IHMSA/SSAA Handgun Metallic Silhouette National Championships
4-6, 8-10 October 2008
Hosted by SSAA Eagle Park Sporting Complex, Little River, Vic

SSAA Victorian President Bob Cooper fires the first
shot to open the competition. The 28th National Championships of IHMSA Australia Inc is over, but certainly not forgotten. It was one of the best representations of Handgun Metallic Silhouette shooters all together in one place that we have seen for quite some time. With the exception of the Northern Territory, every Australian state was represented. There were 40 competitors who shot a total of 426 matches: 152 in Small Bore, 63 in Field Pistol and 211 in Big Bore. In the Small Bore, Field Pistol and Big Bore categories contested, there were 15 different matches shot. Of the 40 competitors, there were seven who elected to shoot all 15 matches and four who shot 14 matches, while the majority shot between 10 and 12 matches all up. They were certainly very busy over the six days of competition. While being tiring, the week was enjoyed by all those who made the trek to Little River.

Many thanks must go to the Victorian boys - Mick, Lance, James, Peter, John and Les - for the preparatory work they had done to convert the Military Rifle Range to a Handgun Metallic Silhouette Range. It was no mean feat when the closest anyone lives is around one and a half hours away. Those who turned up for the first time on practice day probably had to hold their chins up for a while to stop the mouth gaping, as not many shooters had ever experienced a range without mounds behind the animals before. Also, it was blowing a gale while they tried to get sight settings. A couple of interstate shooters decided to go for a walk to see what other ranges were on the complex while waiting for practice to start and ended up walking up the hill behind the range and down the other side - ‘quite a view’ was the main statement.

Small Bore and Field Pistol
The first part of the competition started with SSAA Victoria President Bob Cooper firing the first shot to open the competition. So far the weather was good; it was sunny with only a little wind. Some decided to shoot as many of their Standing matches as possible in case the wind came back and come back it did.

The second day was overcast with some showers and quite blowy. The last day for Small Bore and Field Pistol was unbelievable, with driving rain, wind and lots of hail. Luckily, it was only very small hail, but it made shooting conditions very difficult while the temperature continued to plummet. Turkeys and rams had to be clamped to keep them upright and those who were unfortunate to get range duties had to brave the rain, wind and hail to check to see if the animals had hits on them. Most of us older competitors had trouble even seeing the targets in the conditions let alone hitting them. Then, along came one of the younger shooters, Cheyne Fischer, to shoot Unlimited and he missed the first chicken and then proceeded to knock over the next 39 targets! By the time the shoot-offs started, the rain had started to clear and even the wind had eased off some. Cheyne managed to take the Production shoot-off from Terry Jolly, while Wayne Christian rolled Cheyne in the Unlimited shoot-off.

The best part about the Presentation dinner that night was the fireplace - after only a short while inside it was definitely jumpers off! After warming up and having a good time, everyone headed back to their respective motel, cabin, caravan, camper trailer or tent to make the most of a sleep-in before the Big Bore practice day.

Big Bore
The Big Bore competition started with the weather being very dark, overcast and nothing short of freezing! I, for one, had to get used to shooting in about an extra three layers of clothes in order to keep warm while on the line. I even resorted to lined plastic pants over the jeans to keep the wind and rain out - a bike clip around the shooting leg came in very handy. One of the funniest sights on the first day of Big Bore was the WA shooters dressed all in black lined up one behind the other doing the penguin walk along the firing line. You had to be present to realise just how appropriate this was. During all this, SSAA Handgun Metallic Silhouette National Discipline Chairman Russell Mowles managed to shoot the first 40 of the match in Production. This was never equalled.

Day two dawned with fewer clouds, but the wind arrived as usual about the time shooting started. Some of the recorded scores do not reflect what was actually shot in that the majority of shooters ‘rang’ rams and so these couldn’t be counted as they didn’t fall over. All rams were set correctly on topple point, but the fact that the range was so open and the wind was blowing downrange from behind the rams meant that as the bullet struck the front the wind pushed from behind and so the rams stayed on the rail. There would have had to have been more than 50 rams that stood over the three days of Big Bore competition. It didn’t matter what calibre you shot - .44 Magnum, 7TCU or 7BR - you just couldn’t predict whether they would fall or not. So, while some shooters handed in score sheets with 38, they may well have hit 40 targets!

Big Bore Top Gun and Aggregate winners, L to R: Mick Arden (Standing), Greg
Dawson (Unl Standing), Cheyne Fischer (Unlimited and Unl Half Scale), Wayne
Christian (Revolver), Terry Jolly (Open 4 and 10 Match Agg), Russell Mowles
(Production), Dave Larvin (Unl Any Sights), Bob Midworth (Unl Any Sight Half Scale). Day three couldn’t have been better - shorts and T-shirt weather. There were a number of 40s shot this day - five in Unlimited by Cheyne Fischer, Russell Mowles, Terry Jolly, Noel Warner and myself and another five in Unlimited Any Sight by Dave Larvin, Noel Warner, Barry Whitford, Dave Robinson and Joseph BrajkoVich. The ‘fun’ started for all these shooters with the commencement of the shoot-offs. Yes, you guessed it - the wind, or should I say gale, seemed to blow worse than it had all week. It often took three goes to sort out the placings, for the shooters to find out how many clicks of windage they needed and for the spotter to work out whether the projectiles were going high or low when they missed. Once again, if you scored a Top Gun Ram, it was well deserved.

The Big Bore dinner was also held at the range and all competitors were in attendance. This made for a very relaxing night with no rain and lots of good company.

Thanks to Russell Mowles for once again looking after the prize table. Other substantial contributions towards the prize table came from the SSPC Springvale, SSAA National and John Miall. Included in the prizes were a .300 Whisper barrel and a SSAA swag. The barrel was won by Cheyne Fischer and the swag by Barry Whitford. A huge round of applause must be given to Johanna and Brian Marsden for their efforts in doing the scoring for all 15 events over the six days of competition. Last, but not least, thank you to all those who hung around on the final afternoon and helped dismantle all the barricades and put everything away. Thanks again to the Victorians for supplying such a new and challenging range. I’m sure we will be back there in the years to come.

by John Harding

Scroll down or click to go to: Small Bore - Field Pistol - Big Bore

Small Bore - Production
INT					AAA
1.	Terry Jolly	WA	38		1.	Cheyne Fischer	ACT	38
2.	Wayne Christian	ACT	37		2.	Lance Phillips	Vic	37
3.	Barry Whitford	SA	36		3.	Joseph BrajkoVich	WA	36
AA					A
1.	Mick Arden	IC	36		1.	John Leckie	Vic	25
2.	Greg Dawson	NSW	30		2.	Dominic Piscioneri	WA	24
3.	David Robinson	WA	27		3.	James Moore	Vic	22
B					C
1.	Bruce Taylor	SA	15		1.	Michael Campion	Vic	17
					2.	Kim Smeschkal	WA	9

Small Bore - Revolver
INT					AAA
1.	Judy Harding	Qld	38		1.	Terry Jolly	WA	37
2.	Russell Mowles	Qld	33		2.	Barry Whitford	SA	36
3.	John Harding	Qld	32		3.	Geoff Edwards	NSW	35
AA					A
1.	Cheyne Fischer	ACT	34		1.	Bruce Taylor	SA	24
2.	Bob Midworth	SA	30		2.	Michael Smeschkal	WA	21
3.	Les Parker	Vic	29		3.	John Chomik	SA	20
B					C
1.	Lee Harding	WA	17		1.	John Leckie	Vic	12
					2.	Kim Smeschkal	WA	11

Small Bore - Standing
INT					AAA
1.	Wayne Christian	ACT	26		1.	Mick Arden	Vic	29
2.	Lance Phillips	Vic	22		2.	Brian Marsden	NSW	28
					3.	Judy Harding	Qld	26
AA					A
1.	Dominic Piscioneri	WA	24		1.	Dave Larvin	SA	19
2.	Joseph BrajkoVich	WA	24		2.	Peter Mannu	Vic	17
3.	Cheyne Fischer	ACT	21		3.	Lee Harding	WA	11
B
1.	Michael Campion	Vic	12
2.	John Leckie	Vic	7

Small Bore - Unlimited
INT					AAA
1.	Wayne Christian	ACT	39		1.	Cheyne Fischer	ACT	39
2.	Russell Mowles	Qld	37		2.	Joseph BrajkoVich	WA	38
3.	Rob Abel	Tas	36		3.	Terry Jolly	WA	37
AA					A
1.	Peter Mannu	Vic	36		1.	Bruce Taylor	SA	21
2.	Michael Smeschkal	WA	35		2.	Lee Harding	WA	21
3.	David Robinson	WA	35
B					C
1.	John Leckie	Vic	28		1.	Kim Smeschkal	WA	21
2.	Dominic Piscioneri	WA	26

Small Bore - Unlimited Any Sights
INT					AAA
1.	Joseph BrajkoVich	WA	39		1.	Terry Jolly	WA	39
2.	Noel Warner	SA	38		2.	Les Parker	Vic	39
3.	Wayne Christian	ACT	38		3.	Dave Larvin	SA	37
AA
1.	Dominic Piscioneri	WA	38
2.	John Chomik	SA	36
3.	Geoff Edwards	NSW	33

Small Bore - Top Guns
Production	Cheyne Fischer	38+3
Revolver	Judy Harding	38
Standing	Mick Arden	29
Unlimited	Wayne Christian	39+3
Unl Any Sights	Terry Jolly	39+3

Small Bore - State Team Medals
Production					Revolver
ACT	75	Cheyne Fischer	38		Qld	71	Judy Harding	38
		Wayne Christian	38				Russell Mowles	33
WA	74	Terry Jolly	38		SA	70	Barry Whitford	36
		Joseph BrajkoVich	36				Stuart Kearney	34
Vic	73	Lance Phillips	37		NSW	69	Geoff Edwards	35
		Mick Arden	36				Melinda Mullen	34
Standing					Unlimited
NSW	53	Brian Marsden	28		ACT	78	Wayne Christian	39
		Melinda Mullen	25				Cheyne Fischer	39
Vic	51	Mick Arden	29		WA	75	Joseph BrajkoVich	38
		Lance Phillips	22				Terry Jolly	37
WA	48	Dominic Piscioneri	24		NSW	72	Brian Marsden	36
		Joseph BrajkoVich	24				Geoff Edwards	36
Unlimited Any Sights					Four Match Aggregate Winners
WA	78	Joseph BrajkoVich	39		OPEN	WA	Terry Jolly	135
		Terry Jolly	39		LADIES	Qld	Judy Harding	131
Vic	76	Les Parker	39
		Lance Phillips	37
SA	75	Noel Warner	38
		Dave Larvin	37

Small Bore - SSAA Medals/National Champions
Production				Revolver
Gold	Cheyne Fischer	38+3		Gold	Judy Harding	38
Silver	Terry Jolly	38+1		Silver	Terry Jolly	37
Bronze	Lance Phillips	37		Bronze	Barry Whitford	36
Standing				Unlimited
Gold	Mick Arden	29		Gold	Wayne Christian	39+3
Silver	Brian Marsden	28		Silver	Cheyne Fischer	39+1
Bronze	Judy Harding	26		Bronze	Joseph BrajkoVich	38
Unlimited Any Sights
Gold	Terry Jolly	39+3
Silver	Joseph BrajkoVich	39+2
Bronze	Les Parker	39+0

Field Pistol - Production
INT					AAA
1.	Greg Dawson	NSW	35		1.	Joseph BrajkoVich	WA	29
2.	Wayne Christian	ACT	33		2.	Geoff Edwards	NSW	27
3.	Judy Harding	Qld	30		3.	Melinda Mullen	NSW	27
AA					A
1.	David Robinson	WA	28		1.	Dominic Piscioneri	WA	18
2.	Barry Gill	Qld	22		2.	Lee Harding	WA	15
3.	Cheyne Fischer	ACT	17		3.	James Moore	Vic	14
B
1.	Michael Campion	Vic	10

Field Pistol - Production Any Sights
AAA					AA
1.	Greg Dawson	NSW	32		1.	Brian Marsden	NSW	28
2.	Mick Arden	Vic	30		2.	Lance Phillips	Vic	26
3.	Judy Harding	Qld	30		3.	David Robinson	WA	26
A					B
1.	Lee Harding	WA	23		1.	James Moore	Vic	19
2.	Dominic Piscioneri	WA	17		2.	Bruce Taylor	SA	19
3.	Barry Gill	Qld	17		3.	Cheyne Fischer	ACT	18

Field Pistol - Top Guns
Production	Greg Dawson	35
Production Any Sights	Greg Dawson	32

Field Pistol - State Team Medals
Production					Production Any Sights
NSW	62	Greg Dawson	35		NSW	60	Greg Dawson	32
		Geoff Edwards	27				Brian Marsden	28
WA	57	Joseph BrajkoVich	29		Qld	58	Judy Harding	30
		David Robinson (12 rams)	28				John Harding	28
Qld	57	Judy Harding	30		Vic	56	Mick Arden	30
		John Harding (11 rams)	27				Lance Phillips	26
Two Match Aggregate Winners
OPEN	NSW	Greg Dawson	67
LADIES	Qld	Judy Harding	60

Field Pistol - SSAA Medals/National Champions
Production				Production Any Sights
Gold	Greg Dawson	35		Gold	Greg Dawson	32
Silver	Wayne Christian	33		Silver	Mick Arden	30
Bronze	Judy Harding	30		Bronze	Judy Harding	30

Big Bore - Production
INT					AAA
1.	Russell Mowles	Qld	40		1.	Geoff Edwards	NSW	35
2.	Terry Jolly	WA	38		2.	Mick Arden	Vic	34
3.	Bob Midworth	SA	37		3.	Cheyne Fischer	ACT	34
AA					A
1.	Michael Smeschkal	WA	32		1.	Dominic Piscioneri	WA	26
2.	John Chomik	SA	27		2.	Lee Harding	WA	18
3.	Kellie Coleman	Qld	27		3.	Alan Whitcombe	Vic	11
B					C
1.	John Leckie	Vic	22		1.	Barry Southern	Vic	17

Big Bore - Revolver
INT					AAA
1.	Wayne Christian	ACT	38		1.	Geoff Edwards	NSW	36
2.	Russell Mowles	Qld	37		2.	Mick Arden	Vic	33
3.	Terry Jolly	WA	35		3.	Dave Larvin	SA	31
AA					A
1.	Les Parker	Vic	27		1.	David Robinson	WA	24
2.	Kellie Coleman	Qld	22		2.	James Moore	Vic	21
3.	Michael Smeschkal	WA	20		3.	John Chomik	SA	17
B					C
1.	Dominic Piscioneri	WA	17		1.	John Leckie	Vic	17
2.	Lee Harding	WA	4		2.	Gavin McWhirter	Vic	14

Big Bore - Standing
INT					AAA
1.	Terry Jolly	WA	27		1.	Geoff Edwards	NSW	27
2.	Judy Harding	Qld	25		2.	Brian Marsden	NSW	23
3.	Clive Cousins	NSW	23		3.	Les Parker	Vic	19
AA					A
1.	Mick Arden	Vic	27		1.	James Moore	Vic	16
2.	Lance Phillips	Vic	23		2.	Peter Mannu	Vic	15
3.	David Robinson	WA	15		3.	Alan Whitcombe	Vic	14

Big Bore - Unlimited
INT					AAA
1.	Russell Mowles	Qld	40		1.	Cheyne Fischer	ACT	40
2.	Terry Jolly	WA	40		2.	Noel Warner	SA	40
3.	John Harding	Qld	40		3.	Joseph BrajkoVich	WA	38
AA					A
1.	James Moore	Vic	37		1.	David Robinson	WA	32
2.	Peter Mannu	Vic	35		2.	Lee Harding	WA	19
3.	Dominic Piscioneri	WA	35
C
1.	John Leckie	Vic	24
2.	Barry Southern	Vic	23

Big Bore - Unlimited Standing
AAA					AA
1.	Greg Dawson	NSW	24		1.	Wayne Christian	ACT	24
					2.	Brian Marsden	NSW	23
					3.	Geoff Edwards	NSW	22
A					B
1.	Noel Warner	SA	17		1.	Peter Mannu	Vic	15
					2.	James Moore	Vic	12
					3.	Lee Harding	WA	10

Big Bore - Unlimited Any Sight
INT					AAA
1.	Dave Larvin	SA	40		1.	David Robinson	WA	40
2.	Noel Warner	SA	40		2.	Joseph BrajkoVich	WA	40
3.	Barry Whitford	SA	40		3.	Les Parker	Vic	38
AA
1.	Lee Harding	WA	38
2.	Bruce Taylor	SA	37
3.	Dominic Piscioneri	WA	37

Big Bore - Unlimited Half Scale
AAA					AA
1.	Cheyne Fischer	ACT	36		1.	Wayne Christian	ACT	35
2.	Barry Whitford	SA	34		2.	Geoff Edwards	NSW	31
3.	Rob Abel	Tas	33		3.	James Moore	Vic	30
A					B
1.	David Robinson	WA	28		1.	Michael Smeschkal	WA	21
2.	Lance Phillips	Vic	25
3.	Noel Warner	SA	25

Big Bore - Unlimited Any Sight Half Scale
AAA					AA
1.	Bob Midworth	SA	38		1.	David Robinson	WA	36
2.	Noel Warner	SA	36		2.	Terry Jolly	WA	34
3.	Barry Whitford	SA	36		3.	Peter Mannu	Vic	33

Big Bore - Top Guns
Production	Russell Mowles	40
Revolver	Wayne Christian	38
Standing	Mick Arden	27+3
Unlimited	Cheyne Fischer	40+2
Unl Standing	Greg Dawson	24+1+2
U Any Sights	Dave Larvin	40+1+2+4
Unl Half Scale	Cheyne Fischer	36
UASHS	Bob Midworth	38

Big Bore - State Team Medals
Production					Revolver
Qld	76	Russell Mowles	40		Qld	72	Russell Mowles	37
		John Harding	36				Judy Harding	35
WA	75	Terry Jolly	38		NSW	71	Geoff Edwards	36
		Joseph Brajkovch	37				Greg Dawson	35
SA	74	Bob Midworth	37		SA	66	Barry Whitford	35
		Barry Whitford	37				Dave Larvin	31
Standing					Unlimited
NSW	50	Geoff Edwards	27		Qld	80	Russell Mowles	40
		Brian Mardsen (10 rams)	23				John Harding	40
Vic	50	Mick Arden	27		ACT	79	Cheyne Fischer	40
		Lance Phillips (8 rams)	23				Wayne Christian	39
Qld	44	Judy Harding	25		SA	78	Noel Warner	40
		John Harding	19				Barry Whitford	38
Unlimited Standing					Unlimited Any Sights
NSW	47	Greg Dawson	24		SA	80	Dave Larvin	40+1+2+4
		Brian Marsden	23				Noel Warner	40+0+3
SA	34	John Chomik	17		WA	80	David Robinson	40+1+2+0
		Noel Warner	17				Joseph Brajkovich	40+1+0
Vic	31	Les Parker	16		Vic	71	Les Parker	38
		Peter Mannu	15				Peter Mannu	33
Unlimited Half Scale					Unlimited Any Sight Half Scale
ACT	71	Cheyne Fischer	36		SA	74	Bob Midworth	38
		Wayne Christian	35				Noel Warner	36
Qld	65	Judy Harding	33		WA	72	Joseph Brajkovich	36
		Russell Mowles	32				David Robinson	36
SA	62	Barry Whitford	34		Vic	61	Peter Mannu	33
		Dave Larvin	28				Les Parker	28
Four Match Aggregate Winners
OPEN	WA	Terry Jolly	140
LADIES	Qld	Judy Harding	134

Big Bore - SSAA Medals/National Champions
Production				Revolver
Gold	Russell Mowles	40		Gold	Wayne Christian	38
Silver	Terry Jolly	38		Silver	Russell Mowles	37
Bronze	Bob Midworth	37		Bronze	Geoff Edwrads	36
Standing				Unlimited
Gold	Mick Arden	27+3		Gold	Cheyne Fischer	40+2
Silver	Terry Jolly	27+2		Silver	Russell Mowles	40+1+2
Bronze	Geoff Edwards	27+1		Bronze	Terry Jolly	40+1+0
Unlimited Standing				Unlimited Any Sights
Gold	Greg Dawson	24+1+2		Gold	Dave Larvin	40+1+2+4
Silver	Wayne Christian	24+1+1		Silver	Dave Robinson	40+1+2+0
Bronze	Brian Marsden	23		Bronze	Joseph BrajkoVich	40+1+0
Unlimited Half Scale				Unlimited Any Sight Half Scale
Gold	Cheyne Fischer	36		Gold	Bob Midworth	37
Silver	Wayne Christian	35		Silver	Noel Warner	36
Bronze	Barry Whitford	34		Bronze	Barry Whitford	36
Ten Match Aggregate Winner
Terry Jolly	WA	328