Varsity - revolver

The first revolver (full-bore) varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge took place in 1908 at the NRA Imperial meet and was officially incorporated into the programme in 1909 with the first win going to Cambridge.

The match was originally named the ‘Universities Revolver Match’ but renamed to the ‘Heslop Cup’ in 1929 after the trophy was donated by the Cambridge alumni. The name changed again in 1949 to the ‘Oxford and Cambridge Revolver Match’ and in 1962 to the ‘Oxford and Cambridge Pistol Match’. The match was not shot between 1915-1919 or 1940-1945 on account of the first and second world wars.

The full-bore varsity is still contested at the Imperial match every summer (although it is now shot using centre-fire gallery rifles (GRCF) or mussel loading pistols (MLP) as the ‘Oxford and Cambridge Match’ following the ban on revolvers in 1997). The match is shot in teams of 4 usually following either the ‘centre-fire pistol’ course of fire (30 rounds precision, 30 rounds duelling) or the ‘Scott Medal’ course (10 or 20 rounds of precision with 5 sighters).

Below are listed the available results and match reports from the Varsity Matches. Older match reports and scores are available from the club archives in Elizabeth Way, the Cambridge University Library and the NRA museum library.

2010	Oxford	658	Cambridge	722
2009	Oxford	335	Cambridge	334
2008	Oxford	682	Cambridge	639
2007	Oxford	1099	Cambridge	894
2006	Oxford	577	Cambridge	736
2005	Oxford	666	Cambridge	710
2004	Oxford		Cambridge	709
2003	Oxford		Cambridge
2002	Oxford		Cambridge
2001	Oxford		Cambridge
1999	Oxford		Cambridge
1998	Oxford		Cambridge
1997	No competition
1996	Oxford	1442	Cambridge
1995	Oxford	1370	Cambridge	1300
1994	Oxford	2064	Cambridge
1993	Oxford		Cambridge	1909
1992	Oxford	2095	Cambridge
1991	Oxford	1962	Cambridge	1978
1990	Oxford	2045	Cambridge	2012
1989	Oxford	2081	Cambridge	1556
1988	Oxford	2081	Cambridge
1987	Oxford	2073	Cambridge
1986	Oxford	2162	Cambridge	2013
1985	Oxford	2154	Cambridge	1817
1984	Oxford	1374	Cambridge	1368
1983	Oxford		Cambridge	1414
1982	Oxford	1426	Cambridge
1981	Oxford		Cambridge	1435
1980	Oxford	1395	Cambridge
1979	Oxford	1319	Cambridge	1355
1978	Oxford	1297	Cambridge	1397
1977	Oxford	1452	Cambridge	1344
1976	Oxford		Cambridge	1364
1975	Oxford	1338	Cambridge
1974	Oxford	1333	Cambridge
1973	Oxford	1356	Cambridge
1972	Oxford		Cambridge	1416
1971	Oxford		Cambridge	1321
1970	Oxford		Cambridge	1386
1969	Oxford		Cambridge	1297
1968	Oxford	1415	Cambridge
1967	Oxford		Cambridge	1361
1966	Oxford		Cambridge	1274
1965	Oxford	1396	Cambridge
1964	Oxford	1394	Cambridge
1963	Oxford	1356	Cambridge
1962	Oxford	1393	Cambridge
1961	Oxford	1418	Cambridge
1960	Oxford	331	Cambridge
1959	Oxford	280	Cambridge
1958	Oxford		Cambridge	284
1957	Oxford	295	Cambridge
1956	Oxford	295	Cambridge
1955	Oxford	278	Cambridge
1954	Oxford	248	Cambridge
1953	Oxford	222	Cambridge
1952	Oxford		Cambridge	238
1951	Oxford		Cambridge	220
1950	Oxford		Cambridge	249
1949	Oxford	191	Cambridge
1948	Oxford		Cambridge	221
1947	Oxford		Cambridge	232
1946	Oxford		Cambridge	207
1945	No competition
1944	No competition
1943	No competition
1942	No competition
1941	No competition
1940	No competition
1939	Oxford		Cambridge	251
1938	Oxford	220	Cambridge
1937	Oxford		Cambridge	219
1936	Oxford		Cambridge	206
1935	Oxford		Cambridge	247
1934	Oxford		Cambridge	257
1933	Oxford		Cambridge	235
1932	Oxford		Cambridge	242
1931	Oxford		Cambridge	250
1930	Oxford		Cambridge	233
1929	Oxford		Cambridge	233
1928	Oxford		Cambridge	239
1927	Oxford		Cambridge	287
1926	Oxford		Cambridge	255
1925	Oxford		Cambridge	275
1924	Oxford		Cambridge	327
1923	Oxford		Cambridge	360
1922	Oxford	302	Cambridge
1921	Oxford		Cambridge	264
1920	Oxford		Cambridge	102
1919	No competition
1918	No competition
1917	No competition
1916	No competition
1915	No competition
1914	Oxford		Cambridge	410
1913	Oxford		Cambridge	436
1912	Oxford		Cambridge	481
1911	Oxford		Cambridge	495
1910	Oxford		Cambridge	485
1909	Oxford		Cambridge	433
1908	Unofficial match

Full-bore Varsity match reports:

2009

140th NRA Imperial Meeting:
Well done to the CURPC team, and to everyone who shot for Cambridge at this year's NRA Imperial meet. The scores are available on the NRA website for those interested. Despite the lack of silverware, everyone shot well - especially considering the difficult conditions with the guns. The Oxford vs. Cambridge match was also extremely closely fought with the other side wining by only a single point. There were also four individual AP and LSR NRA medals to bring home under the CURPC banner, including gold in the Scott Medals and a 4th place ranking for James Bullock in the Cotterill trophy, the main AP match.

2007

138th NRA Imperial Meeting:
We won the Thompson Quaich Cup with a score of 1362 against Oxford's 1331

2004

135th NRA Imperial Meeting:
Great performance by the CURPC team, and an impressive collection of silverware!

Trophy/match	Total score	Highest scorer
University Team Aggregate	424/1600	E.Kotsovinos 366/400
Oxford and Cambridge Match	709/800	K.Smith 182/200
Universities Gallery Match	2140/2400	K.Smith 550/600
Fairburn Cup	790/960	K.Smith 215/240
Thomas Quaich	2062/2400	C.Liu 530/600

Universities Team Aggregate: 20 shots duelling exposures on Gallery Rifle ("Granet" match: series of 5 shots, 3 second exposure, 7 second spacing), to give a score ex. 200.
Oxford and Cambridge Match: Shot on Gallery Rifle, this is a straightforward match, where teams have 20 minutes to take 20 shots on a regular PL7 target at 25m. This is known as a "Scott" match; but Oxford and Cambridge's entries are counted towards this Varsity Match. Universities Gallery Match: The combination of the Oxford and Cambridge and Universities Team Aggregate matches to give a score ex. 400
Fairbairn Cup: Shot on Gallery Rifle, this is a most unusual course of fire. The targets advance from 25 yards to 10 yards, while the competitor places three rounds on the two targets. This is repeated to give a score out of 240.
Thompson Quaich: A regular Standard Handgun course on Air Pistols. Scores ex. 600 Individuals: In individuals, L. Stanning was 6th in the Cotterill Match, scoring 549/600. In the same competition, C. Liu was 9th with 530/600, and J. Capes and Kate Smith were 10th and 11th with 517 and 516/600 respectively.

2003

134th NRA Imperial Meeting:
This year we won the McGivern Cup. Using Lightweight Sporting Rifles, Evangelos Kotsovinos 148, Ioannis Chatzigeorgiou 146, Kate Smith 145, and Ben Arnold 138 (all ex 150) beat Oxford. They shot at 25 Metres on Silhouette targets (disruptive charging man) 5 shots in 10 seconds ; 5 shots in 8 seconds and 5 shots in 6 seconds, beating them by a small margin. Cambridge lost the Air pistol (Cotteril) almost by default as we had not been given the correct squad time and having to shoot together (all 8 of us!) Ben and Kate were sharing a gun, and when the match started Lauras Morini packed up and she was left to shoot with a right handed Drulov using her left hand! Jacqueline Capes shot well and led Cambridge scores with 533 ex 600 and was placed 10th out of 23. Even putting our best scores in, we would not have won, as it was Oxford 2085, Cambridge 2026.