in the 50m pistol event. This felt awesome. After spending so much time training this year and having it feel like I was on a plateau and then hitting my goal score in Munich. Awesome.

I'm now near Toronto at the Pan Am Games shooting center venue to compete at the 2016 Canadian National Pistol Championships. After not spending a lot of time in the 10m event and shooting a 556/600 today I am pretty happy. Some more work needed here to get back to the 560-570 range but this year has all been about the 50m pistol event for me. Tomorrow I compete again in the 10m event. More updates to come!