Roseville Rifle Club Australia

Archive for 2022

Mark Buchanan Master-Class in feisty Canberra Winds!

There were ten Roseville Members who travelled to Canberra to compete in the ACT Rifle Championships from the 16^th to the 20^th of November.   For Ross Webb, Nigel Russell, Paul Russell and Nicholas Bonanni, it was the first time they had competed at Canberra and they soon understood why this range has a reputation.   They say that a win at Canberra is worth two wins elsewhere, and this tournament was no exception.

With the State Teams matches schedule to follow the ACT Championships – this event was very well patronised with a record 170 shooters contesting the lead-up and a total of 265 competitors competing in the Kings Prize.   It was sensational – to be on a rifle range with so many competitors and brought back memories of years gone by where a Queens Prize would see more than 350 competitors at Malabar.

The mornings at Canberra tend to be kinder to shooters than the afternoon – however on the first day of the Lead-Up event – it snowed!!   A southerly polar vortex pushed rapidly through Canberra and then north to Sydney and so the 500M match in the lead-up was tricky.   Mark Buchanan showed his pedigree putting down a 50.6 in TR-A and Nigel Russell took the Gold Medal in TR-C with a 48.6.   Ross Webb posted a credible 56.1 in FS-B – re-acquainting himself with the Canberra winds.

Snow falling on the Canberra Range – Day 1 of the Lead-Up

The first 600M match on Day 1 of the lead-up saw the winds come in the side-door with the occasional straightening of the flags.   By now the snow had disappeared and the sun had come out and the range was a balmy 25 degrees.   People were in t-shirts again.   Sam Houston got a hold of the 600M wind and posted a 49.2 to pick-up the Bronze Medal in TR-B.   Nigel Russell continued on his good shooting in TR-C to post a 48.1 and pick up another Gold Medal.  Ross Webb backed up his good showing in the morning with a 52.1 in FS-B showing good consistency.

The conclusion of Day 1 of the lead-up saw Mark Buchanan put the hammer down with a 75.10 at 700M to come fourth in TR-A and fourth in the Day 1 Agg.  Hot on his heals was Paul Russell who finally got his mojo and posted a 75.7 to win TR-B at 700M and claim a Gold Medal.  Nigel Russell also scraped into 3^rd Place in TR-C with a 68.5 to collect another medal and win the Day 1 Agg in TR-C.

Day 1 Agg Winner – Lead-Up – Nigel Russell TR-C

Paul Russell goes clean at 700M in the Lead Up – 75.7 TR-B

Day 2 of the Lead-Up started at the “easy 700M”.   Easy for some but not all.   Mark Buchanan went clean with a fine 50.6 and Nigel Russell came 3^rd in TR-C with 44.3 to collect another Bronze Medal along the way.   Ross Webb showed he was in the mood on the Thursday posting a credible 56.3 coming 5^th in FS-B for the match.

And so it was back to 800M for an afternoon of spoiling winds coming in from the side-door and the back-door of the Canberra Range.  Mark held for a 49.3 in TR-A.  Nigel dropped a few to many points allowing the local blokes in Canberra Club to move up the board a bit and put pressure on his lead in TR-C.

The last match of the Lead-Up was 15 shots at 800M.   Mark was caught in a tricky wind-set and posted a 70.5 to slip down the ladder a bit.   Adrian Bonanni fared a little better posting a 72.6 in TR-A but still short of the elusive possible.  Nigel slipped on a banana-peel helping the next-door neighbour during his match – and slipping off the top rung in TR-B.  Ross Webb posted a reasonable 79.1 in FS-B to place 9^th in the match.

So the lead-up was run and done.   At the end of the match Roseville only had 1 badge winner – Nigel Russell taking out Number 2 Badge in TR-C with a 311.18.

Nicholas Bonanni travelled to Canberra by train on Thursday evening and Tim Walter drove down Thursday afternoon to enter the fray for the ACT Kings Prize.   Ross Webb did not compete in the Kings – and decided to enjoy the sights of Canberra while the rest of the Club contingent toiled away on the range.   Nicholas had to show all his patience and perseverance at the first 500M match for the ACT Kings – as his old-man had pushed his fire-formed cases too hard, and he had to retire from the mound twice with case-separations.   It was not the start you want at an ACT Kings – but he fired the full compliment and posted a 41.3 in TR-C for his first match.   Mark was all-business at the first match putting down a 50.7 in TR-A.   The wind was quite strong from the right – but not consistent – so it was a real case of firing when the flags were right.

At the second 500M the scores went up a bit – as conditions settled a little and shooters got into the flow of the match.   Mark continued where he left off – posting a credible 50.6 in TR-A.   Adrian Bonanni got beaten by his son – by 1 centre.  He posted a 49.2 in TR-A and Nicholas posted a 49.3 in TR-C coming 5^th and earning bragging rights over the old-man.  Tim Walter posted a credible 48.4 in TR-B.

The 15-shot match in the afternoon at 600M proved quite tricky  –  with pulsing wind and quick direction changes in the flags.  Mark closed out his day with a 73.7 – only two-points day on Day 1 of the Kings in TR-A.  Paul Russell showed his penchant for 600M again – posting a credible 73.5 in TR-B and Nigel Russell lifted his game to post a 71.2 in TR-C.   At the end of Day 1 – Mark was sitting in 25^th place in TR-A and Nigel was sitting in 6^th place in TR-C.

The Tiverton Cup match was held in the late afternoon – when all 280 shooters had finished their individual matches.   The NSW Junior Training programme requested the presence of Paul Russell and Nicholas Bonanni to shoot in an U/19 Training team, and so Roseville co-opted the services of Bill Ballantyne from Hornsby-Manly TRC and Mal McKenzie from Wingham to fill in for our Junior team members.   The young Roseville members shot very well in the U/19 team showing their credentials.   Nicholas posted a 46.2 and Paul posted a 47.5.   In the Tiverton Cup – our Roseville Gold team came 5^th in a field of 13 TR Teams – with a score of 198.18 – 7 centres behind a classy Lyndhurst Team in 4^th place.   The winners of the Tiverton Cup were Holsworthy Rifle Club posting a score of 200 with 35 centres.

Friday evening was the Captains dinner held at the lovely George Bar and Dining restaurant in the Lake George Hotel at Bungendore.   We were pleased to be joined by Phill Hodder who drove down from Sydney to have dinner and spend a couple of social days on the range – unable to get time off work to compete in the ACT Kings.

Captains Dinner at the Lake George Hotel – Bungendore

Captains Dinner at the Lake George Hotel – Bungendore

Saturday at Canberra is known as super-Saturday – it is where shooters can consolidate their position or even lift themselves up the board – with two 800M matches at the end of the day.   The morning was at a very benign 700M – and Adrian Bonanni made the most of the lovely conditions early posting a 50.7 in TR-A.   Believe it or not – he came 44^th in the match for TR-A showing how good conditions were.  Mark went 2 centres better to post a 50.9 and come 7^th in TR-A for the match.   Sam Houston showed some class in TR-B posting a 49.5 and Nigel Russell shot well posting a 49.3.

So it was back to 800M for the a 10 and 15 shot match.   Mark was all-class just slipping out of the bulls-eye once on the first match to post a 49.8 in TR-A.  Tim Walter posted a credible 47.4 in TR-B and Nigel held is ground with a 46.1 in TR-C.   Conditions got a bit trickier for the 15 shot match later in the afternoon – with the wind flicking and changing as it came in from the left hand side of the range.  Mark posted a 73.3 in these tricky conditions in TR-A.   Adrian Bonanni got caught up in the Canberra washing machine posting a poor 67.5 and Nicholas Bonanni pounced – flogging the old-man again by posting a credible 69.4 in TR-C.

At the end of the Saturday matches – there were no Roseville members sitting in the badge list – but some were close.

The final day of the ACT Kings saw some of the most feral winds play across the range at the 600M mound.   A westerly had blown in and it was flicking North Westerly to come in from both the side and the back-door.   On top of that – those who shot early had to deal with the rain.   Mark showed his wind-reading pedigree and posted a 49.4 in TR-A in these conditions coming 29^th in A-Grade.   Tim Walter also showed his grit to post a 46.4 in TR-B.   Conditions did not settle down for the final 15 shot match of the tournament with the winds gusting to 16-20 MPH and flicking.   Marks final match saw him post a 71.6 in TR-A and jump up into the Badge List – taking out Number 23 badge in A-Grade.   His perseverance and ability to minimise the points he dropped shone through.   Nigel Russell posted a credible 68.1 in TR-C – but the local Canberra TR-C shooter put up a 74.6 showing that local knowledge counts for a lot on Canberra Range.  Adrian Bonanni found the wind un-readable – firing good shot – but stringing them along a water-line from magpie to magpie.   Nicholas again pounced,  putting up a 64.3 and taking another match off the old-man.

In the Grand Aggregate – Mark Buchanan picked up number 16 badge in TR-A and Nigel Russell picked up number 2 Badge in TR-C.   It was a wonderful and challenging five days of competition mixed with good camaraderie, good dining and great memories.    We are all looking forward to the NSW Kings Prize in January 2023 – where the threads on our wind-arms will not wear out!

The full results can be found here:  https://www.results.nraa.com.au/act-championships-2022-results/

Marcus and Comrade relaxing.

Queensland’s Belmont Rifle Range was the home of the 50^th National Rifle Competition comprising the President’s Match (leadup) and the King’s Prize. Four stalwarts from Roseville made the trek north – Mark Buchanan, Dmitri Kazakov, Adam Beale and Janet Beale.

Mark & Dmitri decided to go early and attend the Natives Prize Meeting prior to the Presidents & Kings. Mark departed early Thursday morning stopping off at Ballina for the night as he is getting a bit long in the tooth to be able to match Dmitri’s record driving time of 8 1/2hr to Brisbane. Saturday we commenced at the shorts with limited success with his trusty rusty Angel. Mark brought three rifles with ammo to suit each however using the Barnard with a Benchmark at the long ranges on the Sunday saw a comeback to end up 4th overall. Dmitri’s “special” 16,000 round barrel don’t work wonders finishing.

On the Monday Comrade & Mark went for a drive to the Cleveland area having lunch at the Redland Bay Hotel. Mark started going downhill from there with expected long Covid however it turned out to be just a short flu as he regained strength towards the end of the week. It didn’t help his scores in the Presidents either as he left his raincoat at home.

There was a poignant moment as a minute of silence was held and a “parting shot” for Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II prior to the start of the official competition.  The shot was completed by Benn Emm’s who was the previous National Queen’s winner.

Queensland’s tag line of “Beautiful one day, perfect the next” missed the mark in 2022. This year it should have said “cloudy one day, cloudier the next” or even “rainy one day, nearly flooded the next”. Mother Nature had an ironic sense of timing that made life very interesting for the participants and the competition organisers. While the President’s Match went ahead as scheduled with 7 details over 2 days, the King’s Prize, which would normally be a longer 10 details over 3 days became a modified 5 details over 2 days with fewer shots delivered per shooter than in the lead-up. Yes the final day was totally cancelled too….see the severe weather advice that was broadcast to all the phones.

However, the competition did proceed under amended SSR’s that allowed for tents to be used for the competition should there be inclement weather. And those tents were certainly used on both days of the shortened King’s competition.

So how did our Roseville stalwarts fair? Not as well as any would have liked. This time our standout performer was Dmitri.

Dmitri (TRA): 96.8% accuracy in President’s match with 2 possibles, 98.1% accuracy in King’s match, 14th place. No shots on wrong targets this time!	Mark (TRA): 96.5% accuracy in President’s match, 2 possibles, 96.9% accuracy in King’s match	Janet (FTR): did not shoot the President’s match, 95.3% accuracy in King’s match….oops she made the wrong load for the 210gr projectiles so they didn’t group well	Adam (TRA): 96.5% accuracy in President’s match, 3 possibles, 94.7% accuracy in King’s match

Despite the weather, despite the lack of prizes for our Roseville stalwarts, it was good to get out of Sydney and try out the longer distances again. Congrats to Steve Negus from Canberra for winning the King’s prize. Can we recommend the trip to Belmont? Yes but only if you have good rubber boots, a sense of humour, and a Bunnings umbrella!

The results are available: The President; The Kings Prize; The Presidents + The Kings Prize Grand Agg.

Thanks to QRA for the photos

Janet Beale, Mark Buchanan

The NSWRA 146th Annual Open Championships 2022 (the 2 day lead up “McIntosh” followed by the 3 days “NSW Queens”) was held 7 Sept 2022 to 11 Sept 2022. However, half way through, the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was announced. The news came to Australia in the wee hours of Friday 9 Sept which was the first day of the “NSW Queens” event. The decision was made by the NSWRA Board to continue the competition and to hold it as the “NSW Queens” in her honour as the 5 day Open Championships had already commenced on the Wednesday. A minute of silence was held before shooting commenced on Friday. Later, we were advised that the NRAA will be meeting in the near future to discuss which of the upcoming “Queen’s Prizes” will be held as such and when the changeover to the “King’s Prize” will formally come into effect, but the impact that Her Majesty’s death has had on the shooting world is far-reaching.

On a lighter note – the Roseville shooters tried hard in what can only be described as extremely trying conditions…and the scores were astonishingly diverse across the various details with most people experiencing both highs and extreme lows throughout the competition. Consider that on McIntosh day 2 we shot 2 details at 800m, at the first detail the people had about 9 min of wind, the second detail we had 12 or more minutes of wind. Needless to say, the marquee that was brought in for the presentations on the outside deck disintegrated with Thursday night’s wind. Then, on the last day of the Queen’s we shot at 800m again but with just 1-3 min of wind which was quite twitchy causing a lot of shot scores of 3, and some 2’s even in A grade. It wasn’t just wind, there was also rain, sun, heat and cold and everything in between (and for some of us that was all within the same detail).

Consider also that the winning target rifle A grade scores were Jim Bailey (Queens) on 492/500 and Steve Negus (Grand Aggregate) on 864/875. Needless to say, when these world-class shooters drop that many points in a Queen’s and yet still win, the conditions must be incredibly tricky for mere mortals to figure out.

Our Roseville competitors persevered in the conditions in what was the final “NSW Queen’s” for the foreseeable future:

Target Rifle A-grad

• Adam Beale (Queen’s 98.98%): 600m – 1st place range prize, Queen’s Day 2 – 2nd place, Queen’s Badge #13
• Mark Buchanan (McIntosh 98.66% and Queen’s 98.78%): 800m 1st place range prize, McIntosh Day 2 – 1st place, Grand Aggregate #9 badge.
• Angus Martin (Queen’s 98.17%)
• Alan Patrick (McIntosh 97.32% and Queen’s 95.12%)

Target Rifle C-grade

• Nigel Russell (McIntosh 88.23%): 500m & 600m & 800m Macintosh 1st place range prizes, McIntosh day 1 – 2nd place

FTR

• Eva Patrick (McIntosh 95.87% and Queen’s 93.92%): 500m Macintosh 1st place range prize, McIntosh day 1 – 1st place
• Janet Beale (McIntosh 98.62% and Queen’s 95.48%): 800m Macintosh 1st place range prize, McIntosh day 2 – 2nd place, 800m Queen’s 1st place range prize, Queen’s day 1 – 3rd place.

Janet Beale

El Presidente Markoff, Komrad Kalashnikov (Dmitri), and Sam H attended the QRA Duncan and Queens.  Mark and Dmitri both drove, and Sam took the easy option of flying.  Mark and Sam stayed with Neil and Paula (who used to be Sam’s neighbours in Ballyclare) at Alexandra Hills – a short drive from the range, while Dmitri stayed on the range in a luxurious hut.

Conditions during the meet were mixed. The lead up conditions were clear – but with some wind gusts. Day 1 Queens was fine. Day 2 morning was fine, but heavy rain in the afternoon. QRA put tents up at 1000 during this. Visibility was poor, but it didn’t affect scores very adversely.

All 3 Rosevilleans who attended the QRA Queens had a 100% success rate (in catching CoVID that is).

Highlights (& Low Lights)

Komrad Shooting a fantastic 50.9 at 1000 yards with his barrel that has fired over 15,000 rounds!!! Winning the second 1000 yards range on day 2. On top of the 50.9, the last shot of the stage was a Pin Hole: “Good Shot” says Hexta. Komrad can really shoot with the best of them – just needing to keep them on his target.  Unfortunately, the Ukranian sniper managed to put one on a neighbours target in lead up, and again in Queens

Sam Winning second 500yds range in TRB in lead up with  49.4, second in first 600 with 49.5; 2 Possibles at 900 winning Queens Day 2 Agg in TRB with 196.12 Sam clutched defeat from the jaws of victory with a terrible day 3.  He moved up 7 places after day 2 but back 4 after day 3; However – he managed to snare a #7 badge in TRB

Mark Shooting heaps of possibles – just needing a few more centres to get the silverware Winning #14 Badge in Queens

Day 3 was fine, and the Deputy Commissioner (Peter Thurtell) had a good lead going into 1000. However it was his brother Mark from Lyndhurst Rifle Club who prevailed. Mark has been a Queens bridesmaid many times, but the QRA makes him a 3 Times Queens winner. Congratulations Mark Thurtell.

Numbers of of shooters (macro level): TR – 76; FS – 36; FO – 31; FTR – 27.

We enjoyed pizza together at Dmitri’s favourite pizzeria on our final night.

Full Results can be found: QRA Queens Series 2022 and Duncan & QRA Queens Series Grand Agg 2022

Sam Houston

On Sunday 7^th August, Gosford District Rifle Club celebrated 75 years at Kariong rifle range with their anniversary Open Prize Meeting. Given the blustery conditions at Hornsby on Saturday, this did not deter 13 RRC members who made the trek up the freeway to test their skills on Sunday at the Kariong range. Mostly clear skies, reasonably cool, but the wind became the kicker from mid morning onwards with flags doing 90 or 180 degree changes mid-shoot for some people. However, as always, there were the occasional steady patches that benefitted a few lucky ones.

Of the 8 discipline/grade combinations on offer, RRC had competitors in 5 divisions. With RRC representing 36% of those division’s competitors it is not too surprising that RRC took home medals in each of those divisions. There were some standout performances but the one that has to be mentioned is young Paul Russell who was shooting in TR-B. At the end of the day, Paul was tied with Darren Crimstor for first place in TR-B on a score of 170-8  so they had to do a shoot-off. What a nail biter! Paul won the shoot-off and as a reward not only did he win TR-B he also was asked to shoot the “lucky bull”. Huge congrats to Paul for his win (FYI Paul moved into B-Grade just before Wingham so this is a huge milestone win!).

In stats below, the accuracy is the shooters score compared to the winner (according to NRAA database). You will notice a theme that 3 Roseville clans (Bonanni/Ross, Russell and Beale) took home the bulk of the day’s RRC prize haul.

TR-A Grade
Dmitri Kazakov: accuracy 99.99% – 5^th place badge TR-A
Adam Beale: accuracy 98.84% – one 2^nd and one 3^rd place range prize.
Phill Hodder: accuracy  98.84%
Adrian Bonanni: accuracy 95.37%

TR-B Grade
Paul Russell: accuracy 98.26% – one 1^st place range prize, top TR-B shooter

TR-C Grade
Nicholas Bonanni: accuracy 91.32% – one 1^st, one 2^nd and one 3^rd place range prize. Second in TR-C
Nigel Russell: accuracy 87.86% – one 2^nd and two 3^rd place range prizes. Third in TR-C

FS-B
Ross Webb: accuracy 93.26% – one 1^st, and one 2^nd place range prize. Second in FS-B
Christian Lemoy: accuracy 89.42% – two 3^rd place range prizes. Third in FS-B
Skye Russell: accuracy 87.49% – one 2^nd and one 3^rd place range prize, Tyro Prize

F-TR
Janet Beale: accuracy 100%% – two 1^st and one 3^rd place range prize, top FTR shooter, top lady FTR, top veteran FTR
Alan Patrick: accuracy 96.09%
Eva Patrick: accuracy 94.14%

We love shooting with our Gosford friends – great food, great ambiance and a prize table full of things for people to take home. This year’s event did not disappoint even if the range winds were a bit more challenging than anticipated.

Janet Beale

“You’ll never never know if you never never go”

June saw intrepid members Alan & Eva Patrick take the trip to the Top End to test the best. When asked by caravaners from all over Australia how long it took to get to Darwin we said, “about 4.5 hours”. A much preferred travel time than the usual 7 days heard from many.

The 2 day lead up shoot called the Lou Hook saw Eva take out the lead up in FTR with a 335.14 while Alan shooting in TR ended in 10^th place with a 287.22.

The lead up allowed everyone to get their zeros for the tropical and dusty range for the Queen’s. The range is positioned in a forest of trees, wild animals, crocodiles, birds and frequent fighter jets and various warplanes doing their manoeuvres. Wind came from various sides with gusts causing 2 minutes plus, change quickly.

Day 1 of the Queens had shooting at 2 x 500 & 2 x 600M. Alan produced a 193.20 to end 7^th and Eva a 232.9 finishing 1^st. An outstanding start for day 1. The TR leader for the day was Steve Negus who was the only person not to drop a shot ending with 200.32.

Day 2 saw outstanding blazing sunlight with winds that challenged everyone. Current Target Rifle world champion Steve Negus ended with a 195.29. The day’s leader Mick Forsberg (NT) ended with 198.23. Alan ended 8^th with a 193.14.

Eva did not stop performing well delivering a 224.13 ending in 3^rd place for the day.

Day 3 challenged all with 2 stages to finish at 800M and 900M.

Eva focussed on everything at 800M and came up with a 58.2(4^th). Alan kept them with a 50.3 (6^th). Donna Negus from Bungendore Rifle Club surprised even her husband with a 50.7 and finished 1^st for TR at this stage.

The ever challenging 900M gave the system a shake up and Eva delivered a 54.2 (3^rd place) and Alan 48.3 (7^th place). No one on the range kept all their shots for 900m which says a lot about the difficulty of this stage.

The washup is everyone on the range had a fabulous time and the hospitality, facilities and catering was excellent.

The results were exceptionally outstanding for Eva who took out the NT Queens FTR No1 Badge and the Grand Aggregate.

Alan had a 7^th place in TR which was a pleasing result for a usual recent FTR shooter.

The by-line for this adventure is the teams’ event which was a made up compilation of 2 member teams from each State, called the Dyer Teams Match.

Alan and Jim Jeffries teamed up to shoot a coached stage at 700M and through an addition of individual results through the Queens a team’s result was created. Representing NSW Alan and Jim came 3^rd with Jim coaching Alan to a winning 700M score of 50.9 and 50.6.

The individual results for the Dyer were Mick Forsberg of Darwin Rifle Club had the best result with 594.74, Steve Negus 592.29, Jim Jeffries 588.58, Donna Negus 588.58 and Alan Patrick 584.55.

Held at Belmont Rifle Range, 18 & 19 June, 2022

Roseville RC had two trialists, Pat Jacombs and Phill Hodder and a support crew of Phil Jacombs and Mike Hodder (aka the pack horse). Sam Houston also made the trip north, and was there for a holiday. He showed up at various times on both days to lend his support.

Mike drove both ways; the others flew up with the Jacombs arriving just before midnight.  The 08:30 roll call was quite an effort.  There were approximately 28 vying for 18 positions and a number for the 4 coaching positions.

UM spent the 2 days helping with the plotting for a target and really enjoyed the experience. Phil lent a hand as moral support for Pat and Phill, and had positive comments along the to keep them focused on the job.

The selection team included Catherine Berry, Geoff Grenfell, Jim Bailey, Darren Enslin and Steve Negus.

Saturday’s program was:

Five 15 shot matches at 1000yds. All shoots conducted with no elevation changes after sighters.

• Match 1: normal coached shoot, 2 x non-convertible sighters (blow off) then 2 & 15
• Match 2: 2 & 15 shots
• Match 3: Speed shoot- 2 sighters marked then 15 shots in 5/6 minutes not marked.
• Match 4 and 5. Endurance 2 shooters per coach.

Sunday’s program was:

15 Shots at 800,900 and 1000 Yards

• Match 1: normal coached shoot, 2 x non-convertible sighters (blow off) then 2 & 15
• Match 2: 2 & 15 shots
• Match 3: 2 & 15 shots

At the completion of this trial a High Performance (HP) squad will be selected to proceed. This will consist of:

• 4 Coaches
• 18 Shooters
• 4 non travelling reserves – continue training alongside team with team barrels in case of unforeseen circumstances
• 1 non travelling coach – continue training alongside team in case of unforeseen Circumstances

A gruelling program, but our guys were up to the challenge and did themselves proud.  Our club was well represented by them.
Now they must wait a few weeks for the NRAA approval of the team before it can be announced.

E & OE

Ross W, Nicholas B, Adrian B and Chris S enjoyed a long weekend in the Central West of NSW at Eugowra over the recent June long weekend.  For those who don’t know where Eugowra is – it is 35 kms east of Forbes – about 4.5 hours from Sydney.

Our Captain Adrian with Eugowra Rifle Club President Alan Noble

The welcoming hospitality of the Noble family (on whose farming land the Eugowra range sits) never ceases to amaze. It is a great family weekend away.

Saturday afternoon saw us shoot the lead up at 600 yards with a consistent 12 mph wind running across the range from 3 o’clock.   Sunday saw the arrival of shooters from far and wide for the prize shoot and the winds gust up to 14 mph – again from 3 o’clock. Total numbers were 20 shooters, which was down on previous years. 6 or 7 shooters on each of 3 targets made for quick progress over the 1×500 and 2×600 yard matches.

From all 4 Roseville shooters there were flashes of brilliance over the 2 days, but we will all admit that we were not setting the world on fire. A bright spot was Nicholas first ever competitive match at 500 yards in the OPM on Sunday where he shot a 48.4 to win the match, which was a fantastic effort for his first foray with a .308 rifle. C graders (including the writer) better look out.

Chris Sefton took at second place in each of the 600 yard matches in TRC and Adrian took out second place in the 500 yard match in TRA.

The weather was cold, but the convivial company, warm hospitality and some beverages around the clubhouse fireplace made us soon forget the temperature. I can highly recommend the Eugowra prize shoot as an enjoyable weekend and an opportunity to recharge the batteries in a friendly atmosphere.

Chris S.

Grandfather and Grand Son – Ross Webb and Nicholas Bonanni competing in the OPM on Sunday

11 intrepid Rosevillean shooters made the trek to Wingham for their annual OPM on weekend of 10-12 June.  It was a very fine weekend – with blue skies and sunshine prevailing.   Sighting proved difficult for both scopies and TR with the targets amongst the trees and relatively poorly lit from natural light during much of the course of the weekend.

Wind was there, but I think used as more of a blame thing – overall conditions were quite good.
Our crew was as follows

TR
Pat J
Phill Hodder
Mark B
Komrad K (Dmitri)
Sam H
Tim Walter
Paul Russell
Nigel Russell
Hugo Friend

FS-A
Janet B
Micah Friend

Support Team
Phil J, Anita J.

Sam made a splash in the sweepstake on Friday pm, picking up the cash in TR-B.  The sweep for those who don’t know uses the 300m scoring surface, at 600 yds.  A middling weekend for Sam after that.

Sat
Match 1 400m:  Phill was our best places in TR-A – 5^th with a 50.5.    Janet – topped the range with #1 position in match 1 with a 60.6.
Match 2:  500y: Pat was our best in TR-A – 10^th with a 50.5.  Paul Russell after a stewards enquiry was reclassified from TR-C to TR-B and won the match with considerable margin with a 50.8.
Match 3: 600y: Phill again our best placed TR-A shooter with 49.7.  Paul Russell winning another match in TR-B with 50.4.  Janet again pulled out the stops to conquer FS-A with 59.8.
Day 1 Agg:  Our best TR-A young Mr Hodder just 2 down on 148.18 placing 8^th.  Paul Russell 2^nd in TR-B with 146.15.  Janet sitting 2^nd in FS-A with 174.17.

Sun
Not sure if the hangovers were worse or better:
Match 5: 500y: Mark B slips past Phill on count back for 13^th place with 50.3 in TR-A.
The “Fifty Machine” Paul Russell does it again taking TR-B with 50.5.
Match 6 600y: Pat J is our best placed TR-A with 50.3 for 10^th place.  The ‘Fifty Machine’ Paul R dropped one pushing him to 4^th in TR-B.  Late arrival Hugo took out TR-C with 48.5.
Match 7 600y: Pat J, Phill and Mark all hit form with 50.7s.  Placing joint 3^rd and 6^th respectively on countbacks.  Janet takes FS-A 1^st place with a great 60.7.

Day 2 Agg:
Our leading TR-A light was Pat J – going ‘clean’ on 150.13 – for 6^th
Sam improved a little on day 2 to be our highest in TR-B – but still way down the list in 7^th with 143.8.  Nigel also improved with a respectable 140.9 reaching 5^th in TR-C.

Grand Agg:
Phill was consistent through the weekend and finished our top TR-A shooter 6^th place with 297.34.  Paul had some troubles on day 2, but finished as our top TR-B shooter on 283.22 for 8^th.    Janet finished just outside the medals in the grand 347.34 for 4^th place.

While many including myself were not satisfied with performance, the sunshine, no rain, and great company of fellow Rosevilleans made for a top weekend.

Full scores can be found at https://www.results.nraa.com.au/wingham-rifle-club-open-prize-meeting-2022-nsw-results/

Sam H

The NSDRA Champion of Champions (CofC) Shoot for 2021-22 was held on 4 June 2022. That’s right – check the date, winter had arrived! Fortunately the really gusty cold days were earlier in the week, but it certainly was still much cooler for the CofC shoot than it had been last week. Less rain during the week meant the ranges had started to dry out a bit underfoot so contending with mud was not an issue – still a bit spongey though. The wind from earlier in the week was still hanging around a bit but not nearly as much as it had been on Wednesday.

Our RRC champions for the competition were:

• TR-A – Dmitri Kazakov
• Sporter Hunter – Rob Trodden
• F-Std A – Dmitri Kazakov
• F-TR – Janet Beale
• Junior TR – Paul Russell >> Acclaimed and going straight through without needing to shoot

The RRC champions were well supported by a host of RRC people who were helping to score, doing range officer duties, helping with set up and removal of scoreboards, helping in Butts etc. And there were some RRC people on hand to just help cheer on their team-mates. This was all very much appreciated by the competitors.

You would like to think this was Hornsby and so it would be a “routine” type of shoot. Nope. The day was non-routine. Here are some examples:

• Shooters could not park at 500m due to boggy conditions so had to walk their gear in; and while parking at 700m was technically allowed, many omitted the 700m parking for the same reason
• At 700m, one competitor started his shoot only to find the computer system had not been adjusted (it was still showing 500m) so he had to restart his shoot
• At 800m, the sun was shining straight into the scopes / sights so people could not see their targets at all. This caused 1 competitor to withdraw mid shoot and another to pull out of the competition altogether (note:  all our RRC competitors toughed it out).
• There was even a protest lodged and so one competitor in SH was disqualified for having a rifle not fitting into the class’s standard.

Dmitri’s scores

Janet’s scores

So, other than Paul who was acclaimed, how did our RRC champions do? Despite the train-wreck at 800m, in the aggregate scores, our RRC competitors came home with two 1^st places (Dmitri in TR and Janet in F-TR) and two second places (Rob in SH and Dmitri in F-STD). But if you look a bit more closely at the scores you will see some juicy details:

• Dmitri came 1^st in two TR details and he scored two possible…he also came 2^nd in one F-STD detail,
• Janet came 1^st in three F-TR details but, due to a tied aggregate score, she only won her division by a single centre,
• Rob came 1^st in three of his SH details and he scored two possibles. But, due to a tied aggregate score, he was only 3 centres from the winning score in his division.

800m was certainly the challenge. For the record, F-Open was also won by a single centre, so, 3 of the 5 divisions were won based on centre count alone – that’s close!

Dmitri: TR-A champion

Janet: F-TR Champion

We are immensely delighted that 3 of our RRC Champions (Dmitri, Janet and Paul) will now go on to represent our district (NSDRA) at the state Champions shoot. Congrats and good luck!

Best wishes to the other non-RRC winners Adrian Hall (F-STD), David Pearsall (F-Open) and Wu Lau (SH) who are also representing the district in their respective divisions.

The results can be found HERE

District Champions: Janet Beale (F-TR), Dmitri Kazakov (TR-A), Wu Lau (SH), David Pearsall (F-Open), Adrian Hall (F-STD)

Janet Beale

What words come to mind to sum up the North Shore District Rifle Association’s (NSDRA) Open Prize Meeting (OPM) which was held on 21/22 May at Hornsby? It certainly wasn’t words like “sunscreen”, “glare”, or “dehydration”. But how to sum it up? The following words might give you a clue:

• Spongey ground
• Mud
• Gum Boots
• No parking at 500m
• Full sets of rain tents
• Intermittent rain
• Fog delays
• Thunder
• Attrition
• Chipping-in to help
• Leeches
• Covid-positive case(s?)

Despite the weather, the event was very well organised and Roseville members (including Adrian’s children) chipped-in ensuring the competition was managed, the targets were up, Butts was manned, computer systems were operational, range officer duties were covered, the competitors & their equipment were as dry as we could make it, the competitors fed, raffle tickets were sold, prizes appropriately awarded & people photographed. NSDRA (including our Roseville members) did a great job in holding the competition despite Mother Nature’s contribution.

There were 17 competitors in the Saturday morning ISSF challenge (8 in TR and 9 in F-Class) and there were 75 competitors in the Saturday/Sunday OPM (34 in TR and 41 in F-Class/SH), but due to varying reasons, 30 of the OPM competitors did not have “full cards” meaning only 60% were present for the full 2 days / 5 details.

ISSF Challenge:

We had 5 RRC competitors in the 300m ISSF challenge (Alan, Dmitri, Eva, Christian, Kees). Congrats to Alan for coming 2^nd in Target Rifle. Dmitri was hot on his tail just 1 point behind but came 4^th. Both Eva and Christian went “clean” scoring 300 out of 300, but didn’t get a prize. Well done all!

OPM:

We had 11 RRC competitors in the OPM and, collectively, 22 times our RRC people came 1^st/2^nd/3^rd in the 5 ranges with multiple Daily or Grand aggregate placings (due to class numbers they may not have all received prizes). Therefore, special mentions for the OPM as follows:

• The number of Possibles scored: Phill (4), Alan (3), Eva (2), Dmitri (2), Sam (1), Paul (1), Janet (1)
• Daily Aggregates: Phill (day 2 TRA: 2^nd), Sam (day 1 TRB: 2^nd), Paul (day 1 TRC: 2^nd, day 2 TRC: 1^st), Nigel (day 2 TRC: 2^nd), Christian (day 1 FSB: 1^st), Ross (day 1 FSB: 3^rd), Janet (day 1 FTR: 2^nd), Eva (day 2 FTR: 3^rd),
• Grand Aggregates: Paul (TRC: 1^st), Nigel (TRC: 2^nd), Ross (FSB: 2^nd), Christian (FSB: 3^rd), Eva (FTR: 3^rd)
• Special mention to Phill Hodder for not dropping a point over the 4 details he competed in!

With the two day competition completed, we can all say a big thanks to the RRC people and others in NSDRA for the work put in to hold this event – many of these people did not shoot so the rest of us could. We also want to thank the generous sponsors. So now we are left to wonder what next year will bring? Locusts?….

Janet Beale

On Anzac Day, a troop of Roseville shooters travelled out to Malabar for the annul Anzac Day shooting competition. The shoot started with a small speech and minute of silence held by the Malabar club to honour the fallen soldiers.

It was two 15 & 2 shoots, with Mark Buchanan, Dmitri Kazakov and Phil Hodder not dropping a shot in the first detail.

In the second shoot with the sun setting for the last couple of shooters, who were very rushed so they could still see the targets. Dmitri was the only shooter that did not drop a shot in the detail, Adrian coming though and shooting the same score as the first detail with two 74.6. Phil and Mark doing well in the second detail, but not able to stay with the leaders.

In B grade we had the two Sam’s (Atkinson and Houston) with 71.1 and 72.6.

In C grade we had Paul & Nigel Russell and Christie Verney in her very first competition shooting 61.1

In the F standard and FTR we had Peter Walters, Robert Kozminski competing for the CLUB.

Overall, the Club achieved two third places, Dmitri shooting a 150.15 in A grade and Paul shooting 140.9 in C grade.

Nigel Russell

To some it is called “May Day” or just the 1^st of May; but, to Roseville Rifle Club members, the 1^st of May this year was “Richard Lund’s Day”. The rain clouds had finally parted and we enjoyed a barbeque lunch (indoors where the ground was solid) to celebrate the granting of Life Membership to our very own Richard Lund who has been a member of Roseville Rifle Club for 50 years.  Yes, that means he has been a member since 1972 – longer than some of our membership have been alive!

At the lunch there were speeches, a presentation, lots of congratulations, lots of stories and great food and wine.

Richard told us of the old WW2 vets that made up the RRC membership in the old days. He told us how our club has managed to avoid so many issues through good governance of the committee and contributions from all (not just individuals). We also got an insight into his professional life – a varied legal background that has meant he is not afraid of pushing back when required.

Richard told us lots of tidbits about the Hornsby range:

• a bit of the history of the range and his involvement with getting a 50 year lease squared away (a lease being more important than a license);
• how, years ago, we lost 1m to the Hospital due to bad fencing placement;
• how the original plan was for “shared” parking with the hospital when we shot at 800m (that was when it was owned by the Commonwealth – alas that parking is not allowed now as it was never documented and the hospital has changed hands);
• how the recent mound modifications mean the 800m firing point is now actually 800m from the targets;
• he also explained the drainage issues which are affecting us now but that harken back to when the range was a tip.

Richard has, for many many years, been very involved in protecting the range for shooting usage – a service of his that so many may not be aware of. We all owe Richard our great thanks for this work. When you consider the loss of so many ranges in recent times – we are fortunate indeed to have certainty that our range can continue for the next 50 years – this is a testament to Richard’s involvement.

But it was not all backward looking – Richard told us of how he can now see the target better (new adjustable eyepiece on his rear sight) and his new larger tunnel. Yes, these small modifications are working – he scored 121.08 on Saturday!  We got an insight into his firearms collection, and we heard about pistol shooting too.

As we looked around the tables with old faces, new faces, and people that are moving on to new ventures, we could all realise the diversity that is the Roseville Rifle Club. Yet, for one moment in time, here we were celebrating Richard and his contribution to the life and continuity of the Roseville Rifle Club and the Hornsby Rifle range. Cheers and Congrats Richard from all your friends at RRC!

Janet Beale

Mudgee Rifle Club held their 100th Anniversary Invitational Prize Shoot over the Easter long weekend at the picturesque Windermere Regional Shooting Complex just out of Mudgee. Roseville members Angus Martin and Phill Hodder attended and they both camped on the range. The weather for the entire weekend was perfect, with little wind and clear skies. Quite unusual for an Easter weekend.

The format was 3 stages of 2+10 @ 1000y on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately there were only 8 competitors, comprising of 5 TR and 3 F Class. The club decided to only use one of the two ETs because of the low numbers and that system used was Konsberg.

Roseville’s own Angus Martin started the shoot posting an incredible 50.9! This proved to be the average score, as other TR shooters posted high 50’s also. Phill shot a 50.10, which he was very surprised and happy with!

The trend of very high 50’s recorded on each TR stage continued throughout the day, with some questioning the results/ET. But as everyone shot using the same target, all scores were kept. Phill finished the day only scoring one bullseye the entire day, the rest were center bulls! Final day scores were Phill 150.29, Angus Bell 150.27 and Angus Martin 150.26! F Class results were P Baskerville 174.12, V McAdam 172.8 and L Milton 166.6.

It was a quite night back at the campsite, with Angus going out for dinner with Chris and Sophia and Phill cooking on the camp stove. The night was very cold due to the lack of cloud cover and the morning presented itself with lots of fog and the local inquisitive cows and bulls roaming around the camping area and range. The fog lifted quite quickly and shooting started soon after 9.30am.

Scores remained high, with Angus scoring a perfect 50.10, Barb also recorded a perfect score with an amazing 7 super centers! Phill could only manage a 50.9!

There were discussions with the Mudgee club members, Angus Bell, and Chris Schwebel about the scores. It was finally worked out that the set-up configuration may have been wrongly set. With this ET system, you need to tell the system what frame size you are shooting on, small frame or large. They had inadvertently selected small. This meant that all shots were recorded closer to the center of the target than in reality. A decision was then made to use the Silver Mountain ET. Scores then became more realistic.

Angus and Phill followed with each scoring 46 and 49’s. Angus Bell showed the way shooting 49.6 and 50.9! Angus Bell won the day with 149.23, Phill 2^nd with 145.19 and Angus Martin a close 3^rd with 145.17.

Angus Bell won the 2 Day Ag with 299.50, followed by Phill 295.48 and Angus Martin 295.43! This shoot was very well run and the folks at Mudgee Rifle Club are a fantastic and friendly lot. It was a bit disappointing that not a lot of shooters attended, but hopefully the word will get around for next year.

While Sydney passed its mean annual rainfall of 1213mm, just over three months into the year and, with the Hornsby complex closed yet again due to rain, we had five RRC members in dry, dusty Bendigo to compete in the Victorian Queens and Leadup events.

Due to the F-Class state teams event in the preceding days the top F-Class shooters from around the country were present. In the Queen’s, there were over 212 competitors (138 in F-Class, 71 in TR, 3 in SH) that started.  A rare occurrence where TR was outnumbered by F-Class by nearly 2:1. The “COVID Queens”? Possibly. There was some attrition over the period as people tested positive or were close contacts. But the event went ahead.

For those not savvy with the Bendigo Wellsford Rifle range:

• Bendigo uses paper targets, not electronic – so yes there were some challenges with the marking.
• There are trees surrounding the range so the side flags are not always telling the whole truth. The flags down the middle of the range help, but they often don’t agree with each other – we hear “oh you were caught in the ‘washing machine’”. The butt’s flag is useful, except when it isn’t. The mirage is changeable, rather a lot, or it can be non-existent. So with all flags pointing in same direction how do you get a random 4 (a bird) out the opposite side? With all flags down, little mirage and the butts flag pointing down, how is it that you get a 4 (a bird) after a string of centres? It is Bendigo and it feels like for some shooters the markers must use a random number generator or just roll dice “here you go – let’s make that a 3”. But some do master it, like Duncan Davies in TRA who took out the Queens without dropping a point.
• The event was not squadded so, with 12 on your board, it could be 90-120 minutes between shooters of the same discipline shooting at a particular distance. The scores at some distances reflected the diversity of start times and resulting variable conditions.
• All distances are in yards and the competition was shot from 500yds (457 meters) to 1000yds (914 meters).

Without going into too many details, below we list the highlights of the 5 days where RRC members excelled:

• Mark Buchanan (TRA) was the standout success from RRC. In the Leadup Mark scored 50-5 at 500, 50-8 at 500. He was 11^th in Leadup out of 34 in TRA. Then in the Queens he scored 50-4 at 500, 50-7 at 500, 49-5 at 800, 50-4 at 900, 50-4 at 900, 49-6 at 1000. He was 6^th on day 3, 7^th in the Queens, 9^th in the Grand Aggregate. Overall, Mark scored 97.98% for the Leadup, 98.74% for the Queens.
• Tim Walter (TRB) – his notable scores were 49-3 at 500, 49-2 at 500, 48-3 at 500, 49-3 at 600. Overall, Tim scored 88.25% for the Leadup but did not finish the Queens.
• Alan Patrick (FTR) – did not shoot the Leadup, but in the Queens his best scores were 60-5 at 500, 60-2 at 500, 59-3 at 600, 58-7 at 900. Alan was 5th on day 1 of the Queens out of a field of 33, and scored 96.81% for the Queens.
• Eva Patrick (FTR) – across the Leadup and the Queens, Eva nailed the 500 yd distance scoring 58-3 at 500, 59-5 at 500, 60-7 at 500. Eva scored 93.76% for the Leadup, and 94.90% for the Queens.
• Janet Beale (FTR) – her notable scores were 58-4 at 500, 60-6 at 500, 58-5 at 600. On day 1 of the Leadup she was 5^th out of a field of 26. In the Queens, her best achievements were 59-5 at 500, 59-5 at 500, 59-4 at 800. Janet scored 94.90% for the Leadup and 95.32% for the Queens.

Congrats to our RRC members that bravely ventured to Bendigo. You each achieved something notable on a very challenging range. Special congrats to Mark for his badge winning placing in TRA.

Janet Beale