The 2015 Queensland Lever Action State Championships were held at the SSAA Brisbane Branch in early September. Several Western Australia and New South Wales competitors attended, while the Queensland competitors were from all across the state, with Townsville, Fraser Coast, Millmerran, Sunshine Coast, Bowen and of course the local support from the Brisbane Branch.

On Saturday, the Classic Calibre match was contested. This uses traditional lever-action centrefire rifles with open sights, and the course of fire is set to replicate traditional hunting with many animal contour targets over various distances using a variety of shooting positions that you would use in the field. This year, the Queensland Classic Calibre Championship was won by local Greg Buchanan. Albany (WA) competitor Steve Hurley secured the silver and now Fraser Coast (Qld) local Darren Moy took the bronze.

The Queensland Open Lever Action match was held on Sunday and saw competitors line up using a variety of rifles from centrefires to .22LR and .22 Magnums. As peep sights are allowed in this event, it is considered a more precision match and higher scores are the norm. The match has a combination of precision events with precision targets and some traditional events using animal contour targets all contested over a variety of distances. The eventual Queensland Open Lever Action Championship was won by Steve Hurley from Albany. Northern Rivers (NSW) competitor Don Chesworth won the silver and local Brisbane member Rudi Imeri won the bronze.

The Veteran Class was well represented this year and continues to grow. It was also pleasing to see several new competitors taking part and giving it a go along with our Lady competitors. All grades from C to AAA in both Classic Calibre and Open were represented.

With all but a few competitors competing in both the Classic and Open matches, the overall 2-Gun Champion was well contested. This year’s 2-Gun Champions were Steve Hurley from Albany, Don Chesworth from Northern Rivers and Darren Moy from Fraser Coast.

A huge thank you to the members of the Brisbane Branch for their support and hard work to prepare for and run the 2015 Queensland Lever Action State Championships, and a special mention to Teddy Hancox who has been the Brisbane Branch Lever Action Shoot Captain for 30-plus years and is still going strong.

by SSAA Lever Action National Discipline Chairman Darren Moy