Sunday 3 May 2026

Today was our first of our “free” shoot, with the Club covering members’ range fees for the day and was well attended by 33 members.  It was also our Collector’s meeting, with some interesting .303’s and Martinis on display.

The Ole Smokey rimfire benchrest shoot was won by Ben G with a perfect 500/500, the first to do so in the Club with outward scoring, and an outstanding effort. 

He was closely followed by Alan C on 498, Teon J 475, Vanessa S 451, Liz D 448, Sandy C 446, and our newest junior Kalem on 429, an excellent effort given he’s only just received his firearms license.

Alan C won the Military Rifle shoot with an impressive group of 34mm at 50m with a Martini Henry .22.  He followed this up at 100 yards with a group of 72mm with a .303, followed by Derek B on 85mm and Ben G with 111mm.

We also had some entries for the Centrefire grouping.  Ben G shot a cracking 8.5mm group at 100 yards, followed closely by Kevin S with 25mm, both under the magic 1MOA.  At 200 yards Ben G shot another good group of 22.9mm (0.45 MOA), Kevin S 37.8mm (0.74 MOA) and Alan C with 57.9mm.

Alan N did very well on the R O Davie light rimfire with 486/500, with Ben G on 484.

Thank you to our volunteer range officers Col Fitz, Ian J, Tony H and Bill Y – without volunteers our Club simply wouldn’t run.

Our next shoot is Sunday 31 May, with round 2 of the Gleniffer Shield (off the elbows, no front or rear rests) and round 1 of the Handicap shoot – the great equalizer.

The updated 2026 program has been posted on the club website. Note the extra shooting day on Sunday 19 July, and the free shoots on 3 May, 21 June, and 22 November. The end of year BBQ and prize presentations has been moved forward to 22 November, and the shoot on 20 December will be something different like metallic silhouette or 100/200 yard rimfire for those who can make it along in that busy week before Christmas.

The rain held off long enough to post some good starting scores for 2026.

R O Davie light rimfire (Club record 493/500 by Ben G in 2025): Alan C 489, Derek B 489, Olivia B 483, Tony H 470, Sandy C 449, Liz D 431

Gleniffer Shield off the elbows (Club record 451/500 by Derek in 2025): Derek B 452, Olivia B 421

100 yard centrefire grouping, best 3-shot group (Club record 5.0mm by Alan C in 2025): Tony H  17.9mm (0.7 MOA), Derek B 29.3mm, Olivia B 36.6mm

200 yard centrefire grouping (Club record 17.3mm by Derek in 2024): Tony H  45.7mm (0.9 MOA), Derek B 71.6mm, Olivia B 78.9mm

Thanks to our volunteer range officers Alan C and Col Fitz.  Without volunteers, our Club wouldn’t be able to host range days like this.

Our next shoot is Sunday 3 May, which is also our Collector’s meeting so bring along your antique or collectable firearms for a shot.  Range officers will be Ian J and Col Fitz for the morning session, with Tony H and Bill Y in the afternoon.  Also, don’t forget our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 8 April at the Bellingen Citizens’ Room, more details to follow.

A very hot day for our first shoot of the year, with the Centrefire 100/200 yard group and the first round of Ole Smokey rimfire benchrest.

I’d love to post the scores, but the pile of shot targets went missing. One minute they were on the table at the firing line, next minute they were gone. If by some chance you know where they are, please let me know. Otherwise, we’ll re-shoot those matches over the course of the year.

Our next shoot is Sunday 8th March with the RO Davie Light Rimfire, and the Gleniffer Shield (off the elbows). RO’s are Alan C and Col Fitz. See you there!

The Bellingen Rifle Club 2026 program is now live on the website, to view or download. Our first shoot is Sunday 1st February – see you there!

I’m in the process of setting up a Facebook page (Bellingen Branch SSAA) to make it easier to send out timely updates.

Sunday 21 December 2025

After a fantastic BBQ lunch at the Dairyville Range prepared by Olivia, Col and Ben, the marksmanship awards for 2025 were presented.

Most improved:  Liz D, who’s gone from an average of 416 last year to 467/500 in 2026.

RO Davie light rimfire:  1^st Ben G 493 (new record), 2^nd Olivia, 3^rd Derek

Ladies:  1^st Lainey 492 (new record), 2^nd Olivia, 3^rd Penne L

Ole Smokey benchrest:  1^st Ben G 498 (new record, will be hard to beat), 2^nd Alan C, 3^rd Lainey

George Joannidis Field Rifle:  1^st Olivia 408, 2^nd Teon J, 3^rd Alan C

Gleniffer shield:  1^st Derek 451 (new record), 2^nd Olivia, 3^rd Ben G

Junior shield:  1^st Lainey 482

Military rifle grouping:  1^st Derek 9mm (new record), 2^nd Alan C, 3^rd Alan N

Handicap:  1^st Teon J 516, 2^nd Vanessa S

Centrefire 100y group:  1^st Alan C 5.0mm (new record), 2^nd Tony H, 3^rd Lainey

Centrefire 200y group:  1^st Bruno K 19.3mm, 2^nd Ben G, 3^rd Tony H

Awards were followed by the rimfire silhouette shoot, won by Peter J with an impressive 66.7/75, with Glenn S winning a $50 Coffs Guns voucher for being closest to the magic number.

Thanks to Dustin and Jon at Coffs Guns for donating the raffle prizes (including a pair of Vortex binoculars). Our first shoot of 2026 will be on Sunday 1^st February, stay tuned for the program.

Perfect conditions for the centrefire grouping, with every entrant achieving under the magic 1 MOA (25.4mm at 100 yards, 50.8mm at 200 yards):

100 yards:  Darren S 12.1mm (0.48 MOA), Derek B 15.5mm, Ben G 19.3mm, Kevin S 21.7mm

200 yards:  Kevin S 34.6mm (0.65 MOA), Derek B 37.6mm

We also shot Round 3 of the Handicap shoot, with handicaps being calculated from an average of the previous 8 benchrest scores.  Alan C 504, Darren S 502, Col Fitz 496, and Brett H 495.

Other entries:

R O Davie light rimfire:  Ben G 493/500 (new Club record!), Alan N 464

Ole Smokie benchrest:  Alan C 492, Brett H 442

Our next Club activity is the Christmas BBQ (with prize raffles) and trophy presentations, on Sunday 21^st December at midday.  This will be followed by the ever-popular silhouette shoot.  The Bellingen  Committee has decided that this year the Club will cover the range fees for all club attendees, to keep costs down at Christmas.  Hope to see you there!

A lovely Spring afternoon for the R O Davie light rimfire shoot, being 50 shots with a light or multipurpose rimfire and a telescopic sight set no higher than 6.5x.

Liv B  492/500 (new Club record), Alan C   486, Derek B 484, Sandy C 465, Tony H  457

Four brave souls participated in the Field Rifle shoot.  This match consists of 10 shots off the bench with a front rest at 50m, followed by prone at 50m, kneeling/sitting at 25m, standing at 15m, and rapid fire at 15m.  It really is a test of those marksmanship principles of a stable position, controlled breathing, and smooth trigger release.

Olivia B 408, Alan C  367, Sandy C 359, Liz D  239

Our next shoot is Sunday 23^rd November with the third rounds of the Handicap and Centrefire matches, together with any catch-ups for matches you may have missed.

Sunday 7 September

Great weather for the Fathers Day shoot, and some good scores in 5 different matches.

R O Davie light rimfire:  Olivia B 488, Tony H 466

Ladies’ competition: Lainey B 478, Penne L 452

Field Rifle (George Joannidis):  Olivia B 399, Teon J 370 who scored higher than his dad Peter J on 361, Ben G 349

Centrefire grouping 100 yards:  Tony H 7.0mm (a cloverleaf group), Bruno K 11.7mm, Ben G 28.2mm

Centrefire grouping 200 yards:  Tony H 46.7mm blaming the wind of course but still under 1 MOA.

Our next shoot is Sunday 12 October at Dairyville, range officers for the day are Derek B and Alan C.

Sunday 20 July

This was a catch-up shoot for the one cancelled in March due to the floods.  A rather small showing for the Ladies’ and Juniors matches, and a few more for the Handicap Shoot, but two new Club records – congratulations!

For the Juniors there was only one entry, with Lainey B shooting an excellent 482/500.

The Ladies’ Match was also won by Lainey with a new Club record:

Lainey	492/500
Olivia B	488
Vanessa S	449

The Handicap Shoot favours those who shoot well above their average, and Vanessa had an excellent day:

Participant	Score	Handicap	Final
Vanessa S	456	55	511
Olivia B	492	12	504
Sandy C	437	66	503
Alan N	478	22	500
Doug B	455	44	499
Lainey B	481	13	494

We also had 3 entries for the R O Davie Light Rimfire, with Ben G shooting a new Club record with his new Tikka T1x:

Ben G	490/500
Alan N	476
Sandy C	453

Our next shoot is Sunday 3^rd August at midday, with the R O Davie Light Rimfire round 2 and the Centrefire 100/200 yards.