Roseville Rifle Club Australia

Archive for the ‘News’ Category

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We are all very proud of you.

Janet Beale.

Good Afternoon Rosevillians,

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

This Sat 20/6 – Hornsby Range Shooting Arrangements

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

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

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

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

Breach Flags

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

New Member – Adrian Bonanni

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

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

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

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

2020 AGM – Sat 27/6

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

Annual Awards Presentation Day

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

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

Fellow Members,

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

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

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

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

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

Kind Regards,

Michael Cuda
Captain Roseville Rifle Club

2020 NSDRA OPM Flyer

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

The NSWRA 143^rd Open Championships (the NSW Queens and the McIntosh) was shot from 9^th to 13^th October. Numbers from Roseville this year were a bit down due to

1. a) a lot of people having just returned from the WARA Queens & F-Class team championships and
2. b) others who were unavailable due to work or family commitments.

The intrepid Rosevillians that started in the leadup (McIntosh) were Mark Buchanan (TR-A), Phill Hodder (TR-A), Rob Trodden (TR-B), Ian Palmer (FTR), Allan Humbert (FTR) and  Janet Beale (FS-B).

The McIntosh was challenging with strong winds from the West and rain constantly threatening. Congratulations to Mark, Phill, Rob, Ian and Allan who each got at least one 1^st place range prize in the McIntosh. Below are the positions at the end of each day and the grand aggregate for the McIntosh.

Mark :  3rd day 1 / 1st day 2 / 2nd McIntosh   Phill : 10th day 1 / 11th day 2 / 9th McIntosh   Rob : 10thday 1 / 10th day 2 / 10th McIntosh   Ian : 1st day 1 / 2nd day 2 / 2nd McIntosh   Allan : 4th day 1 / 4th day 2 / 4th McIntosh   Janet : 4th day 1 / 1st day 2 / 2nd McIntosh

Roseville certainly enjoyed the tough conditions at the McIntosh leadup and looked forward to the next days of the Queen’s competition with Sam Houston and Michael Cuda joining the Roseville representatives.  However, the winds changed and to say they became fickle was an understatement. With winds coming up from the south, the flags full and the unpredictable “strong right wind” moving to “strong left wind” mid-shoot (and back again) the decimation was noticeable amongst the non-Malabar veterans.

Home range advantage reared its head leaving the Roseville contingent outside of most medals for Day 1 and Day 2 of the Queens. Michael Cuda unfortunately retired on Day 2 but he did not go home empty handed as he had won a 1^st place range prize on Day 1. Fortunately, Day 3 of the Queens was far kinder; 800m and 1/4 min of wind with the occasional puff meant scores reverted to some semblance of normality. Congrats to Janet who won a 1^st place range prize on Day 3.

Congrats to Mark and Ian who each came 2^nd in the Grand Aggregate in their respective disciplines – tough conditions but they prevailed!

(Special congrats to FTR Queens winner Gary Faulkner (aka “Gosford Gary”)  who was shooting under Roseville’s colours).

Roseville entered a TR team in the prestigious Sargard Teams match and also an F Std Team, but due to the lack of any other teams entered in F Class they unfortunately couldn’t compete. This year the match was held on the last day of the Queen’s at 800m. Scores for the TR team were:

Mark 73.7

Phill 71.8

Rob 66.3

Sam 68.2

Janet Beale

7^th of July dawned and many Rosevillian’s were competing in the City vs Country competition held at Malabar. Due to heavy fog, the day stared out with everyone relaxing and just waiting for the time when the flags and eventually the targets would become visible. Not even the whales from the previous day could be seen. As a result of the delay at the start, the competition was modified to 10+2 shots at each of 500, 600 and 800m (dropping the 700m range altogether).

The City Target Rifle team was captained & Coached by Jim Bailey (Holsworthy RC) with additional coaching by Peter Thurtell (also of MDRA) and Michael Millen (Mosman Neutral Bay RC). The team included our own Phill Hodder, Pat Jacombs and Adam Beale as reserve (oh yes there were other people there from other clubs too!). Due to illness on Phill’s part, Adam and Phill swapped places so Adam was the shooter and Phill the reserve. The team did well beating their Country competitors by 9 points, although Country had a higher centre count. This was the first time City has prevailed over Country in a long time.

The City F-Std team was captained and coached by our Club Captain Michael Cuda. They scored an emphatic victory over the Country team for the first time in recent memory. Roseville competitors in that team included Michael Cuda (Captain and Coach), Peter Walters and Alan Humbert.

The City F-TR team was captained and coached by our own Gary Faulkner. They scored a repeat back-to-back victory over the Country team. Roseville made up the bulk of the 5 person team which included Alan Patrick, Eva Patrick and Janet Beale.

The F-open City team did not have any Roseville members but for the record, the Country team prevailed in that discipline.

Everyone enjoyed the resulting sunny day; particularly the wind coaches after the lunchtime wind change which saw an on-shore relatively consistent breeze for the 800m mound. The presentation of the medals to the 3 City teams was a bonus with all Roseville competitors coming home with a medal to show for the day’s outing. Special congrats to Michael Cuda and Gary Faulkner for taking their respective teams to victory.

Janet Beale

Belmont Rifle Range in Brisbane – the home of the QRA Queens and related competitions which was held in the first week of August. Representing Roseville was initially Dmitri Kazakov later joined by Adam Beale and Janet Beale; then later for the Queens they were joined by Michael Cuda and Mark Buchanan.

In the Brisbane Rifle OPM – Dmitri came 1^st in all three ranges and took home the overall 1^st place in TR-B

In the MDRA OPM – Dmitri and Adam competed in TR-A against some fierce competition. Janet competed in FS-B taking home a 2^nd place range prize and 3^rd place overall.

Archer trophy 1000yds – Dmitri came 2^nd in TR-B; Adam came 10^th in TR-A

F-class Challenge 1000yds  – Adam came 1^st in FS-B (but was not allowed to win); Janet came 2^nd in FS-B

The Duncan is the leadup competition and Adam and Dmitri were both shooting in TR-B; Janet was in FS-B. The Duncan has details as follows: two at 500yds, two at 600yds, one at 900yds and one at 1000yds. The two days had pretty normal winds which mostly changed direction at lunch time so you didn’t want to get caught in the “washing machine” during the changeover.

• In TR-B the competition was very strong and very deep with 25 competitors from places all around Australia and quite a few from international destinations (Japan and NZ).  Adam came home with two 3^rd place range prizes and 1 daily 3^rd place prize and coming 4^th overall. He was followed closely by Dmitri who came a very strong 6^th place only 2 points behind.
• In FS-B there were fewer competitors (15 in total). Janet came home with a pair of 1^st place range prizes and a pair of 3^rd place range prizes plus Day One 2^nd place and Day Two 1^st place aggregate prizes and the overall Duncan 1^st place for FS-B.

The QRA Queens has details as follows: 300yds, 500yds, two at 600yds, two at 800yds, two at 900yds and two at 1000yds. The first two days were pretty reasonable winds which mostly changed direction at lunch time.  But, for the last day shooting at 1000yds, the winds became exceptionally strong and the word “carnage” comes to mind. Such was the wind on that final day that the FS-A top score of the day was 105-1 out of a max 120-20 and only 1 FS-A competitor had more than 4 centres for the day! It was horrendously challenging! So this is how Roseville went over the Queens:

• There were 61 competitors in TR-A and Mark did exceptionally well on day 1 shooting three possibles; but the competition in A-Grade was phenomenally tough to overcome.
• In TR-B, Dmitri and Adam each took home a 1^st place and a 2^nd place range prize, but Dmitri also took home the Day 1 aggregate 2^nd place prize.
• In FS-A, Michael  took home a pair of 2^nd place and a pair of 3^rd place range prizes, as well as the Day 1 aggregate 3^rd place prize.
• In FS-B, Janet took home a pair of 1^st place range prizes, the Day 2 aggregate 1^st place, Day 3 aggregate 1^st place and overall Queens 1^st place as well as the Grand Aggregate 1^st place.

Roseville’s small contingent certainly left their mark on Queensland!

Janet Beale

David was a wonderful man, a true gentlemen in every sense and an inspirational person who excelled in all aspects of his life. David was a loving family man and active in the community with his local church – he and wife Chris created a very successful printing business which they sold, allowing David to retire several years ago. He enjoyed a variety of different shooting disciplines and competed at an elite level including World Championships, Olympics and Commonwealth Games – of course most of us know David as a member of Roseville Rifle Club being a top A Grade full bore TR rifle shooter.

He was always an enthusiastic club member and regularly volunteered for duties around the club and on the range, often acting as Butts Officer and being involved in working bees and more recently our clubhouse renovations. He was particularly well known for sharing his shooting expertise and mentoring new and young shooters, so his passing will be mourned by many in the shooting community. Whilst many of our members had the good fortune of being mentored by David, our current Vice Captain Phill Hodder was lucky enough to have received one on one training for an extended period of time that resulted in Phill honing his skills to become one the best TR shooters in the district and going on to win the Champion of Champions match a few years ago, as well as OPMs and other events. Of course Phill himself is an excellent mentor for many of our younger shooters, no doubt enriched by his experiences with David.

One of the unique traits of David was his humility, he never boasted about the fact that he competed at an elite level, rather he always focused on how he could shoot better and also help other shooters improve their skills.

David is survived by his wife Chris and daughter Elizabeth, so our thoughts go out to them at this difficult time.

Farewell old friend, you will always have a special place in our hearts and we will all miss you dearly…..

Wingham is the probably the largest OPM in NSW outside of a Queens and it didn’t disappoint this year as there were over 100 shooters that attended the 2019 Wingham OPM on 8-9 June. While the Sydney rains put some people off attending, Wingham had cloud on Saturday with little to no wind and sunshine with a slight breeze and some mirage on Sunday. From Roseville we had Target Riflers:

• A Grade: Mark Buchanan, Pat Jacombs
• B Grade: Angus Langsford, Rob Trodden, and Adam Beale
• C Grade: Oliver Bishop

And in F-Class:

• F-Std-A: Peter Walters
• F-Std-B: Dmitri Kazakov, and Janet Beale.

This was Rob’s first OPM in almost 2 years  – good to see you back in competition Rob!  This was Oliver Bishops 1^st OPM ever. Phill Hodder was also attending to help coach the Shore boys who are also members of RRC (this coaching role was very useful when he had to perform “emergency surgery” on Oliver Bishop’s rifle and trigger). Peter Walters retired after day 1 due to food-related illness but has recovered since then. Phil Jacombs was photographer and supporter of all.

Such was the level of competition that on Day 1, if you were in Target Rifle A Grade and you had dropped a single point then you would be in 11^th position or lower! Congrats are extended to Jim Bailey and Mitch Bailey of Holsworthy who came 1^st / 2^nd in the grand aggregate! Overall, our Roseville people represented the club in fine form and many came home with medals or awards:

In target Rifle:

• Mark B: 1^stplace range prize against very steep competition
• Adam B: three 1^stplace range prizes, a 2^nd place range prize, a daily aggregate 1^st place trophy and then 2^nd place prize in the grand aggregate
• Angus L: a 3^rdplace range prize and a 3^rd place in the daily aggregate prize.
• Oliver B: a 2^ndplace range prize

In F-Class:

• Dmitri K: two 2^ndplace range prizes, a 3^rd place range prize, a daily aggregate 1^st place trophy
• Janet B: two 1^stplace range prizes, a 3^rd place range prize, two daily aggregate 2^nd place trophies, and then 1^st place prize in the grand aggregate.

 Well done to all our RRC shooters and special congrats to Janet Beale on her first FStd-B Grade win!!!

Adam Beale