From 11 to 16 May 2021, the North Queensland Rifle Association (NQRA) welcomed the courageous southerners that successfully negotiated the Minefield and Iron Curtain at the Tweed River and ventured north. The much anticipated journey was to attend the 2021 NQRA Championships hosted by the Townsville Marksman Rifle Club (TMRC) at the Hervey’s Range Shooting Complex.
TMRC operates and maintains a spectacular rifle range (300m – 900m). The complex is fully equipped with concrete mounds, eleven electronic targets, kitchen, clubhouse, showers, toilets and camp sites. Both powered and unpowered sites can accommodate over 100 campers. Dogs are welcome on a lead.
Over the week, three main competitions were shot:
TMRC OPM (11 MAY 21)
The TMRC OPM was a one day three range shoot contested over 700, 800 and 900M.
I could write one single weather observation that covered the entire event, sunny, 16-28C, days of 95% humidity, twitchy winds around 10am and predominately SE winds under 10mph and great mirage shooting.
The “Wilson” lead up (12-13 MAY 21)
The distances were 500, 600, 600, 700, 800 and 900m shot over the two days. The first day was un-seasonally warm, but great days of shooting were experienced.
The 2021 NQRA Queens (14-16 MAY2021)
The weather gods were smiling upon us. There were some amazing conditions and unbelievable scores. Check out the NRAA website for the winners. Link: NRAA – OPMP Results and Rankings System | NQRA Queens 2021 Results
NQRA Memorial
At the conclusion of shooting on Day 1 of the NQRA Queen’s on Friday 14 May, competitors and guests attended the dedication of a memorial erected by NQRA to honour rifle shooters who have served our country. This was a significant occasion for NQRA and the ceremony will be covered in a separate article dedicated to the activity.
The Memorial is constructed from local materials and consists of:
- a one tonne piece of granite, donated by the Burdekin Quarries, and positioned on a concrete slab poured by members of the Townsville Marksmen Rifle Club;
- a 20kg brass plaque, made from fired brass cases donated by club members from across NQRA and melted down by Delta Iron Works at Brandon with engraving generously donated by Townsville Engineering;
- a porcelain headpiece, encased in a stainless steel frame, depicting a sketch of a pre Second World War rifle club shooter manufactured by Ultimate Splashbacks in Redcliffe; and
- a Roll of Honour in a loose leaf folder housed in a wooden box featuring Queensland timbers made and donated by Mr Ces Condon (Vice Patron NQRA).
Thank you to all who attended the dedication ceremony.
Fashions on the Field
There were many great entries. An amazing selection of Hawaiian shirts, track suits, well worn hats and double denim. It was a tightly contested competition.
But there can only be one winner. Sporting a classic Safari Suit and with a head best suited to radio, the winner was Marty Lobert – a lovable character on many levels and a true-blue North Queenslander.
In the months leading up to the event, TMRC prepared a bottomless pile of firewood for the pyromaniacs to congregate around the massive open fire pit.
Interesting Statistics:
The southerners, again, took more than their fair share of the prizes,
17 first time participants attended in 2021,
An estimated 17,446 bullets were fired,
181.4kg of copper and lead was fired in the general direction of the X ring,
An estimated 56.4kg of powder was burnt.
Entries:
The entry numbers above are far in excess of what the NQRA Council expected following the disaster that was 2020. A big thank you to all that attended the 2021 NQRA Championships. You made the event the great success that it was.
See you next year! (10–15 MAY 22)
