Roseville Rifle Club Australia

Five Roseville Rifle Club members and two family members made the trip out to Eugowra on the June Long Weekend. Tim Walter and his son Ian left Sydney early on Friday the 9th of June, and Dmitri, Ross, Adrian, Chris and Lucas met at Ross’ place to hitch up the A-Van, and Camper Trailer and head west.

It was a beautiful day to drive with the sun shining on one of those crisp clear winter days and the forecast was for amazing weather all weekend.
When we entered the township of Eugowra in the late afternoon – it was easy to see the devastation that the floods had on this beautiful part of the countryside. There were many houses boarded up, and it was easy to see the height that waters got to with grass and debris stuck on the top strand of barbed wire on many fences.
The re-build of the 130 houses that were destroyed by the flood was progressing and there were many demountable houses and caravans set-up for residents to live in while the re-build was underway.

The Roseville Rifle Club base-camp on Eugowra Rifle Range

We made the Rifle Range by 4:15pm on Friday afternoon – enough time to setup camp before sunset. Alan Noble – the Eugowra Rifle Club President was there to greet us, and make us feel at home, with the camp shower, generator and hot water on the boil.

The Eugowra Rifle Club coat of arms

We set about getting the Caravan, Camper Trailer and tent set up, and Tim and Ian’s swag set in place, before sunset and then it was time to have a couple of drinks and light the fire in the Clubhouse.
Ross cooked Apricot Chicken and Rice for dinner which we washed down with a beer or two and a couple of wines. The banter after dinner was so good that we did not finish until midnight – by which time it was chilly outside and we scurried to our respective tents and swags.

The next morning was stunning – sunny and not a cloud in the sky. A quick trip was made into town to buy some beautiful scotch fillet for BBQ dinner from the local butcher who thankfully is back up an operating, as is the local grocery store. Those missing the Café’s of Sydney were able to get their fix at the Old Post Office coffee cart who does a roaring trade.
Saturday afternoon was the Eugowra Practise shoot – at 600 yards. All of Roseville’s shooting contingent shot a couple of stages to get atuned to the wind and sight picture and check elevations. Some good scores were shot giving our members confidence for the following day. Chris Sefton changed ring sizes between the first and second practice match and went from a 47.1 to a 47.6 – proving that the new ring size was right for 600 yards. Dmitri was able to upgrade the Eugowra Rifle Clubs HEXTA Software to the latest version and check one of their targets – which the Club appreciated.

The next morning – 25 competitors were on-hand to enter the Eugowra OPM. The first match was at 500 yards. Tim Walter found his form early and posted a fine 50.3 – and Dmitri posted a credible 50.7. Ross Webb got out of the blocks with a 59.3 to win the first match in FSB and Chris Sefton posted a 47.2. Adrian Bonanni shot a 48.6 – a good centre count but a couple of dropped shots early.

Down-range from the 500 yard mound – not much wind in the flags

Back at 600 yards – the wind got a little tricker and the 1st 600 Yard match proved the undoing of many competitors. Only one possible was shot in Target Rifle – by Brett Macauley from Lyndhurst. The scope shooters had a better time of it with many possibles being posted. Ross maintained his momentum coming 2nd at the 1st 600 Yard match posting a 57.1. Our target rifle shooters all dropped points, but Dmitri and Adrian had good centre counts.

The final 600 yards did not really ease-up and there was some movement on the leader boards after the final match. Tim Walter and Chris Sefton won TRB and TRC respectively, and Ross Webb was unlucky to be pushed into 2nd place in FSB by a fast finishing Ian Barrett who shot the highest score of any scope discipline in the 2nd 600 yard match.
Lucas Bonanni had a fun day running the cards for the event and chatting to everyone.

	Chris Sefton – 1st TR C grade
Tim Walter – 1st TR B grade	Ross Web – 2nd F-std

The final results – Roseville did well taking out TRB, TRC and 2nd in FSB.

Dmitri and Adrian finished outside of the podium, but Adrian got bragging rights over his arch-rival Josh Gordon by beating him at both the 600 yard matches.
The sun went down on a glorious sunny day and after the presentation the Roseville members went to the Bowling Club with Alan and Marie and their son Marcus for dinner. It was a wonderful weekend, well worth doing again, and it was a good opportunity to support the local community of Eugowra who had been through so much.

Adrian Bonanni

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