National Benchrest Championships 2007
5-9 April 2007

Max Coady presents his trophy to David Kerr. Easter 2007 and Benchrest shooters headed for the Eagle Park range complex near Little River in Victoria. Situated south-west of Melbourne at the base of the You Yangs, this is a picturesque range in a rural setting.
Peter van Meurs (Pro-Cal Trading) was the sparkplug behind these championships and he worked his butt off before, during and after the event, assisted by wife Leeanne and a very small number of helpers. Peter constructed a set of new moving backers and these were inspected and admired by many.
The format for the shoot was to be the Traditional and Custom Rimfires up first, followed by Experimental Class, Sporter Class and then the blue ribbon Light and Heavy Varmint events. One class per day, but with the rimfires, both categories were combined.

Traditional Rimfire Benchrest
Eighteen participants were entered for this event, with some shooters also competing in the Custom Class. Traditionals use a 7lb 12oz rifle, with a maximum stock width of 2.25" and limited to a 6x scope.
Sporting wind conditions meant larger groups and aggregates, but at 50m it was the rimfire specialist in Peter Fleming that took small group with a .268 and the Aggregate with .9328 - these are a long way off the records for this class.
The longer yardage saw some embarrassingly large groups and no-one even looked like producing all five groups all less than 1". It was tough enough to hold five shots less than 1", but the best group of the yardage went to Janette Mitchell with a .686. The Aggregate was won by Adelaide’s David Keen with a 1.2534.
The Grand Aggregate for the Traditional Class was won by David Keen (at his first National Championships). Brian Mitchell was second and Peter Fleming hung on for third.

The victorious West Aussie team from left:
Craig Whittleton, David Kerr, Steve Brown
and Ray Edwards. Custom Rimfire
There were 32 entrants for the Custom Rimfire. This class differs from Traditional in that an all-up weight limit of 14lb is allowed. The rest of the rifle conforms to a Heavy Varmint Centrefire with a 3" fore-end and unlimited scope power. There was some very fancy equipment on the firing line with custom actions, specialised barrels and tricked-up triggers and stocks. I even saw reverse taper barrels with 17.5 twists and only two grooves - barrel tuners were commonplace.
Some nice groups in the .2s were shot and the best of these went to David Keen with a .206. The Aggregate was a close battle, but local shooter Ross Hutchins led the pack with a .9044, just ahead of Brian Mitchell and Steve Blaine.
The 100-yard section saw many shooters crash out of contention and small groups were very hard to come by. Ken Melgaard borrowed some of my Eley EPS Match and promptly put down a .384 group, which no-one was able to beat. The Aggregate was a clear win for another local shooter in Michael Huebner whose 1.0590 was followed in by Ken Melgaard and Steve Smith.
At the end of the day, Michael emerged as the winner of Custom Rimfire. Brian Mitchell and Steve Smith filled the minor placings.

Traditional Rimfire Top 10					Custom Rimfire Top 10
1	David Keen	SA	1.2559		1	Michael Huebner	Vic	1.0295
2	Brian Mitchell	NSW	1.2738		2	Brian Mitchell	NSW	1.1432
3	Peter Fleming	NSW	1.2806		3	Steven Smith	Qld	1.1635
4	Steven Smith	Qld	1.2933		4	Jaegan Peet	Vic	1.2020
5	Janette Mitchell	NSW	1.3169		5	Ross Hutchins	Vic	1.2484
6	Ira Rolley	Qld	1.3462		6	Ken Noye	Vic	1.3012
7	Bill Jupp	NSW	1.3473		7	Steve Blaine	Qld	1.3107
8	Keith Smith	NSW	1.3774		8	Roy McCarthy	Qld	1.3233
9	Roy McCarthy	Qld	1.3801		9	Ray Edwards	WA	1.3349
10	Chris Martens	SA	1.4242		10	Ken Melgaard	NSW	1.3532

Craig Whittleton is the youngest inductee into the
Australian Benchrest Hall of Fame. Experimental Class
The Experimental Class attracted 39 entrants and we saw plenty of rail guns on the line mixed with heavy bag guns and a host of varmint rifles. Ten-shot groups are required, as is a heightened sense of attention to detail - those rail guns need to be hammered down into the bench to avoid any movement.
Right on 8.30am the peace of the range was shattered when the centrefire Nationals began. It was hard work and nobody managed to record a group less than .2. Best for the morning was a tidy .211 shot by Graham Keppie.
With four .2s and a .3, the yardage was a runaway win for Craig Whittleton - an ominous sign from the winner of the last two Nationals. In a WA clean sweep, David Kerr and Ron Sinclair filled the minor placings.
There was no doubt that 200 yards was going to be challenging, but the rail gun shooters were confident that they could keep up with the changes in velocity of the crosswinds.
I shot the only group less than 1" on the A targets, which gave the bag gun shooters some hope, but it was all rail guns after that. Keith Smith shot the smallest group of the yardage with a .673 - would you believe that his rail gun is chambered in .222 Remington? When was the last time that calibre won anything in Benchrest?
Speaking of unusual Benchrest calibres, Peter van Meurs was shooting a rail gun chambered in .243 Winchester shooting 90-grain Bergers. With four targets down, he was locked in a three-way battle for the Aggregate win. The yardage win went to a very pleased Tom Brummell, who has been in the Benchrest game longer than he cares to remember and had stated that this may be his last one - we’ll see. Tom’s .5173 held out Craig Whittleton and Peter van Meurs.
The Ron Marsden Memorial Shield for the Grand Aggregate was won by Craig Whittleton, comfortably in front of Tom Brummell and Ron Sinclair. This was a landmark for Craig, as the win gave him enough points to qualify for the Benchrest Hall of Fame as entrant number 25. He is the youngest entrant and the fastest to qualify since his first Nationals some four years ago.

David Kerr with the Den-Lo Park trophy, with Rob
Carnell, left, and John Wyatt. Sporter Class
We had 47 starters for the Sporter Class and the shoot began at 200 yards. Starting at 200 can be a daunting proposition for some, but it’s just a case of ‘get on with it’ and besides, we were back to shooting five-shot groups.
It took a good group to win a relay at the longer yardage and the best of these was a very tidy .349 shot by John Wyatt. John was the only shooter to keep all five groups less than 1" and he went on to win the Aggregate with .3209. Ray Edwards and I filled the minor places.
Sometimes shooting at 200 yards first makes the 100 yards section look easy - wrong! David Kerr was on a mission and punched down a .160 on his first target, which no-one bettered, but several came close. David had a very good run and his .2538 took the Aggregate comfortably from Rob Carnell and Steve Brown.
The Den-Lo Park Trophy for the Sporter Class Grand Aggregate was won by David Kerr, with John Wyatt and Rob Carnell in second and third place.

Experimental Top 10					Sporter Class Top 10
1	Craig Whittleton	WA	.4268		1	David Kerr	WA	.3461
2	Tom Brummell	NSW	.4631		2	John Wyatt	WA	.3584
3	Ron Sinclair	NSW	.4922		3	Rob Carnell	NSW	.3663
4	Michael Huebner	Vic	.5234		4	Ray Edwards	WA	.3850
5	David Kerr	WA	.5245		5	Ken Yates	NSW	.3900
6	Peter van Meurs	Vic	.5434		6	Brendan Atkinson	SA	.3977
7	Ray Edwards	WA	.5550		7	Paul Sullivan	Qld	.3993
8	Steve Sori	NSW	.5646		8	Michael Huebner	Vic	.4065
9	Ann Brummell	NSW	.5737		9	Phil Jones	Qld	.4089
10	Paul Sullivan	Qld	.5823		10	Steve Brown	WA	.4104

Light Varmint Class
The Light and Heavy Varmint matches have become the blue ribbon events of the Nationals, largely due to the qualification process for the World Benchrest Championships. There were 66 entrants for this year’s event and some very up-to-date equipment was on show. Several shooters have imported the Gene Bukys modified Leupold LCS scopes and mounts in the quest to find an optical device that does not move its POI.
We began at 100 yards in seemingly good conditions, but the locals assured us that it would not last. With three targets completed, I had shot all .1s and was looking comfortable, but David Kerr had shot the smallest group of the yardage with a .146. The yardage win went right down to a last card shoot-out and I was victorious with .2226 from Steve Nash and Barry Warwick.
We moved the target frames out to 200 yards and recommenced in quite reasonable conditions, according to the locals. Some fine groups were recorded, but very few shooters could hold five of them less than 1". National Benchrest Chairman Barry Edgely shot the smallest group with an impressive .287, but the Aggregate went to a very consistent effort from Ray Edwards, whose .3132 held off both Stuart Elliott and Michael Huebner.
The Grand Aggregate showed that Ray’s effort at 200 yards had snared him a win. Second place went to Michael Huebner and in third place was a very pleased Neville King who had quietly snuck up the list.

Light Varmint Top 10					Heavy Varmint Top 10
1	Ray Edwards	WA	.2940		1	Craig Whittleton	WA	.2739
2	Michael Huebner	Vic	.3027		2	David Kerr	WA	.2785
3	Neville King	Vic	.3044		3	Michael Huebner	Vic	.2826
4	Stuart Elliott	Qld	.3059		4	Stuart Elliott	Qld	.2870
5	Brendan Atkinson	SA	.3142		5	Ira Rolley	Qld	.2963
6	David Kerr	WA	.3296		6	Fergus Bailey	Vic	.3036
7	Steve Nash	NSW	.3323		7	Jason Farcic	WA	.3038
8	Annie Elliott	Qld	.3465		8	John Wyatt	WA	.3060
9	Barry Warwick	NSW	.3482		9	Tony Allinson	NSW	.3129
10	Paul Sullivan	Qld	.3540		10	Karl Kuehn	NSW	.3232

Craig with the Top 10 in Heavy Varmint. Heavy Varmint
It was the last day of the Nationals and for some the strain was starting to show. In the race for the 4-Gun, there were four possible contenders; the rest were just a little too far off the pace with 30 of the 40 possible targets already scored.
We started off at 200 yards and the pace was hot - to win an individual relay one had to shoot better than .5" and in most cases, a lot better. Best group of the morning was a .334 shot by WA’s Jason Farcic. The Aggregate was a clear win to David Kerr with a .2567 and he definitely had one hand on the 4-Gun trophy. The minor places were filled by Michael Huebner and Barry Warwick.
So there we were, the last Aggregate of the 2007 Nationals. All of the small groups in the relays were under .2 with a .150 shot by Stuart Elliott the best of them. The Aggregate was a real battle, with the lead changing a number of times. Ray Edwards held on to win it with a .2446, narrowly ahead of Craig Whittleton and Stuart Elliott.
The Grand Aggregate for the Heavy Varmint event was taken out by Craig Whittleton, who one might say had had a most rewarding Nationals. You only get out what you put in. David Kerr was second with Michael Huebner third.

The 2-Gun: LV and HV					The 3-Gun: SR, LV and HV
1	Michael Huebner	Vic	.2926		1	David Kerr	WA	.3180
2	Stuart Elliott	Qld	.2964		2	Michael Huebner	Vic	.3306
3	David Kerr	WA	.3040		3	Ray Edwards	WA	.3361
4	Ray Edwards	WA	.3116		4	Stuart Elliott	Qld	.3379
5	Craig Whittleton	WA	.3216		5	Rob Carnell	NSW	.3534
6	Neville King	Vic	.3423		6	Craig Whittleton	WA	.3535
7	Rob Carnell	NSW	.3469		7	John Wyatt	WA	.3587
8	Barry Warwick	NSW	.3507		8	Paul Sullivan	Qld	.3731
9	Annie Elliott	Qld	.3556		9	Ken Yates	NSW	.3832
10	John Wyatt	WA	.3589		10	Annie Elliott	Qld	.3878

The 4-Gun
Winning a 4-Gun is not easy - one must perform consistently in all classes to have a chance at the end. David Kerr did just that and was certainly a worthy winner of the 2007 crown.

The 4-Gun
1	David Kerr	WA	.3696
2	Craig Whittleton	WA	.3718
3	Michael Huebner	Vic	.3788
4	Ray Edwards	WA	.3908
5	Stuart Elliott	Qld	.4056
6	Rob Carnell	NSW	.4148
7	Paul Sullivan	Qld	.4254
8	Brendan Atkinson	SA	.4458
9	Steve Brown	WA	.4460
10	John Wyatt	WA	.4552

Summary
Many favourable comments were heard about this Nationals and the location. Peter and his team led a fault-free event and a big thank you is extended to all those who pitched in and helped. It was agreed that the Eagle Park complex is now well and truly back on the National rotation map for Benchrest and apart from the constant strong winds, it is an excellent place to hold future major tournaments.

by Brendan Atkinson