Australia Day 2008 Benchrest Competition
26 January 2008
Majura Range
Troy Hartmann shot smallest 200-yard group of .272
in Light Varmint at his first big shoot. For the Australian Benchrest shooting community, the Easter Nationals is the number-one shoot on the calendar. If numbers attending is a good guide, then the Australia Day matches held annually in Canberra would have to rate second in importance.
This year Alex Chryss, in his position of tournament director, had to cap the entries at 75 per event and was rewarded with a full house of entries on both days. Each year brings out the latest equipment and some new faces eager to try their luck in this demanding sport.
For this year, Alex decided that each event would be completed in one day, meaning that we started with Light Varmint at 100 yards, then 200 yards to complete the Grand Aggregate. The target frames would be left at the longer distance and the Heavy Varmint event would begin at 200 yards on Sunday morning. In the past, it has been all at 100 on Saturday and 200 for both classes on the Sunday.
Keith Highfield, right, shot a .124 group at
100
yards in Heavy Varmint.Saturday morning saw a large crowd of shooters with hope in their hearts and, oh boy, you needed it. As a mark of how strong the competition is these days, all the small groups to win an individual relay were in the .1s. Max Coady didn’t have to move his measure too far to score these. The best of these was a .128 shot by our current Benchrest Discipline Chairman Barry Edgley. Three shooters had aggregates better than a .25" for five groups and the best of these was a .2344 aggregate shot by Michael Heubner.
The longer yardage sorted out the field and there was some truly remarkable shooting witnessed. In the five relays, the smallest groups went .290, .306, .336, .427 and the best one of .272, which shot by Troy Hartmann from Portland, Victoria, was shot in his first major match. The aggregate winner was David Kerr from Perth, WA, whose .2592 showed the consistency needed to win at this level. At the end of the day, David’s fine effort at the longer yardage had snared him the Grand Aggregate win with .2512, from Stuart Elliott and Michael Heubner.
Stuart Elliott, left, receives the Bob Daniels
Memorial Trophy from Alex Chryss. Beginning a shoot at 200 yards can have some advantages; on some ranges, the conditions are at their calmest for the first few hours of the day - sometimes. Again, we saw an outstanding display of Benchrest shooting, with sub-.5" groups coming thick and fast. The small groups from the relays showed that one could not win a relay with a group more than .399 - the smallest of these was a .297 shot by Brendan Atkinson. This helped his aggregate and Brendan won it with a .309.
With the frames moved back to 100 yards, the race for the 2-Gun Aggregate was on its final leg. When you shoot at 200 yards and then come back to 100, it sometimes fools shooters into thinking it’s easy - wrong!
Sub-.2 groups came thick and fast and no relay was won with a group more than .159 - that’s making it tough. The best group was a .124 shot by Keith Highfield, but it was Stuart Elliott who won the aggregate with .262. The Grand Aggregate for Heavy Varmint showed a comfortable win to Stuart on .2936, with Brendan Atkinson and Steve Davis filling the minor placings.
The all- important 2-Gun Aggregate for the Bob Daniels Memorial Trophy went (once again) to Stuart Elliott on .2804 with David Kerr and Michael Heubner in second and third places.
Unfortunately, as we finished a little late, many of the shooters made a bolt for the trip home and so the usual top 10 photos were unable to be taken. It was a good weekend though and a very well run shoot thanks to Alex Chryss and his helpers.
| Light Varmint | ||||||||||
| Name | Dist. | A | B | C | D | E | Agg. | Grand Agg. | ||
| 1 | David Kerr | WA | 100 | .243 | .243 | .280 | .205 | .245 | .2432 | |
| 200 | .495 | .568 | .670 | .466 | .393 | .2592 | .2512 | |||
| 2 | Stuart Elliott | HoF | 100 | .286 | .295 | .359 | .146 | .220 | .2612 | |
| 200 | .622 | .567 | .502 | .366 | .675 | .2732 | .2672 | |||
| 3 | Michael Huebner | VIC | 100 | .282 | .196 | .208 | .350 | .136 | .2344 | |
| 200 | .697 | .727 | .716 | .629 | .500 | .3269 | .2806 | |||
| 4 | Paul Sullivan | HoF | 100 | .160 | .273 | .368 | .268 | .293 | .2724 | |
| 200 | .672 | .785 | .474 | .306 | .680 | .2917 | .2820 | |||
| 5 | Tony Allinson | HoF | 100 | .330 | .171 | .357 | .143 | .346 | .2694 | |
| 200 | .675 | .926 | .436 | .669 | .344 | .3050 | .2872 | |||
| 6 | Ann Brummell | HoF | 100 | .191 | .193 | .255 | .435 | .274 | .2696 | |
| 200 | .550 | .738 | .792 | .408 | .572 | .3060 | .2878 | |||
| 7 | Ross Hutchins | VIC | 100 | .213 | .250 | .304 | .243 | .216 | .2452 | |
| 200 | .690 | .740 | .480 | .607 | .808 | .3325 | .2888 | |||
| 8 | Rob Carnell | NSW | 100 | .316 | .237 | .374 | .198 | .276 | .2802 | |
| 200 | .585 | .920 | .402 | .493 | .653 | .3053 | .2927 | |||
| 9 | Steve Nash | NSW | 100 | .252 | .325 | .327 | .286 | .230 | .2840 | |
| 200 | .867 | .520 | .484 | .764 | .598 | .3233 | .3036 | |||
| 10 | Robin Elton | QLD | 100 | .300 | .257 | .325 | .430 | .256 | .3136 | |
| 200 | .304 | .769 | .356 | .476 | 1.113 | .3018 | .3077 | |||
| 11 | Steve Davis | VIC | 100 | .319 | .372 | .240 | .226 | .406 | .3126 | |
| 200 | .573 | .522 | .433 | .851 | .668 | .3047 | .3086 | |||
| 12 | Troy Hartmann | VIC | 100 | .195 | .360 | .430 | .255 | .294 | .3068 | |
| 200 | .272 | 1.087 | .483 | .836 | .620 | .3298 | .3183 | |||
| 13 | Barry Edgley | QLD | 100 | .250 | .336 | .128 | .352 | .429 | .2990 | |
| 200 | .991 | .764 | .383 | .776 | .769 | .3683 | .3336 | |||
| 14 | Tom Brummell | NSW | 100 | .241 | .366 | .292 | .417 | .319 | .3270 | |
| 200 | .480 | .427 | 1.360 | .529 | .634 | .3430 | .3350 | |||
| 15 | Thomas Spang | NSW | 100 | .264 | .415 | .317 | .300 | .202 | .2996 | |
| 200 | .636 | 1.031 | .550 | .811 | .712 | .3740 | .3368 | |||
| 16 | Ken Yates | NSW | 100 | .188 | .397 | .319 | .258 | .426 | .3176 | |
| 200 | .800 | .950 | .519 | 1.105 | .290 | .3664 | .3420 | |||
| 17 | Ira Rolley | QLD | 100 | .284 | .496 | .177 | .379 | .267 | .3206 | |
| 200 | 1.205 | .430 | .698 | .823 | .478 | .3634 | .3420 | |||
| 18 | John Jones | NSW | 100 | .220 | .380 | .264 | .567 | .388 | .3638 | |
| 200 | .722 | .610 | .540 | .765 | .610 | .3247 | .3442 | |||
| 19 | Murray Hicks | NSW | 100 | .300 | .263 | .388 | .205 | .176 | .2664 | |
| 200 | 1.009 | .885 | .620 | .696 | 1.098 | .4308 | .3486 | |||
| 20 | John Brooks | NSW | 100 | .209 | .473 | .262 | .302 | .426 | .3344 | |
| 200 | .739 | .630 | .560 | .863 | .876 | .3668 | .3506 | |||
| Heavy Varmint | ||||||||||
| Name | Dist. | A | B | C | D | E | Agg. | Grand Agg. | ||
| 1 | Stuart Elliott | HoF | 100 | .246 | .279 | .330 | .240 | .215 | .2620 | |
| 200 | .550 | .796 | .408 | .700 | .798 | .3252 | .2936 | |||
| 2 | Brendan Atkinson | HoF | 100 | .423 | .260 | .284 | .295 | .353 | .3230 | |
| 200 | .719 | .297 | .825 | .666 | .583 | .3090 | .3160 | |||
| 3 | Steve Davis | VIC | 100 | .273 | .219 | .265 | .358 | .334 | .2898 | |
| 200 | .648 | .785 | .595 | .540 | .875 | .3443 | .3170 | |||
| 4 | Steve Nash | NSW | 100 | .352 | .295 | .276 | .339 | .238 | .3000 | |
| 200 | .498 | .996 | .432 | 1.002 | .619 | .3547 | .3273 | |||
| 5 | Michael Huebner | VIC | 100 | .435 | .413 | .162 | .370 | .370 | .3500 | |
| 200 | .916 | .645 | .627 | .494 | .583 | .3265 | .3382 | |||
| 6 | Ross Hutchins | VIC | 100 | .270 | .442 | .245 | .370 | .247 | .3148 | |
| 200 | .718 | .408 | .750 | .949 | .849 | .3674 | .3411 | |||
| 7 | Paul Sullivan | HoF | 100 | .354 | .294 | .340 | .180 | .283 | .2902 | |
| 200 | .932 | .455 | .943 | .585 | 1.044 | .3959 | .3430 | |||
| 8 | David Kerr | WA | 100 | .205 | .219 | .438 | .282 | .287 | .2862 | |
| 200 | .738 | .835 | 1.025 | .597 | .955 | .4150 | .3506 | |||
| 9 | Robin Elton | QLD | 100 | .417 | .147 | .250 | .275 | .239 | .2656 | |
| 200 | .562 | .795 | .890 | .767 | 1.363 | .4377 | .3516 | |||
| 10 | John Brooks | NSW | 100 | .473 | .498 | .243 | .325 | .336 | .3750 | |
| 200 | .840 | .457 | .816 | .875 | .340 | .3328 | .3539 | |||
| 11 | Ira Rolley | QLD | 100 | .300 | .260 | .318 | .260 | .410 | .3096 | |
| 200 | .953 | .538 | .787 | .847 | .936 | .4061 | .3578 | |||
| 12 | Annie Elliott | HoF | 100 | .265 | .239 | .352 | .243 | .250 | .2698 | |
| 200 | 1.193 | .720 | .946 | 1.036 | .602 | .4497 | .3597 | |||
| 13 | Murray Hicks | NSW | 100 | .220 | .511 | .233 | .420 | .237 | .3242 | |
| 200 | 1.422 | .496 | 1.073 | .455 | .603 | .4049 | .3645 | |||
| 14 | Rob Carnell | NSW | 100 | .474 | .287 | .232 | .349 | .496 | .3676 | |
| 200 | .348 | .754 | .897 | .809 | .842 | .3650 | .3663 | |||
| 15 | Alex Chryss | NSW | 100 | .306 | .432 | .450 | .495 | .413 | .4192 | |
| 200 | .493 | .517 | 1.111 | .563 | .542 | .3226 | .3709 | |||
| 16 | Malcolm Price | NSW | 100 | .420 | .325 | .326 | .390 | .275 | .3472 | |
| 200 | .620 | .467 | .507 | 1.105 | 1.320 | .4019 | .3745 | |||
| 17 | Tony Allinson | HoF | 100 | .495 | .394 | .392 | .423 | .234 | .3876 | |
| 200 | 1.288 | .698 | .583 | .577 | .498 | .3644 | .3760 | |||
| 18 | Craig Whittleton | HoF | 100 | .141 | .314 | .470 | .227 | .220 | .2744 | |
| 200 | 1.074 | 1.190 | .814 | .844 | .857 | .4779 | .3761 | |||
| 19 | Ken Yates | NSW | 100 | .196 | .338 | .264 | .333 | .224 | .2710 | |
| 200 | .440 | .806 | 1.113 | 1.041 | 1.455 | .4855 | .3782 | |||
| 20 | Ralph Garlick | NSW | 100 | .316 | .337 | .305 | .398 | .290 | .3292 | |
| 200 | .684 | 1.088 | .798 | .702 | 1.060 | .4332 | .3812 | |||
| 2-Gun Aggregate | |||||
| Name | LV | HV | Agg. | ||
| 1 | Stuart Elliott | HoF | .2672 | .2936 | .2804 |
| 2 | David Kerr | WA | .2512 | .3506 | .3009 |
| 3 | Michael Huebner | VIC | .2806 | .3382 | .3094 |
| 4 | Paul Sullivan | HoF | .2820 | .3430 | .3125 |
| 5 | Steve Davis | VIC | .3086 | .3170 | .3128 |
| 6 | Ross Hutchins | VIC | .2888 | .3411 | .3150 |
| 7 | Steve Nash | NSW | .3036 | .3273 | .3154 |
| 8 | Rob Carnell | NSW | .2927 | .3663 | .3295 |
| 9 | Robin Elton | QLD | .3077 | .3516 | .3296 |
| 10 | Tony Allinson | HoF | .2872 | .3760 | .3316 |
| 11 | Ira Rolley | QLD | .3420 | .3578 | .3499 |
| 12 | Brendan Atkinson | HoF | .3869 | .3160 | .3514 |
| 13 | John Brooks | NSW | .3506 | .3539 | .3522 |
| 14 | Murray Hicks | NSW | .3486 | .3645 | .3566 |
| 15 | Ken Yates | NSW | .3420 | .3782 | .3601 |
| 16 | Ann Brummell | HoF | .2878 | .4398 | .3638 |
| 17 | Alex Chryss | NSW | .3597 | .3709 | .3653 |
| 18 | Annie Elliott | HoF | .3764 | .3597 | .3680 |
| 19 | Troy Hartmann | VIC | .3183 | .4309 | .3746 |
| 20 | Malcolm Price | NSW | .3747 | .3745 | .3746 |