Archive for 2014

Over 210 competitors from around Australia competed is this year’s event over five days.  Numbers were boosted by the Veteran State Teams who used it as a warm up for their events the following week. Everyone got on well together even with the trying weather conditions.

Members attending were Andrew Martin (FTR), Robert Kozminski (FCB), Allan Humbert (FCA), Angus Martin (TRC) and his school mate Tim Hanner (TRC), Mike Hodder (TRB), Tim Walter (TRA), Phill Hodder (TRA) and Mark Buchanan (TRA).

600m after the rain

Wednesday dawned with heavy high misty clouds and the forecasted winds and temperatures in to the high 20’s eventuated. The whole competition was shot on “paper” targets as the clubs have insufficient electronic targets for such an event. The lead-up RA Rolph was shot over two days. 3, 5 & 6 on the first, 7 and a double 8 on the second day with each day’s last range a 15 shot match.

Thursday was warmer at 35^o+ and the cloud burned off quickly. Copious quantities of water were consumed by all sensible contestants during the day with a change of liquid in the evenings as you can imagine.

Friday was the start of the Queen’s proper which saw the temperatures even higher and the wind was a little more predictable, at times! 3, 5, and 600 all 10 shots as the Tiverton Cup 4 person team shoot followed in a reduced format from 15 down to 10 shots.

The second day came with a welcomed 10^o+ drop in the heat and at times readable winds with occasional surprises, often not welcomed if the results were anything to go by. Ten counting shots at 7, and a double 8. Heavy drizzle became rain in the afternoon continuing throughout the night.

By the time it was time to shoot on Sunday, the outlook was very bleak. A couple of heavy showers and followed by a deluge mid-morning resulted in a large number of very wet shooters and their gear, and those who managed a shoot at 500 were in most cases relieved when the range was abandoned. Shooting restarted at 11 o’clock at 600. Still with tricky wind changes and wet flags that were rapidly drying.

F Class lead-up saw Robert and Allan see-sawing in each of the ranges with Robert 7 super bulls ahead after the two days.

Mike entered in B grade and had a modest two day shoot with a best range at 800, 69.1 (4^th) and 48.4 (5^th) at the first 800. Definitely room for improvement.

Mark and Phill competed in A grade. Phill’s best range was at 500 with a 50.5 (8^th) finishing in 13^th position for the Rolf scoring 341.35. Among Mark’s highlights were 75.7 (1^st) at 600 and 75.10 (1^st) finishing 4^thwith 344.38.

Angus and Tim

Now to the highlight results for the Queen’s series in my opinion. Angus Martin shone in C grade after a “warm-up” first day. His 50.6, 49.7, 50.6 and 2^nd day Agg 149.19 netted two firsts and a second for the ranges and 1^st for the day. He was 2^nd on the last day and ended the Queen’s in 2^nd place two points behind the winner. Well done!

His school mate Tim in his first shoot away from Hornsby range and first competition got a 3^rd on the last range leaving him in a creditable 7^th place. Hope you both can come for the lead-up as well next year.

Andrew joined our other two F Class shooters choosing to compete in FTR. An interesting choice after so little shooting due to injury and family commitments. His best score was a creditable 58.4 at 700 gaining 11^th place. Shows how tough this relatively new grade is. More practice will help, but a good effort non-the-less.

Robert’s best score of 59.4 at 700 gained 5^th, with four 60’s ahead of him. Allan’s best was 59.1 at 800 also for 5^th, just 3 X’s away from the leader.

Mike finished the 1^st day with 139.6 for 6^th. Three 49’s on the second day (the last at 800 for a range 3^rd) and 3^rd for the daily aggregate. This moved him up the board to 2^nd for the two days at 286.18. Equipment failure in the final day’s only range killed the dream of winning, and a new barrel as the prize.

The A grade competition was fierce with 90 competitors.

To give an idea how hard this grade was, Tim’s 48.3 at 300 and 49.4 at 700 gained only 63^rd and 69^th!

Phill’s best scores were three 50’s on the second day (50.7, 50.7 and 50.6, 18^th, 11^th and 9^th) giving him 4^th that day. He ended 33^rd for the Queen’s and 15^th for the Grand Aggregate.

Phill’s Rolf Badge

Mark was our best performer. His possibles at 300 (16^th), both 800’s (5^th& 16^th) were all great shoots. He ended with Queen’s badge 6^th and 2^nd in the Grand. Well done Marcus!

Mark’s prize

Roseville entered one TR team in the Tiverton Cup with Mark, Phill, Angus and Tim the firers and Mike coaching the first shooter, Mark coached the rest. Our scores were Mark 50.2, Phill 48.4, Angus 48.1 & Tim 46.4, which was reasonable but no match for a very strong West Wallsend, who won with a fine score of 198.21/200! We finished in 5th place on 192.11. Special comment must be made of Angus’s  performance in the team. He was a late inclusion, this and the fact it was a very prestigious match, didn’t faze him and he shot extremely well under pressure with his score of  48/50!

Finally, thanks to all our attendees. Thanks for all you friendship, advice and companionship. It’s a great part of our club.

Uncle Mike

Seventy nine (79) competitors took part in this year’s NSDRA Open Prize Meeting on Sunday 2^nd November, with shooters coming from as far afield as the NSW North Coast and Central West. Roseville was well represented with 10 members competing in Target Rifle and F-Standard categories. Once again Roseville performed strongly, especially in B-Grade and C-Grade Target Rifle.

Mark, Phil, Dmitri, Jon, Rob, Mike, Angus, Alan, Gary and Michael all took part in this annual event on home soil.

The day started at 500m with Dmitri posting 50.5, Mark with 49.4, Jon with 49.3, Phil 48.3 in A-Grade and Rob coming second in B-Grade with 48.3, followed by Mike who took third place with 47.4. Angus Martin took second place in C-Grade posting a strong 50.1.

Mark

Rob

Alan shot very well, posting 59.5 in the first match to take out third place in F Std A-Grade.

The second match at 600m saw Mark score 50.4 narrowly missing a place. Rob and Mike dominated B-Grade with 49.2 and 46.3 respectively and Angus took out third place in C-Grade with 46.2.

Phil scored a very strong 50.7, however just missed out on 3rd place on count back in A-Grade on the last match of the day at 700m. Mike took first place with an excellent 50.5 and Rob with 49.4 to take second place in B-Grade.

Gary and Michael redeemed themselves in the last match at 700m and took first and second place in F Std A-Grade posting 60.4 and 60.3 respectively as well as winning the pairs.

Mike

Allan

The final placings for the day’s aggregate saw Mark take 5^th position with 148.12 in A-Grade Target Rifle. Rob won B-Grade with 146.9 and Mike came second with 143.12, together with Angus who came in 3^rd in C-Grade with 141.4.

Alan shot consistently high scores throughout the day and came 4^th in F Std A- Grade with 174.10, only just missing out on 3rd place by one super centre and first place by one point.

Michael Cuda

Roseville members showed another strong performance at the recent Gosford OPM on Sunday 19th Oct. There were 8 shooters from our strong club. Allan, Bob, Dmitri (after driving non-stop from Brisbane), Fernando, Gary, Mark, Phill and Rob contested in this annual event close to home.

Mark, Dmitri, Phill and Rob started the first 500m strongly with all posting 50’s, Mark came second on the range with his 50.7!

Mark

Phill

In the second 500m Mark again shot a 50.7 to win that range, Rob continued his fine form to win B Grade with his score of 50.6! Bob shot very well in the conditions to score a third place in F Std B Grade with a 57.5! The conditions were mild, mostly coming from the right with subtle wind changes which could catch the shooter out if they weren’t paying attention. By the last match, also at 500m a 15 shot, the wind had changed direction and was predominately coming from the left to down the range.

Dmitri

Rob

Mark finished strong and shot another clean target posting a 75.9 to come second in that match and also win the day with a total of 175.23! Well done Marcus Victorious!! Dmitri and Phill were unlucky not to get 75 also, they finished with 74.12 and 74.11 respectively. Rob was trying to catch a consistent Gail Roberts from Gosford RC who was shooting very well, she finished with a wonderful score of 75.4, Rob did his best and scored a 72.7 to finish second for the days agg on 172.17 only one point behind Gail. Good try Rob!

Robert

Gary

Gary shot the third best score with 88.9 in F Std A Grade  and also finished third for the agg with 205.18! Well done Gary. The final placings were, Mark 1st, Phill 3rd, Dmitri 6th, Fernando 9th, Rob 2nd, Gary 3rd, Alan 8th and Bob 5th!

The link to Gosford OPM shooting plots can be found HERE

It was a great Prize Meeting and it was excellent to see so many members attending and doing their best.

Sponsored by Roseville, North Sydney, Hornsby RSL, Manly, Hornsby, Gosford and 18^th Battalion Rifle Clubs

Sunday 2nd November 2014 at Hornsby Rifle Range

2+10 shots at 500, 600 and 700m

To be shot on the HEXTA-2 electronic target system

Shooting commence at 09:00 hrs, Entries open Sunday 08:30, close at 10:15

Come and practice with us Saturday afternoon 1300 – 1630 @ 600m

This Championship is open to all TR A, B and C Grade competitors.

“F” Class Open and “F” Class Standard A and B, “F-TR” and Military Bolt competition.

Entry Fee remains at $30 for all Grades.

Masters Match (TR, FS, FO), Teams Match, Pairs match, Ladies, Veterans, Tyro and School Shooter Trophies

Food and refreshments will be available

Aggregate Bullion Badges will be allocated in all Grades and Disciplines. Due to late inclusion of F-TR there will be no Bullion Badges for “F-TR”.

Limited accommodation with hot showers available on range – book early

This Open Prize Meeting will be conducted under the Standard Shooting Rules 2014 and as amended/approved by NRAA. The committee reserves the right to vary the program and/or prize list if circumstances warrant

Prize Money will be allocated in proportion to the number of entries received.

Contact for further details: Cathy Burnitt Hon Secretary 0418 248807, e-mail: burnittcj@bigpond.com

Roseville members showed up in force at this years NSW Queen’s. 5 members shot the McIntosh Lead-up Shoot, Mark, Phill, Alan, Gary and Rob and a huge 9 members shot the Queen’s, Mark, Phill, Alan, Gary, Rob, Michael, Fernando, Mike and Tim, which makes it a record from recent National Shoots.

Both Rob and Gary shone out on the first day of the Lead-up. Rob in B Grade received a 2nd and 1st for 300m and 700m with scores of 49.4 and 49.6 respectively and 5th for overall with 365.24 for the Lead-up! Gary in F Std A Grade received a 3rd place, 1st and 2nd for 300m 58.4, 600m 58.2 and 700m 57.3 respectively, he also got 3rd for the 2nd days AG and 3rd overall with 450.21 for the Lead-up! Mark got 9th badge for the Ag with 390.31, Phill finished 17th on 385.35 and Alan finished with 420.13 for 9th position.

Mark started off strongly on the first day of the Queen’s with a pair of 50.8’s to get 3rd and 1st places respectively. Rob shot very well in the 15 shot match at 600m to record the 3rd best score of 73.3, and finished 3rd in the days Ag! Well done Rob. 

Roseville fielded one team in TR for the Sargard Teams Match which is shot after the first day of the Queen’s with 15 shots @ 600m, the shooters were Mark, Phill, Rob and Tim, with Mike and Mark coaching.They didn’t disgrace themselves, and with only one team to go they were sitting in 2nd position! But the late finishing Pacific team  from Qld stole the show only dropping 3 points to steal victory. Our team scores were, Mark 74.6, Phill 73.7, Rob 73.6 and Tim 75.3 for a total of 295.22  and in 3rd position. Well done to Rob with his fine score and competing in his first Sargard, and also to Tim with his excellent possible. We tried to field an F Class team but unfortunately couldn’t find a 4th member to help us, hopefully next year a team can compete.

Day 2 saw some light drizzle in the morning and the organizers stopped the shoot for about 20 minutes until that cleared. The top Roseville results were Mark 1st at the second 300m with a 50.9 and Rob 2nd at the first 300m with 50.5! Well done guys. The day 2 Ag was highlighted by Mark finishing clean on 200.26 for 2nd place, Tim finished 25th with 198.18, and Rob also 2nd place with 193.15!

Day 3, the last, competitors were greeted with sunny and more still conditions that they hadn’t had during the previous days of competition. Soon after the shoot started the wind changed around and started coming from the left, the ocean side, this normally means the wind is more steady and reliable but you still have to be vigilant and watch for quick drop offs and increases.

Mark and Phill took control of these conditions and both posted near perfect scores of 50.9! This won the range for Mark and Phill got counted out for 3rd position, it’s hard at the top! Rob shot well also, and posted a 50.5 to receive a Silver medal for his achievement. Gary got a Bronze with his score of 59.5! In the last shoot of the Queen’s, a 15 shot match at 800m, Phill shot another possible 75.10, which only gave him 7th place. Proving that perseverance pays off, Michael shot a magnificent score of 88.9 in his first Queen’s and got 4th place for that and he had the highest X count in F Class A Grade! Well done Michael. The Day 3 Ag saw Gary get another Bronze medal with 147.11, and Phill narrowly missing out on a medal for 4th place with 125.19!

Now to the Queen’s and Grand Aggregate scores. Mark finished the Queen’s on 497.68 in 6th place and was unlucky not to get 3rd, he finished the Grand in 5th position on 887.96! Phill was also unlucky, he missed out on a Queen’s badge by one place with 492.61 in 31st position and he got 15th badge for the Grand with 877.96. Fernando came 34th, Tim 54th, Rob 3rd for the Queen’s and 5th for the Grand! Well done Rob, great shooting. Mike 17th, Gary 6th for the Queen’s and 5th for the Grand, well done Gary! Michael 19th and Alan 20th for the Queen’s and 9th for the Grand. There was a very special guest presenting all the prizes in the auditorium, none other than Roseville member and newly elected Senator David Leyonhjelm.

Well done to all the Roseville competitors, I’m sure they learned a lot and enjoyed the comradeship. All the results can be found at http://www.nraa.com.au/nswra-138th-open-championships-results/

Notes for 100 Year Anniversary Presentation.

Welcome to 100^th Anniversary of Roseville Rifle Club. Welcome to special guests:

Councillor Robert Browne of Hornsby City Council
Mister Gary Bryant of the Firearms Safety Council
Senator David Leyonhjelm
Former Captains Bill Roger and Phil Rocks

100th anniversary celebrations are rare events. However, since June 2013, and counting tonight’s occasion, I have attended 3 such events. They have all been celebrating the Centenaries of rifle clubs: Lyndhurst Rifle Club, Canberra Rifle Club and Roseville Rifle Club. Canberra Rifle Club is the city’s oldest surviving sporting body.

I have some Questions:

• Why were these rifle clubs formed?
• Why have they lasted so long?
• Are they still relevant today?

A Brief History.

Most rifle clubs were formed either immediately before or during World War I. Rifle clubs operated as an adjunct to the reserve military forces and were generally under military control. They were intended to provide basic military training and develop marksmanship. Roseville Rifle club was formed in or about October 1914. At the end of December 1914, the club had 83 members and by the end of January 1915 it had grown to 200. Members undertook drills twice a week at Lindfield public school and at other locations in the area. One of Roseville’s founding members Ernest Tebbutt, lived in Shirley Road, Roseville, and was instrumental in setting up a 300 yard range at the bottom of Shirley Road. Access was by way of a track known as the Rifle Way running between what is now the Pacific Highway and Shirley Road. It is still there today. In about January 1915, John Jenkins, a well-known Roseville resident, offered his land at Fullers Road, Chatswood for use as a 600 yard rifle range. UTS Kuring-gai campus now sits above the area where the stop butt would have been. On Thursday, 29 April 1915, just days after the Gallipoli landings, the Sydney Morning Herald noted that the Roseville club had about 350 members divided into Roseville and Chatswood companies. On 14 October 1918, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that on 9 October 1918 Roseville Rifle Club’s Roll of Honour was unveiled at the club room and that the roll contained the names of 43 members of whom 11 did not survive the wall. That Honour Roll is over there.

Given the horrific nature of World War I, it is understandable that interest in shooting dropped at the end of the war. Minutes from the AGM of 1924 suggest that membership dropped to less than 20. Nevertheless, efforts were made to build up the club and at its meeting on 13 January 1925 the committee agreed to build club hut on Chatswood Rifle Range. In 1928 it was agreed to hold quarterly social meeting to distribute prizes, discuss general business and “propositions for the welfare of the club and spending a social evening together in harmony”. Faulty ammunition was a problem in 1930 as the club was still being issued with 1916 ammunition and competitors were allowed another shot for every shot that failed to go off! They were called “double bungers”. During World War II the shortage of .303 ammunition led to the club to form a miniature or small bore club which shot at 25, 50 and 100 yards.

By 1946, the use of 303’s had stopped and the club had gone into recess. Nevertheless, a meeting agreed to reform the club and visit Victoria Barracks with a view to obtaining rifles and ammunition.

It seems that 4 members of the club were killed during the war. At least 3 of these were members of RAF Bomber Command and the prevalence of our RAAF membership may be explained by the proximity of the RAAF base at Bradfield Park, west of Lindfield. Bradfield Park was once a suburb which has since been absorbed into West Lindfield. After the war. It served as a refugee hostel, and immigrant hostel. As a boy who grew up in Lindfield, I remember we never liked to play soccer against the tough English boys from Bradfield Park! I remember that some wore rings in their ears! That was pretty far out in 1957! In 1957, the supervisor arrived ranges directed that all club huts on Chatswood range were to be removed by the end of March that year as the Chatswood range was to be closed. After considering the cost of removing Roseville’s hut to Hornsby Rifle Range, it was decided to advertise it for sale, but as it was not sold by the end of March it had to be abandoned. During the 1960’s membership was limited as ammunition was hard to come by and in addition a number of members resigned to move to clubs located at Anzac Rifle Range, Liverpool.

Major changes to the rifle movement took place in 1966 when it was announced that the Anzac Rifle Range at Liverpool would close in 1967, and due to shortage of.303 ammunition, there would be a change in calibre to 7. 62 millimetres. These were years of uncertainty for the rifle movement as the availability of.303 ammunition had become critical and confusion existed regarding what type of rifle would be approved for use with the new ammunition. In addition, Anzac Rifle Range at Liverpool, one of the finest ranges in the world, was to close. Fortunately, a strong committee of Gordon Marquette, Roger Le Moy and Alf and Dennis Rae had taken shape within Roseville Rifle Club. Money was raised for a new clubhouse. Gordon was also president of the North Shore District Rifle Association and a modern toilet block was built on the range. By 1969, the use of rifles that could be used with 7.62mm ammunition was becoming clearer and the approval of the Omark 7.62 target rifle, which sold for about $70, was to breathe new life into the rifle shooting movement. It was at the end of 1969 that I purchased an Omark rifle for $69 and a Central site for $28. I commenced shooting in January 1970 with Mosman-Neutral Bay Rifle Club.

On 15 August 1970, the new club hut was opened by Lieutenant-Colonel Ernie Green. Throughout the seventies and eighties, it seems that the club membership was around 40 to 50 members with regular attendance by 15 to 20 members. Significantly, Mark Buchanan joined Roseville in 1987. Mark already had 2 Queen’s prizes under his belt at that stage and was to go on to become one of most of Australia’s most successful target rifle shooters. Mark’s influence and example was to lead to a change of culture in Roseville Rifle Club. In those days, shooters on Hornsby range were content with club shooting and rarely travelled to prize meetings or Queen’s prizes. Roseville members were the same then.

Mark’s Dad, Jack Buchanan, had transferred to Roseville some years earlier, and Mark and Jack travelled all the Queens and prize meetings. In time, they were joined by Barry O’Donnell, Mike and Phill Hodder, Ian Palmer, Dennis and Keirin McCamley and myself. This trend has grown and our new shooters, such as, Dmitri, the Martins, Fernando, Gary Faulkner and Rob Trodden regularly attend prize meetings. Even Michael Cuda has attended a prize meeting at Mudgee! The club has made meetings such as Mudgee, Wingham and Lithgow, regular features of their annual calendar. Only last week, at least 6 shooters attended the Wingham shoot, Mark coming fifth and Gary fading at the last range, to just lose the championship.

Roseville is now the strongest club on Hornsby range. Only yesterday, Mark won the target rifle Champion of Champions shoot and Graham Coote won F Standard. Last season, our Number 1 TR team won the Arn Hammond, by a huge margin, with the Number 2 team just missing out on second place. Our F Standard Team also won their event. Last month, Mark won the Lead Up and Grand Championship at Townsville, whilst in April, our former member, Kieren McCamley, won the lead up and Grand Championship at Bendigo. A remarkable achievement.

In 2011, Roseville was the first club to start using the Hexta electronic target on Hornsby range. The Hexta target was developed by Roseville member Dmitri Kazakov and it has since been installed on Hornsby range, West Broken Hill range, Gosford range, Narromine – Dubbo range, Mount Barker range, Orange range, and Wingham range. Currently, the Hexta system is being trialled by the QRA in Queensland and is generally acknowledged to be the finest electronic target system in the world.

Why have they lasted so long?

The role of rifle clubs has evolved from being a part of the Defence Forces to become simply the facilitator of competitive and recreational target rifle shooting over a number of disciplines. Survival of Roseville Rifle Club and every other rifle club has only taken place due to the abiding interest of community members to partake in shooting competitions and the willingness of club members to voluntarily participate in the management and administration of both the individual clubs and State and National Rifle Associations. It takes many people making many contributions over many years to keep a club like Roseville running. Looking back at just the last 50 or so years, Alf and Dennis Rae, Gordon Marquette, Roger Le Moy, Ed Strom, Ian Palmer, Barry O’Donnell, Jan Wikstrom have all made major contributions. Two years ago, we celebrated at Andrew and Anne Martin’s house, over 50 years of service by Roger Le Moy. Although he no longer holds any office officially, Roger still works tirelessly for the club.

In my view people two people have been mainly responsible for the survival and success of Roseville rifle club over the last 60 years. Roger Le Moy and Gordon Marquette. Without their untiring efforts over that period, the club would not be where it is today. Would you please join me in a round of applause for Gordon Marquette and Roger Le Moy

Are they still relevant today?

The participation in competitive sporting pursuits and membership of a social group is, in my view, healthy for both the individuals involved and the community in general. Rifle shooting is unique in that it is a sport in which old and young, male and female, can compete on equal terms. The sport of rifle shooting is also unique in that as it is possible to compete from a very young age to a more mature age, lifelong friendships are made and enjoyed. We look forward to seeing more young people as members of the club. I would like to propose a toast to Roseville Rifle Club and all its members, past, present and future.

Roseville 100th anniversary luncheon, 2014

Tim Walter.

Club Captain 15 June 2014

You are probably getting bored  hearing this (we’re not getting bored telling you), but both the Roseville TR #1 and F Class Teams were victorious again in the 2013-2014 Arn Hammond teams event.

Team #1 had a large buffer going into the last range, 800m, and in the end secured victory over Hornsby #1 by a whopping 51 points!! Conditions seemed mild before the shoot but all coaches found the wind very tricky and hard to keep in check. Roseville TR #2 shot well during the year but unfortunately had some hiccups along the way, they were unlucky not to get 2nd place in the Handicap competition by one point!

Members for the Team #1 consisted of Mark, Phill, James, Mr. T, Dmitri and Hutcho. Team #2 were Tim, Jon, Alex, Fernando, Paul and Andrew.

Roseville F Class were coming in first place before the final stage from HRSL Blue. They showed tremendous strength and ability to not only take the day by 15 points but also win the year by a massive 35 points from HRSL Blue!! Congratulations to all the team for another great win. The F Class team consisted of Allan, Mike, Don, Graham, Gary and Matt.

Final results for 2013-2014 years

Mark and Tim traveled up to Townsville to attend the NQRA Championships from 14 to 18 May 2014.

This was the first time the NQRA Championships had been held at Townsville since 1969, as it was held at Mackay until 2013.

Bruce Scott, Bob Kennedy and their team had worked long and hard to establish the new rifle range at Townsville and have it in tip top order for the shoot, 14 targets going back to 900m.

In the lead up Wilson Aggregate Mark won the second range at 600m with 50.8 and took out the First Stage Aggregate with 150.21.

The next day, Mark again won the second range at 800m with 50.7, the third range at 900m with 50.4 and the Second Stage Aggregate with 150.17. This of course gave Mark the Wilson Aggregate with a perfect score of 300.38, three points ahead of Trevor Deed in second place.

Tim somehow found the easy conditions difficult and had difficulty getting on target at the final 900m staring with a 1 to ruin an otherwise reasonable score at that range and to finish last in A Grade!

Mark started the Queens with a 49.7 at 500m with Tim scoring a nightmare 43.1. Mark was back in the 50.4 at the next range at 600m, and Tim with 47.2. The final range at 600m saw Mark shoot a 50.1, perhaps showing that conditions were often not perfect, with Tim scoring 45.4, taking some heart in shooting 4 V’s in a row, but otherwise thinking of retirement!

The arrival of Lindsay Mawbey, Jim Bailey and Tim Berry for the Queens, had an immediate impact, with those shooters taking the first  three place in the First Stage  Aggregate with 150.19, 150.18 and 150.16 respectively, followed by the redoubtable Bruce Scott in 4^th place with 150.14 and Mark in 5^th place with 149.12. Tim posted a record low start to a Queens with 135.7!

Stage 2 saw Mark and Tim miscalculating the time from breakfast to the range arriving 3 minutes before the start at 700m (despite hitting 190k in an attempt to catch up!) and with Tim second down. Fortunately, Tim scored a 50.4, but Mark dropped a shot to score a 49.6.

At the next range, 800m, Tim dropped a shot which he challenged unsuccessfully to score 49.3 while Mark dropped a couple to finish with 48.4.  At 900m, Tim shot in a beautiful patch to shoot a 50.5, just missing the V with his last shot. This was unfortunate, as both Mawbey and Bailey also shot 50.5, both counting Tim out for him to finish in third place for the range.  But Tim was happy with that and with 6^th place in the Second Stage Aggregate with 149.12.  Mark finished 900 with a 46.5 with two strange “birds” included, to finish the second stage with 143.15.

Stage 3 saw Mark return to the possible with a 50.6 at 800m followed by a 48.3 at 900m to finish the day with 98.9. Tim could not find his Day 2 form in the misty and wet conditions and fired a 47.4 and a 46.0 respectively.

Jim Bailey shot 100.9 to win the Queens with 399.45. Mark finished 9^th on 390.36 and Tim 28^th with 377.23.

Mark thought he had blown his chances of winning the Grand Aggregate, but at the end of the day he finished with 690.74, with Trevor Deed second with 690.59.

Congratulations Jim Bailey on a fine win for your 7^th Queens Prize!

Congratulations Mark in winning the Wilson lead Up and the Grand Aggregate!

Tim Walter, Captain

Nine Roseville members contested the Annual Mudgee OPM over the Easter Long Weekend 19-20^th April.  Allan, Fernando, Dmitri, Gary, Mark, Michael, Mike, Phill and Rob. Most stayed at the Courthouse Hotel again as we did last year. Practice started after lunch on Friday with most members taking the opportunity to zero their sights and try to understand the flags and different range conditions. This was the first time Michael had shot outside Hornsby Rifle Range and Rob had only shot at one other venue.

Dmitri started on fire at the first 500y with a great50.6 to get third for that range. He gained third for each of the other two ranges to finish clean and winning the day with a total of 150.19! while Kathryn Kent was the only other to finish the day on 150.12. Rob finished third with a 49.4. Allan was second in F B Grade with 57.2.

Rob with his winnings

Dmitri receiving his prizes

Allan was second in the 2^nd 500y with 58.1 and he gained first for the day on 174.6. Rob was third in the last 500y with a solid 49.3, and finished in second place for the day on 144.12. Allan and Michael finished first and third in the last with 59.3 and 58.2 respectively.

After the shoot most retired back to the Hotel for a cool cleansing ale and a feed from the Bistro.

The second day found the weather fine and sunny with no hint of rain. Dmitri started where he had finished, scoring two more possibles, 50.7 and 50.2 to continue his lead. Michael scored a great 58.3 for first position at the initial 600y, and followed it with another first with 59.5!

Happy Allan

A very happy Michael

Dmitri fought hard in the last 600y to keep his lead, the wind was hard to read and many were having trouble. He managed a valiant 49.6 which unfortunately cost him first position in the end to State and National team member Angus Bell, who finished with 299.36 to Dmitri’s 299.34! Very close, and well done to Dmitri!

Gary shot 59.7 in the last 600 to get second place. And Allan recorded a 56.3 for first place. Michael shot 171.11 for the second days aggregate to win first place, well dome Michael!

Mark finished 10^th with 295.28, Phill 12^th with 293.24, Fernando 18^th with 288.17, Rob 4^th in B Grade on 279.17, Gary’s father John finished 1st in F A Grade with 350.29 and Gary 4^th 347.24, Michael and Allan finished 2^nd and 3^rd respectively with scores of 339.18 and 338.12.

The Roseville crew (right to left): Allan, Michael, Gary, Phill, Rob, Dmitri, Fernando, Mike, Mark

Much fun and mateship was had by all Roseville members and I think we will all be back next year, and hope other club mates will join us too.

All results can be found at: http://www.nraa.com.au/mudgee-dra-92nd-annual-prize-meeting-results/

Early Friday morning, 21st February around 6am, Mark Buchanan, Dmitri Kazakov (Roseville RC) and Ted Boreham (Gosford RC) departed from Sydney for the long 1400km drive to Mt. Barker Rifle Club  for their No2 DRA Open Prize Meeting  which was not incident free.

Ted was “unsuccessfully”  breathalysed by our “Friends in blue” just north of the Vic border. Following that everything went  smoothly until we pulled into Tooleybuc Pub for dinner at about 8pm. We had another 400km to go.

After dinner we decided to leave, however somebody entered the pub and joyfully, looking forward  to the entertainment, announced that the trailer in front of the pub had a flat tyre and that all the service stations had already closed as it was Friday afternoon, and  everyone from the service and petrol stations were already in the pubs!

Someone made a call to the “nearest” service station (10km away), and we slowly start rolling in that  direction. On the way one truck overtook us. When we stopped in his driveway we asked the driver if he had some air. We  were  lucky and he pumped up our tyre (it was a valve problem) and we continued the trip.

However our adventure was not finished yet.  We called our pre-booked lodging  in Murray Bridge to inform them about our problem and that we  would be late. We asked them to leave the keys somewhere but they refused to do so. The fact that we were going to stay on the street did not bother them much!

Ted B.(Gosford RC), Dmitri K. (Roseville RC) and Mark B. (Roseville RC)

While we were looking for a place to stay overnight, we received  a call from the hotel.

They offered the accommodation if we will pay an extra $94. This sounded OK and so we agreed. Only after we checked out they sent us the invoice, and we realized that it was $94 per day. This brought total cost to $700!

The next day we enjoyed the Club working bee in preparation for the OPM. At the end of the day we were shooting 600y to check the targets functionality. The weather was excellent but the wind was patchy and unpredictable, therefore the shooting was a bit tricky.

The OPM starts with very nice weather with  little wind.

Dmitri & Mark shot a practice’s at 600 yards on the Sat afternoon. Five targets were configured for accuracy testing of the HEX Systems which had all concerned very interested in the outcome.
The special stable paper was attached to each target following a single stage on each face.

Each shot hole on each target was measured for the x & y co-ordinates and compared to the Log file generated with the electronically generated coordinates. The results were then tabulated and taken to the range the next morning for all to see. The results speak for themselves! Approximately a 1mm variance !!!!

No, this is not Mark receiving the First Prize this time…

Sunday morning and 61 shooters prepared for the first of 3 x 600 yards matches. The targets were shaded by large gum trees to the right which the sunlight randomly scattered light across the target faces making the sighting somewhat difficult. Dmitri stood out from the crowd posting a fine 49.6 followed by 50.6 which put him in the lead by one central. The wind conditions were light but variable with changes across the zero regularly occurring causing many scope shooters grief on the small ring. Mark had a few problems with hold & sighting, picking the changes OK but firing a bad shot on each stage. He finished with 3 x 49’s & out of the running as several shooters had finished with 148’s.

Dmitri was last to shoot on target No.3 & the conditions remained challenging. Drawing a crowd to watch, Dmitri showed excellent control with his first 5 shots near perfect waterline. Then a quick breeze from the right caused a wide inner. Not perturbed by this, he soldiered on finishing with a 49.4 (see HERE), taking out the day by several centres with the highest aggregate score of 148.16. I believe that the electronic V’s mechanical measurements results made Dmitri a very happy boy and added to his confidence in a great result.

The next morning at 5am we took off from Murray Bridge, where we had stayed 3 days, and returned to Sydney safely at 11pm

Tim Walter, Captain; Mark Buchanan, President

Following on from topping Hornsby Range last Saturday at 500m with 100.12, Fernando Gregorio finished top TR male at the Blue Mountains DRA shoot at Lithgow on Sunday 2 February 2014.

Fernando shot 50.5, 50.7 and 50.3 at 500y, 500y and 600y, to come second at the second 500y range, second at the final 600y range and second in the A Grade TR Aggregate, with 150.15, 2 centres behind the winner, Queen, Kathryn Kent on 150.17.

Allan Humbert topped F Class at Lithgow

Only Kathryn and Fernando posted 50’s at the difficult 600y range and they were the only shooters on the day who posted 150 in the Aggregate.

This was quite an achievement, given the presence in the field of such top shooters as Jim Jeffries, Rob Sweegers, Les Fraser, Tony McGuigan, Steve Williams and our own Mark Buchanan.

Allan Humbert topped F Class (B)  to take out the FB Grade Aggregate with a fine 171.8 (59.3, 58.3 and 54.2) which was impressive given the strong entry and tricky wind conditions which prevailed all day.

Allan seems to come to the fore when he travels away!

Well done Fernando and Allan!

Tim Walter, Captain