Re: Calling all Aussies
Gents,
Pictures are being written to disk and I should have them in hand by weeks end. I will post them asap.
Sunday marked the first official Practical Rifle Match in Canberra. I arrived a little after 8am to find a number of very keen shooters ready and waiting to get stuck in. Introductions were made and as said before it was great to be able to put some faces to names. Ultimately we had 14 shooters turn up, some local and some interstate. Simon Ross conducted the registration and provided a thorough overview of the day. We then split into 3 squads with one team working the targets and scoring, another shooting and a 3rd spectating or acting as RO’s for the shooting squad.
I was pleased to be part of the first shooting squad as the conditions proved to worsen as the day wore on (how sad for those shooters!). Two sighters @ 700m and then we were into our first COF, having observed an obvious wind change between sighters and the scoring rounds left me unsure how I had done, this feeling followed me the entire match but I knew all were in the same boat. For those used to getting visual feedback on their targets shooting blind can weigh on the mind and cause some second guessing.
We grabbed our gear and walked down to the 400m mound, at this point our RO decided to spring a little surprise on us, instead of starting comfortably in the prone position we would retreat to 500m. It was explained that we would have 30 (I’m told he gave us 40) seconds before the first target exposure. In that time we were to run from 500m, reach our firing positions and engage targets for 2 x 15 second exposures for 5 rounds per exposure. Sounds simple...(a special mention must go to an unnamed shooter, who despite completing a text book ninja roll face-plant kick-slap manoeuvre still managed to get into position and put all rounds on target via his AI!)
300m introduced all to the agony snap, named as such since one must stay ready and focused for the entire 10 min, one scratch of the nose or stretch of the neck can cost you a missed target. In this COF targets appear at random intervals over a 10 min period with targets exposed for 3 seconds only. I didn’t realise how much my head weighed until I shot this COF.
200m began the first positional shooting COF and consisted of firing 2 shots from the seated position at a target exposed for 10 seconds. Many shooters commented on the difficulty of this COF and I think a lot was learnt, I certainly took some hard lessons from it. I feel some dumbbells, good slings and thinner profile barrels might get purchased as a result of this COF.
Moving to 100m involved 10 rounds over 60sec, starting standing up behind the rife before moving into the prone position, there were some “cooking” barrels and impressive groups on target after this COF.
At 50 meters we fired one round on a target exposed 5 x 5 seconds for a total of 5 shots. This was done from the standing position, a lot of shooters cleaned this COF despite 15lb + rifles and high mag scopes.
All up it was a extremely fun and challenging shoot and I’m sure the start of bigger and better events to come. There are some people I would like to thank.
Simon Ross put a lot of time into designing the COF, producing the flyer the scoring material and coordinating the bookings for this match. Simon also briefed everyone prior to the shoot and acted as a RO when he was not shooting. Who says tall circus freaks can’t be useful. Top job all round Simon and congrats on the win....Steak is on you next time!
Dave Groves pours a huge amount of his time into a host of shooting sports here in Canberra, always the first to lend a hand he spent a couple hours on Saturday prepping targets. On top of this Dave managed to arrange range access for this shoot that simply would not have been possible without his involvement. Dave just happens to be a ridiculously good shot so I displayed undisguised joy when the winds picked up prior to his squad’s session!
Rob Griffith shot our match and kindly sponsored an excellent prize. Rob produces hand made packs, shooting mats and a host of other gear, he is able to custom tailor gear to suit and we were extremely pleased when he donated one of his packs for 2nd place. Rob, once the pack is in hand and I have used it for a few weeks I will review it on this forum and others.
Jason Hillier & wife Adina deserve special mention. They woke at 4am Sunday to drive down from Sydney, and despite not shooting they took photos, helped with scoring and took a bunch of questions about their business. Jason donated an awesome $450 worth of Cerakoting for 1st place. Thanks for your efforts guys you have set the standard for future sponsors and I look forward to seeing you on the line next match.
Final Placing (max score = 275)
Name, Score Percentage (%)
Simon R 260 100%
Clyde R 256 98%
Brian K 255 98%
Robert G 219 84%
David G 213 82%
David E 206 79%
Darren L 174 67%
David V 168 65%
Sam V 157 60%
Mathew T 152 58%
Greg T 131 50%
Paul K 91 35%
Max B 57 22%
David T 28 11%
Gary B 0%
We are looking forward to seeing you all back to join us for the next shoot. We are hoping to get 30 shooters and I will update on dates ASAP.
Sponsors:
JASON HILLIER
Accredited CERAKOTE Applicator
Mob: 0488 625 969
Email:
[email protected]
D/L: 410043337
Web:
http://adja.com.au/
ROB GRIFFITH
GriffGear
Mob: 0418 285 431
Email:
[email protected]
D/L: 02 9785 2625
Web:
http://www.griffgear.com/
Cheers,
Rath
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