SSAA NSW

NSW Shooter Quarterly Review September 2017

Issue link: http://ssaansw.uberflip.com/i/867530

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 10 of 23

Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. 11 The SSAA NSW Coffs Harbour Branch was formed in the early 80's by a group of interested Benchrest shooters. They were John and Joan Radford and Joe and Coral Garrett. Others who helped the club in the early days were Ross Challinor, Gary Hunt, Robbie Hamilton, Arthur and Rita Hickson. Coffs Harbour Rifl e Club was approached and generously allowed them to use part of their range which is still our range today. Primarily set up for Benchrest competition we have target frames at 50m, 100yds and 200yds. From small beginnings shooting off the back of trucks, the range started to take shape with a few benches, a small shed, then a container and later a reloading shed with benches. The fi ring line was then increased to the present 15. In the early 2000's then President Peter Fleming with the help of Morrie Williams, Brian Schroder, Joe Bonney, Fred Savins (deceased) and Ian Forster, purchased a large shed which was erected and fi tted out with 2 showers, toilets and a small kitchen making conditions ever more comfortable for shooters. In those days, the range was only open on Saturdays for Competition Benchrest shooting. Once a month, early Saturday mornings were allocated for non-competitors to get in their qualifying shoots. In 2009, it was decided to trial opening the range on Wednesdays between 9am and midday. This proved to be popular and the turning point in increasing membership numbers, so Sunday was added which allowed Benchrest Competition to continue on Saturdays but catered for all our hunters and members just wishing to test loads or improve on their marksmanship skills. The present committee took over in 2010 and since then membership has risen from 268 to 615 at last count, which is a tremendous result. Over the years grants have been applied for and received from the NSW Sports Council for concreting the path to the fi ring line allowing wheelchair access, water tanks and a generator. SSAA NSW has provided grants for upgrading the fi ring line, a new container and more recently replacing the aging reloading shed. The facilities we now have are some of the best anywhere. Grants never cover the full cost of renovations so to supplement them Coffs Harbour Branch have worked hard by holding major registered Benchrest shoots which included 2 National Rimfi re, 1 National Hunter, the inaugural IRB Nationals, NSW 4-gun Centrefi re Championships, NSW Hunter, NSW IRB, NSW Rimfi re Championships and lastly the Biennial Supershoot. We also hold our own shoots being the Bananacoast IRB and Bananacoast Centrefi re Championships. We must thank David Billinghurst for all his help with running all these events. A big thank you must also go to our hardworking Committee, volunteers and trainers headed by Rod Madeley and ably assisted by Lance Miller, Brian Schroder, Raymond Munro, Neil Starr (deceased), Greg Sutherland, Ian Thompson, Steve Morton, John Ball, Alistair McMillan, Danny Rosewood, Gary Hunt, Rob Hamilton and Jeff Grono, all who help and work as target crew etc at the many competitions. New projects in the pipeline include re-cladding the clubhouse, a larger water tank and new storage area in the clubhouse. The key to encouraging new membership and keeping old ones has been to open the range more often allowing members to participate in their particular interests but also to give them the best experience and facilities when attending the range, this will help to ensure the future of shooting sports in Coffs Harbour. Branch Profi le: SSAA NSW Coffs Harbour Branch

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of SSAA NSW - NSW Shooter Quarterly Review September 2017