National Combined Services Championships 2007
9-11 November 2007
SSAA Eidsvold Branch Inc, Queensland

The days preceding the National Combined Services shoot at Eidsvold, Queensland, were interspersed with occasional showers and rain and the possibility of a wet Nationals appeared on the cards for such a traditionally dry area.

Practice was conducted on Wednesday (between showers) and Thursday. The National Chairman was absent until lunchtime, because he had travelled to Biloela to collect and bring to the shoot two junior shooters who had travelled with their mother from Emerald to Biloela. Once practice was completed, range preparation got under way for the Pistol events on the Friday.

From front: Peter Greenhalgh (Gladstone),
Anne Black (Morinish), Scott Driver (Lockyer)
and other keen shooters. Friday dawned bright and mostly clear and after scrutineering and briefing, the competition commenced with one of the largest group of participants for some time. Indeed, 52 competitors contested the Class 1 Pistol events, while 63 participated in Class 2. All events were hotly contested, with some excellent scores recorded and even with the range being able to accommodate details of 28, a full day of shooting still ensued.

The final event for the day, the Rifle/Pistol combination event, was a new event to a lot of shooters and capped off a good day’s shooting.

Saturday’s events commenced after scrutineering once again and briefing, during which a minute’s silence was observed following the recent loss of John McLeay from Queensland and Richard McLean from Victoria - a couple of well-respected members of our discipline who will be missed.

From top to bottom rows: Jack Callaghan (Eidsvold),
Andrew Brown (Grafton), Melinda Knight (Blackwater/
Bluff), Anthony Cabassi (Mareeba), Mitchell Knight
(Blackwater/Bluff) and Joshua Brown (Grafton). The weather was again near-perfect, with very little wind and the light was excellent. I’m sure the sound of 28 shooters on the line in the first event, Rapid Fire B, brought the nearby town to life.

The day started out cool, but by lunchtime it started to verge on how hot it should’ve been for the whole weekend. We took the kinder weather and enjoyed it, with all events again being hotly contested and full details completed at each distance. The final event for the day was the Action M, which again was a match that not a lot shoot regularly and at times some laughter was heard as competitors mixed up the positions.

The evening meal, supplied by the host club for all competitors and open to their partners and non-competitors, was a great time enjoyed by all. Some enjoyed it even more so until 1.30am!

Michael Beak, shown here with his daughter, won the
SSAA swag, donated by SSAA National. Sunday, being November 11, was Remembrance Day and at 11am time was set aside for a volley of shots by all competitors downrange followed by a minute’s silence. The day’s events were then made up of .310 Martini Cadet, .22 Trainer rifle and Sniper and Tactical Matches run concurrently. It was amazing the amount of .310 Cadets and .22 trainers that appeared for that event. It was certainly one of the most popular events and is even more earnestly contested than some of the Standard Rifle events.

Sniper and Tactical events saw some elaborate-looking firearms used to record high scores. The large number of shooters contesting both of these events on Sunday saw the shooting finish after lunch, after which time the trophies were presented. Some competitors had to left early because of the long distance they had to travel, but a large contingent stayed on for the presentations and many only left on Monday. The SSAA swag, which was a random draw for all competitors, was won by Michael Beak, much to his surprise.

All in all, the Nationals were a great shoot, with good weather. The events were well run by the host club and were well attended, with 83 nominations from Queensland, NSW, Victoria, ACT, Tasmania and South Australia. The representatives from most states made this the most National Nationals that can be recalled.

All competitors are to be commended for their sportsmanlike attitude and conduct, as there was quite a bit of equipment loaning and the best was that the Disputes Committee was not called on for the whole Titles.

Scroll down or click to go to: Pistol - Rifle

Pistol
Event 1: 50m Long Range Deliberate					Event 2: Standing Rapid Fire 25m
Class 1					Class 1
1	T Bennett	Qld	111.3		1	K Summers	Qld	57
2	R Irving	NSW	111		2	P Oakford	Qld	55
3	M Beak	Qld	110.1		3	C Mahoney	NSW	53.1
Class 2					Class 2
1	J Lewis	NSW	111.2		1	C Chatham	Qld	57.1
2	G Mills-Thom	NSW	111.1		2	P Oakford	Qld	57.1 on a count back
3	R Irving	NSW	110.3		3	P Modrzynski	Qld	56.1
Junior					Junior
1	J Callaghan	Qld	90.1		1	A Brown	NSW	40
2	A Brown	NSW	86		2	M Knight	Qld	29
3	J Brown	NSW	74.1		3	B Knight	Qld	21
Event 3: Pistol 3P Core
Class 1					Class 2
Grand Master					Grand Master
1	T Bennett	Qld	350.16		1	P Oakford	Qld	354.17
2	P Oakford	Qld	346.14		2	T Bennett	Qld	353.11
3	R Irving	NSW	341.11		3	R Irving	NSW	350.18
Master					Master
1	B Cran	Qld	346.9		1	M Beak	Qld	351.14
2	C Chatham	Qld	344.9		2	J Cran	Qld	345.13
3	J Cran	Qld	338.7		3	C Chatham	Qld	343.13
A Grade					A Grade
1	K Summers	Qld	343.11		1	T Turner	Qld	342.11
2	I Allwood	Qld	338.12		2	S Driver	Qld	341.7
3	K Crozier	Qld	329.4		3	K Barrett	Qld	339.9
B Grade					B Grade
1	H Whiteford	ACT	321.4		1	A Prowse	NSW	339.11
2	G Lucke	Qld	320.7		2	A Wilson	Qld	328.10
3	T Turner	Qld	310.3		3	J Walsh	SA	327.4
C Grade					C Grade
1	A Wilson	Qld	320.3		1	J Roylance	Qld	304.6
2	D Beyer	Qld	302.2		2	A Brown	NSW	298.5
3	P Bosomworth	Qld	296.4		3	B Knight	Qld	296.4
					Junior
					1	A Brown	NSW	298.5
					2	B Knight	Qld	296.4
					3	J Callaghan	Qld	291
Event 4: Kneeling Deliberate 15m
Class 1					Junior
1	T Bennett	Qld	120.4		1	B Knight	Qld	57
2	S Ross	ACT	119.3		2	J Callaghan	Qld	47
3	M Beak	Qld	117.6		3	M Knight	Qld	34
Teams Event
1	Queensland	T Bennett, P Oakford, B Cran, C Chatham					1841
2	New South Wales	R Irving, C Mahoney, D Toovey, A Prowse					1729
3	South Australia	D Molloy, F Verdini, D Stolpe, J Walsh					1533
Top Gun					Junior Top Gun
1	T Bennett	Qld			J Callaghan		Qld
2	P Oakford	Qld
3	B Cran	Qld			3P Core Most ‘X’s
					T Bennett		Qld

Rifle
Event 1: Rapid Fire B 100m
Standard Rifle					Junior
1	L Challacombe	Qld	100.14		1	A Brown	NSW	85.7
2	D Ottery	NSW	100.4		2	J Callaghan	Qld	80.1
3	R Irving	NSW	99.13		3	M Knight	Qld	64.1
Modified/Accurised
1	L Challacombe	Qld	100.13
2	C Mahoney	NSW	99.12
3	D Challacombe	Qld	98.13
Event 2: Rifle 3P Core Standard Rifle					Event 3: 300m Deliberate Standard Rifle
Grand Master					Grand Master
1	R Irving	NSW	148.17		1	L Challacombe	Qld	50.4
2	C Mahoney	NSW	148.13		2	C Mahoney	NSW	48.7
3	D Challacombe	Qld	147.15		3	D Ottery	NSW	47.3
Master					Master
1	N Abrahall	NSW	148.12		1	T Bennett	Qld	50.4
2	D Black	Qld	142.10		2	M McPherson	NSW	46.2
3	T Bennett	Qld	140.13		3	D Black	Qld	43.1
A Grade					A Grade
1	A Brown	NSW	145.9		1	I Allwood	Qld	48.4
2	I Allwood	Qld	137.9		2	A Goodsell	NSW	45.2
3	D Toovey	NSW	137.8		3	B Cran	Qld	45.2 on a count back
B Grade					B Grade
1	F Verdini	SA	131.5		1	F Verdini	SA	45.1
2	D Stolpe	SA	129.3		2	D Stolpe	SA	44
3	R Kerr	Tas	123.4		3	D Thompson	ACT	39.3
C Grade					C Grade
1	S Ross	ACT	139.6		1	S Ross	ACT	43.1
2	J Brown	NSW	125.1		2	J Brown	NSW	39
3	D Hill	Qld	123.2		3	E Cronin	Qld	29
Junior					Junior
1	A Brown	NSW	145.9		1	A Brown	NSW	40.3
2	J Brown	NSW	125.1		2	J Brown	NSW	39
3	J Callaghan	Qld	113.3		3	B Knight	Qld	22
Modified/Accurised					Modified/Accurised
1	M Beak	Qld	148.13		1	C Mahoney	NSW	50.7
2	C Mahoney	NSW	147.18		2	D Black	Qld	49.5
3	G Mills-Thom	NSW	146.17		3	K Crozier	Qld	48.3
Event 4: Snap A 100m					Event 5 Friday: Combined Rifle/Pistol 50m
1	N Abrahall	NSW	49.4		1	P Brown	NSW	161.7
2	C Mahoney	NSW	47.2		2	B Cran	Qld	149
3	T Bennett	Qld	46.4		3	T Bennett	Qld	147.1
Junior					Junior
1	A Brown	NSW	46.3		1	J Callaghan	Qld	110.1
2	J Brown	NSW	36.1		2	J Brown	NSW	95.2
3	J Callaghan	Qld	33		3	Anthony Cabassi	Qld	93.1
Event 5 Saturday: Action ‘M’					Event 6: 3P Core .310 Cadet
1	A Prowse	NSW	50.4		1	P Oakford	Qld	145.14
2	D Challacombe	Qld	49.4		2	R Irving	NSW	143.17
3	F Verdini	SA	49.3		3	S Heidrich	Qld	140.8
Junior
1	A Brown	NSW	48.3		Event 6: 3P Core .22 Trainer
2	J Brown	NSW	42.3		1	R Richards	Vic	143.12
3	J Callaghan	Qld	28		2	K Barrett	Qld	143.8
					3	G Sherritt	Qld	142.9
Event 7: Long Range Sniper 500m					Junior: .310/.22 Trainer
Class F1					1	A Brown	NSW	139.2
1	L Challacombe	Qld	53.2		2	J Brown	NSW	133.7
2	I Allwood	Qld	51.2		3	J Callaghan	Qld	117.4
3	K Crozier	Qld	51.1
Class F2
1	C Chatham	Qld	58.3
2	G Timson	Qld	56.5		Perpetual Trophies
3	S Driver	Qld	56.2		3P Core
Class T&J					R Irving		NSW	148.17
1	P Brown	NSW	55.2		Deliberate
2	A Brown	NSW	54.2		T Bennett		Qld	50.4
3	R Kerr	Tas	54		Rapid Fire
					L Challacombe		Qld	100.14
Event 8: 15m Pistol Deliberate					3P Core Most ‘V’s
1 (tie)	S Ross B Cran	ACT Qld	59.6		R Irving
2	L Challacombe	Qld	59.3
Junior					The Chairman’s Perpetual Trophy was awarded to Danny Molloy from South Australia for his services to the discipline over the past 12 months.
1	A Cabassi	Qld	50.4
2	J Callaghan	Qld	47.4
3	B Knight	Qld	38.2
Teams Event
1	New South Wales	N Abrahall, C Mahoney, R Irving, P Brown					1524
2	Queensland	D Challacombe, L Challacombe, K Crozier, P Oakford					1523
3	South Australia	D Molloy, D Stolpe, F Verdini					955
Top Gun					Junior Top Gun
1	D Challacombe	Qld			A Brown		NSW
2	L Challacombe	Qld
3 (tie)	N Abrahall C Mahoney	NSW NSW