Riley Philips
by Media Officer Rachael Andrews
There is nothing 15-year-old Riley Philips won’t try her hand at, whether it is reloading, hunting, Sporting Clays or even shooting with her grandfather Brian Short’s Omark .308-calibre rifle. And while it may look like Brian will ‘lose’ his Omark to Riley, he couldn’t be happier with her progress in the shooting sports.
“Every grandparent likes to see their grandkids follow them into something and it’s pretty good that we get to spend so much time together,” Brian said.
Riley said she couldn’t ignore the great stories her grandpa would come home with about his shooting exploits and that was what got her started. Since then, she has enjoyed learning the skills behind target shooting and hunting.
Riley began shooting in late 2008 with Brian, a long-standing SSAA member of the SSAA Bundaberg Branch. She started out shooting with a Brno Model 2 .22 rifle before moving on to longer range targets with a Brno Fox .22 Hornet. Two years later, Riley is a regular at the Bundaberg range, shooting Precision Rifle every fourth Saturday of the month, with her skills at 100m and up to 500m improving markedly. She uses Brian’s Omark F Class Open .308 rifle fitted with a Harris bipod and Bushnell Elite 3200 Series 10x scope. The rifle was originally designed for QRA range shooting, has a bedded and floated one in 12" twist Mab barrel, Timney trigger and custom-made walnut stock fitted with a fully adjustable buttplate. A slip-on pad reduces most of the recoil.
Brian has taught his granddaughter everything he knows, from safety, to reading the wind and understanding other range conditions, and now, Riley has taken on his information and happily manages her own shooting.
“I’m out there to try and get the best score,” said Riley. “I’ve been learning from Grandpop, but I’m figuring out how it works for me.”
Being a junior hasn’t stopped Riley from holding her own against some of the more skilled shooters at Bundaberg; in fact, she regularly places in fifth place or higher at regular competitions.
Riley and Brian travel to Maryborough to shoot as well, testing their skills at distances up to 900 yards. She attended her first two-day Precision Annual Shoot as a junior with some success in 2009, but in the 2010 two-day Annual, she placed seventh in the field and was the Overall Junior Winner of the event, winning event prizes and a coveted SSAA cap with her name and winning event embroidered on it.
Brian said he enjoyed watching Riley develop her skills and learn. “She’s figuring out how to make things work for her,” he said. “She beats me all the time.”
It wasn’t until this year, however, that Riley got to test her shooting skills out in the bush, with Brian fulfilling many promises by taking her on a hunting trip in the Gulf area, about 100km from Burketown, earlier this year. Not only did she learn about hunting, but Riley developed her camp duties, field safety and conservation knowledge over the two-week trip. She did not let Brian down in the hunting department either, reducing the feral pig population by 21, while also collecting an impressive number of images of wildlife, plants and other scenery.
Riley’s new interest is SSAA Sporting Clays and Skeet, but she is also looking forward to participating in the junior division of an Australian long-range rifle event this year.
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