Nraa queens

[DaveMc]

Well done everyone once again. Rod, James, Glenn and Steve but also all other class winners and all participants

Steve Laz has had a great year so far - winning 2 Queens in a row with his 155 grain FTR rig (**competed in FS but beat the FTR scores in Townsville). A great display of coaching in the Transtasman match too.

Great work Stevo

[RAVEN]

Well done to all the winners
and from what I heard and saw an eventful competition and I'm sure many tails of woe
RB

[Steve N]

Congratulations to Rod and all the other winners. Special thanks to Rod Davies for his advice from even before day one. Mate you are a true champ! Big congratulations also to Lowell and Tony and especially the evergreen Barry Lewis!!
A terrific Queens that I thoroughly enjoyed (except for the last range) where it was great to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
Steve.

[RDavies]

Happy to be home after a big week of shooting and what a great week it was.
For the first 2 days of team shooting, the conditions were the worst I have seen Belmont so I was glad it was up to Steve Lazarus to wind our scopes through the extremely tricky conditions. We all got into some conditions at some stage which made our guns look terrible with shots going up and down all over the target which earned us withering stares from Field Marshal Bob Pederson and Uber coach Lazarus. Luckily when conditions changed, (some of) our guns shot well again (for about 10 minutes). There were some shots going well up and down into the 5 ring at 900 but the same guns shot great at 1000 and vice versa so something weird was happening out there. After shooting was done, it was good to catch up with all the Kiwi shooters over dinner to chat about how things are done across the pond. It was great to see the Kiwis come back this year and drag along a few more shooters with them.
The tricky conditions at the start of the lead up were a bit of a shock for those of us not used to those conditions, while the Kiwis felt at home in those conditions. The windy lead up helped those who usually shoot in calm conditions get some wind reading practice for the first 1 1/2 days of the Queens.
Fortunately for me, my guns were shooting well in the last 3 days so I was able to take advantage of the better conditions in the last day and a half. All of my lost shots were perfect 3 oclock or 9 oclock so I cant blame my gear for any dropped shots. (maybe I can blame horizontal stringing? ).
My favourite part of the last few days was the Mace Cup. 15 shots Bisley Style at 1000yds was great for a change of pace and all who competed in this match are hoping we will get to do more of it. Maybe S.A could add something similar at 900M to their Queens, or NSW and Canberra could do it at 800M????

[jasmay]

I'm with Rod, having taken out the Grand Agg. I was also invited to shoot the Mace Cup, and what a great time it was banging those 15 shots down Bisley Style, I'd like to see more of this creep in, perhaps even a local prize meet based on it!

The F-Class field size was immense, slightly bolstered by the NZ contingent, a couple of NRAA board members commented on this to me after the presentations, their words mirrored my thoughts, adapting to the change is difficult but is being managed as best they can, and its all happening a bit quicker than anyone would have believed, WELL DONE to the F-classers out there.

It was mentioned the Australian Target Rifle Magazine is taking a hit and may not be viable to continue in its current form due to a numbers decline, personally I did not subscribe this year due to it largely focusing on TR shooters, that said I will be contacting the relevant people and seeing what help could be offered to lift it and make it more attractive to us Scopies, I believe it could be quite a relevant magazine again given the correct input, what's everyone else's thoughts?

Thanks to all the attendees for a great shoot....

[Tim N]

Congrats to all winners!
The teams was a highlight for me and Steve Laz did a great job as did the other shooters.
As far as a magazine goes I think this site is the best magazine around for F Class shooters.

[RDavies]

I'm with Rod, having taken out the Grand Agg. I was also invited to shoot the Mace Cup, and what a great time it was banging those 15 shots down Bisley Style, I'd like to see more of this creep in, perhaps even a local prize meet based on it!

The F-Class field size was immense, slightly bolstered by the NZ contingent, a couple of NRAA board members commented on this to me after the presentations, their words mirrored my thoughts, adapting to the change is difficult but is being managed as best they can, and its all happening a bit quicker than anyone would have believed, WELL DONE to the F-classers out there.

It was mentioned the Australian Target Rifle Magazine is taking a hit and may not be viable to continue in its current form due to a numbers decline, personally I did not subscribe this year due to it largely focusing on TR shooters, that said I will be contacting the relevant people and seeing what help could be offered to lift it and make it more attractive to us Scopies, I believe it could be quite a relevant magazine again given the correct input, what's everyone else's thoughts?

Thanks to all the attendees for a great shoot....

If any local prize shoots decide to try the 15 shot Bisley format, let us know, I will try to bring a mob with me to attend.

As for the ATR magazine, I hope it can continue. There are often good F class relevant articles in it as well as general interest articles which will be of interest to all disciplines. If people want more F class articles in there, then, the journalistic types on here might be able to come up with something. Spencer Dunstal writes some good F class articles in there which are read by TR shooters as well and they answer many questions and dispel myths about the reality of F class.
Once my ATR magazines are a bit old, they often get surreptitiously left in doctors, dentists and mechanics waiting rooms nd work crib rooms among the old Womans Weekly magazines, who knows how many outsiders read them?

[Pommy Chris]

Congrats to Steve especially Great Queens.
I was getting horrible elevation ( group like 12 gauge) at the last 1000, which can be normal in Belmont but also in the Mace later in the day with no wind at all which was very strange as that barrel x rings at a 1000 so I need to look at that and work it out when I get home, something seems like it let go big time not sure what yet ho hum. Oh well there is always next time
Cant take it away from Steve though it is amazing what he did with 155,s, man he can shoot. Get yer next time mate congtats
Great to see so many F open and FTR too . I hope I can find time to get down there in August again, but I have a lot on, fingers crossed though I will do everything to get down there again if it is possible.
All the best
Chris

[bartman007]

Great job Boys and Girls.

Sounds like there were some challenging conditions to be had, and the cream rose to the top.

[Pommy Chris]

Congrats to Nikki Slee too who came second in ftr, only a few centers behind Steve, she got me by just one center
Good on you Nikki
I will be there for sure next year, Belmont is a great range IMO.
Chris

[MCLE]

Congrats to all the winners. Lots of fun and at times tricky conditions. As has been said a good roll up in Fclass. Liam was very happy to be able to shoot with the top FTR shooters and get advice and help from the best thanks to all. Liam only shot the Trans Tasman and the Lead up. The Trans Tasman was a heap of fun. And with Mark Fairbairn Coach and Rod Mahon Captain..We managed to win. Mark coached Liam to a 90.11 at 800y so Mark has a new job Now. Some fantastic sponsors from Jason Mayers ( Seb Australia ) and others. The Squading worked well I thought. And everyone shooting as close as possible is a good thing.

[MCLE]

Trans Tas Teams

[MCLE]

Trams Tas Team

[LoneRider]

great work guys and gals....
where did nick from the gemfields rifle club place ?
was norm there or just nick ?

as for the magazine...i would get it,but that would make club membership over $200 a yr [or very close too] cant afford that...

[ecomeat]

Full results here http://www.nraa.com.au/nraa-national-ch ... 6-results/
In the Queens, Nick was 4th in a field of 12, and was 8 points behind the winner.