SSAA NSW

26 Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. 2018 SSAA NSW Black Powder Cartridge Rifle State Titles SSAA NSW Griffith Branch hosted the SSAA NSW Black Powder Cartridge Rifle State Titles at the Rankins Springs Range on 18 and 19 August with competitors from around NSW, ACT and Victoria attending, at what is now an annual event for this exciting and challenging discipline. Matches were conducted for smallbore and centrefire rifles with the smallbore, half size metallic silhouette targets set out to 200m and the full sized ones out to 500m. Fine weather prevailed but the conditions were challenging with strong south westerly winds ensuring that the shooters and their spotters both had their work cut out for them in order to post credible scores. Rifles used are copies from the old buffalo shooting era of the 1880s from single shot .22RFs to a variety of historic centrefire calibres, especially 45/70s and 45/120s loaded with black powder and firing large, carefully cast lead projectiles. Shooting with the aid of cross sticks at the longer distances, each competitor with their special loads using their own bullet lubricant, cast bullets sized to fit perfectly, blow tubes and a particular load of black powder, all perfected to give outstanding accuracy from these venerable rifles and cartridges to knock over metallic silhouette targets out to 500m. The Smallbore Match was won by D. Macdonald (34) with B. Macdonald and T. Barry equal second (29). R. Teale emerged the winner of the Centrefire Match with a credible score (23) followed by D. Macdonald (18) and T. Barry (13). R. Teale continued his winning form to win the Any Sight Match using the same rifle with open sights to win with a score of (28) and the 2 Gun Aggregate medal.

• Cover