Roseville Rifle Club Australia

Sargard and the Emms

First day of the NSW Open Competition is the time for the Teams Matches – The Sargard (TR) and the Emms (F-class). The competition is at 600m and is a 2+10 for 5 shooters. Conditions were blustery from the right shoulder straight across the field – watch those pickups and drop offs! The wind coaches and shooters could tell they weren’t at Hornsby!

Who won the Sargard (TR)? No it wasn’t Holsworthy – shock horror – it was “The Left Overs” (Jeremy Chan, Damon Livermore, Alex Hoffmann, Nick Hocking, Matt Shepherd). Alas, the winds got the better of the TR team and they managed the wooden spoon. Thanks to our Roseville representatives of Mark Buchanan, Angus Lansford, Adrian Bonanni, Adam Beale and Alan Patrick (the top shooter for the team). Guess we need some practise in heavy wind! But the team was competitive, just 3 points behind the main pack.

Who won the Emms (F-class)? It was “Accuracy Matters” with Roseville’s Eva Patrick as part of the team alongside of Daniel Galea, Jacinta Bradley, Marty Kelly & Darren Bradley. Well done Eva for being second highest scorer in the team!

The MacIntosh (2-day lead up competition to the NSWRA 147th Open Championships / King’s Prize)

The move of the King’s Prize (formerly Queen’s) event from its traditional September date meant more competitors and new challenges at the MacIntosh (lead-up) held at Malabar on 25/26 January.. It was hot. It was sunny. Sun-cream and sun-umbrellas were at the ready and lots of water seemed to define the MacIntosh this year. Did we mention the Projectile shortages, Lapua case shortages, primer rationing, and lack of 2206h powder? Hmm, the shortages are starting to hurt – the NSWRA shelves are distinctly lower in stock than previously, unless you want a glove for the “other” hand. Oops, back to the event….Because of when it was held, the MacIntosh coincided with Australia Day so there was a Navy helicopter towing the Australian flag, and lots of people out and about for the pickets to watch out for. Malabar’s location was also a good viewing point for the Australia Day sailing competition that was just off the coast. However, one of the neighbours complained “why do you have to shoot up at this end (ie 800m), it is so noisy and you have all that space down there (waving towards the 600m and 500m mound). Cant you do it down there?” Obviously the neighbour did not understand how important the 800m range is to these competitions and he/she did not understand that previously this was the traditional date for the “Festival of Sydney” shoot.  We didn’t set out to ruin their Australia Day.
Of our five Roseville competitors, Janet Beale (FTR) came home with the only silverware from the MacIntosh. Mark Buchanan (TR-A), Adam Beale (TR-A), Adrian Bonanni (TR-A), and Ross Webb (FSTD-B) had some very good individual shoots but alas, came home empty handed. It’s a tough day at the office when, in TR A-grade, that a 50-7 means you might come 15th and a 50-2 means you might come 23rd in that detail. Tough day indeed.

So here is how the Mackintosh lead-up played out for our Rosevillians:

• Mark Buchanan (TR-A): 99.55% accuracy
• Janet Beale (FTR): 98.32% accuracy, first place medal at 500m with 60-7; first place medal at 700m with 60-9
• Adam Beale (TR-A): 97.33% accuracy
• Adrian Bonanni (TR-A): 96.66% accuracy
• Ross Webb (FTSD-B): 88.31% accuracy

Great weather, maybe a sun burn or two, but despite our Roseville competitors no winning a lot (they obviously all shot well), any day at the range beats a day in the office or at home.

NSWRA 147th Annual Open Championships 2023 (The King’s)

It is January and the 5-day NSWRA 147th Annual Open Championships for 2023 kicked off on Friday the 27th. All up, there were 189 competitors over 8 classes/divisions with 47% in Target Rifle, 45% in F-class and 8% in Sport/Hunter. Roseville had 6 entries in Target Rifle (TR) and 2 in FTR. Such was the depth of talent pesent that there were 57 competitors in TR-A.
King’s Day 1 was a shocker. Cloudy, and very gusty from the west. The details were two 2+10 at 600m then a 2+15 at 700m. By the end of the day, we all missed Hornsby! Alan Patrick (TR-B) had the most notable outcome – coming 2nd at 700m. Mark Buchanan had a terrific score of 74-9 at 700m but dropping any points in TR-A moves you into the 26th+ position for a detail. At the end of Day 1, Chris Sefton was running 6th in TR-C, Alan Patrick and Angus Langsford came 4th and 5th in TR-B and the rest of the Roseville squad were in various lower places in their respective packs having had trouble reading those nasty winds that were coming in from the right hand side.
King’s Day 2 was sunny and humid (great sun-umbrella weather) – and lots of water needed all around. Winds were from the east this time (off the water) and relatively softer causing some mild mirage – favouring those of us from Hornsby. It was a jam-packed day of 2+10 at 300m, 500m, 500m, 800m. By the last detail we were all exhausted, hot, and no longer much in the mood – but some survived better than others. During the day, Janet Beale came 1st at 500m in FTR, Chris Sefton had a phenominal 50-8 at 500m coming 1st in TR-C (note that this was an A-grade competitive score and it was only his second ever possible!). Our “Patricks Marketing” duo did very well with Alan Patrick coming 1st in TR-B at 500m, and the beautiful Eva Patrick coming 1st in the daily aggregate for FTR! Roseville certainly preferred day 2 of the King’s over day 1.
King’s Day 3 started off very overcast with mild winds from the east, but, by mid morning, the sun had mostly come out as did the sun-umbrellas. The early shooters had the best time of it, but as we were all squadded, for the most part people were shooting at the similar time to others in their division. It was a short day with only two details, a 2+10 and 2+15 at 800m. Some very high scores were posted by Roseville throughout the day but for many, it was too late after the carnage from day 1. Call out to Mark Buchanan who scored a 75-13 but came 3rd in TR-A (such are the competitors in TR-A).

So here is how the NSW King’s 2023 played out for our Rosevillians:

• Mark Buchanan (TR-A): 98.39% accuracy; 3rd at 800m in TR-A;
• Adam Beale (TR-A): 97.59% accuracy;
• Adrian Bonanni (TR-A): 96.66% accuracy;
• Alan Patrick (TR-B): 98.59% accuracy; 2nd in the King’s TR-B, 2nd in the second and third daily aggregates (TR-B), 1st at 500m (TR-B), 2nd at 700m (TR-B), 2nd at 500m (TR-B), 2nd at 300m (TR-B);
• Angus Langsford (TR-B): 96.39% accuracy, 3rd at 300m (TR-B);
• Chris Sefton (TR-C): 93.39% accuracy; 4th in the King’s TR-C; 1st at 500m (TR-C);
• Eva Patrick (FTR): 97.13% accuracy; 1st in the second daily aggregate (FTR);
• Janet Beale (FTR): 96.29% accuracy, 1st at 500m.

We congratulate Roseville past alumni Gary Faulkner and Peter Walters for winning the King’s in their respective disciplines! Mitch Bailey from Holsworthy scored a phenomenal 500.80 to beat his dad Jim Bailey in TR-A so well done Mitch!

Janet Beale