1952
1st shooter to win both the NSWRA Jamieson Match and NSWRA Queen’s Prize.
Kolapore Match
Percy Pavey was a member of two winning Kolapore Teams:
1937 – Coach & Shooter
1953 – Shooter
Percy Pavey was one of Australia’s outstanding long range rifle shooters of the 20th Century. He was born in September 1902 and passed away in January 1991. He lived his life entirely in Victoria expect for when he was attending shooting competitions which took him interstate and overseas.
His story is a remarkable one and will be retold here through the reprint of several articles of yesteryear. These articles include his Sport Hall of Fame summary slide compiled by Michelle Dick, a 1980 article written by another renowned Australian marksman Jim Sweet, OAM, and the obituary written by Bob Caddy in 1991.
Percy enjoyed team shooting at the highest level. He did not participate in any Palma Matches as there were none conducted during his shooting life. He did represent Australia in the Empire Match on eight occasions, three of which were in winning teams 1937 (shooter), 1948 (coach) & 1958 (coach).
Percy Pavey earned recognition which is beyond most shooter’s comprehension today. His individual awards included:
- 1928 won the Canadian Grand Aggregate.
- 1948 won the Bisley Kings Prize.
- 1956 won the Scottish Championship and the Scottish Grand Aggregate.
- 1971 was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for his service to shooting.
- 1982 was the inaugural inductee to the Stockman Hall of Fame at Longreach, Queensland.
- 1985 was inducted into the Sport Australia Sport of Fame.
His combined international and domestic individual tally resulted in 107 Monarch Prize Badges which included 15 x No 1, 15 x No 2 and 10 x No 3 – no mean feat given his shooting career also included the sport’s recess for World War 2.
Certainly Percy Pavey is a NRAA sportsman worth remembering!
This article was compiled by Bruce Scott with the assistance of Reg Wagland WA.
References:
1. NSWRA Short History, page 10.
2. Kolapore Records https://nra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/k1900-1949.pdf &
https://nra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/k1950-1999.pdf
3. Palma Match results summary – https://icfra.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Palma_Match_summary_results.pdf
4. Australia (Empire) Match Records https://icfra.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Australia_Match_Records_2017_Edition.pdf
5. Sport Australia Hall of Fame https://sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame-member/percy-pavey/
6. http://www.beaudesertrifleclub.com.au/who-was-percy-pavey/
