SSAA Dalby Branch Inc

Queensland Club Profile

The Dalby Branch was opened in 1977 by Kev Scanlan and Dan Linsley. Coincidentally, both sporting shooters wrote to the SSAA about the same time, asking how to start a club. It turned out they lived two doors apart on the same street, but had never met. This quickly changed as the two dedicated sportsmen built the foundations of the Dalby Branch.

Kev, the club’s first president, moved away from Dalby ten years ago and sadly passed away last year. The current president is Henry Harvey.

About 20 people signed up immediately at the public meeting held to gauge interest in the formation of the club. Of those foundation members, about six are still active and involved at Dalby. Current membership stands at 340, including five juniors and more than 20 females.

The Dalby Branch provides a very active shooting program for its members, with a wide variety of events available. They publicise themselves through word-of-mouth and local media articles. Events include single-action, field pistol silhouette and field shotgun. These events are regularly held at the original range, built on private land called Chesterfield. Metallic silhouette, field rifle, service rifle, lever action, international scoped rifle, muzzleloading, and big game rifle events are held at the new rifle range called Mount Pleasant.

Each event held at Chesterfield is shot monthly; the events at Mount Pleasant are rotated and held on two Sundays a month. In addition, handgun metallic silhouette is contested monthly at the Mount Pleasant range.

It’s difficult to say which event attracts the most participants, because the Dalby Branch has shooters join them from other clubs as well. The more popular events are metallic silhouette and single-action shooting.

Mount Pleasant is the most recent renovation to the club; it is a brand-new range, built alongside the fullbore range, but separate from it. The cost to date is about $35,000, of which $18,500 was provided by a gaming fund grant. The next project is a toilet and shower block at Mount Pleasant and then new toilets and a general upgrade of facilities at Chesterfield.

Everyone at the branch pulls together, to provide the best facilities for all. While the concentration during the past couple of years has been the new range at Mount Pleasant, those using the Chesterfield range have patiently waited for improvements to their facilities.

The Dalby Branch has been in existence for more than 25 years and in that time, membership has increased considerably. Some of the original members are still very heavily involved and active - and everyone gets along well.

The Branch pride themselves on being safety conscious, with regular firearms training conducted by the branch, often involving the police and security services. The police and security services are regular users of the ranges.

Members of the club travel regularly to other shoots, often interstate and overseas. The club has had representatives on international teams and several members of the branch hold national and international records.

For more information contact: Jan Linsley on 0419 404 303 or jan_linsley@yahoo.com