The Meccano Society of Scotland

Menstrie Meeting 2018

In May 2018 we held our annual Menstrie Meeting and Challange.
This year the challenge was a Shooting Gallery. See the Menstrie Challenge Rules page for more details.

Menstrie Challenge - Report

The challenge required a shooting machine to fire up to twenty ball bearings at a target. There were three rounds with the machine set up at increasing distances from the target. Each machine had 3 minutes to complete each round.

The shooting gallery target was supplied by Andy Knox. It included both moving and static containers for receiving the ball bearings. The harder to reach containers scored more points.

Seven contestants with a variety of different machines entered the challenge

For Round 1 of the challenge the machines fired from the shortest range. The range was increased for Round 2 and increased again for Round 3. Several machines were withdrawn from later rounds as they either could not reach the target or fell apart. Only 3 machines reached the final round.

The scores were:

 Round 1Round 2Round 3TotalPosition
Douglas Carson 18 33 2 53 1
Ken McDonald 10 16   26 4
Dave Stanford 12 0   12 5
Gordon Stewart 34 2 6 42 2
George Roy 0 0   0 6=
Brendan Harris 20 0 16 36 3
Alan Blair 0     0 6=

Third place went to Brendan Harris with his very powerful crossbow machine. His machine was so powerful that it came apart in Round 2. Hurried repairs allowed it to perform very well in Round 3.

In second place was Gordon Stewart with a clockwork powered machine. This rapidly and consistently fired its ball bearings.

The winner was Douglas Carson. His machine was a catapult that could fire either single or multiple rounds.

Pictures from Menstrie 2018

High resolution versions of the photos are also available for download if desired.

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