Roseville Rifle Club Australia

Archive for 2020

It is December and that must mean it was time for the annual NSDRA Christmas shoot – a time when we pit club against club to see who can pick up the best prizes from the table. The weather was actually pleasant – cloudy without heat and also without much mirage. The rain held off but I don’t think anyone expected it to as there were a few tents on the ready.
The shooting for this day was 2+10 and then a 1+11 which could easily confuse some people who are used to 2 sighters. Both details were shot at 600m. So with a drum roll lets see how Roseville went….Stupendously!!!!! Out of 9 disciplines and grades, Roseville totally won all the disciplines we competed in and also made up over half the field in each of those disciplines as you will see below…

In TR-A:
–          Angus Martin top scored with a double possible 105.14 out of 105.21 max points.
–          In fact we had 5 people in the top 7 (Angus M, Mark B, Alan P, Dmitri K, Tim W) and almost all of those had scores over 100.
–          Over 50% of TR-A shooters came from Roseville!

In TR-B:
–          Andrew Martin top scored with an “A” grade score of a double possible 105.7 (which would have put him 4^th in A Grade!)
–          Sam H. also had an “A” grade score over 100 and came 3^rd
–          50% of TR-B shooters came from Roseville!

In TR-C:
–          Angus Langsford (our top junior) scored with an “A” grade score of 104.8
–          Hugo F and Chris S put in very good scores which shows they wont be in C grade for very long!
–          Nick K had a rough go with equipment failure but was a great sport and stayed to the end to get things righted by the club A graders (Alan P and Mark B).
–          Over 50% of TR-C shooters came from Roseville!

In FTR:
–          Michael Cuda (aka Santa Cuda) won the division with 126.16 out of 126.21 max points
–          Not too far behind was Janet B, Eva P and Allan H – well done!
–          50% of FTR shooters came from Roseville!

Interestingly we had no one shooting in FSTD-A or FSTD-B; however congrats to Alan Ashworth (Hornsby Manly) and Stuart Nimmo (Nth Syd) for their wins.
We also had no-one competing in SH-STD or SH-Open congrats to Brian Kirkman and Peter Wilkins (both Hornsby RSL) for their wins
In F-Open we say congrats to Kris Wilson (Hornsby RSL) for his win.
A day like this owes a lot to the helpers both in front and behind the scenes – thank you to everyone for the big and little jobs that you did. But, in particular we should call out Phil Jacombs who was the event director for the day; Allan Humbert the statistician and of course our very own Santa Cuda! Well done everyone for making this a memorable shoot.

Merry Christmas all!

Janet Beale

A great weekend was had by The Patriarch and chief lunch-maker: Uncle Mike, Phill Hodder, El Presidente: Mark Buchanan, Dmitri Kazakov (Komrad) and Sam.

We travelled in tightly packed vehicles – Uncle Mike and Phill in Linda’s car, and Mark, Sam and Dmitri in Mark’s car.

Leaving Sydney around 12-1230 on Friday, we hit a heavy storm just outside Lithgow.  A very nice pub meal was had on the Friday evening with a few light refreshments.  Weather over the 2 days was clear, but quite hot on the Sunday.  Everyone in bed by 10pm Friday ready for competition on Sat.

As well as the overall 8 ranges at NDRC, we held our own “RRC high-stakes handicap competition” with handicaps provided by Chief Statistician Ian Palmer before departure.  Competition consisted of Sat: 800yds, 900, yds, 2x 1000yds.  Sunday competition consisted of 2x300m, 400m, and 1000 yds.  Day1 RRC handicap – Mark won 3 out of 4 ranges and the day agg.  With Phill stealing 900yds.    Conditions at 1000 were tough, and not many good scores with strong cross winds reversing directions – it was easy to get caught.  Mark was the only one in RRC to have nothing worse than an inner at 1000 on day 1.

We all enjoyed Uncle Mike’s home-made Cornish pasties, but ensured that he ate his first and had no adverse reactions as they were made on Monday….:-)

Some managed to develop quite a thirst on the Saturday night due to the dry and relatively warm day on the range.  We went to the Narromine Bowlo Chinese on the Saturday night after a few quenchers back at the ritzy Narromine Stockman motel.  Food again was delicious, and the camaraderie of course was second to none.   After a few whites with dinner, some felt that red would serve as a nice nightcap back at the ranch….There were some dusty faces on Sunday morning….

Day 2 RRC handicap Phill won the first 300m with 50.6 off the stick.  Komrad got the second 300m.  Phill got the 400m, and Mark winning the 1000yds.  Phill also got the day 2 agg.  The only prize that Sam won in the RRC comp by some considerable margin was the highest number of cross shots.  In fact he would have won this across all disciplines across the entire field!  Unfortunately this had no monetary value, only the glory and reputation.  He was however not the only name on the cross-shot hall of fame, with both Phill and Komrad also making entries on that unenviable board.

Uncle Mike had made us all nice ham, cheese and tomato sangers for Sunday lunch which went down well.

RRC comp aside, RRC did bring back a number of overall prizes:

Mark Buchanan	Sam Houston	Phill Hodder	Dmitri Kazakov
800yds  Day 1 – range winner 1000yds (1) Day 1 – range winner Day 2 Agg (Clearly Saturday nights excess did not affect performance too much!) Grand Agg Winner	1000 yds (2) Day 1 – range winner TR(B) Sam Houston – on his first range without a cross shot!!	300m (1) Day 2 range winner 3rd in Grand Agg	Dmitri scored a nice stash of wines for all his help with database clean-ups and corrections due to people not entering the right info.

4x Hexta targets were in use, and the NDRC folks were very happy with not just the excellent technology, but also having on hand support from the inventor was very well received.

The results of the competition are HERE

Dmitri also upgraded and tested the range server software for them.

Sam Houston

Hi Everyone,

 I am pleased to issue a revised Range Programme for the rest of 2020. Key changes in the program are:

• Setting catch-up dates for the 300M and 500M Arn Hammond Teams Matches;
• Changing the remaining 700M fixtures to 400M as there will be maintenance performed on the 700M mound;
• Confirmation of Goondiwindi ET Shoot scheduled for the 7^th of November – with the details of this shoot attached.  A chance for us all to compete for badges.

The range program link has been updated.

Kind Regards,

Adrian Bonanni

Roseville Club Captain

COVID-19 has played havoc with 2020 schedules and the annual NSDRA Champion of Champion competition was no different. It was delayed…then date was reset…then days beforehand it was cancelled due to new State sport guidelines….then it was un-cancelled with extra precautions put in place…..but yes we finally got there … but only JUST. With such a lead up – it was never going to be a “routine” competition, so of course Mother Nature wanted to have her say too.

Our champs (Phill Hodder – TR, Angus Langsford – Jr TR, Allan Humbert – FTR, Adam Beale – Jr FS) had their work cut out for them battling Mother Nature. For many it felt like you were at Canberra with the wind gusting and howling then dropping off causing both elevation shots as well as windage shots – the centre of the target was certainly hard to find and to keep! The normally sedate Hornsby flags were all over the place and that wind was very cold despite the sunshine. But, each of our RRC champions did us proud and topped at least one range – Well done in trying to tame the beast!

At the end of the day, our two Juniors (Angus and Adam) won their division and were allowed to have a seat in the champion’s chair. Phill and Allan did an admirable job coming second in their divisions. All our Champions were well supported by RRC mates who were working on the day (no spectators allowed). Alas there was no “chairing” ceremony or BBQ or high-fives or handshakes this year – COVID preventing close contact between clubs and people. So this Champion of Champion shoot goes into the record books as one of the toughest and one of the strangest ones on record.

Congrats to Angus and Adam – you earned your spot in the limelight and we are all proud of your dedication to the sport and your accomplishments!

Janet Beale

For the past few days the GPS Schools ran their annual shooting competition which is shot at Hornsby by the following 8 schools: Shore, Kings, Newington, The Armidale School, Sydney Grammar, Sydney High, and Scots with New England Girls school shooting but not actually able to formally compete. Shooting in this competition for Shore School were the following Roseville Rifle Club Junior members: Pat Jacombs (Captain Shore Rifle Club 2020 – yr 12), Alex Macaulay (yr 12), Angus Langsford (yr 11), and Sam Atkinson (yr 11).

Due to Covid, this was a much shortened season with the Shore boys only able to practise for 2 Saturdays plus all of last week and Monday of this week.

ALL the Shore / Roseville junior members made the Shore 1sts team – which is an 8 man team – such a tremendous outcome for our RRC junior members. The Shore 1sts brought home the Rawson Cup  (2+7 at each of 500m and 600m and beating the current record that has stood since 2014), the NRA Shield (2+10 at 600m), and they were in the lead after the first part of the Buchanan (2+8 at 300m) but on the second part of the Buchanan (2+8 at 300m in a “snap” detail) the Newington Boys inched ahead and snatched the Buchanan with Shore coming in 2^nd. As a result of the above placings, Shore won the AAGPS Premiership for the first time since 2007.

While there were no RRC members in the Shore 2nds team, the school won the AAGPS Rifle Shooting Second Grade Premiership Shield (2+7 at each of 500m and 300m).

Phill Hodder has been helping as an expert coach at Shore since 2017 and has steadily built the skills of all the boys from the newest shooter to the more senior shooters and it has obviously paid dividends for Shore and ultimately for our RRC junior shooters.

The top 12 shooters in the GPS are then selected to become the GPS Combined team (normally they shoot at the Josephson “Joso” competition; but due to Covid that is not happening this year. However, Sam Atkinson was named “King of the Range” at the GPS competition over the 2 days (also taking home Shore’s Venour Nathan Shield for top shooter) and he made the GPS Combined Team; Pat Jacombs made the GPS Combined team and, as Captain of Shore (the Premiers) he also was named Captain of the GPS Combined team.

Assisting throughout the competition from RRC were: Phill Hodder (Hexta co-ordinator), Phil Jacombs (Hexta assistant + catering and organising as part of being Rifle Captain’s parent), Paul Langsford (Hexta assistant), Adam Beale (Hexta assistant), Mike Hodder (Butts Officer) and Janet Beale (Covid hygiene officer).

For more information on the shooting please view >> http://aagps.nsw.edu.au/winter-sports/shooting/ or look on HEXTA >> https://shooting.hexsystems.com.au/competition/275

Congrats to Sam and Pat for making the GPS Combined team, and congrats to Sam, Pat, Alex, Angus and Phill for winning the AAGPS Premiership.

We are all very proud of you.

Janet Beale.

Good Afternoon Rosevillians,

As there is a lot happening at present, I thought I’d send an update about various matters.

This Sat 20/6 – Hornsby Range Shooting Arrangements

NSDRA had a committee meeting on Tuesday evening, so amongst the matters discussed, it was decided that Covid-19 protocols needed to continue for the foreseeable future. As such the new range calendar for 2020/21 is still being worked on, so in the interim we will be shooting in two groups. One full bore club will shoot in the morning @ 300m along with the Schools and the other three full bore clubs will shoot in the afternoon at a longer range with duties broken up into morning and afternoon sessions.

The good news is, this week RRC will be shooting in the afternoon starting @ 1pm  but we will not have any range duties –  we will be shooting along with Nth Sydney and RSL @ 800m and located in lanes 6,7 & 8.

Next Sat 27/6 we will also be shooting in the afternoon, but @ 700m in lanes 6,7 & 8 but we will be responsible for RO and BO duties from 2.30pm till finish, as well as packing up at the end of the day. Of course Covid -19 social distancing protocols will need to be observed at all times, so please ensure that your chairs are spaced accordingly. We will also be introducing a few new minor protocols on the mound, but nothing too intrusive.

As soon as we have more information about the range calendar for 2020/21, we will let everyone know.

Breach Flags

It is understood that the use of breach flags is going to become a new mandatory requirement for all NSWRA members – we believe a new rule has been introduced that will require a breach flag to be inserted into a rifle’s breach when not in use, irrespective if the bolt is in or not. We are awaiting further details and will advise accordingly.

New Member – Adrian Bonanni

I am pleased to announce that we have a new member – Adrian Bonanni, previously with Hornsby RSL Rifle Club, has recently joined RRC and bings a wealth of experience having been an active full bore Target Rifle shooter at Hornsby range for over 30 years and being a distinguished A Grade shooter for most of that time. Adrian has held a number executive roles at both a district and club level, including Club Captain, Vice Captain, Statistician, Secretary and Treasurer, so please join with me in welcoming Adrian.

Arn Hammond, EM Nye & AJ Leighton 2019/20 Results

Final results for the 2019/20 Arn Hammond, EM Nye and AJ Leighton Championship have been tabulated and it gives me great pleasure to advise that once again Roseville distinguished themselves. In the Arn Hammond series (O/R) Roseville TR 1 came 1st, with Horn/Manly coming 2nd and Roseville TR 2 taking 3rd place. In O/R Roseville also took first place in FTR, but came second in FS (I reckon due to the series bing cut short 🙁 ).

A complete wrap up including Arn Hammond H/C results, EM Nye and AJ Leighton series is contained in the attachment below – special thanks to Allan Humbert who complied this so efficiently in his capacity as NSDRA Statistician.

2020 AGM – Sat 27/6

Just a reminder that our 2020 Annual General Meeting is being held next Saturday June 27th, 2020 @ 10.30am at the RRC Clubhouse. Phil Jacombs sent out formal Notices sometime ago, so if you can make the meeting it would be good – as all office bearer roles will be declared open, please let either Phil J or myself know if you are interested in nominating for a role. As mentioned in my last update, I will not be standing this year, as I have to focus on my business as well as family issues.

Annual Awards Presentation Day

Ian Palmer has recently complied the results for the RRC 2019/20 Club Championship (thank you Ian), so we will be setting a time soon for our Annual Presentation Day. For those who have never been before it’s a great day where we present awards to all those members who have distinguished themselves at a club level in the shooting year just passed. As is customary, we will be having a big BBQ lunch, together with refreshments, so I’d encourage everyone to attend if possible.  We’ll be sending a notification about this soon.

If anyone has any queries in respect to any of the above matters, please feel free to let me know, otherwise I look forward to seeing as many members as possible this Saturday….

Fellow Members,

As a result of new directives from Federal and NSW Governments, Hornsby range has been closed completely due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency. The governing body that manages Hornsby shooting complex (NSRTSCMA) has advised that all shooting activities for all Clubs (in all disciplines) shall cease from March 25, 2020 until further notice.

Roseville Rifle Club has subsequently ceased all shooting and any other activities until further notice.

Of course this crisis will pass, (hopefully in the not too distant future) and restrictions will be lifted, however until such time as we advise otherwise, members are asked to refrain from visiting the range. As further developments unfold, we will update you accordingly.

If any member has any queries, please feel free to touch base with myself or Phil Jacombs at any time.

I wish everyone all the very best during this difficult time, please stay well and keep safe…

Kind Regards,

Michael Cuda
Captain Roseville Rifle Club

2020 NSDRA OPM Flyer