April 2026 (2) - Flipbook - Page 109
string on a V, John and Brad on a 5.
Brad topped this one with a solid 37.
By the end of the two details, it was too
late to get through another distance, so
we opted for hydration and nibbles and
our discussion with the agenda items
Sharon hadn’t actually sent out. Sorry
team. With plenty of catching up and
topics to cover we started on the small
and not negotiable.
Great improvement call from Mark to
wear eye protection in the pits, thanks
Peter for the donation of safety glasses.
We discussed plenty of topics, some were
short and sweet, others took much
longer. Some great ideas emerged and
after weighing up the logistics we decided
we would offer to host the 2026 Long
Range Black Powder Nationals for cartridge rifles and muzzleloaders at Wellington in October. Calendar shuffles
and logistics will be confirmed as planning progresses. With the hope for no
more gale force winds we all turned in for
the night.
Sunday was initially cool and still as we
had breakfast and caffeinated for the
day. By 08:50 we were on the line and
on cue the wind started up. Unfortunately, both Jim B and John weren’t feeling 100% so opted to sit the day out.
Shayne broke the rule again with a 5 as
his first sighter. Ken H was worried
about a wild shot but was reassured that
when the target goes down there is always hope and it was a ‘Gary’ of a 4. It
was all part of the “thwack attack”, we
could hear the thwack of the projectiles
into the target. Again, the mirage was
nasty, and scores were well deserved.
During this detail a fox casually sauntered across the range between the 500
and 400y mounds and paid us absolutely no heed. It occasionally pounced
on something and had a munch. We resumed shooting once it was off the range
God bless Black Powder!
and it continued on its merry way towards us, casually walking past like we
were not there and meandered down the
creek.
Our sauntering fox
Later it circled back around the club
house, back out on the range, up and
through the pistol range and off up the
hill to our left like it owned the place.
Whether it was old and deaf or deaf from
shooting, or both, it was so used to people being on the range it didn’t even
flinch. There was also a pair of Wedgetail
Eagles cruising the thermals and a beautiful Kite hovered momentarily near us
before zooming off.
Detail 2 had the hotter conditions and
the mirage only let up to change direction. Richard had worked out his load
problem and was working with it as a
learning exercise. Ken B declared a
“Gary” shot, predicting it would be a 2 at
2 o’clock, it was a V. That’s what Swiss
will do for you.
Ken B’s ‘2 at 2 o’clock’-V bull
Gavin hit a shot marker. Keith was finding his groove after Dan helped him with
some tweaks to his sights and Dan
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