The Open Meeting was contested over five categories: Full-bore Target Rifle (308 or 223 cal., peep-sight, manually-supported) Divisions 1 and 2, F-Class Standard Target Rifle (308 or 223 cal., telescoped and bipod-supported) Divisions 1 and 2, and F-Class Open Target Rifle (unrestricted calibre to a maximum of 8mm, telescoped and bipod-supported), with results counted for Individual Range performances, Aggregate performances over All Ranges for each day, and Grand Aggregate performances over All Ranges for both days combined.

Thirty seven shooters attended the Meeting from around the region and from Victoria, including from the Mossman, Ravenshoe-Mt. Garnet, Herberton, Atherton, Mareeba, Cairns, Townsville, and South Bendigo (Vic) Rifle Clubs, all vying for individual glory. M&DRC members were entered in the Full-bore Target Rifle Division 2 and F-Class Standard Target Rifle categories. Shooting commenced at 0830 both days, with breaks for morning tea and lunch between matches, and concluded with an end-of-day Awards Presentation on both days.

In long-distance, high-performance target shooting, weather conditions are a critical aspect that shooters must accommodate and to which they must adapt as their shoot progresses; these conditions are rarely totally benign, and can change rapidly. The weekend of the 5th/6th July was spectacular in the Far North with mornings clear and cool but with a bright sky behind the targets due to the low Sun angle at this time of year; early shadow from the tree-line on the eastern side of the range gave way to bright and very warm conditions on both days before the shadow crept in from the western tree-line in the late afternoon, especially on Saturday, to make ‘seeing’ again very difficult. The combination of brightly back-lit targets, morning and afternoon shadowing, a hot Sun with a light but variable, and predominantly westerly breeze, and a temperamental heat haze or ‘mirage’ that played havoc with Sunday’s 600m concluding-match provided noticeably challenging conditions for shooters.

Notable Mossman member performances were as follows:

For Saturday’s three Matches, in the Range performances Individual winners were:

At the opening 400 metres:

Full-bore Target Rifle Division 2: Rick Mischlewski (Mossman) 1st with a 48/1 (out of 50) over

Mal McKellar (Mossman) 2nd on 46/4, and Neil Attwood (Mossman) 3rd on 44/1;

At 600 metres:

Full-bore Target Rifle Division 2: Mal McKellar (Mossman) with 48/6 (out of 50), over Neil

Attwood (Mossman) 48/1, with Josh Cox (Cairns) 3rd on 46/1;

At the closing 500 metres:

Full-bore Target Rifle Division 2: Mal McKellar (Mossman) with 49/4 (out of 50), over Neil

Attwood (Mossman) 48/3, and Rick Mischlewski (Mossman) 48/0;

Winners in the AGGREGATE of All Ranges for SATURDAY were:

Full-bore Target Rifle Division 2: Mal McKellar (Mossman) took the win with 143/14 (out of

150), over Rick Mischlewski (Mossman) 2nd on 141/2 and Neil Attwood (Mossman) 3rd on

140/5;

For Sunday’s two Matches, in the Range performances Individual winners were:

At the opening 500 metres:

Full-bore Target Rifle Division 2: Mal McKellar (Mossman) 1st with 49/5 (out of 50) over

Gary Moss (Atherton) 2nd on 48/4, and Josh Cox (Cairns) 3rd on 48/3;

At the concluding 600 metres:

Full-bore Target Rifle Division 2: Mal McKellar (Mossman) 1st with 46/4 (out of 50), over Rick

Mischlewski (Mossman) 2nd on 46/3, with Josh Cox (Cairns) 3rd on 46/2;

Winners in the AGGREGATE of All Ranges for SUNDAY were:

Full-bore Target Rifle Division 2: an equally consistent Mal McKellar (Mossman) took the win

with 95/9 (out of 100), over Josh Cox (Cairns) 2nd on 94/5 and Rick Mischlewski (Mossman)

3rd on 93/5;

Winners in the GRAND AGGREGATE of All Ranges for BOTH DAYS were:

Full-bore Target Rifle Division 1: Trevor Deed (Cairns), with impressive consistency throughout

the competition, took the win with 248 points (out of a possible 250 for Full-bore peep-

sighted rifles) with 19 centre-bullseyes, over Frank Chester (Mareeba) 2nd on 242/21 and

Dudley Ford (Mareeba) 3rd on 238/19;

Full-bore Target Rifle Division 2: in a clean sweep for Mossman Mal McKellar (Mossman)

took the win with a very fine 238/23 (out of 250), over Rick Mischlewski (Mossman) 2nd on

234/7 and Neil Attwood (Mossman) 3rd on 227/9;

F-Class Standard Target Rifle Division 1: with three wins and a 3rd on the ranges, Ian “Mick”

Wood (Ravenshoe-Mt. Garnet) took a fine Grand Aggregate win with 293/25 (out of a

possible 300 points for F-Class ‘scoped rifles), over Shane Green (Cairns) 2nd on 292/20 and

Kath Chatfield (Ravenshoe-Mt. Garnet) 3rd on 291/25;

F-Class Standard Target Rifle Division 2: in a very competitive category, with range wins

spread throughout the competitors, Betta Gianasi (Ravenshoe-Mt. Garnet) took an excellent

win with 286/24 (out of 300), over double range winner Liz Wilson (also Ravenshoe-Mt.

Garnet) 2nd on 284/23 and Brian Corkill (Cairns) 3rd on 284/16; and,

F-Class Open Target Rifle: Marty Lobert (Cairns) took well deserved honours with 298/22 (out

of 300), over Peter Smith (Herberton) 2nd on 290/23 and Garry Venables (Ravenshoe-Mt.

Garnet) 3rd on 287/17.

The Awards for Most Centre Bullseyes went to:

Full-bore Target Rifle Division 1: Frank Chester (Mareeba) – 21 Vs;

Full-bore Target Rifle Division 2: Malcolm McKellar (Mossman) – 23 Vs;

F-Class Standard Target Rifle Division 1: Ian “Mick” Wood (Ravenshoe-Mt. Garnet) – 25 (on

count-back from Kath Chatfield);

F-Class Standard Target Rifle Division 2: Betta Gianasi (Ravenshoe-Mt. Garnet) – 24;

F-Class Open Target Rifle: Peter Smith (Herberton) – 23;

The Sam Leonardi Memorial Trophy for highest score in the Full-bore Target Rifle category, to honour Mossman’s best ever shooter, with both Queensland and Australian representation, Sam Leonardi, was awarded to Trevor Deed of Cairns for his outstanding 248 points (out of 250) with 19 centre-bullseyes.

Our thanks go to all who made the shoot possible and a great success, including all of the shooters, scorers and check-scorers, target markers, Club members, spouses, Club Captain Neil Attwood, Range Officer Mal McKellar, Butts Officer Ron Schild, Office Manager Ian Barton, ‘runner’ Ryan Barton, photographers Steve Cruickshank, Chris Allman and Michael Hall, Teams-result number-massager Marty Lobert, and our many supporters from throughout the Douglas Shire and Cairns.

The Club meets every Saturday at 1:00pm at the Mossman & District Rifle Club Range mid-way between Port Douglas and Mossman; visitors are always welcome.