Air Rifle
Announcing the return of the TSNZ Air Rifle Postal Competition.
With the increase in numbers of Air Rifle shooters lately, TSNZ has decided it is time to bring back the Postal Competition. This was last shot in 2008, when air rifle shooters were graded or handicapped on the basis of past competition scores. This time it is being kept simple - a Men's section with three 60-shot matches, and a Women's section with three 40-shot matches. This can be shot at ANY range, on paper or electronic targets, as long as there is a witness who has measured out the proper 10 metre distance on any non-TSNZ range used. So get in and have a go - could you be the first person in 9 years to get into the TSNZ Air Rifle record books?
Air Rifle Nationals & Manawatu Air Champs,
Palmerston North
The combined Manawatu Air and Air Rifle Nationals event held on 27-30 January in Palmerston North saw some excellent scores shot by our Air Rifle shooters. The atmosphere was great with the ISSF-approved music playlist being used throughout, and the clapping during the Finals added to the tension for the shooters.
It was good to see the entry numbers increasing in the Men's, Women's and Junior Women's sections; let's hope that the IPC and Junior Men's section entries can also increase in the same way in the future.
A number of Air Rifle Merit Award Badges were presented at the event, well done to those shooters who have scored in the next level up to receive their next badge. Details of names and badges to come.
Congratulations to all the winners, and many thanks to the organisers and helpers during the weekend.
2017 HIGH NOON AIR RIFLE & PISTOL POSTAL MATCH
As Parafed Auckland were the host of two TSNZ Designated Matches this year, we discovered that there are lots of ISSF (upright shooters) out there and most wanted to enter our High Noon competition once they heard about it. There are also the JDS squad and several pistol clubs that have expressed interest.
So here it is. I encourage you to all register and join the fun of the competition. Entries need to be in as soon as possible because the first round is at the end of January. However remember that out of the 11 rounds, only your top 8 scores are counted. This lets you miss up to 3 rounds, so if you're away on holiday in January, it doesn't matter.
A handicap system will be run as explained in the Rules and this is for ALL shooters, including IPC. It's a fun match, and as such allows for some guess work on your part and a chance to be a top shooter.
So, Happy Christmas and before too much time goes by, (in fact now) fill out the form and email it in.
Ronan Murphy is 2017 Competition Controller so the entries need to be sent to Ronan
nd cc'd to me (Robert Berger, Parafed Auckland):
master.ronan@hotmail.com robert@missioncontrol.net.nz
CONGRATULATIONS to the
2016 High Noon Winners:
2017 High Noon
Entry Form and Rules:
Many of the Remits passed at the 2016 AGM in October related to the Air Rifle and Outdoor Rules, and are effective immediately following the AGM. As the re-formatting of the entire Constitution and Rules is still some way off, you can find a copy of the Remits themselves here.
Air Rifle events are included in the Outdoor 10 Year Plan, even though they are shot indoors. Some matches are Designated Matches, with their scores counting towards NZSF Ranking.
Upcoming Matches:
Air Rifle Nationals AND Manawatu Air Champs
- Palmerston North 27-30 January
IMPORTANT - these Air Rifle Nationals in 2017 are in Palmerston North in January, NOT at the Outdoor Nationals in Christchurch in February, which is a change from the usual schedule.
Apply to the TSNZ Office for your Air Rifle Merit Badges:
Click here for a PDF of the Merit Awards Poster
2016 Totara Road Air Rifle Champs - 12-13 October
Total numbers were up this year at the Totara Rd Air Rifle Champs in Palmerston North, with more men attending. On Saturday we had eight Women and seven Men shooting in two combined squads.
All eight Women shot in the elimination final with Helen in the lead until the 17th shot when Bronwyn took the lead and held on to win. In the Men’s final Owen took the early lead and steadily increased it to the end with an excellent 206.3 to win from Rod.
On Sunday we were down to six Women in the final and Helen once again took the early lead with a 2.1 point advantage going into the last two shots but her last shot cost her the lead allowing Bronwyn in again.
Six Men took part in the last final of the Weekend with Owen once again taking the early lead but Rod sneaked ahead on the 10th shot by .1 of a point but Abhinav surged ahead after the 12th shot with some excellent shots and held on to win by 2.5 points.
The Finals were fairly quiet until the third place round when the audience started with the slow clap and chanting until the last shot was fired. It was good to see everybody getting involved with the excitement of the Finals. Look out in the future, with music and clapping being the norm.
I would like to thank those shooters who travelled quite some distance to our Champs - three from Auckland and four from the Waikato, and good to see new faces Abhinav Bhaskar and Rod Hill.
We hope to see you all again at the Air Rifle Nationals in Manawatu late January. Thanks to all those shooters and supporters that helped us make this shoot so enjoyable.
Chalm (3rd), Bronwyn (1st), Helen (2nd)
Rod (2nd), Owen (1st), Abhinav (3rd)
Helen (2nd), Bronwyn (1st), Jess (3rd)
Rod (2nd), Abhinav (1st), Owen (3rd)
Air Rifle Designated Match - Blenheim - 22nd October, 2016
Entries were light for this match, with only 3 entries in the Mens match and 2 in the Womens match.
The Final saw the shooters having to contend with music for the first time, with the ISSF-approved track "I Shot the Sherriff" adding to the already tense atmosphere.
Congratulations to the Finals winners, Owen Bennett and Helen Freiman.
Congratulations also to Owen Bennett who was presented with his GOLD Air Rifle Merit Award for his 2 outstanding scores of 590 (non-decimal) at the Auckland match in October.
Auckland Designated Match - 8th & 9th October 2016
Parafed Auckland Range, Mt Eden
This match held on the 8th & 9th October saw the return of a Designated Air Rifle match to Auckland. The last one was held at the Ardmore range prior to its closure.
Thanks to the fantastic Parafed fully electronic range at Mt Eden, we have been able to bring the match back and it was a double header to kick the air rifle season off.
Both days saw good shooter numbers with a total of 16 shooters shooting each day and full finals.
The weekend produced some great shooting results including a nail biter tie breaker in the Men’s Final on the first day between Owen Bennett and John Ke.
Great to see was a lot of the younger JDS shootings that attended and also some of older faces too – great to see Dayle Slinn join the men’s match on Day 2.
A special thank you to all our helpers on the weekend: Robert B, Grant S and Mike J from Parafed who helped run the range on Saturday; Dave Sheely our Sunday range helper; Craig O’Brien our Judge; Kate Slinn for the great chocolate cake.
Julie & Nick
Parafed Auckland
On Saturday 20th August Parafed Auckland Shooting Club Range in Mt Eden held the Parafed Auckland Air Rifle Championships.
This was an inaugural event, with the competition being in ISSF Rife Men and Women as well as IPC R3 & R5. 13 competitors from as far away as Rotorua and Waikato competed on the Electronic Scoring Targets with four matches and four finals. Lunch was provided and competitors had plenty of social time in between matches. There were several really exciting moments in the event. One such was where Neelam O'Neill blistered her rivals for the gold medal in IPC R3, outpacing her nemesis Ronan Murphy by 1.7 points. Chalm Davey from the Waikato did very well in the Women's match and in the combined Men and Women Final secured Gold just point 3 points in front of Rod Hill who took gold in the Air Rifle Men's Event.
In the R5 Final Michael Johnson shot 211.9 to take gold with Jason Eales at 209.6 for the Silver. Both Michael and Jason will be joining Greg Reid (Wellington) at the Rio Paralympics in a week where we are expecting a few shooting medals. 2016 will be the year where we have boosted our competitor numbers from one to three athletes. Full coverage of the Paralympics will be on TVNZ Duke Free to Air and Highlights on Chanel One 9.30pm to 1.30pm daily, 7th to 19th September.
Shooting Day 3 Saturday 10 September. Greg Reid R3. Michael Johnson R4
Shooting Day 6 Tuesday 13 September Michael Johnson & Jason Eales R5
Shooting Day 7 Wednesday 14 September. Greg Reid R6
