NSW Queens F-Open Blog

[AlanF]

Firstly its now called a Blog - the word Diary is obsolete.

Well, after 9m hours driving, and pitching the tent and having a takeaway, I finally have time to switch on the computer.

Apparently there have been a few storms here over the last day or two but the forecast looks okay. My fears about being the only shooter in the leadup were unfounded. I've already spotted Dennis Shallis, Mal Henderson and Meichelle Knudson, and I believe there will be a first timer, Noel Lewis, sporting a 7mm Rem Mag. I know of 3 others who are only here for the Queens.

I should be able to post each night - I have a (touch wood) reliable Internet connection.

I'll be back tomorrow night, with all the tales of success and failure .

Alan

[Cameron Mc]

Good luck to all.

Wish we were there.

Cameron & Julie

[RAVEN]

GOOD LUCK
Say Hi to el presidente (The Mouse)
Cheeres
RB

[AlanF]

Hello again.

Firstly, when the results are posted they will be HERE

We have 8 shooters in F-Open - an excellent roll-up compared to last year. Rod Davies used a 6x47 at 300 and 500 then a 284Win at 600. I used 6.5-284, at 300 and 600, and 6 Dasher at 500. Dennis Shallis, Mal Henderson and Rod Towers all had 243 Wins, Meichelle Knudson had a 6BR, Les Rozsnyai used a 243AI, and Noel Lewis a very loud 7mm Rem Mag.

Today was pretty tough actually, although there were some good scores at 300. The wind was North-westerly all day, with sudden drop-offs which caught nearly everyone.

At 300 Rod Davies did very well with 99. At 500 conditions were some of the worst I have seen at such a short range - Meichelle top-scored with 88 ! Les was second with 87. At 600, I scored 142 (150 possible), closely followed by Rod Davies on 141. We were the only ones to use bigger calibres at 600 and it showed.

So the daily agg went to Rod Davies on 324 with me 1 behind, and Dennis 6 behind me. Closest of the rest is Mal on 304.

In F-Std John Peters finished two points ahead of Noel Osborn. There was an equipment protest in F-Std. A rear rest packer with thin 1 inch spikes at the corners was challenged. However I don't believe the protest was upheld.

Signing off till tomorrow night.

Alan

[AlanF]

The MacIntosh is over for another year. At the first 2 ranges conditions were similar to yesterday i.e. tricky wind over the right shoulder. However not far into the 800, the wind swung round to an 11 o'clock sea-breeze and the later shooters mostly benefitted.

I had a good day and took the daily agg by 2 points from Rod Davies, which gave me the overall win by 1 point. I shot late in the 800 which I must admit helped a lot!

Range Winners : 500m Les Rozsynyai 92, 700m Alan Fraser 86, 800m Les Rozsnyai 141/150.

McIntosh Aggs : A Fraser 638, R Davies 637, D Shallis 617, L Rozsnyai 610, M Henderson 604, M Knudson 601, N Lewis 577, R Towers 563.

I have spotted Geoff Miners and Rob Eager, and Mick Passlow is apparently coming, so that's 3 more Open shooters for the Queens !

My fellow Gippslander Noel Osborn had a big win in F-Std, 7 points up on John Peters, with Bob Ped 2 further back.

Catch you tomorrow night.

Alan

[Cookie]

well down to Alan and Noel on their acheivements wish i was there too

[AlanF]

...wish i was there too

Cookie,

Now you come to mention it, Noel and I wondered what could have been if you'd been here shooting TR for Stratford-Maffra .

Alan

[AlanF]

Day one of the Queens saw the arrival of several more shooters, Rob Eager with his 6 Dasher, Steve Rigby using 6BR and 260 Rem, Ben Ferrara with a 308 Win and 6x47, Geoff Miners with a 6BR and 6.5x55, and Gottlieb Nyffenburger with a 6BR. Noel Lewis was the only leadup shooter who couldn't stay. Noel finished on a high anyway - he got up off the mound one shot early, then got back down and landed a perfectly centred 10 for his last shot with the big 7mm Rem Mag.

At 300 today, it was the usual over the right shoulder stuff - Les Rozsynyai won the range with 287. At 500 the nice even sea-breeze from the right started after a few shooters, and Steve Rigby did it with 98. At 600 the nice conditions continued, Rob Eager had a very nice 99, just pipping Geoff Miner's 98.

Daily aggs were : Rob Eager 291, Steve Rigby 288, Les Rozsynyai 287, Rod Davies 285, Ben Ferrara 283, Geoff Miners 282, Alan Fraser 280, Meichelle Knudson 279, Mal Henderson 273, Den Shallis 272, Gottlieb Nyffenburger 270, and Rod Towers 266.

Weather is looking to be fine over the next 2 days, although I heard strong winds on Sunday - should make the last 800 interesting.

Catch you later.

[AlanF]

A bit late tonight.

Weather was better today - the onshore winds arrived early and kept things steady for most of the day. Rod's 7mm held near perfect elevation and combined with his windreading skills he won every range. Geoff Miners had a very good day too.



So any of the leading 5 are in with a chance with the expected strong winds tomorrow, but Rod is looking very strong.

In F-Std, Dennis Smith has dropped just 4 points to date, and is followed by Barb Moritz, Gordon Vick, Alan Seaman, Greg Warrian and Bob Pedersen all within 2 or 3 points.

Time for some shut-eye. I'm camping here again tomorrow night so will report again then.

Alan

[Cameron Mc]

Some good shooting there by Rod. (go the 7mm)

It's not over yet though.

Cameron

[AlanF]

Yes Rod Davies cruised to victory today . Rob Eager did a slow and steady 800 to edge out Les Rozsynyai for second. And range winners were Steve Rigby with a 97 at 600, and Geoff Miners with a 135 at 800. Ironically both Geoff and Steve had disasters at the other range which put them out of contention for badges after their strong overnight positions. The wind was not as strong as forecast, and not from the north-west, but the sea-breeze was not at all the steady wind we know until quite late.

When I last looked, the NSWRA website was not fully up to date but may be when you read this - check it out HERE.

Once again we need to thank Den Shallis and Mal Henderson for their very generous sponsorship of F-Open. And it was great to see a few NSW shooters who don't normally make the Queens (Ben, Les and Rod Towers). I hope they can coax a few more to join them.

That's it from NSW for another year - I'll be back !

Alan

[bartman007]

Well done to the Gippy lads who went north.

Alan, well done on the 1st and 4th placings for both events! Rosedale has given you some skills in reading wind Certainly need it at the Anzac range!

Great to see Noel is charging ahead with some excellent placings in F - Std 1st and 12th! Those many years in Full Bore certainly paying off!

Have a safe trip home, and we'll see you all at the next shoot.

Cheers.

[RDavies]

Well, it all came together for me at this shoot. For the 1st 2 days Alan Fraser and I were squaded close to each other and were shooting almost identical scores for each range, so I was expecting (not hoping) that it was going to be Alan all the way up there along the way. As the shoot progressed, Alans recent good luck run ran out as his new 6.5x284 went off, giving big groups. Once he dialed the 6 dasher in, he was back in the party.
Other strong performers, who had some bad luck runs were Steve Rigby who did some great shooting and had me worried, but got a realy bad range with bad winds at the last 800M, 15 shots, with only his 6BR still working, knocking him back a few positions. Geoff Miles was the king of the longs, but a combination of bad luck, bad winds, and either brain fart or mechanical failure at 500M on the last day, knocked him back a long way. Bob Eager as usual was the short range king by a long way, but a few bad wind ranges pushed him back until the last range. At 800M right when the wind was changing the worst, giving big gusts and then dropping off Bob showed he knows what he is doing in the wind, taking his time, watching the fast changing flags and used his little 6 Dasher to get 134,one point behing the range winner ,Geoff Miles. This took him to 2nd in the Queens. Alan also shot a 134, showing the 6 dashers are not dead in the longs.
Les Rosznyai used consistancy to stay up in the points, for 3rd in the Queens. Les made his own very unique rifle stock. usualy when you hear that, you picture a dog ugly contraption, but Les,s rifle is one of the best enginered rifles I have seen. Any time you want to get rid of it, drop me a line.
As for myself, I started the Queens with my 6x47 which went well shooting brand new cases well in the lead up,then would not eject fireformed cases ( ejector cam on the bolt, not hot loads) so I had to use my 7mm for the rest of the shoot. I was not too worried as I knew everyone gets a taste of some bad ranges over 3 days. Day 2 was my good day. The new 7mm started to realy hum and I got some good wind ranges which I made the most of. For the end of day 3, due to ammo shortages, bad weather making accuraccy not so important, and wanting to save my good 7mm barrel, I screwed my old barrel in. I was relieved that I didnt lose the lead by too much.
Overall, I had some good luck on this shoot, with not too many bad winds, making the most of good (or less bad)conditions, decent rifle accuracy,not too many silly mistakes, no major equipment failure and most of all good luck.

[AlanF]

Rod,

Mr modesty as usual. I didn't notice you getting any more luck than most of us. Your gear was going the best I've seen it, and you were on top of the conditions again. You've just raised the bar a bit more for the rest of us - but don't get complacent - I'll be coming with a few more Vic shooters to Canberra .

Alan

[RAVEN]

Well done Rod and Dennis
And congratulations to all the other competitors
seems numbers are on the increase.
Cheers
RB