Mungindi Prize Meeting – 4/5 October 2025
October 8th, 2025 | 
Author: On Friday 3 October at 7.00am, Dmitri and Tim headed off to Mungindi to attend the Mungindi Prize Meeting held over the October long weekend.
This was a result of a personal invitation by Ben Picton, the Captain of Mungindi Rifle Club, that we both attend the meeting, and we were honoured to accept it.
Mungindi is a town and locality on the border of New South Wales and Queensland, and even with Dmitri driving, it was a 9 hour drive to get there, taking us through the Hunter valley, Singleton, Muswellbrook, Quirindi, Gunnedah, where we stopped for lunch, Narrabri, Moree, and eventually to Mungindi. In the 2021 census, the locality of Mungindi had a population of 487 people in New South Wales and 124 people in Queensland, a total of 611 people, so it is not big!
Ben had booked us a room at the Jolly Swagman Hotel situated at the end of the main street just south of the Queensland border.
We went straight to the rifle range when we arrived at 4.00pm and first John Cooper, then John Kent and then somebody else commented that they had seen us overtaking semi-trailers at great speed!
Many people were camping on the range in caravans and there was much activity setting up for the forthcoming prize meeting.
We then went to our hotel and after 3 schooners of Great Northern we had a rather disappointing rump steak for dinner accompanied by one bottle of Jacobs Creek Shiraz, which was the only red wine available at the Hotel.
Prior to going to bed, we had a small tasting from a bottle of Chacha Dmitri had brought with him. Chacha is a Georgian pomace brandy, clear and strong (40% alcohol) which is sometimes called “wine vodka“, “grape vodka”, or “Georgian vodka/grappa“. Very nice!
Next morning, after grabbing a bacon and egg roll and coffee from the service station, we arrived at the range about 8.30am. Dmitri immediately went to his laptop and checked that every shooter had their SID number correctly entered in the HEXTA system. Entries were capped at 52 which meant 13-15 shooters on each of the 4 HEXTA targets Mungindi have recently purchased thanks to a Government grant.
Dmitri found that he had no Internet through his service provider, but Tim did, by having Telstra, so Dmitri worked through Tim’s phone and Tim effectively became the service provider for the rest of the meeting!
Shooting started at 10.00am on Saturday with 2×10 shots at 500 yards.
The wind was tricky coming briskly from the left from 7.00 o’clock at about 8 knots but varying slightly in strength and then quickly changing to come from the right and then back again from the left.
Dmitri opened with 50.2 to be placed 2nd in A Grade while Tim finished with an inner for 47.2.
| Range | 500 Yards (1) |
| Dmitri | 50.4 (2nd A Grade) |
| Tim | 47.2 |
The second range was also shot at 500 yards but was 2×15 shots.
Conditions were like the first range.
Dmitri shot a 71.4, but Tim caught a consistent left wind for most of his shoot to finish with a possible 75.5 to win the range in B Grade.
| Range | 500 yards (2) |
| Dmitri | 71.4 |
| Tim | 75.5 (1st B Grade) |
Tim’s score of 122.7/125 was sufficient to win him the B Grade Day 1 Aggregate by one point.
| Day 1 Aggregate | Score |
| Dmitri | 121.8 |
| Tim | 122.7 (1st B Grade) |
Followi
ng a very enjoyable presentation, we had dinner on the range only having a couple of beers before the short drive back to the hotel where we both felt the need for some red wine. After sharing one bottle of Jacobs Creek Shiraz, we felt like a little more, so we inquired as to the cost of a glass, which was $8.00, whereas a bottle cost $17.00. Dmitri observed that it would be cheaper to buy a bottle, and we would only drink half of it.
But the red wine slipped down easily and after we had finished the whole bottle, we went to bed, but not before having a sip or two of Chacha!
Ben had announced that Day 2 would commence at 8.00am and we were mindful that the clocks would be put forward in NSW that night so we would have to be careful not to get confused and be late.
Dmitri woke Tim about 6.45am and Tim checked his phone which showed 5.45 am so he decided to get some more sleep, but Dmitri relied on his phone, so we got up shortly after and after again getting some breakfast at the service station, we headed to the range. We had plenty of time to get ready as we were shooting around 14th position on the board, but we were surprised when shooters were called to the mound at about 7.30 am by Tim’s phone.
We discovered later that although we were staying in NSW, we were so close to the QLD border that Tim’s phone had failed to correct for daylight saving time!
Look at this clock! We can sit a little longer…
We concluded it must be confusing for the locals to decide what time to leave the pub at night!
Day 2 saw even more difficult wind conditions than Day 1. Although mainly a fresh left wind from 7.00 o’clock, it was dropping off to zero quickly and then just as quickly coming on again. This was reflected in the scores and Ben Picton later commented that they were the hardest wind conditions he has ever seen on Mungindi range.
Our scores on Day 2 were as follows.
| Shooter | 300 yards | 600 yards | 600 yards | Day 2 Agg |
| Dmitri | 47.4 | 48.4 | 48.0 | 143.8 |
| Tim | 44.3 | 45.2 (2nd B Grade) | 45.1 | 134.6 |
This gave us Grand Aggregate scores as follows.
| Shooter | Day 1 Aggregate | Day 2 Aggregate | Grand Agg |
| Dmitri | 121.8 | 143.8 | 264.16 |
| Tim | 122.7 | 134.6 | 256.13 (3rd B) |
Tim was disappointed with his scores on Day 2, but he felt a bit better when he discovered that his site plate had come loose during the day, which may have explained some of the inners, and even better when Dmitri told him he had finished 3rd in the B Grade Grand Aggregate.
The A Grade Grand Aggregate in TR was won by Matthew Shepherd from Endeavour Rifle Club with a masterful 274.35/275.
Zyden Wild from Natives Rifle Club won the B Grade Grand Aggregate in TR with 261.20.
It should be noted at this point, that in a magnanimous gesture, Dmitri decided to enter A Grade when he could have shot B Grade, to give Tim a chance to win B Grade. Had Dmitri entered B Grade, he would have come 1st at the first 500 yards range, on Day 1 and 3rd in the Day 1 Aggregate. On Day 2 Dmitri would have come 1st at the first 600 yards, and 1st at the second 600 yards, thereby winning both the B Grade Day 2 Aggregate and the B Grade Grand Aggregate by 3 points!
Dmitri sacrificed a lot in trophies and cash by doing this and it is acknowledged with gratitude. Please don’t do it again Dmitri!
After the presentation we headed back to the Jolly Swagman and had no hesitation in knocking off two bottles of Jacobs Creek Shiraz with our pizza! Chacha of course!
Next morning we left the hotel about 6.15am NSW time and were pleased to find the service station open for a bacon and egg roll and coffee.
Our drive home was uneventful until about 100k from Sydney after which the heavy traffic crawled and occasionally stopped almost all the way to Pennant Hills Road adding an hour to our journey (9 hours) and a lot of frustration.
Overall, it was a great weekend, and Mungindi Rifle Club are congratulated on running a highly successful competition. All Mungindi members helped, either by setting up shelters and seats on the range, sorting score cards, serving food and drinks and preparing and serving dinners on two nights.
Ben Picton was instrumental in obtaining sponsorship from many local businesses and shooting members and there was something like $18,000 worth of prizes and cash for those who won, including a barrel for the successful winner of C Grade Grand Aggregate in TR, Catherine Guy, who shot a very impressive 257.15.
Of course, HEXTA performed perfectly and there were no issues with misses or ghost shots.
Dmitri and I will go again next year, and if you want to also, get in early as entries need to be capped at about 52 unless Mungindi RC install a 5th target in the meantime.
Tim Walter
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