My local club is sooo anti benchrest rifle shooting compeitions

D

doghunter

New member
I am a member of a shooting club here in Victoria, Australia. There are over 1200 local members.
XXXX is my club and unfortunately the committee are focused on shotgun and pistol shooting so benchrest shooting is not only frowned upon but the 2022 (sanctioned) .22 rimfire benchrest competition result was denied after it was competed for and paid for and competitors were quietly handed a refund of competition fees in plain white envelopes with no comment. I actually managed to win and so asked for my prize and was dismissed as 'Nobody knows anything about this'. A committee member (Senior Range Officer) not only organised the competition but actually took our money and collated the scores

An application for 2023 50m benchrest rimfire competitions has been sanctioned with the provision that "The 2022 competition is not to be discussed at the XXXX range, otherwise permission shall be revoked"

To me this smacks of blackmail and suppression of free speech.

Over to the great people at BR.Com for advice.

Regards * Doggie *
 
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If there is another club you could join I would be tempted to leave. If that isn't possible your in a tough situation.
Good luck.

Mort
 
rsmithsr said:
start working on replacing board/commitee members
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If the club has a goodly number of BR shooters that would be an option, esp. if any were interested in being on the board/committee. I wonder if it's a matter of the BR gang tying up too much of the facilities during a match.
 
I would first read over the club Bylaws and Policy Statement to see if there is any provision to provide equal opportunity for various disciplines.

Otherwise it seems you have to get to know anyone in the club who is interested in such an activity and work together to change the people running the club. Usually that is a board of directors elected by the membership.
 
Thanks for taking the time to answer people, it is much appreciated.

I have approached quite a few level headed fellow benchrest shooters and asked them if they would stand for nomination to the committee at the next AGM.

All have declined, reasons ranging from "I already wasted a few years banging my head against the wall as a member of that committee" and another just told me that the present environment was "Toxic"

I have previously spent a few years as a committee member (in more friendlier times) and with a good and impartial president to lead us things went smoothly for all shooting disciplines.

There is one other local club but they only have two benches as they mainly shoot military type prone competitions. I shall check them out anyway.

Regards from down-under * doggie *
 
This is a strange situation indeed, but if the RSO that took everyone's money and collected scores was still running it, I would find another range. If the match was erased and the guy in charge is still running it, that's a problem for me.
 
BR50Fan

If your club does not have the BR50 modality, that club is a member of an Australian national association. Can't you find another club that cares about this kind of BR50 waiver? Australia is so big. Look at the last world competition, you must have there as an individual shooter or as a team the Australian shooters selected by the Australian Federation to represent Australia in this modality.
 
Club Politics

doghunter said:
I am a member of a shooting club here in Victoria, Australia. There are over 1200 local members.

SSAA V06 Wodonga is my club and unfortunately the committee are focused on shotgun and pistol shooting so benchrest shooting is not only frowned upon but the 2022 (sanctioned) .22 rimfire benchrest competition result was denied after it was competed for and paid for and competitors were quietly handed a refund of competition fees in plain white envelopes with no comment. I actually managed to win and so asked for my prize and was dismissed as 'Nobody knows anything about this'. A committee member (Senior Range Officer) not only organised the competition but actually took our money and collated the scores

An application for 2023 50m benchrest rimfire competitions has been sanctioned with the provision that "The 2022 competition is not to be discussed at the SSAA V06 Wodonga range, otherwise permission shall be revoked"

To me this smacks of blackmail and suppression of free speech.

Over to the great people at BR.Com for advice.

Regards * Doggie *
Click to expand...

"CLUB POLITICS DESTROYS CLUBS"....... death from within....
In order to promote shooting..... you must do just that...... all ages.... all shooting disciplines......
 
bill larson said:
"CLUB POLITICS DESTROYS CLUBS"....... death from within....
In order to promote shooting..... you must do just that...... all ages.... all shooting disciplines......
Click to expand...

So true !!! I think Members with other interest don't want Ranges tied up with Benchrest Matches !!
 
It’s a short sighted member that would vote against the inclusion of any discipline. That member is one vote away from getting their chosen discipline eliminated.
 
doghunter said:
I am a member of a shooting club here in Victoria, Australia. There are over 1200 local members.

SSAA V06 Wodonga is my club and unfortunately the committee are focused on shotgun and pistol shooting so benchrest shooting is not only frowned upon but the 2022 (sanctioned) .22 rimfire benchrest competition result was denied after it was competed for and paid for and competitors were quietly handed a refund of competition fees in plain white envelopes with no comment. I actually managed to win and so asked for my prize and was dismissed as 'Nobody knows anything about this'. A committee member (Senior Range Officer) not only organised the competition but actually took our money and collated the scores

An application for 2023 50m benchrest rimfire competitions has been sanctioned with the provision that "The 2022 competition is not to be discussed at the SSAA V06 Wodonga range, otherwise permission shall be revoked"

To me this smacks of blackmail and suppression of free speech.

Over to the great people at BR.Com for advice.

Regards * Doggie *
Click to expand...

Doghunter, send me a pm to discuss so I can look into this.

John Babic
SSAA National Benchrest Chair
 
Elections Have Consequences

Not only your club elections, but the National elections that got the country to where it is on firearms.

Here in the USA, we're getting closer every day to losing our 2nd Amendment rights. The 2 BILLION that the president just gave the BATF for more enforcement is a prime example.

Probably 3 dollars of that will be used to go after people that acquire firearms illegally on the streets. How much will be spent here to protect kids in schools???
 
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