The second day of the Australian Match Rifle Championships at Stawell treated the shooters to another fine day with variable winds to provide an appropriate challenge. The challenge was enhanced by starting at the longest distance (1200 yards) and working forwards to 1100 then 1000 yards as the day progressed, the reverse of the usual course of fire.
Those in the early details at 1200 yards had the advantage of the typically lighter winds that are often a feature of early morning shoots, with the wind gathering strength as the sun heats the land in uneven patches (open grassland heats more quickly that forested areas, creating pressure differences that generate variable winds). Early morning thin cloud cover meant no useful mirage and shooters had to rely on the limited information presented by the small number of flags set along (and heavily sheltered by) the treeline on either side of the range. Fortunately, of the 5 wind flags, 4 are on the left, which was the direction from which the wind was coming.
One of the 6 squads of shooters, drawn at random, features 7 members of the GB team and just 2 Australians. Four of the 6 top scores at this longest distance came from this one target, with Charles Dickenson (second down) setting the early pace with a 74.5v (ex 75.15v). The next shooter on the target was David Lindsay who matched the score. Next down was John Lindsay, lying second overall after the first day, a position he had established as his own in the Shipwreck Coast 1000 yards Challenge. He was clearly on top form and continued in that vein to post the first ‘possible’ of the day with 75.8v. He was followed on the target by Julian Peck. Evidently determined not to be outdone he quickly asserted his domination with a 75.9v to win the range. Sandwiched between these 4 in the top 6 were two Australians, Shane Courtney with 74.8v and Nick Cock with 74.4v.
In order to speed progress, it had been decided to dispense with breaks for morning tea and lunch, with these being available in the clubhouse for people as and when they had a break between their shooting and scoring details.
Moving forward to 1100 yards, the sun had come out and the winds had strengthened and become more variable, with the angle sometimes shifting from across the range to straight down the range. At least, with the sun, some mirage had appeared, though reading it was not always easy. Although now closer to the targets, the fickle wind kept scores comparable to 1200 yards, with only one possible, from the overnight leader (and winner of the Shipwreck Coast Challenge) Ashley Abrahams with 75.5. There were 8 scores of 74, headed by Fergus Flanagan with 10 Vs, closely followed by Zoe Woodroffe with 9 Vs. 7, 6 or 5 V 74s were also scored by 4 Australians (Peter Maher, Paul Monaghan, Shane Courtney and David Rich) and two other Brits, Julian Peck (whose 149.16v left him heading the field on the day’s aggregate to that point) and Nick Tremlett, the latter using a borrowed rifle after concluding that the barrel on his own rifle had finally worn out and ceased to group.
Although 1000 yards is normally the easiest distance, with the target being proportionately larger and the wind having less time to affect the bullet’s flight, by shooting it in the afternoon rather than in the calm of the morning, the wind had a significantly greater influence than usual and, once again, scores were kept relatively low. Nevertheless, there were five possibles and thirteen 74s from the 43 competitors. Charles Dickenson, Jon Sweet and Fergus Flanagan tied for the lead, all on 75.8v, with Charles’s 4 V finish counting out the other two to top score the range. Australians Chris Hallorran and Brian Wingrove were the other possibles on 6 and 5 Vs respectively. The 74s were headed up by Derek Lowe and Zoe Woodroffe, both with an outstanding 12 Vs from their 15 shots.
Julian Peck was one of the other 74s, bringing his total for the day to 223.24v (ex 225.45v), enough to take the day’s aggregate by 1 point from Fergus Flanagan and Charles Dickenson, both on 222 with 26 and 19 Vs respectively. Brits filled 10 of the top 11 places on the Day 2 aggregate, with David Rich the sole Australian in 5th place on 221.19v. Ahead of him, in 4th place, was Zoe Woodroffe on 221 with a phenomenal 29 Vs. Full results of Day 2 of the Australian Championships can be found here.
Combining the Day 1 and 2 aggregates for the overall aggregate to date saw Brits filling the top 10 places, with Ashley Abrahams retaining his overall lead on 445.37v, opening the gap to 2 points over John Lindsay who was joined on 443.43v by the day’s winner, Julian Peck. Jon Sweet in 4th place is 3 points further back and chased by four people on 439 (Gary Alexander, Derek Lowe, David Lindsay and Norman Clark). The full standings after the first and second day of the Australian Match Rifle Championships can be found here. There is still all to play for over the next 2 days, especially with the forecast rain that could play havoc with scores.