The first couple of weeks in September were taken up with fixing the targets on Range 3 and tidying up several other areas of the Range in preparation for the September Open.

The open started well on Friday 18th with a visit from Brendon Moylan, our Local State Member, who was very interested in the Club's standing in the Community and the facilities we very fortunately enjoy.

Competition then got underway at 3 pm with a Standard Pistol Match for nine competitors and continued on Saturday and Sunday.

A total of 39 entrants contested over 140 events over the weekend, several new friendships were created and many old ones renewed.

All in all, a very successful open which on receipt of final accounts, should prove profitable for the Club.

This weekend is a long weekend and as is Club Policy, the ranges are closed to competition on 3rd October with competition resuming on Saturday 10th October 2026

Only two matches contested yesterday with Peter training for future para Olympics in Air rifle returning a score of 551 - just 2 points below his personal best. Not bad for a person with no eyesight and relying on the sound of electronics and a helper to assist with changing targets and inserting pellets for him.

Graeme shot an Air Pistol Match and recorded a Personal best of 443 - up 5 points on his previous personal best score.

The rest of us worked with the assistance of Charles and his tractor/post hole borer preparing to install new receivers for the Range 3 Target receivers next Saturday in preparation for next month's ISSF Open.

Further working bees will be held the next two Saturdays to make sure everything is ready for the Open.

Two members only contested matches today with Rick and Bob contesting two 48 shot 1500 matches each.

A potential new member completed the P650 paperwork and commenced induction training and is now highly likely to join the club in the next week or so.

Preparations are well under way to drill new receiver holes for the 50 metre targets on Range 3 next weekend and commence cementing these receivers into the ground and facing them with timber so that they can longer be struck by projectiles damaging the receivers and making it almost impossible to remover the frames. This should be completed within the next few weeks - well in advance of the September Open.

Eighteen members and two observers attended the Club yesterday for the AGM, well over half our membership base in attendance.
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The same Committee was re-elected with the addition of Ralf as an additional Committee Person
Due to a pre-working bee inspection and meeting on Range 3 contested matches was very limited.

There was however, four Air Pistol Matches contested in the morning and one Air Pistol Training Match

Entries are rolling in for the September Open already and we are hopeful of a good strong entry list for this event with quite a few known to have booked accommodation but not yet entered the Competition. 

The first weekend in May was dedicated to a 2 day working bee to demolish the old termite destroyed air compressor shed and erect a new steel shed in its place.

The old shed only took about 2 hours to demolish due to the terminal damage to all the frame and the concrete pad was very quickly cleaned and made ready for the new shed.

The steel frames had been previously constructed to make the task possible in the two days and by the end of Saturday, the new walls had all been stood and secured and all the wall cladding affixed.

Sunday say the electrical reconnected and the roof sheeting, door vents and spin-away all installed leaving only the new and approved air connection to be made after purchase of the required components and the flashing acquired and installed.

Rick and Bob competed the air hook up yesterday and the turning targets are now all operational again.

The flashing is all onsite ready to be installed over coming weeks to complete the entire construction.

Only five members were in attendance yesterday but the Black Powder weekend does not attract large attendances.

Bob did a lot of cleaning around the new shed before anyone else arrive yesterday and then Charles and Ralph loaded all the offcuts of iron sheets and other metal rubbish after Lunch to take to the tip while Bob, Rick and Wayne contested the 25 m Black Powder Match with varying degrees of success.

Match of the day next week is Centre Fire/25 m Pistol (sport pistol)

We have seen some very good attendances over recent weeks but I suspect that this will now slow down due to the hideous price being charged for fuel at present. 

The increased cost of fuel has added at least 30% to the cost of a tank of fuel - in my case, the last tank of fuel cost $60 more than the previous tank as the service station I was buying at stopped the significant discounts previously given and raised their prices increasing the price of unleaded by $1 per litre.

We have now completed the assembly of the new steel frame for the Compressor shed - the old one is totally destroyed by termites and is in danger of collapsing - ready for a working bee on 2nd & 3rd May to dismantle what is left of the old shed and erect and clad the new steel shed to a minimum lock up stage and hopefully, have the compressor re-commissioned so the turning targets will be again operational the following week.

​On behalf of the Committee, I wish all reading our blog a very happy Easter.

The Club is enjoying far better attendances in recent weeks and there has been an influx of membership enquiries with only a very few of these prompted by the new gun laws.

Next weekend is a working bee commencing at 9am to prepare for the February 2026 ISSF Open the following weekend.

Entries close tonight with numbers down slightly on previous events but still quite adequate to run a successful event.

​Squadding should be emailed out by Thursday night to arrive in plenty of time for thos travelling early next week.

The new year has started well with very good attendances in spite of the heat we are experiencing.

We had a total of sixteen matches contested over the day yesterday over 5 different matches which was very pleasing to see.

So far this month, We have gained one new member as a transfer in and we now have 6 potential new members considering joining - with the later group possibly influenced by the December 2025 Gun Laws introduced by the NSW Government- pleasingly, they all wish to join as both target rifle and target pistol shooters.

The club hosts the first of two ISSF Open events for the year next month and entries to date are very encouraging for a healthy entry list for the event with another 3 weeks remaining until entries close.

All in all, a very healthy and promising start to 2026- the best start to a new year in the past 30 odd years history of the Club.

Very Happy with the turnout yesterday for the first competition day of the new year with 8 members attending including a new member transferring in from Guyra Club.

A total of 15 Matches were contested on the day - even though the weather was not conducive to being out on the range in the sun.

Scheduled matches of the day next Saturday are Standard Pistol and Air Pistol with Standard Pistol to commence at 1 pm sharp.

The Club held its final competition for 2025 on 20/12/2025 and will now close to competition reopening for competition on 10/1/2026
We had a total of ten matches contested yesterday including a supervised match by new member, Andy, who impressed considering it was only the second time he had used a pistol.

As licenced NSW Firearms owners, we all face an uncertain future with the Minns Labor Government intent on forcing through more heavily restricting Firearms laws as a result of A "KNEE JERK REACTION" to the Terror Attack in Bondi last weekend.
The architect of the present "Uniform" Legislation (John Howard) has stated several times in the last week that the existing laws do not need to be changed, they simply need to be enforced and the hysteria surrounding the terror attack and the failings of various agencies in recognising the Terror Threat should not be used as a catalyst for stripping responsible gun owners of their equipment or genuine reasons to own rifles for Recreational Hunting and Vermon Control.
Lets hope sanity prevails.
One thought that I have had over the last 24 hours is that we have seen how the numbers of Feral Animals exploded after the 1997 Firearms restrictions were introduced and continue to do so. 
God help us if Recreational Hunting (as a genuine reason) is taken away from all responsible Recreational Hunters of this state.

Apart from the total destruction of crops, there will be a significant increase again in crashes involving animal strikes on our roads and it will only be a matter of time before there will be a loss of a human life through these accidents. 

THE COMMENTS EXPRESSED REGARDING THE PROPOSED CHANGE OF GUN LAWS ARE THE THOUGHTS OF THE AUTHOR - NOT OF THE EXECUTIVE OF THE PISTOL CLUB