Roseville Rifle Club Australia

The Victorian Rifle Association 2017 Queens Series was conducted at Bendigo Rifle Range from 29 March to 2 April 2017. Mark Buchanan and Associate member Keirin McCamley competed in the A Grade Grand Championship and Tim Walter competed in the B Grade Queens. All three members stayed with Melissa Frost-Thomas at the former Captain Cook Hotel where 8 other shooters were also staying.

The Syme

Day 1 of the Syme shot over 500, 500 and 600 yards saw Mark Buchanan shoot 147.15 to be placed 13^th and Keirin McCamley shoot 145.13 to be placed 27^th.
Day 2 of the Syme shot over 700, 900 and 1000 yards saw Mark Buchanan shoot 134.6 to be placed 27^h and Keirin McCamley shoot 128.5 to be placed 38^th.
Needless to say, conditions were very difficult, particularly on Day 2 over the long ranges. Mark finished in 23^rd place and Keirin McCamley at 37^th. The mood of the assembled guests at dinner at the Cook when Tim arrived was quite subdued. Geoff Grosskreutz from Brisbane won the Syme with 293.22 the score reflecting the difficult conditions.

The Queens

Day 1
Conditions were much better for Day 1 of the Queens shot over 500, 500 and 600 yards. Mark shot 148.15 to be placed 15^th and Keirin shot 147.13 to be placed 31^st in A Grade. Tim shot 142.7 to be placed 17^th in B Grade.

Day 2

Conditions were much the same for Day 2 of the Queens shot over 700, 800 and 900 yards. Mark shot 146.14 to be placed 8^th and won 900 yards in the process with 50.6. Keirin shot 144.11 to be placed 22^nd in A Grade. Tim shot 143.10 to be placed 3^rd in B Grade.
All the guests at the Captain Cook went to a very nice restaurant in Bendigo for dinner with Melissa and her husband.

Queens VRA 2017

Day 3

Day 3 of the Queens shot over 900, and 1,000 yards. Mark shot 48.6 and Keirin shot 46.4 at 900 in A Grade. Tim shot 46.3 in B Grade. Conditions at 1000 yards were noticeably more difficult on the left hand side of the range where Mark was shooting and seemed to get worse as the range progressed. Mark shot a gritty 48.6 after scoring a 3 with his 3^rd shot and Keirin shot 48.3. Tim put 3 birds underneath to score 43.4. Mark finished Day 3 with 96.12 to be placed 5^th and Keirin finished with 94.7 to be placed 14th in A Grade. Tim shot 89.7 to be placed 12^th in B Grade.

The Queens Aggregate

Mark finished in 5^th place in A Grade with 390.41 and Keirin finished in lucky 13^th place with 385.31. Tim finished in 7^th place in B Grade with 374.24. The winner? James Corbett of Benalla with 396.47 with our friend Malcolm McKenzie coming second to the legend with 392.43.

The Grand Championship

This was also won by James Corbett with 685.77. Mark came 12^th with 671.62 and Keirin came 33^rd with 658.49.

Tim Walter