Right now I'm pushing 120k/ph down the A8 highway on my way to the south-east corner of South Australia. Mount Gambier is my destination about 450km from home and I'm heading there for a shooting event over the next few days.
This is a scheduled post set to go live around midday, AU-CST, so considering I left home around 9:30am I'm probably just about to turn off A8 onto A66 for the drive through Padthaway, Naracoorte and Penola on into Mount Gambier. It's a pretty sweet drive through canola fields, vineyards and pine forests - A nice part of the world.
I have a shooting event over the next few days, the last of the practical rimfire events for 2019. We have about 60 or so registrations which is down on the 100 or so we typically get however the drive-away-nature of this one means numbers are usually a little lower. It's a 5 hour drive from Adelaide with the additional expense of accommodation so is not attended as well as the other 3 events which are all held within about 90 minutes drive of Adelaide.
This event marks the end of the second year that some buddies and I have been running it and whilst it cost us a lot of money [personal money] to get started we are beginning to see a little come back now so hope to be cost-neutral in the not too distant future. We do it to give back to the shooting community, to attract new shooters to this dynamic discipline and for a little fun. Who doesn't like a get-together with some mates - Even if there's a little hard work to be done along the way.
So, the event...Two years of hard work and effort on the part of the small organising-group and supported by a few ring-in's who volunteer time to the set-up and pack-down of the events. But here's the thing...Do the right thing and good things happen right? This is the case with us anyway.
Several weeks ago we were approached by a national shooting body and offered an established range for our event, and us, to take over as a club. It means forming a club with all the documentation, committee and compliance that goes with it but it also means we can move into an established area, with a range of over 300m long and 200m wide, club rooms, power, water, storage areas...The whole shebang! The best part is that we will come under that national-bodies' banner and therefore their funding - They have already promised us a significant amount of money, a few hundred thousand dollars, for some development of new ranges at the facility to permit not only our rimfire event but also practical handgun and shotgun disciplines. It's a nationally-viable range with the quality to match.
I'm being careful not to mention any of the parties or locations involved as we are still in the negotiation stage however after a few initial meetings things are looking pretty good.
We, as an organisational group, are really pleased because it will mean our investment will be repaid instantly. We will simply hand all our equipment, thousands of dollars worth, over to the club which in effect is us anyway. We will still run it, in fact, we'll be running the entire club and range. Our rulebook will also be ratified and incorporated by this national body and, by default, the police firearms division meaning we have full support. Nationally.
You won't get it, but this is a big deal. It means we can take a step back ourselves without the fear of the event dying; It is a very popular event and many people will be disappointed if it ends. It means the event will/can be taken nationally through this shooting-body and I think that's a pretty cool thing - To be involved in the birth of a new, national, shooting discipline and at the ground-roots of a new club.
Of course, I don't want to jump the gun on it [Jump the gun...See what I did there?]. There's no point going off half-cocked...[Half cocked...See what I did there?] We have a lot of negotiation to go but it bodes well that they approached us I think, and considering how the negotiations have gone so far things look good.
We' will still do drive-away events like this one in Mount Gambier because there's attributes some of these country gun-ranges have elements that are unique and a lot of fun. There's a gully we'll be run-and-gunning through in Mount Gambier for instance. It's about 200m long and is deemed a 270° range so the shooter gets to shoot left, right, forward and behind them [up to 270°] as they run through the gully which is full of limestone boulders, nooks and cranny's where we hide targets both static and moving [pop-up]. It's very fun.
We are planning 2 to 3 drive-away events annually rather than the 4 we do now and the range [our range] will be open all week for different shooting disciplines including night-shoots which are a lot of fun. It will take the financial strain off us and return the fun-element which will be nice. It also means we can provide an excellent-quality range for locals and one that meets national standards. It's pretty exciting.
Anyway, I better get back to driving - Not that I was driving while writing this though. I was watching the road. I'll catch up with you over the weekend I'm sure.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default
Pictured is my Ruger 6.5mm creedmoor which I have had custom cerakoted (painted)