19/05/2026
Well, that is a wrap. Thank you to all who attended the Phoenix Target Rifle Club special event Sunday 17th May 2026.
Great to see such a great turn out and looked like majority enjoyed themselves.
As you are aware we have had some great sponsors and supporters this year with:
• South Australian Rifle Association Long Range shop - generously donating $100 voucher for first prize,
• Spectrum Gunstocks, Bill Traeger who donated the $50 cash prize and take-home trophy for second chance, closest to the X winner.
• Chris Green for putting up the risk of losing $100 for anyone who could hit the ice coffee bottle first shot, first round with cold bore.
• Reload Right, Mark Tyler, for the sponsorship and kind donation.
• Maxord Precision Rifle Systems, Tim March for his sponsorship and merchandise.
• Dillan Tull for the donation of the case caddy – great product!
• Chris Payne for his donation towards prizes
We also had some great raffle prizes for those with tickets to select from. Thank you to all those that provided such great prize donations.
There are some people that we really need to thank as this event would not happen without the support of some truly kind people:
• Jeff Adams for the take home overall winner trophy – always magnificent work done by him and really appreciate the support.
• The perpetual overall winner trophy that was kindly made and donated to the club by Chris Whant – thank you.
• Fellow phoenix members who have assisted us with the preparations for this event. Especially the efforts of Greg and Leanne, Dan Machadinho, Phil Vodden, Chris Payne, Darryl Pink, Mitch Bialkowski for their assistance and support.
• All other Phoenix Target Rifle Club Members that helped on the day with various things to keep it all running smooth and on track.
• Thank you to the markers (Barb and Sonja) who came to assist us with keeping an eye on who hit what and when. Without them we would not be able to have had a smooth-running event!
• Thank you to Mitch Bialkowski for his continued support assisting with the scoring as well.
I am sure I have forgotten something or someone but please note we do appreciate the support from all.
Well, what a day it was for all attending! We had great conditions where wind was at a minimum (for Lower Light!), no rain, not freezing but not boiling hot! The Gazebos helped for protection in case of inclement weather though.
Shooters were randomly allocated targets and then the games began! There was some great heckling as well but ultimately great show of comradery and support for each other with the allowance of spotters for all.
We had twelve people hit the ice coffee bottle in the first round with some hitting it on the second shot!
No-one took out the first shot, first round prize though – there is always next year!
All these people went directly through to the second round of six shots to hit the bottle as many times as possible to claim victory as the overall winner!
The remainder of shooters who did not have success in the first round, had a second chance opportunity. They had one non-convertible sighter and one scoring shot to get closest to the X. The winner of this got a prize but also a wild card entry into the second round.
The total of thirteen second round shooters took their opportunity at being awarded the overall winner. Well, that did not go to plan!
We had three shooters hit the bottle twice. This meant shoot off and whoever hit the bottle first won.
Adrian Conlon, Jim Clayton, and Emma Clayton took to the mound and battled it out!
It was a great finish to wrap up the shooting and go back to the clubrooms for a BBQ lunch and presentations.
The prizes were awarded after some hearty lunch and a cool drink. Congratulation to all the winners and placegetters.
First place prize: Overall winner got the take home trophy, name engraved on the perpetual trophy, a cap, a Maxord T-shirt, SARA $100 voucher, and of course an ice coffee!
There could only be one winner: Congratulations to Adrian Conlon! Back-to-back winner so let us see if third time lucky hey!
Spotters award: This is for the spotter with the most hits recorded by the shooters they assisted. The spotter with the most guided hits of the bottle was Malcolm Hill.
Second chance round – closed to the X: The Second chance shoot was where anyone that did not record a hit in their twelve shots at the ice coffee bottle were able to have a chance to prove they can hit the x at 1K.
There could only be one second chance shoot winner who also got a wildcard into he second round to play for the overall winner title! This was Emma Clayton.
Furthest from the X: This is as the name suggests the person who shot the furthest from the X. This had to be a registered hit on the target as your scoring shot. The winner of this was Gary Doubleday.
Sporter Hunter to hit the bottle in the first round: There was only one shooter from this discipline that completed this task. The winner of this was Qiao Chen.
Hope all who attended, be it to participate or to spectate and support had a wonderful time and look forward to the next event.
