Atrocious conditions did not stop a contingent of shooters from Armidale Rifle Club from giving a strong showing at the annual NSW City Vs Country Vs ACT team shoots event at Malabar.
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Armidale Rifle Club shooters fetched great results at both the champion of champions events on Saturday, June 29, 2024 and the city vs country vs ACT event on Sunday, July 30.
On Saturday, Andrew Cameron (Target Rifle) and Matt Foster (F Open) represented the club in the Champion of Champions event.
In Target Rifle (full-bore- where shooters use a 308 and use a sling and jacket to shoot freehand with no rests involved), Andrew Cameron finished 13th out of a field of 17, which included current and former world champions as well as a large contingent of current Australian Team members.
It was a very solid field and a great result for Andrew, being only 4 points behind the winner.
In F Open Matt Foster finished 6th out of a field of 15, just 2 points behind the winner in a very tight field.
The Saturday afternoon saw Matt Foster, Jock Foster, Beau Edmonds Turnbull, Andrew Cameron and Adam Turnbull compete in the Teams events.
Jock Foster coached a side made up of NSW Country team members and went on to win the F Open event being the only side to shoot clean (drop no points). Matt Foster coached a second team which included many shooters from local clubs (Tamworth and Coffs Harbour) which finished 3rd.
On Sunday, less-than-favorable weather caused havoc in the team's events.
Overnight rain made the 600m mound unusable, so the day was to be shot at 800m with 4 stages.
Strong winds and intermittent rain all played a part.
Team strategy was paramount with captains and coaches watching the radar constantly.
NSW Country in F Open (where the choice of calibre is open with rear bags and front rests used, fielded 2 sides with Matt Foster (Captain) and Jock Foster (Wind Coach) in charge of one team.
The team coached by Jock Foster shot very quickly getting the scoring done while the weather allowed, trying to pick windows in the wind.
Teams were allowed 75 minutes per stage in which you have to get 5 shooters through. For the first two stages, this team was first finished which proved a masterstroke as the weather rapidly deteriorated making for very unpleasant conditions, poor sight picture, and very difficult wind calls.
Due to the bad weather, it was decided to cancel the last 2 stages, handing the NSW Country team its 4th consecutive win over City and the ACT Team.
NSW Country Target Rifle Team with Andrew Cameron was beaten by the NSW City team (which includes two current world champions and a host of Australian Shooters) and similarly, the Hunter Class team went down to the NSW City team.
NSW Country did restore some pride by winning the F Standard event.