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Brothers in arms

Posted on September 16, 2011

MILITARY pistol shooters from throughout south eastern Australia will compete for State honours in Sunraysia this weekend at the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia Victorian Pistol Titles.

Jamie and Ryan Bobbin.

Hosted by the SSAA’s Mildura branch, the State Titles have attracted shooters from as far away as Melbourne and Adelaide, including both young and old alike.

SSAA Mildura president, Pat Keogh, said this weekend’s event would feature military or ‘standard issue’ pistols only.

“For Class 1 firearms must have been a service issue pistol in military use by an army or navy throughout the world,” Mr Keogh said.

“Class 2 is limited to pistols used by a police force or para-military.”

Mr Keogh said most competitors would compete in both classes, bringing out both common and rare firearms, some of which date back to World War I.

While this year’s title, which was last held in Sunraysia two years ago, will feature a host of seasoned campaigners, it has also attracted interest from some of the sport’s newer competitors, including 18-year-old Sunraysia twins Jamie and Ryan Bobbin.

“It’s very encouraging, Jamie and Ryan have only recently joined us and they are showing great promise. They’re particularly enthusiastic and they’re the future of the sport,” he said.

“We’ve got another member about the same age and any of the three are capable of shooting an a-grade score on the day, which is very promising for the future.”

The twins said they’d always had an interest in firearms and were introduced to the sport, and the club, by well known local shooter Trevor Johns.

“We’ve had a real interest in firearms for a fair while now and we knew Trevor, and he just brought us into it,” Ryan said.

“We also had to wait until we reached 18 and ever since then we’ve just got right into it,” Jamie said.

The brothers jumped straight into the deep end of competition earlier this year, choosing a State title at Dookie, near Shepparton, as their first competitive outing.

This weekend’s State Title will take place from 9am tomorrow featuring several different categories.

Shooters will compete from standing, kneeling and seated positions, at anywhere from seven metres to 50 metres from the target.

Shoots will also be timed. In the most demanding case competitors must fire six shots in just five seconds.

The State Title is expected to wrap by about 2pm, paving the way for what competitors have come to know as the Turkey Shoot.

The Turkey Shoot is basically a friendly grudge match developed over the past 12 years through rivalry between Mildura and Melbourne shooters.
Mildura has won the past nine Turkey Shoots, and according to Mr Keogh, Mildura shooters are determined to maintain their winning run this weekend.

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