Robert Chaffe Awarded Life Membership

Norman Linehan Awarded Life Membership

On Saturday January 19 , 2019 at the general meeting of the East Central District Rifle Association Inc. the members unanimously awarded Life Membership of the ECDRA to Norm Linehan.  Rosco Davis, treasurer, and Graeme Kerr, Vice Captain, addressed the meeting and explained that Norm Linehan has  been a very active member of the ECDRA first as a member of Merton Rifle Club joining back into the 1970s.

Norm, a skilled fitter and turner. literally turned himself to many tasks requiring metal work form a ladder into the target pit to the massive shooting tower incorporating a set of stairs and shooting bench for the 600 yard mound at the Violet Town Range.  The stairs he found in a junk heap and he persuaded the proprietor to donate the structure for the club.

It was Norm who developed the zero range equipment including the permanent chronograph station  and the mechanisms for the small bore range. Norm has been the "go to man” for many rifle problems and he always had a solution and it always involved at least a few minutes in the workshop.  These minutes are now treasured by the members as they recalled Norm’s skill with metal and for that matter he is very handy with wood as well.

He was one of the first to build an all alloy rifle stock in the district, it looked fine but on the test firing the stock rang like a bell, back to the drawing board and with more testing the problem was soon solved.  He was attracted to the extreme part of the sport "Match rifle" where shooting is conducted out to 1300yards.  It is a must-see event a Bisley in England where the shooters use all sorts of positions in attempt to gain maximum scores, positions including lying on your back with the rear sight on the very end of the butt of the rifle stock. Norm was more attracted to ballistics and building custom barrels and loads to use at these extreme ranges.  He was rewarded with his efforts with a National Champions badge and locally as Sportsman of the Month in the Rotary Club of Mansfield’s annual competition.

There is hardly a place on the Violet Town range that has not had Norms Hand on in some way this includes the BBQ and the storage container. It is safe to say that Norm has been the literal nuts and bolts of the club as well as serving as a term as Treasurer, then the custodian of the silver-wear, over 18 trophies that have been collected by the ECDRA or held in trust for the Yea, Alexandra, Gobur, Euroa and Mansfield Rifle Clubs.  Norm is well known around Australia and his vast network of friends and specialists has given instant access to solutions to every problem you can imagine and some.  Norm  continues to serve the club well although his health has now severely curtailed his shooting.  Norm well and truly worthy of Life Membership. As Graeme and Rosco completed their address the motion was carried unanimously with acclamation. Norm now joins Geoff James as the ECDRA’s Life Members and everyone wishes their service to continue well into the future.

2018 Classic 303 Invitational Shoot

Grandfather’s rifle takes pride of place on the range.

Zero check at 100 yards for the old 303 rifles the first Range of Saturdays 303 shoot.  Andrew Braden, as Range Officer, is in the fluro vest with Graeme Kerr at the bench with an “as-issued No4 303”  in the foreground and Rosco Davis on the spotting scope calling the shooters shots at the bench in the background. The old rifles performed remarkably well.  The "iron sights" were a challenge for those who regularly use telescopic sights.

Members and friends dusted off these old rifles that ruled the range in the 1950’s and were the rifle that the Anzacs depended on in both world wars.

The Targets that were used on Rifle Ranges from the time period when Bullets were given out FREE by the Government.

 Andrew Braden organised the shoot and provided the following report of the shoot.

"The weather was perfect for the shoot. The morning was cool and sunny, with a breeze springing up just before lunch. The afternoon saw the breeze continue, but it did not have much effect on the shooting. The day started with a zero check at 100yd.s which was followed by the first match at 36yd.s. This was standing and consisted of five rounds deliberate, followed by five rounds rapid. Lunch followed.

Then it was 300yd.s. for the second match. This was a ten shot deliberate from the prone position. Some Classic Class competitors decided to try their hand at Service Class during the second match, which was followed by much mutterings about sight pictures with the open sights. The third match found the remaining competitors at 200yd.s where they could either sit or kneel. Again, it was a ten shot deliberate.

ECDRA 2018 Christmas Shoot

The East Central District Rifle Association Inc. Christmas shoot  on Saturday 15th December 2018 also attracted shooters from Nagambie and Karramomus Rifle Clubs as well other friends of the ECDRA.  The shoot was focused on the 500 yard shooting mound so that the members could shoot full bore in the morning and small bore in the afternoon in the shade of the old gum trees without moving. 

A very busy day at the 500yard mound for the ECDRA’s 2018 Christmas Shoot.  Range Officer Graeme Kerr in the flare Vest with RO on the back keeps a close eye on the shooters shooting small bore on the left, next to the bench a shooter is zeroing in at 100m while the shooters on the right are trying for the smaller five shot group at 500 yards.  Yes Graeme handled it well with everyone enjoying themselves.

The challenge in the morning was for shooters to shoot the best 5 shot group.  Two sighters were allowed and then 5 scoring shots this was shot twice. We have often referred to a shooting group and this is an occasion when we can explain why it is important.  The group is where the consecutive shots from a rifle fall when the rifle is aimed at the same spot.  Sight adjustment is allowed for the wind. The “group" may be anywhere on the target but it has to be the same target.  Neal Hambridge found out the hard way when he had a very good group developing only to place a shot on the wrong target.   In a perfect world the shots would go down the same hole in the target. If we were shooting at 25m the variation encountered in groups from the members target rifle would almost do that as we strive  to have a group of about 35mm in diameter at 500 yards.   The smaller the 5 shot group is the easier it is to centre the shots in the maximum scoring zone.

David’s plans for the day almost flooded when the electronic target system started to play up but it was not long before the computer and WiFi nuts had worked out the solution.  Using the electronic target it is possible to measure to the nearest 1/10mm the size of any group and it was this feature that David relied on to manage the competition.  It was great to see that the best group was shot by Des Coulter  the group was 46.9 mm in diameter Graeme Kerr was second with 48.2 and John third with 77.7.   Other group sizes were: Kris 78.5, Andrew Braden 85.2, Neal Hambridge 90.8, Geoff James 95.7, Rodger King  106.2, Kevin Epps  113.1, Richard Godden 116.8, Rosco Davis 126.5 Kris 132.2,  Brendon 169.3, Glen 173.8,  Fred Guyatt 212.4, David Wallace 217.3 and  Yowie 342.

Time for lunch and Rosco Davis had been very busy with hamburgers and sausages hot off the BBQ  combined with fresh bread rolls  and tomato sauce a feast fit for the season.  Well done Rosco there was plenty for seconds and that always goes down well.  For a change a good cold drink was appreciated as the time in the sun was very dehydrating, a long chat about loads and projectiles combined with catching up on family and friends Lunch was the social highlight of the day.

Rob Chaffe ECDRA president welcomed everyone to the range and then wished a very happy Christmas to all.  It was great too see Rob on the range because it has been  many months since he has been there during a scheduled shoot due to his battle with cancer and its associated impacts on his life. Rob also announced the fun part of the day shooting with the low recoil and noise small bore rifles. Fist straight out target shooting at 100 m  then using Norm Lienhan’s target machine and Olympic style shoot where the target is exposed for a limited time (only seconds) and the contestant is expected to complete the shoot while the target is exposed.  Needless to say there were quite a few side bets on the fist stage of the shoot. The Olympic style shooting proved to be a heap of fun and of course many complaints to the range officer about firing too soon or too late.  All done in the best of fun.

The day concluded with afternoon tea and the presentation of prizes and best of all it seems that Santa made an early  call leaving gifts for the young people present.  Can't get much better than that!   Shooting will now focus on small bore over the summer plus some working bees to service the electronic targets so shooters should keep an eye of the ECDRA web site calendar for the latest news and shooting schedule .  There will be no shooting next week.  A Merry Christmas and Happy new year to all.

ECDRA Go the Distance

This weekend the Wodonga Picnic shoot with three 900 yard stages and Wangarratta's Charity Shoot for the Merry Marchers at 300,500 and 600m was held.

Marty Kelly and Terry Gee made the commitment and the long drive to contest both shoots. The conditions were fickle catching lots of shooters out with surprising vertical shifts, an unusual occurrence. Marty placed second in F/TR on the day. Unfortunately Terry made the mistake of winding his scope the wrong way for one shot a shooters worst nightmare which in the strong competition meant he was out of the placings for the day.

On Sunday Marty and Terry were joined by David Wallace and Neal Hambridge for Wangarratta's Merry Marchers Charity Shoot. The conditions on the Sunday were mostly very light with just enough wind flicking up occasionally to catch out competitors. In very strong competition with the States top F Standard shooters competing David took out his first A Grade win without winning a single stage. It was David very consistent high scores in each stage along with a high X count that saw him take out the Aggregate for the day by one Super Centre.

The hard  luck story of the Sunday shoot was Neal's shoot which was compromised when he put a shot on the wrong target, costing him 6 points. Again with the strong competition in F-Open this meant he was well out of the placings. F-Open Highlights saw Ben Goodwin score a 60 with 10 Super Centres at 300m. Trevor Rhodes won F-open without dropping a point the only competitor to do so.

Terry was just outside the placings on Sunday finishing in 5th a good achievement with such strong competition and scores. Marty won F/TR on the Sunday and the Grand Agg for the weekend.

It is a great weekend and also for a good cause. It was good to see these shoot's attracting such a good turn up. Next year if everyone could bring along one friend it could be even more successful.

Shooting Sports Facility Program Grant

Violet Town Shooting Complex renovation tops a very special year for the ECDRA.

The East Central District Rifle Association’s annual dinner held at the Yarck Hotel on the evening of Thursday October 25th 2018 where it was announced that the Club had been awarded a $100 000 grant to upgrade the facilities at the Violet Town Shooting Complex.

Neal Hambridge on one of the shooting mounds to be widened and have access improved.

The funds will allow for the renovation of the toilets and club house to accommodate “all abilities”, improve the access / parking areas, deal with safety issues at the 600 yard mound and repair flood damage to the target pits.

The funds come from the Victorian State Government’s Round 3 of the Shooting Sports Facility grant program. President of the ECDRA  Robert Chaffe, when announcing the success of the grant, thanked the members of the Euroa Clay Target Club for their assistance in preparing the submission as the Violet Town Shooting complex is now in regular use by up to 60 persons, including those with mobility disabilities and family groups.  The existing facilities are in need for renovation to accommodate the current use.  Robert said the complex when renovated  will on a par with the very comfortable facilities at the Wangaratta Rifle range at Glenrowan.  

Now that the Shooting Complex has stable, reticulated 240 volt power available to the club house Robert said that the ECDRA will be able to make full use of all the facilities provided by the Hex Systems electronic targets including real time monitoring of all targets and scores.  The Hon John Uren MP Minister for Sport said, in a letter to the ECDRA, “I would like to congratulate East Central District Rifle Association on your successful application to Round 3 of the Shooting sports Facility Program.”  the Minister ended his letter with “Congratulations and I look forward to seeing the positive outcomes from this investment”.

The Executive of the Management Committee of the Violet Town Shooting Complex have already moved to get final quotes on the works and will meet this week to begin the process of finalizing a project plan to go before the members who use the complex for final approval before proceeding.  Mr Chaffe stressed that where ever possible local contractors and trades will be used to carry out the works ensuring that the benefit of the project is spread as far as possible in our own area.   We can honestly say that this dinner was one of the most exciting for many years as those present began to imagine the safety and comfort that the completed proposed works will provide.   Graeme Kerr, Secretary of the ECDRA, was busy in the past week preparing for the annual meeting and he confirmed that 2018 shooting year has been one of the best ever.

ECDRA Win First Round of Chas Hayes 2018

Gazebos, blue skies, heavy coats and wet road tell the story of what can best be described as a difficult day of target shooting at 800 yards on the Katandra Range for the first round of the Chas Hayes Memorial pennant.

East Central District Rifle Association hunkered down and pulled together in the tough conditions as they rapidly changed throughout the day. The team took out the first round of the Chase Hayes Long Range Pennant by two points on Saturday.  ECDRA scored  586 points from  Karramomus on 584, then Shepparton Nathalia with 583, Nagambie 580 and Katandra 358.

The shoot was at Katandra and consisted of two stages over 800 yards.  The shoot marked a major achievement for the district as it was the first time that the Chase Hayes had been shot on electronic targets at Katandra. It is the fulfilment of a vision developed 5 years ago at the Railway Hotel in Euroa when a group of shooters got to gather to discuss how they might use the Shooting Sports Facility grants program to have all clubs using electronic targets.

The vision included the fact that for big shoots clubs would share their targets so that four or more targets could be made available to allow big shoots to run with the same efficacy as the club shoot with only two.

Karramomus,  Katandra and Wodonga are the only ranges in the North East region with access to 900 or 1000 yard ranges with “first Class Electronic targets ", on Saturday Karramomus and Katandra shared their targets to enable the 5 clubs to shoot within a reasonable time.

The shoot also marked the occasion of using the full facilities of the range for the first time for some time as extensive renovations have been undertaken during the last two years by the Katandra Club, led by Peter O’Dwyer, as part of the move to electronic targets.  The target system ran flawlessly and ensured the shoot was completed in good time.

Saturday can only be described as mixed weather.  The icy blast from the south brought squalls around Mt Major that sent the shooters scurrying for shelter in gazebos erected for the day. The chopping and changing of the weather, not just the wind but the light and the temperature really tested the resolve of the shooters was well as their skills. ECDRA Captain Marty Kelly said he was exhausted at the end of the day, as he and his coaching team tried to keep on top of the conditions.

The placings were not really clear until well after the final stage when handicaps and class adjustments were made and then the results were double, no triple checked with only 6 points separating the top four teams.  Clearly the 2018 Chase Hayes is going to be one off the closest contested pennants for a long time. Next Saturday it is round two with two stages over 900 yards at the Katandra range.  Special thanks are extended to the Katandra Club for the use of their range and for the excellent work they have completed to make their range first class.