2016 SSAA WA Field Rifle/3-Positional State Championships

The 2016 SSAA Western Australia Field Rifle/3-Positional State Championships were held at the Jarrahdale Sporting Shooters Rifle range in the picturesque forested hills amid the Perth south-eastern fringes from September 24 to 26.

Jarrahdale made a welcome return to the host club roster, with many shooters commenting on the natural beauty of the setting. The venue’s reputation for challenging light conditions was undeserved over the weekend, with cloud cover providing relief for the competitors on the north-facing range.

Day one saw the Field Rifle Centrefire category hotly contested with X-rings separating several grade positions. V Talajic broke R Johnson’s long-held Standing position State Record from 2005 with a score of 99.01, only for it to be bettered again 30 minutes later by M Boots with 100.02. K Williams smashed the Junior Rapid Fire record with a very nice 95.00.

The top three placings for Field Rifle Centrefire were: M Boots 389.04, V Talajic 388.04 and G Bunter 382.01. Position results were: Rapid Fire (25m) D Malcman 97.03, Standing (50m) M Boots 100.02, Standing Post (100m) G Bunter 98.01 and Sitting Post (200m) M Boots 100.

Day two had the usual influx of rimfire competitors flooding the range for the Field Rifle bracket in the morning with hopefuls from seven metropolitan and regional clubs. Southern Districts’ Rifle Club juniors made a good show of it, with K Williams reaching the top 15 and taking out the Under-15 event and C Mattaboni, who travelled from Bunbury, making the top 20 then taking out the Under-18 title.

The top three placings for the Field Rifle Rimfire were: M Boots 389.05, A Talajic 384.05 and D Malcman 381.07. Position results were: Rapid (25m) M Boots 96.01, Standing (25m) M Boots 99.01, Standing Post (50m) L Henriques 98.01 and Sitting Post (50m) M Boots 100.02.

The top three placings for the Field Rifle 2-Gun grouping were: M Boots 778.09, V Talajic 767.10 and D Malcman 759.13.

The afternoon event saw some changes to the line-up but almost the same number of starters for the 3-Positional Rimfire competition. The top three placings were: M Boots 582.11, V Talajic 561.10 and T Mangan 557.09. Position results at 50m all went to M Boots, who was well clear of his rivals with Prone 197.07, Standing 188.01 and Sitting/Kneeling 197.03.

After a long day, the shooters and their families were treated at the shooters’ dinner with a well-catered meal rounded off by several trips to the dessert table. Thanks were given to the team at Jarrahdale for their hard work setting up for the schedule and then awards for the winners of each grade were handed out.

The final day of action saw the 3-Positional Centrefire event start in near perfect conditions, though some light drizzle and winds came up from the valley during proceedings. The top thee placings were: M Boots 572.10, D Malcman 553.04 and V Talajic 549.04. Position results at 100m again all went to M Boots with Prone 198.06, Standing 176 and Sitting/Kneeling 198.04, though G Bunter was an X-ring behind in the Prone position.

The top 10 4-Gun results were: M Boots (Southern Districts Rifle Club) 1932.30, V Talajic (SDRC) 1877.24, D Malcman (SDRC) 1859.24, G Bunter (SDRC) 1844.18 (top four selected for WA State Team 2017 National Championships), L Henriques (Perth Field Rifle Club) 1820.13, D Gould (SDRC) 1808.20, KL Totton (SDRC) 1786.13, E Lok (PFRC) 1785.17, J Totton (SDRC) 1752.14 and A Williams (Port Bouvard) 1750.11.

Special thanks go to Jarrahdale Discipline Captain P McCarthy and all the volunteers from Jarrahdale and several other clubs who made this meeting a success including range captains, safety officers, scorers, the metro clubs for loaning some of their equipment and the awesome lady in the coffee van who sat patiently for four days while we complained to her about how our shooting was going.