OzFclass

What a magnificent effort by the local shooters to get this 1500yd range up and going. Already I have a feeling this event is going to become a classic.

I arrived at about 2pm, and a 1000yd practice was underway, then the first shots at 1500 were fired. I was in the butts, and nearly everyone seemed to get on the target - however conditions were good - I think it will be very tough at this distance in any serious weather.

There'll be a good turnout in F-Class tomorrow. Today I saw Paul Deehan, Dave Groves, Richard Wild, and Ken Larkin. Add Rod Davies and Bruce Kneebone who've said they intend to be there, and you have a good field. Hopefully, tomorrow night I'll be able to report that F-Class didn't get cleaned up by the .308s!

Alan

Er, today F-Class got cleaned up by a .308, and also I think F-Class was won by a .308.

We started the day with about 40 shooters (11 F-Class) and a weather forecast predicting heavy rain clearing later, and that is pretty much what happened. A short but polished ANZAC memorial was held in the shed at 8:30. We than waited for the rain to stop - I think it finally did at about 1pm. The freshly constructed mounds were thought be too soft and greasy to shoot on, and time was running out so it was decided to have a single shoot from in front of the 1500 mound. My heart sank because I opted not to practice at 1500 yesterday, thinking that the 1200 today would give me good zeroing information.

Anyway, the first shooters had fairly tough conditions, than it eased in the middle, then wind got up again late. Some of the F-Class shooters decided early not to shoot today, and several retired during the shoot, with some of them never getting on the target.

Anyway, well done Jenni Hausler who had the top F-Class score, and I think she uses a .308. Here are all F-Class results :

J Hausler 73/90, A Fraser 72, P Deehan, R Wild 71, K Larkin 58, Retired: G Phelan, G Willis, D Groves, R Davies; Non-starters: A Larkin, C Austin.

But the outstanding performance was by Shane Courtney in Match Rifle - he had an incredible 72.5. Not bad for an 800 yard target used at 1500 . The next best MR score was 68.0, which shows how good Shane's was.

BTW my fears about no practice were unfounded. My first shot at this range was the first sighter at 1500yds, and it was a bully-eye!!!

Back tomorrow night - weather looks much better - forecast is max 20C, and showers unlikely.

Alan

It's all over at Coonabarabran, the longest full-bore range in the southern hemisphere! And what a great event! We had near perfect weather today - fine mild just a hint of a breeze and no flies. The format was 15 shots at 1100, 15 at 1200, and 15 at 1500. Badges were awarded on the 1100 and 1200 aggs. Rod Davies and Bruce Kneebone finished equal on points and the shoot-off went to Rod 27/30 to Bruce's 23/30, so Rod took 1st badge and Bruce second. There was also a 1500 yd 2 day agg, in which I edged out Richard Wild by 3 points.

Scores :
<img src="http://www.ozfclass.com/forums/pic/CoonaFClassResults.JPG">
Calibres : R Davies 284Win, B Kneebone 280 AI, A Fraser 6.5-284, D Groves 6.5x55AI, R Wild 7mm Boo Boo, K Larkin 6.5 Roberts, J Hausler 308 Win, C Austin 223 Win, P Deehan 280 AI, G Willis ?, A Larkin 6.5-06, G Phelan 308 Win.

At 1500 we saw some pretty weird things happening to elevation. You'd be happily shooting 5s and 6s then suddenly get a 3 at 6 o'clock. This is a different proposition from 1000yds I can tell you.

At the end of the day we had the official opening. The local community were there in numbers, and the last few shooters on the 1500yd mound had a big audience. After the numerous speeches for the opening, and the presentations, we all tucked into a big spit roast of lamb and pork. This community really knows how to host an event, and I hope its all on again next year. Coonabarabran is within a day's drive for probably 60-70% of Australia's F-Class shooters, and with a lively town with plenty of motel and caravan park accommodation, it's ideal for this type of event.

Alan

Yep, it was a good shoot and I think more long range loonies should give it a go next year. The range and set up are brand new and I believe we were the first to officialy shoot on it. I think organisers were worried that the 1500yd shoot would turn into a farce with too many misses, but the shooters were able to deal with it pretty well.
A few tips for those who might be keen to try it next year.
You dont need a super big boomer, as 308s (with heavy bullets) go well and even a 243 AI was used. Actualy the 308s with heavy bullets shot better elevation than the F open calibers and with the stiff charges and heavy bullets are not far behind balisticly, maybe ahead in some cases. Plenty of shooters out there have 6.5x284s and as you see from the 1500yd scores, they did a great job at the long range.
You only need enough elevation to get back to 1200yds as they have a sighting board about 10 moa above the target which I used at 1500yds. The sighting board was a great idea with markings on it to represent each scoring ring and was great for hold offs.
Both Bruce and myself are thinking of using 6mms next year.

We were squadded in with Match rifle shooters which went great. The Match rifle shooters are a top bunch and I will be trying to get out to as many matchrifle shoots as I can. It would be a good idea to go to the Matchrifle website and check their calender as they have quite a few 1000,1100 and 1200 shoots through the year.