Roseville Rifle Club Australia

Archive for 2026

“To be Belmont’d” a verb that means that the Belmont shooting range wind exacted perilous revenge on unsuspecting non-Queenslanders beating them into submission and proving that yes you can score an outer 2 on LHS followed by an outer 2 on RHS even if you are a titan of shooting.  Belmont is certainly not Hornsby Rifle range – and when the Belmont wind gets up you know it. Belmont saved the worst of the winds for the final 1000 yds on the last day and, to say it carved up the field, would be an understatement. Yet some lucky people found the hole and creamed the result leaving others in their dust and upending the order that had been established over the competition. The conditions, particularly at 1000 yds, favoured those that could “machine gun” (mostly F-Standard and F-Open) through it all or who found that proverbial hole or who knew the range the most (home range advantage!).

This was a large competition – one of the largest in recent memory with 276 competitors which translates to 9 people to a target and over 30 targets in use. There were competitors from Japan and New Zealand plus some shooters from WA who all travelled great distances to be at this competition.  In particular, the TR-A grade competition was a beast with over 100 competitors.  Hard to shine in that crowd! The field was 55% Target Rifle which meant a slow progression through the shooting order. It also meant a few late modifications to the shooting program – but everyone took it in stride. The cold mornings were a bit of a surprise (8c!) and most days it was back to shirt sleeves by mid-afternoon (but not on the last day due to the wind).

Our three Roseville competitors in the QRA “Lead up” and QRA “Kings” shot well considering the conditions thrown at them and the calibre and sheer numbers of competitors they were up against….but each were “Belmont’d” at the 1000 yd range. So lets focus on the positives:

Mark Buchanan (TR-A) – across the 15 details in the competition he scored 3 possibles and had an awesome count of 71 V-bulls in some tough conditions

Dmitri Kazakov (TR-B) – three 1^st and three 2^nd places in details, a 1^st and a 2^nd in a daily aggregate, 1^st in the Leadup, 8^th in the Kings and 2^nd in the Grand Aggregate

Janet Beale (FTR) – one 1^st place and one 2^nd place in details, 5^th in the leadup, 9^th in the Kings and 6^th in the grand aggregate.

Great shooting and well done on coming home with some prizes.

Janet Beale

Roseville Rifle Club is proud to have had three shooters who were selected to represent NSW in the National Veteran’s Teams competition held at Belmont Qld in August.

Mark Buchanan was in the NSW Veteran’s TR team,

Dmitri Kazakov was in the NSW Veteran’s FTR team,

Janet Beale was in the NSW Veteran’s F-Standard team.

Note: A Veteran is someone over 60 (no, it does not have to be a defence or police force veteran!). Dmitri only barely just made it into the age bracket!

Each State team had a wind coach, 5 shooters and a team captain. On several occasions this year the respective teams (TR/FTR/FSTD/F-Open) got together to practise in preparation for the big event – which is always challenging as there are no 1000 yd ranges locally and not all shooters are from the same locale.

With the challenging wind that kept the wind coaches on their toes and second guessing themselves, NSW teams did well but Queensland, shooting on their home range, took out 3 of the 4 top spots with North Queensland taking out the other top spot.

• TR – NSW had 2 teams which came 2^nd and 4^th 
• F-Standard – NSW came 2^nd
• F-Open – NSW came 2^nd
• F-TR – NSW came 3^rd

F-Standard team

F-TR Team

Unfortunately, only the winning team members get a prize in this competition so no “bling” to show for the grand effort and the good shooting. But that does not mean we cant call out here our Roseville members who had some excellent shoots when compared to their team-mates and other competitors:

• Mark 2^nd overall at 300yds in TR
• Dmitri 2^nd overall at 900yds in FTR
• Janet 3^rd overall at 300yds, 900yds and 1000 yds in F-Standard

Great shooting by our NSW reps Mark, Dmitri and Janet who all looked rather schmick in their NSW jackets for the formal dinner.

So look out for the next Veteran’s comp in 2 years time in Bendigo when NSW will try to snatch those top spots away and come home with some 1^st place bling!

Janet Beale

Three Rosevilleans (Alex, Rob and Steve) braved the cold down south to compete in Tumut Rifle Club’s 2026 Open Prize Meeting. It was originally planned as a two-day shoot across the weekend, but an ominous forecast of heavy rain and strong winds on Sunday meant the program was changed to 3 stages (1x 800yds, 2x 900yds) on the Saturday.

Rob, Steve and Alex drove down on Friday morning, arriving in the afternoon. Alex insisted on making a detour to go fishing at Blowering Dam, but the fishing spot was so good, not even the fish knew about it… 🙁

All three shooters stayed at the Reflections Caravan Park, and dinner was a delicious pie, courtesy of chef Rob!

Saturday morning was chilly, but with blue skies and not a cloud in sight, it made for perfect weather. Rob showed off the amenities of his touring van, offering coffee and hot chocolate to keep warm before the shoot.

Alex, shooting against Rob in B-grade, was first down for the 800yds, and after a minor “whoopsie” in calculating elevations, her first sighter was a miss, followed by a 2. Thankfully, her first counting shot was a bulleye, and she wound up with a 50.7—her first possible at a prize shoot!

Rob followed with a fantastic 48.6 that had Alex a little nervous for the next two ranges. Steve, who has only recently taken up Target Rifle alongside Sporter Class, had a fantastic shoot to finish with 44.2, putting him at 2^nd place in C-grade!

The first of the two 900yds was a little trickier. A slight breeze had started to pick up, with some interesting mirage down range noted by the F-Class shooters. Alex scored a 48.3, and Rob followed with a 46.2. Unfortunately, Steve had some issues with his ammunition at the longer range and had to retire halfway through his shoot.

The 2^nd 900yds was another 10 shots with 2 sighters. Alex left the mound smiling with a 50.3, only to be counted out by Rob who shot a stellar 50.4 to win the range by one centre!

At the conclusion of the 800yds, it was time for lunch. Chef Rob made quesadillas!

The presentation was short and sweet, with a total of 27 shooters having attended the prize meeting. All three Rosevilleans came away with a prize (or two)!

Alex Toth — 1^st place B-grade, 1^st place 800yds + 900yds (1)

Rob Trodden — 2^nd place B-grade, 1^st place 900yds (2)

Steve Bliim — 3^rd place C-grade, 2^nd place 800yds

After the presentation, Rob made his glamorous exit from the range by getting bogged, which served as great evening entertainment for Alex and Steve. He was rescued by a knight in a shining Isuzu D-Max who winched him back out to solid ground. 🙂

Congratulations and great shooting to our Rosevilleans! Thank you to Tumut Rifle Club for organising such a friendly and enjoyable prize shoot… and a special thank you to Rob for the wonderful cooking. 🙂

Alex Toth

How can it already be July and into the start of another shooting year? The 2025-26 shooting year saw some pretty impressive improvements for our members – maybe some of that practising has made a difference? However, it was also a strange year with the awful event at Christmas in Bondi overshadowing our sport but we have all adapted to the new legislation and are keen to show that event does not define who we are as a club and a sport. We support the changes that are necessary. Shooting recommenced after a short break and we have persevered as individuals, team members and club members. As is now customary, let’s do a whip around to highlight our Roseville successes for the shooting year that just finished. Note: we will have our annual presentation day in a few weeks so this recap is a toast to major events.

Roseville members who represented the club internationally:

• Mark Buchanan (Aug 2025 – TR Individual and team shooter at Bisley, UK) = gold medal in Overseas team competition and Dominion team competition. individually won the “Daily Telegraph” 500y competition after a 3-way shoot-off.
• Janet Beale (Sept 2025 – FTR individual and team shooter at Bisley, UK) = gold team medal European Championship, silver team medal America Match.
• Mark Buchanan (Jan 2026 – TR Individual and team shooter at New Zealand) = individual King’s Badge Number 9, (Australian team also has bragging rights for coming first in the team’s event called “NZ Champion Club Teams” – but not eligible to win it).

Roseville members who represented the club in national teams:

• No national team’s events held during the shooting year.

Roseville members who excelled in Kings’ events across the country:

• Queensland Kings >> Dmitri Kazakov TRB – 3^rd in Kings and 4^th in Grand Aggregate
• Tasmanian King’s >>
  • Sam Houston TR-B 2^nd place in the King’s and 1^st place in Grand Aggregate,
  • Mark Buchanan TR-A 3^rd place in both the King’s and Grand Aggregate
• New South Wales King’s >> Alex Toth TR-C 7^th place earning her first King’s badge.

Roseville members who excelled in Open Prize Meetings across the country:

• Multiple – but our biggest wins were at Gosford (congrats to Christian Lemoy, Phill Hodder – honorary mbr, Adam Beale, Allan Humbert, Janet Beale)

Roseville teams who excelled in the Arn Hammond matches:

• Roseville 20X – FTR (1^st place)
• Roseville Rottweilers – TR-1 (2^nd place)

In the list below we recognise individuals for excelling in the club’s internal annual competition:

In Target Rifle:

• Club Target Rifle A Grade: Champion >> Dmitri Kazakov;  Runner Up >>  Sam Houston
• Club Target Rifle B Grade: Champion >> Alex Toth;  Runner Up >>  Rob Trodden
• Club Target Rifle C Grade: Champion >> Richard Lund;  Runner Up >>  Steve Bliim

In F-Class:

• Club F-Standard A Grade: Champion >> Janet Beale;  Runner Up >>  Allan Humbert
• Club F-Standard B Grade: Champion >> Alex Toth, Runner Up >> Ross Webb
• Club FTR: Champion >> Dmitri Kazakov;  Runner Up >>  Ian Palmer
• Club Sporter Class: Champion >> Rob Trodden;  Runner Up >>  Steve Bliim

Best results at each range (Cock of the Walk):

• Target Rifle A Grade: Dmitri Kazakov (300m, 400m, 500m, 600m);  Mark Buchaman (700m, 800m)
• Target Rifle B Grade: Alex Toth (300m, 400m, 500m, 600m);  Steve Tofler (700m), Rob Trodden (800m)
• Target Rifle C Grade: Richard Lund (300m, 400m, 500m, 600m, 700m, 800m)
• F-Standard A Grade: Allan Humbert (300m, 500m), Jon Marriott (400m), Janet Beale (600m, 700m, 800m)
• F-Standard B Grade: Ross Webb (300m, 500m, 800m), Alex Toth (400m, 600m), Greg Thomas (700m)
• FTR: Dmitri Kazakov (300m, 400m, 500m, 600m, 700m, 800m)
• Sporter Class: Rob Trodden (300m, 400m, 500m, 600m, 700m, 800m)

 Special mention goes to our extra hard working behind the scenes people:

• The 2025/26 Club committee: President Mark Buchanan and Club Captain Rob Trodden supported by Secretary Christian LeMoy, Treasurer Steve Tofler, Statistician Ian Palmer and the rest of the committee
• Rob Trodden who works tirelessly for the club beyond his normal Club Captain duties doing those amazing building improvements (roof, grid for under the building, veranda etc), coaching visitors, mentoring Alex, supplying ice blocks in summer.
• Dmitri Kazakov who supports us, the Hornsby clubs and many other clubs with the HEXTA targets
• Every club member that has helped with range duties, helped in upkeep of the clubhouse, dealt with the targets, did kitchen duties, did our shopping, kept the website up to date, or helped with new shooters. You know we cant do it without you!

Overall, another successful year for our club. Well done to the individuals called out above and the new shooters who have improved throughout the year. So, let’s see what 2026/27 has in store for each of us – get ready and aim for your personal target.

Janet Beale

Alexandra Toth (Alex) was the only Roseville member participating in the 2026 NSW 150^th Annual Open Championships.

Alex entered for Target Rifle (TR) C Grade for the Kings Prize.

The First Stage of the Kings was shot over 300m, 600m and 600m.

At 300m Alex shot a fine 49.4 to finish in 3^rd place, and at the next range at 600m she scored 71.3 to finish in 9^th place.

At the second 600m Alex blitzed it with an incredible 74.5 to finish in 2^nd place, being undeterred by an inner on her 3^rd shot to get the last 12 shots in the bullseye or better.

This gave Alex an Aggregate on Day 1 of 194.12 to finish in 3^rd place, 1 point behind the leaders.

Club Captain Rob Trodden and club stalwart and always Statistician Ian Palmer attended the range for the presentation and to show their support for Alex.

What great support.

The Second Stage saw more wet and cloudy weather and Alex had some sighting problems at the longer ranges.

Nonetheless, Alex shot a very creditable 49.6 at 700m, which was particularly notable for the fact that she started with an inner, followed with a bull, and then fired 6 Vs in a row to finish in 4^th place by 1 point, but with an equal highest centre count.

Thankfully, she received some very valuable assistance from Rob Avery of Cessnock Rifle Club who checked her rifle and gave her a look through his Eagle Eye which she liked, and Rob Trodden and Ian Palmer assisted with providing some front rings with a thicker annulus, which Rob Avery had also suggested. Thank you for your help, Guys.

The next range was 800m and this where Alex experienced sighting problems; this is not uncommon shooting at 800m, especially without using an Eagle Eye! The easterly wind was also very tricky, and Alex shot a 68.3 to finish in 15^th place at the first 800m range and at the second 800m range she scored 67.3 to finish in 18^th place.

This gave Alex an Aggregate of 184.12 to finish in 12^th place in the Day 2 Aggregate.

Day 3 saw more of the same wet and cloudy weather, and at the first 800m Alex copped a few 3’s to finish with 42.3, but at the last range she had her sights to her liking and scored a fine 48.5 at the second 800M to finish in 2^nd place.

This gave Alex a Third stage Aggregate of 90.8 but the Aggregate has not so far been published in the Results so I cannot say where she placed on Day 3.

However, I can say that Alex finished with an Aggregate of 468.32 which was sufficient to put her in 7^th place in the C Grade Kings Aggregate and win her a Kings Badge!

Had Alex dropped just one more point she would not have received a badge, which just goes to show that you must fight for every point and never give up. And Alex did just that.

Well done Alex in your first Kings Prize competition!

Your dedication and training are paying off, and you have shown great resilience during this tough competition.

Congratulations from all at Roseville Rifle Club!

Tim Walter

As we approached the end of the shooting year, we found ourselves in a predicament with only half the Arn Hammond shoots completed. Gosford Rifle Club to the rescue! A special double-header was organised at the Kariong Range with teams shooting 600y in the morning and 500m in the afternoon. It was a small contingent from Roseville with 60% of the Roseville teams doubling up and shooting both TR and FTR disciplines (TR: Mark Buchanan, Alex Toth, Dmitri Kazakov, Sam Houston, and, finally returning after an extended “no sports allowed” medical order, Adam Beale…. FTR: Alex Toth, Dmitri Kazakov, Adam Beale, Alan Humbert, Janet Beale…with mascot Barney (the cavoodle) who came courtesy of Sam).

Highlights & lowlights of the day:

• Barney finding his lead wasn’t secured and taking an unscheduled jaunt through the Gosford Club house with Sam then realising and saying “Which way did he go? Which way did he go?” rather like the beloved cartoon character.
• 600y:
  • Adam coached Mark to a possible (75-10) and Mark returned the favour with coaching Adam to a possible (75-7) … the only two possibles in TR at 600y across all the clubs.
  • Dmitri recording the only “Pin hole” at 600y in TR across all clubs.
  • Alex lying down to shoot from Janet’s rifle with 2 “unrecognisable shots” as sighters (elevation miscalculation by Janet)…then a quick spin of the dial and first counting shot being an X. Phew!!!
  • Dmitri was the top FTR scorer from Roseville scoring a very nice 89-10 coached by Alan.
  • Janet lying down waiting to shoot and watching a swarm of ants on the mound (which then disappeared)….then an hour later Sam lying down waiting to shoot and finding the ants were now swarming on his ammo box and sights box….(Janet quickly got a spray can – which worked a treat!).
  • The 3 FTR shooters using Janet’s rifle all getting the same, unfortunate score of 83/90 … is it the conditions? The barrel? Or the load?
  • The {light} rain showing up just as the last shooters were finishing (“quick – put stuff into cars or under covers”).
  • Roseville’s teams coming 1^st in TR and 2^nd in FTR at 600y.
• 500m:
  • The rain coming and going as it pleased – good thing they put up the tents at 500m.
  • Adam coached Mark to a possible (75-13) and Mark returned the favour with coaching Adam to a possible (75-10) with Dmitri also getting a possible (75-10).
  • Sam recording the only “Pin hole” at 500m in TR across all clubs.
  • Janet swapping barrels so the 3 FTR shooters using Janet’s rifle all got much better scores of 88, 88 and 90 out of 90 … is it the conditions? The barrel? Or the load?
  • Adam was the top FTR scorer from Roseville scoring a possible (90-9) coached by Alan.
  • Roseville’s teams coming 1^st in TR and 2^nd in FTR at 500m (FTR was tied on points, but not on centres)
• Other
  • Mark and Adam both went clean across the day in TR and were the only two to do that in TR! (noting Adam hasn’t been on a shooting range since Gosford’s OPM on 9 Nov 2025 which was 6 months ago)
  • Dmitri was the top scorer for Roseville across the day in FTR with a pair of 89’s but couldn’t quite catch the leader (Eva from HMTRC) who scored 2 possibles.
  • Alex and Adam who don’t usually shoot FTR but who came through for Roseville.
  • Our intrepid wind coaches for the day (Mark & Adam in TR and Alan & Adam in FTR).
  • The efficiency of Gosford RC putting up tents at the club house because of the unexpected rain then moving the tents to the 500m mound.
  • Gosford RC who put on a generous spread at lunch time (sausages, onions, salad etc).
  • After shooting, the cakes, doughnuts, and Alex’s yummy muffins!
  • The camaraderie of all teams – we may be competitors, but we are also all friends.
  • A thanks to the other Rosevilleans who stayed at Hornsby to do “Duty club jobs” to keep the range open for other clubs.

One range to go – 800m….

Janet Beale

Intrepid Rosevilleans – Uncle Mike Hodder (support team), and competitors Mark and Sam made their way to Campbell Town, central Tasmania for the 2026 Kings Series.

Uncle Mike – was on (slightly) early reconnaissance, via a Virgin flight to Launceston.  Sam & Mark, followed slightly behind on a similarly late departure to last year on Qantas.

We ran into John Weigel from Gosford in the Launie airport – who was on the same flight, and had a good natter whilst awaiting the shooting irons to arrive at the surfboard counter.  Mark, Sam and Mike shared a rental car from Bargain Car Rentals – just off airport, but costing significantly less than the mainstream rental companies.  Our pickup bus was there as soon as we got out of the terminal.  Car pickup was straight forward.  We made out way to our very comfortable AirBnB in Campbell Town via Perth for some essential shopping.

We had a pub meal on the first night at the Campbell Town pub – where many competitors stay in the attached motel.  We ran in to several of the Canberrans, and Matt Shepherd and his wife.

A couple of cleansing ales, a greasy meal – then early to bed for the first day of competition – Day 1 of the Tiger Cup.

Now – I must acknowledge the photographers – Rodney (Windie) Winwood – who is a huge supporter of rifle shooting – and was recognised by a TRA life membership award at this years proceedings.  Uncle Mike took a few – and some scraped from the web…

If you follow ‘Tasmanian Shooting History Then and Now’ on Facebook (run by Windie) – you will get a ton of shooting news and history from around Australia.

Full scores can be found on the NRAA website – for those who want that detail…

So – I haven’t been to that many full bore ranges in Australia compared to some, but on the ones I have been to, Campbell Town is a close second to Canberra for wind difficulty.

Scores reflected this.

Anyhow – Mark and Sam did well in the Tiger.  No daily aggregate prizes are awarded in the Tiger – just the 2 day aggregate.

Tiger Summary

The Tiger Cup is only 2 years old, and is made from Huon Pine, and is five sided.  One side for each category of competition – TR, FO, FS, FTR, Sporter.  You can’t see it well in this photo, but there is a bronze Tasmanian Tiger on the top of the trophy.

Tiger Cup winners

Mark # 1 Badge Tiger TR

Sam # 1 Badge TRB

Mostly we had home cooked up meals in the evenings – with take away supplied by our recently minted Taswegian mate Phill on one evening.

Sam led the cooking efforts, ably supported by Uncle Mike.  Mark tried washing up, but due to unsatisfactory performance, we resorted to using the dishwasher. Mark’s focus after a days shooting is cleaning his shooting iron – occasionally in his underwear, wine, cheese and TV – not necessarily in that order.  TV on most mornings immediately on rising which played havoc with Uncle Mike’s hearing aids and ability for any morning conversation 🙂

Pasta Bolognaise, bangers and mash and roast chicken dinner were on the menu.  Sunday night everything is closed for the ‘8 hours day’ public holiday on Monday – so roast beef dinner at the range. – quite delicious.

We did insist Mark turned off the TV while we had evening meals, to which he begrudgingly agreed 🙂

On to the Kings Prize:

Whilst wind was lighter than during the Tiger, it was more changeable – sometimes 3 left to 3 right.  We had 9 minute winds during the Tiger….  On the last day we got a little reprieve.  The 900yds was the best conditions of the meet and again scores reflected this.

The 1000 yds was also not too difficult, although Sam managed to somehow pull an outer – which cost him the Kings.

Rosevilleans did not uphold the long held the tradition of cross-firing (at least on their business shots).  Mark did manage to get his first 1000 yds sighters on his 900yds target (2 targets to the left).

I was taught a little about wind – by Ex World Champion Steve Negus – who was on my target.  It resonated – and not to repeat here – but for anyone who is interested – I am happy to share.  It did help me.  Many of my early groups were bullseye elevation (occasionally V Bull elevation), but very wide…:-( so I sought some advice from Steve.

Kings Summary

Lead up and Kings is a big commitment in effort, ammo and money, and is not for the faint hearted, but the fellowship of Rosevilleans and the community make it enjoyable.  Congratulations to the TRA for organising such a smoothly run event.   Thank you to the range staff, kitchen staff and all attendees.  Hope to see you all next year!

Sam and Marks Haul

Worth noting Phill got #5 badge in the grand

Sam Houston

One of the people in the club that really make things count is our illustrious club Statistician, Ian Palmer (aka Palmtree). What makes Ian a good statistician? Three things:

1. He is at the club house almost every week which means he is on top of every week’s shoot (no backlog!)
2. He keeps the RRC website pages up to date for scores (7 disciplines + the Greenwell Cup) so we all know where we stand all the time
3. At the end of the shooting year (31 May) he compiles the list of handicap winners, award winners, runners up, and pin hole prize money so that the Club is ready for the presentation day  … and those prizes are the things that keep us energised and coming back.

All of this makes Ian pivotal for the good running of the club.

But other than being the great statistician that he is, who is the man behind the role? Let me tell you about Ian Palmer:

1. Ian has been shooting since 1966 – so that means 2026 marks his 60 years of shooting (target rifle (TR) for 48 years then F-Class for the past 12 years)
2. Initially he joined Mosman Neutral Bay Rifle Club at Liverpool – which later moved to ANZAC Rifle Range at Malabar.
3. Ian won his first Range Prize at an Open Competition at Mudgee on the 6th April 1969 scoring 35.5 at 500 yards using his .303 rifle.
4. He won his first Queens Badge in Brisbane in August 1971 (over time, he has won 10 Queens Badges)
5. At the end of the 1971–1972 shooting season he was the Mosman Neutral Bay Club Champion
6. In 1975 he won his first Prize Shoot (Grafton NSW) after a tie and a shoot-off that lasted 9 shots.
7. In his spare time, he would make rifle stocks (teak and walnut) and did bedding of rifles for people. In total, by 1989 he had made 163 rifle stocks for 74 individual shooters (including Queen’s winners).
8. He has been a member of Roseville Rifle Club since 1980 …. Yes, that means 46 years!
9. In his first year with Roseville Rifle Club, Ian became the Club Champion and this was the first of six successive club championships with his new club. In those six years he also managed to win the Champion of Champions match at Hornsby three times. Note: overall he has won RRC Club Champion 8 times.
10. Ian’s proudest moment as a shooter was winning the leadup (The Hunt Aggregate) at the South Australian Queens in 2007.
11. Ian loves team shooting, with his team winning the Merrett Match in Vic in 1971, and he was part of 8 Sargard winning teams (shot at NSW Queens). Overall, he has also been in over 40 winning teams
12. He has been an integral part of the award-winning Roseville Arn Hammond FTR team (he was a member of the team the 8 out of 8 times that we won the competition); he was also in a couple of award winning Roseville FSTD teams.
13. He was in the 2004 New South Wales Veteran State Team

You will often see Ian staying back to score when people are doing load testing; or he is the one helping out a new shooter. It is club members like this that really make Roseville tick. Thanks for making it count Ian.

Janet Beale

Roughly, “to be mentioned in despatches” means when a superior officer mentions, in an official report, a particular person under their command due to that person’s meritorious action(s). That meritorious action is exactly what happened this week on Wednesday morning when Alex Toth shot 3 PIN HOLES out of 10 shots at 300m; and to make things more interesting, she shot an additional PIN HOLE in her second detail (also 10 shots). It was such a phenomenal outcome that the Captain of the Club (Rob Trodden), made note of it to all members in his weekly email (our club version of “despatches”).

Now, Alex has been shooting for only 1 year and shoots in Target Rifle B grade. That is the absolute definition of “meritorious”. But in that year, she hasn’t been idle; according to HEXTA, Alex has clocked up over 150 details across TR, FSTD and some FTR in that year. Her form has definitely improved. But her secret sauce is attributable to 3 things:-

1. Perseverance (practice, practise, practice)
2. The various people in the club that have helped coach Alex along her journey
3. The extra shooting she is also doing at North Sydney Small Bore and Air Rifle Club (NSSBARC) at the neighbouring 50m range using a .22cal rifle.

Congrats to Alex for being “mentioned in despatches”. Keep up the good work – you wont be in B grade for much longer with scores like that!

Janet Beale

It was a horror end to 2025 with the awful events at Bondi. The community was rocked to its core – and collectively we have said “no” to extremist violence. However, the repercussions are that there is now new gun legislation at the State and Federal level that has now been passed. We all need to understand and work with the authorities to support that new legislation to ensure we survive as a sport and help keep the community feel safer.

One outcome is that we took a long break over Christmas in sympathy with the community and our neighbours. However, Roseville Rifle Club is now back on the range. Roseville is Duty Club this month; therefore, this post is to highlight how the club has pulled together at this time to support the other clubs on the range for the shooting activities.

Whether it is helping with set-up (range flags, range servers, etc) or range officer duties (flouro vests, briefings, safety checks) or helping with pack up (range flags, ranger servers etc) the Rosevillians were out in number lending a hand. There were also the usual Saturday jobs to be done too (targets up, tents up, monitor set up and then packing up all of that afterwards). And of course, where would we be without Dmitri and his trailer skills?

Thanks to everyone that has been helping with “Range Duty” month. We couldn’t do it without you – and it was good to see so many people back after the break. Check out the photos!

But what about the shooting you ask? Sydney has thrown our way some weird weather in January (wind / rain / heat) that meant the cancelling of one of the shoots and some pretty tricky conditions.  For today at least, the best part of the shooting was the ice blocks delivered by Captain Rob Trodden. Just don’t ask anyone about our scores over the past couple of weeks.

Janet Beale

Chris	Alan	Rob
Alan	Nader	Sam
Alex and Christie	Steve	Rob

Sam and Richard

Alex and Christie