World Benchrest Championship 2017
2nd - 12th November 2017 - Nelson, New Zealand
The World Benchrest Championship is held every two years and the event moves around the planet on ranges near and far. In 2017 it was New Zealand’s turn to host the affair and so the world’s best benchrest shooters gathered at the Packers Creek Range near Nelson on the South Island.
Each participating country can send a maximum of three four-person teams and this time there were 71 shooters involved. There are also awards given for the individual 2-Gun results.
Practice days
These days are used for fine-tuning rifles and learning the vagaries of the range with regard to wind conditions. Although Packers Creek would have to be one of the prettiest venues in the world with its lush greenery and native flowers, it is also a very tricky setting to ‘read’ as the valley walls are not too far from the sides of the range and the funnel effect can be tough to beat. Shooters flying in from overseas were well catered for as powder and primers were made available by the host club, as were match grade bullets and bore solvents.
Light Benchrest 100 yards
Following an impressive opening ceremony, the shoot began in earnest in cool and windy conditions. All yardages commence with a ‘warm-up’ group that may count for smallest group, but cannot be included in your aggregate. Naturally there is less pressure on this group, but most shooters use it to find out what the range is doing and if their chosen load is working. Only one yardage is shot per day, so there is plenty of time for reloading and more. At this level, groups under two-tenths of an inch are commonplace. The best group for the day was shot by New Zealander Greg Couper with a tidy .076 – unfortunately for him it was on his warm-up group. Many excellent groups were witnessed during the day but when the final scores went up, the top 10 looked like this:
| Wayne Campbell | USA 1 | 0.2054 | |
| Mike Conry | USA 2 | 0.208 | |
| Dave Coots | USA 3 | 0.2198 | |
| Gavin Marshall | AUS 3 | 0.238 | |
| Steve Sori | AUS 2 | 0.2472 | |
| David Kerr | AUS 1 | 0.2478 | |
| Mitchell Tallar | AUS 1 | 0.2488 | |
| Carlos Pacheco | FRA 1 | 0.252 | |
| Roger Marshall | AUS 1 | 0.2592 | |
| Hugh Williamson | CAN 1 | 0.2626 |
Heavy Benchrest 100 yards
With the previous day’s experience behind them, shooters went to the line a little more confident. As expected there were plenty of high-quality groups shot well under the two-tenths mark. The smallest group was a .128 shot by Ed Adams, from the USA. The aggregate was hard fought down to the last relay and finished up like this:
| Wayne Campbell | USA 1 | 0.1992 | |
| Roger Marshall | AUS 1 | 0.223 | |
| Ed Adams | USA 1 | 0.2404 | |
| Mitchell Tallar | AUS 1 | 0.248 | |
| Larry Costa | USA 1 | 0.2506 | |
| Gary Bristow | USA 2 | 0.2522 | |
| Bud Mundy | USA 2 | 0.2544 | |
| Richard Pollock | CAN 1 | 0.2574 | |
| Hugh Williamson | CAN 1 | 0.2628 | |
| Paul Sullivan | AUS 1 | 0.2742 |
Light Benchrest 200 yards
With the shorter yardages out of the way, it was down for action at 200 yards. This is where most shoots are won and lost and it was no different here. Along the way some remarkable groups well under three-tenths of an inch were shot. Steve Sori, from Sydney, put down a new world record group of .138, but unfortunately on his warm-up target. The yardage battle went right down to the last target, as the results showed:
| Mike Conry | USA 2 | 0.2613 | |
| Chris van Zilj | RSA 1 | 0.262 | |
| David Kerr | AUS 1 | 0.2736 | |
| Chris Harris | USA 2 | 0.2783 | |
| Gavin Marshall | AUS 3 | 0.2849 | |
| Brendan Atkinson | AUS 2 | 0.2865 | |
| Paul Sullivan | AUS 1 | 0.2915 | |
| Gary Bristow | USA 2 | 0.2916 | |
| Ian Owen | NZL 1 | 0.3005 | |
| Bob Hamister | USA 3 | 0.3008 |
Heavy Benchrest 200 yards
With this being the last yardage of the tournament it was serious stuff and the pressure to make a good effort was obvious among the leading teams. The weather conditions were probably the toughest of the match, so extra care was needed. Hugh Williamson, from Canada, found the situation to his liking and punched in a .230. The American shooters dominated the aggregate though and at the end of the day it looked like this:
| Mike Conry | USA 2 | 0.2458 | |
| Gene Bukys | USA 1 | 0.2488 | |
| Ed Adams | USA 1 | 0.2593 | |
| Bob Hamister | USA 3 | 0.2622 | |
| Mitchell Tallar | AUS 1 | 0.2736 | |
| Ian Owen | NZL 1 | 0.2753 | |
| Wayne Campbell | USA 1 | 0.2777 | |
| John Wyatt | AUS 3 | 0.2815 | |
| Gary Bristow | USA 2 | 0.2846 | |
| Paul Sullivan | AUS 1 | 0.287 | |
Light Benchrest Grand Aggregate
| Mike Conry | USA 2 | 0.2346 | |
| David Kerr | AUS 1 | 0.2607 | |
| Gavin Marshall | AUS3 | 0.2615 | |
| Dave Coots | USA 3 | 0.2851 | |
| Hugh Williamson | CAN 1 | 0.2853 | |
| Chris van Zilj | RSA 1 | 0.289 | |
| Kobus Visser | RSA 1 | 0.2911 | |
| Chris Harris | USA 2 | 0.2916 | |
| Paul Sullivan | AUS 1 | 0.2919 | |
| Wayne Campbell | USA 1 | 0.2926 | |
Heavy Benchrest Grand Aggregate
| Wayne Campbell | USA 1 | 0.2384 | |
| Ed Adams | USA 1 | 0.2498 | |
| Roger Marshall | AUS 1 | 0.2552 | |
| Mitchell Tallar | AUS 1 | 0.2608 | |
| Gary Bristow | USA 2 | 0.2684 | |
| Larry Costa | USA 1 | 0.2729 | |
| Paul Sullivan | AUS 1 | 0.2806 | |
| Hugh Williamson | CAN 1 | 0.2816 | |
| John Wyatt | AUS 3 | 0.2843 | |
| Mike Conry | USA 2 | 0.2848 |
Individual 2-Gun Aggregate
| Mike Conry | USA 2 | 0.2397 | |
| Wayne Campbell | USA 1 | 0.2655 | |
| David Kerr | AUS 1 | 0.2795 | |
| Mitchell Tallar | AUS 1 | 0.2813 | |
| Larry Costa | USA 1 | 0.2833 | |
| Hugh Williamson | CAN 1 | 0.2834 | |
| Ed Adams | USA 1 | 0.2844 | |
| Roger Marshall | AUS 1 | 0.2858 | |
| Paul Sullivan | AUS 1 | 0.2863 | |
| Gary Bristow | USA 2 | 0.2935 |
The teams – Australia lands gold
| Australia 1 | 0.2832 | ||
| USA 1 | 0.2861 | ||
| USA 2 | 0.2963 | ||
| USA 3 | 0.3226 | ||
| Canada 1 | 0.3371 | ||
| South Africa 1 | 0.3456 | ||
| Australia 3 | 0.351 | ||
| Australia 2 | 0.3596 | ||
| France 1 | 0.3761 | ||
| New Zealand 1 | 0.3985 | ||
For the second time, an Australian team took the gold medal in the World Benchrest Championship. Congratulations to Roger Marshall, Mitchell Tallar, Paul Sullivan and David Kerr.