Australian shooters put in an impressive showing at the sixth International Big Game Rifle Competition hosted by the British Sporting Rifle Club at Bisley, in Surrey, England, on September 9 and 10.

In all, 32 shooters attended the match to participate in some of the categories, but only 21 shooters nominated for the full schedule. Of those, 11 were international visitors – eight from Australia, two from South Africa and one from the United States. Five options were contested. Four classes are now fairly standard (Group One, Group Two, Special Snap and Double Rifle), while the fifth event is the host nation’s prerogative. At this meeting the Swedish Running Deer was the choice.

At the end of proceedings, it was a home shooter, Darren Cottee, who top-scored. The three members of the Australian Team came in second (Bob Christopher, Vic), third (Graeme Wright, Qld) and fourth (Mark Hibbert, Qld). This outcome meant a comfortable win for the Australians in the team competition, which also sealed an unblemished record for the Aussie team with six wins out of six. The other team placings were South Africa second, the UK third and the US fourth.

A presentation dinner was held on the Saturday evening in the Army Target Rifle Association’s clubhouse. This was an old building with plenty of character and an amazing history of past shoots recorded on the walls.

The next International Big Game Rifle Competition is planned for South Africa in 2018.