Roseville Rifle Club Australia

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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.

This year the Wingham Open Prize Meeting, already being one of the largest prize meetings in NSW, was expected to have grown even larger due to the dry period of prize meetings in 2020. 2021 did not disappoint, with well over 100 shooters attending, 19 of which representing Roseville Rifle Club as listed below:

In Target Rifle

• TR-A: Angus Martin, Adam Beale, Phil Hodder, Alan Patrick, Mark Buchanan, Dmitri Kazakov, Patrick Jacombs
• TR-B: Mike Hodder, Robert Trodden, Andrew Martin, Sam Houston
• TR-C: Angus Langsford, Hugo Friend, Nigel Russell, Paul Russell

In F Class

• F-Std A: Allan Humber, Janet Beale, Patrick Eva
• F-Std B: Micah Friend

With Roseville representing almost 20% of the shooting cohort, you would hope some good results would be delivered, and there were.

In the Friday before the competition, a few of the Roseville members to have a bit of practice before the main competition gave the Sweepstakes a crack. Patrick Jacombs won, and Angus Langsford placed top 5. The first day of the competition was highly contested and time pressured with the last 2-15 detail having to be shorted and almost shot in the dark due to the sheer amount of people attending the prize meeting. With this unexpected start to the prize meeting, here are the results that followed:

In Target Rifle:

Patrick Jacombs had some amazing shooting. On the first day Patrick got a 50.4 at 400 metres and 600 yards, and a 50.7 at 500 yards, not dropping a single point during the day one aggregate. Patrick continued this winning streak getting both a 50.7 at 600 yards, 50.8 at 500 yards putting him in 4^th place for the Grand Aggregate in TR-A, shooting the same number of centres as 1^st place, which is outstanding.

Noticeable Mention to Angus Martin for shooting a wonderful 50.9 in TR-A in the 1st 600-yard match on day 2 and Mark Buchanan for winning the 400m match in TR-A with a 50.7. Phil Hodder at 500 yards shot a 50.5, only pacing him in 10^th showing how competitive TR-A actually is.

Sam Houston placed 5^th in TR-B, also getting the same number of centres as 1^st place, being closely followed by Mike Hodder in 6^th being beaten on countback.

In TR-C, Angus Langsford won the Grand Aggregate, being a competitive field as well as Hugo Friend shooting his first possible at 600 yards being a 50.4! Hugo won that range! Amazing efforts all round. In TR-C, Paul Russel showed his old man Nigel who is in charge, consistently beating him at every range. Well done!

In F Class:

Janet Beale in F-Std A grade, being a highly contested field, managed to place 4^th overall, winning match 3 at 600 yards with a 60.4. Micah Friend, although he retired early still managed to place 9^th in F-Std B in his first ever prize meeting!

Well done to all our Roseville Rifle Club shooters, it was overall an amazing effort and a great weekend. See you all next year.

Angus Langsford

3 eager and highly optimistic (some may say silly!) Rosevillians set out on Fri from Sydney at various times to compete in the Lyndhurst 2021 OPM.

They weren’t put off by the atrocious rain conditions forecast for Sydney and the west and were rewarded on Fri evening with slightly overcast but dry conditions with some strong wind gusts. Phill arrived about 5pm at the campsite where Captain Adrian’s Father in-law, Ross, was busy setting up his caravan and tent. Dmitri arrived shortly afterwards.

The modest camp site

Unfortunately Adrian had car troubles before leaving the BIG smoke with a blown heater hose. This was mended in a short time by the friendly mechanic just near where he broke down. This set their journey back a bit and he and his son Lucas (the score card runner for the weekend) arrived at 10.30pm to the happy smiles of Dmitri and Phill who were eagerly waiting for their arrival.

See, no rain!

The next morning after a few rain showers throughout the night, the guys were greeted by a lightly overcast and windy morning, but no rain on the horizon! The first day’s shoot was 2 stages of 15 shots at 500 and 600y. The wind was predominantly from the right with strong gusts and lulls a plenty. Although some great scores were shot by the competitors, some found the variable conditions hard if they weren’t vigilant in watching the flags.

Phill started off with a 74.9 and both Adrian and Dmitri shot 73’s, with 5 and 3 centers respectively.  The BIG boys showed us how it was done with Alex Davies showing his dominance from the first shoot with an impressive 75.13 followed by Commonwealth Games rep Jim Bailey shooting a 75.12!  At 600y the conditions seemed similar, Dmitri pipped Phill with a 72.5 vs 72.4, Adrian found the conditions a bit tougher and shot a 66.7. The Roseville contingent finished the day with Phill 18th, Dmitri 20th and Adrian in 27th spot. Work to be done tomorrow!

The place to be on Sat night is on the range and the Lyndhurst Clubhouse. Many stay back to see the days results and wait eagerly for the Famous Calcutta (an auction of the top 10 TR shooters presented by Master Auctioneer Ben Emms) and the well cooked dinner that is served (and even a Cornetto ice-cream for those that stayed around). The Calcutta lived up to it’s hilarious reputation with Ben quick on his feet with funny puns and stories about the lucky 10, trying to up the bids. Being an auction, if you don’t want to bid you don’t move, but even this didn’t help some surprised bidders from the floor! For the first time the top 10 didn’t have any local shooters in it and most were up and coming Jnr guys, it says something about the talent coming through.

Dmitri developed a theory that ice cream causes the headache the next morning 🙂

The intrepid 3 had an early night, ready for the next day. During the night there was no rain, but the wind was picking up, so much so that Dmitri‘s 5 star hotel (his trusty Ford Station Wagon) was rocking and rolling in the gusts!

So day 2 begins with the Rosevillians needing to pick up some points. Dmitri showed the way at 500y with a fantastic 49.7! Phill couldn’t find the center after deciding to keep the group center on the right of the bullseye due to what he thought were the wind conditions, he scored a 49.1, the only center was when he decided he had to move the group! Captain Adrian recorded a respectful 48.4. The guys were collectively happy with their first range scores, especially because of the very changeable wind conditions. The competitors then moved up the hill to 600y.

Happy runner Lucas

Dmitri again showed the way from the 3 with another great 49, this time with 6 centers. Adrian and Phill both managed 48’s with 3 and zero centers respectively! The organizers decided to keep shooting and not stop for lunch, trying to finish early and help the competitors leave as early as they could to drive back home. The day was won by Jim Bailey, only one point down. The 2nd 600y yards had Dmitri and Phill both scoring 48.3 and Adrian a credible 47.2. These scores from the Roseville 3 did in fact help them to move up the leader board as they wished.

Dmitri was the best of them finishing the day in 7th place only 3 points behind 1st place and 10th in the Grand Ag! Well done Dmitri!

Phill was placed 12th on the day and for the Grand, and Adrian placed 17th on Day 2 and 25th for the Ag, Day 1 scores unfortunately hindered his final results.

The winner was Alex Davies from West Wallsend Club shooting a fantastic score of 297.36 beating his Dad Duncan by a point (I wouldn’t of wanted to be in that car for the trip home!). Next was another father and son combo, Jim and Mitchell Bailey, this time Dad won. There was also one more father and son in the match, Andrew and Nick Sims, they also finished after one another, very rare to see!

This was a fantastic weekend away and congratulations to Lyndhurst Rifle Club and all the people that made it an excellent and very well run event.

The Roseville trio

Results can be found @ https://www.results.nraa.com.au/lyndhurst-rifle-club-open-championships-2021-nsw-results-2/

Phill (aka “The Cool Guy”)

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

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.

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

It was dusty. It was confusing (flags pointing one way, mirage flowing the other way). It was well organised. It was surprisingly stable at times and gusty at other times. You know it is a strange time when our bearded gunsmith from North Sydney Club who normally finishes a detail in 2-3 minutes flat lingers on the mound, gets a 3 minute warning and still pauses on his shots almost not finishing in time. Did we mention the dust? Such was the 2019 Canberra Queens!

But Roseville had some great successes as you will see

Mark Buchanan (shooting TR-A) ….

• Rolph Series: it’s a tough day at the office when a 50.06 at 500m gets you 5^th! But Mark also landed a 2^nd place at 800m (74.10), a 1^st place daily Agg, resulting in a 5^th place overall in the leadup
• Queens: it’s another tough day at the office when a 50.04 at 500m gets you 14^th! a 3^rd place at 600m (50.08!!), a 2^nd place at 800m (50.06!), a 2^nd place daily Agg, and a 4^th place badge in the Queens overall
• Grand Aggregate:  3^rd place badge

Adam Beale  (shooting up a grade in TR-A) …

• Rolph Series: top Junior competitor
• Queens: a 2^nd place at 500m (50.08!!), a 2^nd place at 600m (50.06!), a 1^st place at 800m (50.06!) and 15^th badge in the Queens overall, plus top Junior competitor
• Grand Aggregate: 10^th place badge and top Junior competitor

Janet Beale (shooting FTR)

• Grand Aggregate: 10^th place and learned a lot about the fickleness of Canberra’s McIntosh range when you regularly seem to land the windy / changeable time on the mound after periods of relative calm (as commented on by John Maguire). And what about that changeable mirage!

Special congrats to Adam for achieving his first A-Grade badge in a Queens against some fierce competition!

Janet Beale

Hot, steamy and 32 degrees confronted 4 Rosevilliers at the annual Gosford prize shoot. Phill attacked TR and Mike Cuda, Eva and Alan Patrick FTR.

The overall attending numbers were down on previous years with just 49 in total.

Wind and mirage playing tricky cards throughout the day with patches of little wind or disturbances to deliver some near perfect scores. Wind changed 180 degrees after lunch as has become the norm for Gosford.

Shot over 3 stages at 500M the final results delivered a clean possible result for Phill and 1st place in TR with 175.16. This win was especially special for Phill, as he used his recently acquired rifle from his mentor, the late David Hollister. And Mike Cuda pulled the rabbit out of the hat to take out FTR after crossfiring in the second stage with 202.22 (which proves that you should never give up!), with Eva 9 X’s behind to take 2nd place on 202.13 and Alan 4th place with 196.8.

A good presentation followed this OPM with the usual array of great prizes for winners. Thanks to Gosford RC who always put on a wonderful OPM and have great, friendly members. Results can be found here: https://shooting.hexsystems.com.au/competition/monitor/236

And the Gosford write up: https://gdrc.centralcoastsports.com.au/gdrc-open-prize-shoot/ops-2019

Alan Patrick

Two weeks after the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama,  the Bathurst Rifle range was back in operation and humming for their annual Open Prize Meeting.  Bathurst is just under 3 hours away, but that was far enough away that only two intrepid Roseville RC members made the jaunt. Mark Buchanan was shooting in Target Rifle and Janet Beale in FTR.

The day was sunny without any sign of rain clouds; not surprising given the drought. The wind started out mild and increased a bit through the day – when it was blowing it was mostly coming straight across the range from the paddock to the right; and of course there was mirage to deal with once it warmed up. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds, there was some “twitchiness” to the fickle winds/mirage and, being a country range, the flies were ever present.

There were three details to the day’s events: two of 2+10 at 500yds, and one of 2+15 at 600yds.

Congrats to Mark who came 3^rd in 2 ranges (500yds and 600yds) and came 4^th overall in TR-A.

Congrats to Janet who came 1^st at 600yds and came 3^rd overall in FTR.

Certainly our country hosts did a great job – thanks to Bathurst RC for putting on this great event.

Janet Beale

In late Sept, the State F-Class teams headed nearly 4000km from Sydney to the lovely city of Perth and then headed north to the slightly less scenic Pinjar Range.  The Pinjar range is unusual in that the firing point is in a constant place near the modern club house and the butts are positioned in sections at various distances. A couple of other things that are quite noticeable are that the flies on the mound are ever present, the firing point (complete with artificial grass) is nicely sloped for TR (which becomes a bit awkward for rear bags for F-Class), and the terrain is very flat with not a lot of the lush green grass we are used to at Hornsby (but the wild flowers are very pretty).  One other major factor at Pinjar is the mirage!

The National F Class Team Matches commenced with Match One being shot at 900 metres. Match Two commenced with the winds making it interesting for all teams. In the NSW representative teams were the following Rosevillians:

• F-TR: Eva Patrick and Alan Patrick (with “Gosford Gary”)
• F-STD: Peter Walters

NSW tried hard but the winners were the Victorian F Open Team, West Australian F Standard team and Queensland FTR Team. Special congrats to the NSW FTR team that came 2^nd.

Staying on for the WARA Queens was Alan and Eva Patrick.

Roseville is very proud of our State team competitors!

Janet Beale