Roseville Rifle Club Australia

Mark Buchanan and Tim Walter shot the National Queens in Brisbane from 14 to 16 October 2010.

Heavy rain preceded the Championships and the first day of the lead up Presidents shoot was cancelled. Rain threatened for the rest of the shoot and it was wet underfoot but it did not rain during the rest of the shoot.

Mark shot 149.19 on Day 1 of the Queens to be placed 20th in the Day 1 Aggregate. Tim shot 144.9 to finish 131st! What a difference 5 points makes.

The first range of the second stage was actually fired on Day 1 as rain was forecast for Day 2. The windy was gusty and tricky on Day 2 of the Queens as witnessed by the scores. Mark shot 49.8, 47.3, 47.3 for 143.14 for the Day 2 Aggregate to drop to 59th place. Tim shot 137.5 to drop to 143rd place.

Day 3 of the Queens saw 16 knot variable winds at 900 and 1000 yards and scores were the worst Tim have ever seen, especially at 1000 yards. Mark shot 48.4 at 900 yards and 34.0 at 1000 yards. Tim Walter shot 43.2 at 900 yards and 36.0 at 1000 yards which made Tim feel good as he has bettered Mark’s score! This gave Mark 82.4 on Day 3 of the Queens and Tim 79.2! This gave Mark a Queens Aggregate of 374.37 for 56th spot and Tim Walter 360.16 for 133rd spot, a 10 place improvement on Day 2 for Tim!

It is noteworthy that the winner, Bryan Litz from the USA, finished 48.5 and 46.1=94.6 to win the Queens with 386.38/400. It is also noteworthy, but sad, that Evan Jones from Manly led the Queens all the way to 1000 yards where he scored 34.0 to finish 25th. High winds and the new ICFRA targets make for interesting scores and rapidly changing positions.

Mark’s company, Gas Meters Australia Pty Ltd, donated $10,000.00 to the Under 25 Australian Team; a very generous donation!

At Gosford on 31 October 2010, Alex Marriott showed up the other Roseville members, including his Dad, to win the B Grade Aggregate, winning medals in each of the three 500 metre ranges which were shot. Well done Alex!

Text and Photos — Tim Walter