TargetTalk

The USA contingent is now at five pistol shooters, down from eight earlier. The total number of pistol entries is 3-4 times more than we see at the US National Championships at Ft. Benning. I have 33 to 42 shooters in my age category (60-69) in the six matches I will shoot (the five usual men's events plus Sport Pistol). There is mixed competition in Free, Standard, and Rapid Fire Pistol, and I am glad to see this as it allows women to have much more fun shooting and participating after making a long trip.

I chose to break up the long flight to Australia by arriving first in Brisbane, then connecting after a short break to Sydney. Wrong decision. My firearms permits were only good for New South Wales (Sydney) and I found I needed more permits for Brisbane (Queensland). I finally got my QLD permits emailed to me yesterday by the very helpful Queensland Weapons Licensing Branch. This was cutting it too close as I depart for Australia tomorrow. I was quite worried about this issue.

Qantas requires advanced approval to bring ammunition in luggage, but not for firearms. One must only declare them at check in. I got the ammo approval quickly by email.

When cleaning my .38 Spl. Hämmerli P240 yesterday, I found the extractor was chipped. I immediately phoned Larry's Guns and they are overnighting me this part. Thanks, Larry.

I hope to meet and greet with many of the OZ Target Talk members, and already have Mrs. Slo cat scheduled to sight see with Mrs. Alex L.

Best Regards,
Slo cat

Slocat, If you get a change to get to the internet while you are down there, post a link to the results. I, for one, would be interested in seeing how you and everyone else is doing. good luck Isabel

I'll try to give updates. I don't know if my hotel has an Internet computer for guests.

At this stage I do not know if there will be any 'real time' intermediate scores (I think we are only forwarding finalised results)

The links provided by the organisers are:
pistol - http://www.2009worldmasters.com/default ... fragment-3
rifle - http://www.2009worldmasters.com/default ... fragment-3
shotgun - http://www.2009worldmasters.com/default ... fragment-3

I will check these links once we get into competition and there are some results available.

Thanks for the links, Spencer. I didn't realize how many other sports are involved in the World Masters Games!

I wish a rewarding competition to all.

Ben

Good luck, Keep a eye out for joe blakes, (snakes)

Reverend wrote:Good luck, Keep a eye out for joe blakes, (snakes)

A GOOD point!

despite the jokes about drop bears, there are snakes around the venue - and the ARE poisonous (red-bellied black snakes and brown snakes).
They (normally) won't disturb you if you don't disturb them...

Spencer

Start lists are available:
Pistol - http://www.shootingcentre.nsw.gov.au/ne ... .php?id=69
Rifle - http://www.shootingcentre.nsw.gov.au/ne ... .php?id=68

Spencer wrote:At this stage I do not know if there will be any 'real time' intermediate scores (I think we are only forwarding finalised results)

The links provided by the organisers are:
pistol - http://www.2009worldmasters.com/default ... fragment-3
rifle - http://www.2009worldmasters.com/default ... fragment-3
shotgun - http://www.2009worldmasters.com/default ... fragment-3

I will check these links once we get into competition and there are some results available.

(despite the difficulty in navigating these pages) the results are there for the first day's competition.

only completed results are available; unfortunately, no progressive scores on-line for shooting.

Spencer

ps. Slocat is a real person.

Spencer wrote:ps. Slocat is a real person.

Congratulations to him on his 50m win.

Congratulations to Steve L.!

Congratulations to Steve L.!

We met Solcat - Steve L, and Mrs L and enjoyed their company.
I shot in the next bay to Steve a couple of times, and I helped him collect some of his used .38 cases after the Centre fire event!

We battled with the windy conditions, both during the precision and the Rapid Fire sections.

Steve was shooting very well , and finished 8th in Rapid Fire, he won 25m sport pistol, 4th in Standard Pistol, and he won 50 metre Free pistol, and Air Pistol - so he had a very good week.

I think he was very impressed with the organization, and met a lot of other new friends. He enjoyed a visit to the City centre, and did some shopping with his wife.

I was in the next age group, and managed a silver in C/F and a bronze in Rapid Fire, so I came away happy, - and had a happy wife who won silver in Ladies Air Pistol - the first event of the Games!

I am sure all the International shooters were impressed with the range, and with the friendly range staff who made the whole thing as hassle-free as possible. They were still smiling at the end of the long, hard week.

The next Games will be in 4 years time in Italy.

I hope all the competitors have a safe journey home, and have happy memories of the Sydney WMG.
Regards, Alex L.