New Texas matches

[mikecockcroft]

Thanks for the input from Oz. Keep the advice and pictures coming in. I believe this match format will be a ton of fun. I have been planning this for a couple years but other things got in the way.
We are working hard to make this a great match. Will be hard on the Aussies to be defeated by rookies but that's life I guess.

 

[Mega]

What sort of photos would you like..?? Just those of a Canberra match and/or 500M Fly in general. Not sure of the limit here for photos but I have a collection of dozens taken at those matches I have attended but different ranges around NSW.

I'd have to resize most as they are too big for the Forum here or I could email and let you pick what you would like.

Don't forget some photos of your own range to be used.

Hope you have a couple of lead up shoots to spark extra interest.

Example.. Looking uprange at Canberra on Friday being setup day with only a few that had arrived and set out flags. The far bank/row of targets is the 500 Metre line.



Competition day looking down the firing line.

 

[Mega]

Mr. Les Fraser at Wagga Wagga, NSW 500M Fly with his Heavy Gun, I believe it's a 300 Winchester Magnum.

 

[Mega]

Splash Plate (12" x 12" 500 Bisalloy) at 500 Metres practice run at home.



Batemans Bay NSW 500 Metre Fly. Targets on left, furthest line.



Is this the sort of stuff you'd like.. ??

Every range is so different, as are the weekends of shooting 500M Fly. Second days are either 300 Metre Centrefire or 200 Yard Rimfire Fly. Rimfire is another story of fun at Fly Shooting.

 

[Mega]

BTW Mike, in case you don't know how proud Mr. Fraser can be... In his hay day.

 

[comagutsa]

some of the records for your interest

Centrefire 500 metre Heavy Gun
Total Score 283.06 Les Fraser 29/10/2011 Batemans Bay NSW
Single Target Score 59.03 Paul Deehan 23/08/2014 Wagga Wagga NSW
Small Group .953" Paul Read 25/08/2013 Wagga Wagga NSW

Centrefire 500 metre Light Gun
Total Score 276.02 Les Fraser 30/08/2015 Wagga Wagga NSW
Single Target Score 59.04 Michael Bell 8/03/2014 Canberra Act **** this has now changed to Grant Grove and a score of 60 and shot at Little River in Victoria at the nationals this year (see pic below)
Small Group .598" Anthony Hall 27/08/2016 Wagga Wagga NSW




this is what our range looks like



but remember guys its all about fun and not what gun ya shoot.. i started with a 243 hunting rifle and did it for fun but as time when on i modified my weatherby vanguard over the years to get better and changed barrel to 6BR and this did great for years before i got my 1st custom gun built
we get blokes turning up with 223 hunting rifles to 300 win mag hunting rifles to custom from benchrest and F open class and its all about having fun and helping the blokes/ladies to improved

 

[Kurz]

Second days are either 300 Metre Centrefire or 200 Yard Rimfire Fly. Rimfire is another story of fun at Fly Shooting.

I think the Rimfire portion of a day would be an absolute treat when compared to shooting the longer ranges with the bigger cartridges. I can see it as a training session also, both for the big kids and the slightly younger group...

Regards.

 

[Mega]

I think the Rimfire portion of a day would be an absolute treat when compared to shooting the longer ranges with the bigger cartridges. I can see it as a training session also, both for the big kids and the slightly younger group...

Regards.

To explain, for me to go to any competition shoot is a 4-5 hour drive and being an older (67yo) person that has disabilities it's not an easy task like when I was younger and could go do that trip at the drop of a hat just for a day's outing. I did like to take it easy and drive on the Friday to arrive at a match to setup/practise and then relax for a weekend then drive home on the Monday.

Typical of a 500M Fly Shoot is that the 500M Centrefire is on Saturday, all day. Then on the Sunday is the 200 Yard Rimfire. Both events not all on the one day. Sunday is usually over by mid afternoon so the younger fit crew can drive home at a reasonable hour and get ready for work the next day. Some travel 8-12 hours to get to these events. They really are a great deal of fun as well as very serious target competition.

I do not have a Rimfire Target Rifle. I used my 1965 Brno Model 2 Rabbit Gun against some very serious equipment and surprised not only myself but a lot of others when I spent most of the day in the top 10 shooters out of some 50 others. What a blast and fun it was.

A mentor of mine (International Shooter for Australia) said to me once that the best way to learn to read conditions (wind & mirage) was to shoot long range rimfire, I think even practise at home here on my small farm with this .22LR pays off.

It's great to take off the hearing protection and shoot 200 yards with the sub-velocity ammo.

Not sure if it happens over your way but here one of the better parts is after the shoot, sitting around a campfire having a yarn with new and old friends talking...mostly how bad one did or sparking off how well their day went. Might be a few chops, steak or even "toss a shrimp" on the BBQ...perhaps a burnt piece of toast.... all tastes great. Shrimp here at home is a "Yabbie" which is a Freshwater Prawn caught in the local farm dam... even at Canberra there is a dam where a few tried their luck...

Fly Shooting is the fun / serious part of Benchrest Shooting.

Hope you all really get in the spirit and enjoy.

The "Fly" Rules should be printed on the bottom left corner of targets. Rule 10 is "Any competitor found not enjoying themselves will be disqualified"

The target on the left is what is used for the Club 300 Metre Fly Shoot... Wagga Wagga NSW Target.

 

[Mega]

BTW Chaps....

It's "500 Metre" not "Meter". A meter is an instrument used to measure things, metre is a metric length... Wink Wink... Bloody Yanks, can't spell english.

 

[X-Caveman]

This is going to be awesome, and probably very humbling. Can't wait. Should be good for the TX smiths. 16.9# rifle builds galore.

 

[Mega]

This is going to be awesome, and probably very humbling. Can't wait. Should be good for the TX smiths. 16.9# rifle builds galore.

Sorry, I'm just a dumb old Aussie... But ... What does"16.9# rifle builds galore" mean... ??

Humbling, I don't know. You guys may just show us a thing or two. Who knows. The big pity is you are so far away, would be top notch if we could bring ourselves over to you or even vis versa and all shoot on the one day at the one location. Now that, would be awesome.

 

[Mega]

Count me in,
BTW do we have to talk like Aussie's? This is gonna be fun.."come from the land down under" melody in my head now...
Haha

Gonna have to slap a other rifle together for this one.

Yep, and don't forget to bring your own Shrimp to put on the BBQ.

Maybe you might need Paul Hogan to show you how it's done....

 

[X-Caveman]

Sorry, I'm just a dumb old Aussie... But ... What does"16.9# rifle builds galore" mean... ??

Humbling, I don't know. You guys may just show us a thing or two. Who knows. The big pity is you are so far away, would be top notch if we could bring ourselves over to you or even vis versa and all shoot on the one day at the one location. Now that, would be awesome.

I'm guessing that guys will build rifles particularly for the game. 16.9# to make light gun. Many of the Texans that do well in our unofficial clay matches shoot heavy rigs. No weight limits in that game. No sighters, either so there's been a trend towards the 7s ( though 6 and 6.5 still win a lot)

I think a fast shooting 6BR improved may be the ticket for this game. That is until I do terribly with it. Ha.

 

[Mega]

Sorry, it must be the language barrier... so 16.9# means 16.9lbs to be under the 17lbs weight limit... Gotcha...

Unless it's really bad wild conditions the "Light Gun" Class can really outscore the Heavy Gun. Typical calibres that do well are the 6mm like 6mmBR, 6mmDasher, BRX etc. The 6.5 like 6.5x47L has won a couple of matches and has shown it's very worthy. Boy, the cost of building a "Heavy Gun" class is way out of my league / expensive.

BTW... The 500M Fly competition. I see Mike mention in his opening post about talking with Les from the 500M Fly Shooting Association... well, there is no such thing. In Australia we have two main bodies being the NRAA (National Rifle Association of Australia) and the SSAA (Sporting Shooters Association Australia).

The 500M Fly competition is a "Sub Discipline" of the SSAA's Benchrest Discipline and goes under those rules for 500M Fly in combination with the normal Benchrest Rules.

 

[mikecockcroft]

My bad. I will figure out how your "Fly shooting association " is set up eventually.
Les and Anthony have been very helpful in this endeavor. They didn't claim to be in charge but when I hit the contact button on the website it sent email to Les.
Over here on the Texas continent, the private range owners get together and set up schedules for claybird matches from distances of 250 to 600 hundred yards. Hopefully fly shooting will catch on with our core group and we can have several matches at Pine Valley next year and gain more participants as we go. Starting these matches has been a goal of mine for several years.
We speak and write "Texan" so there may be a language barrier to over come.

 

[Judd]

Mike - I don't care which one you associate with as long as they allow us to shoot with a brake. I don't own a rifle without one and not real interested in tuning a barrel with one removed

 

[Thud]

16.9 lbs should be easy to make.
Most of our heavy guns have weight in the stocks.
May just need a different stock setup.
think about it.

 

[X-Caveman]

16.9 lbs should be easy to make.
Most of our heavy guns have weight in the stocks.
May just need a different stock setup.
think about it.

Lew, I think my wife hacked your account. I need a new rifle!!! How dare you suggest otherwise.

 

[mikecockcroft]

Hey travis,
I was wanting to use my existing target frames but I do like the target frame and sighter plate shown in one of the photos.
I might rethink my setup. Need to get to range and make a decision and try the plate you sent.
What weekend of each month is open for practice days?? I need to post open range practice days. We could shoot a few targets on the Saturday's after the pig matches.
Have met with printer and have quote for target cost. Trying to make sure the paper we use will hold up if it gets wet. Having trouble getting the exact color paper as used on target from Australia

 

[Kings X]

16.9 lbs should be easy to make.
Most of our heavy guns have weight in the stocks.
May just need a different stock setup.
think about it.

Vicki might just shoot your old PD gun. I'll check the weight. Missed you at VFS today.