The April event was not held. May's match was the challenging but enjoyable Deliberate match. Competitors had 2 sighting rounds prior to their first detail and then it was into the match. 10 rounds at a core target at 300yds from the prone position in 6 minutes. Once again D.Wyborn demonstrated his skills, this time with a No4 Mk1 to followed by A.Wood with a No1 MkIII*. K.Kenchington took out the modified class with a scoped K31. Here are the scores for the afternoon.

Service Rifle was not held in September, however, in October the Standard Rifle match was the 300yd 10-round match shot prone. While there were only 3 competitors the weather on October 1st was lovely and it allowed for some particularly accurate shooting. A.Wood recorded the highest score with a 44.02 out of 50. But complete newcomer J.Robinson took the Junior 1st with an impressive 42.01. His brother W.Robinson, a regular competitor, also shot a creditable 39.00 in the second detail.

December's event was a different day to the previous day's deluge. While it wasn't warm, in fact there was a chill in the breeze, the was no rain.....at least to begin with. However, there were crosswinds around 28kmh with gusts as high as 40kmh and shooting 55gr .224 cal projectiles, even from a 22-250, aren't ideal in this weather.
The challenge of Sniper Match is that you aren't allowed to have sighting shots. You're supposed to know your rifle and shoot it accordingly. For those unaware, the match is shot prone at 300yds, 2 phases of 6 bullets for a total of 12 rounds. In each phase the shooter has a minute to set up their "nest" and then 90 seconds to shoot all 6 rounds, and then get back off the mat.
And the lack of sighter was the downfall for a number of today's competitors. The only scores that count are the first detail. So, S.Hale took 1st place with his Weatherby Vanguard in 22-250, scoring 37 out of a possible 60 points. J.Hohnen placed second with a Steyr ProHunter Varmint in 223 Rem, scoring 29. And S.Hale's son, A.Hale took outright 3rd place and 1st Junior using his father's Lithgow LA102 in 223 Rem with 26 points.
While A.Wood scored an impressive 54.12, this was a second detail score and did not count to the overall result. If the match revealed anything, it was that competitors tended to shoot high and needed get to know their rifles better. Basically, there's no substitute for practise and experience. All competitors looked hungry to shoot these distances more often and nothing is more sure than the fact that long distance shooting is infectious!

The final scores for the year were reasonably predictable. A.Wood won the year's competition with an overall score of 573.4, purely by his consistent attendance of every meet. He was followed in second place by D.Wyborn with 225.7 points, and in third by C.Hartley with 175.6. The Junior champ was W.Robinson with a score of 172.4 points. Goulburn hopes to have more consistent attendance of shoots in 2018 and closer competition as a result.  

Name                      Deliberate (at 200 yards)          Rapid (200 yards)         Snap (100 yards)     Total
1. PM                      45                                          25                               6                            76    (2nd)
2. MD                       9                                           12                               8                            29
3. DM                       28                                          37                              6                             71   (3rd)
4. RG (Scoped rifle)   39                                          37                               1                            77
5. MV                       41                                          39                               8                            88   (1st)
6. WW                      0 (sat in car due to rain)          0 (sat in car due to rain)  8                            8    (last)

Extra excitement was had after RG bogged his Land Rover trying to drive from the 200 yard mound to the 100 yard mound -up to the axils! A good team effort getting the rover free (eventually)! 
The practice ran well and I can see how everyone is more confident with shooting and doing the butts.
Thanks to everybody who came and braved the weather -it was a fun day regardless and we did see a little bit of sunshine for about 10 minutes.