DON COLEMAN HONOURED FOR MARKSMANSHIP AND COACHING



Oromocto MLA Ross Wetmore, Don Coleman and Sheila Coleman

Our good friend and shooting colleague, Don Coleman, who lives in Gagetown NB, was honoured by the community of Oromocto on Saturday, November 16, 2013 and inducted into the Oromocto Sports Wall of Fame for Marksmanship and Coaching.

He relates that his shooting career began with top performance as a cadet on the Atlantic Shooting Team in 1966 and he was the top Junior at the New Brunswick Annual Prize Meet. He has been unstop-able since then and most recently won the Governor General's Medal at the 2013 APM (he states that this happened after receiving his first Old Age Pension cheque, which, incidentally puts him is pretty good company among Maritime shooters).

Don has attained several Coaching Credentials (Level 3 Theory, Level 2 Cross Country Skiing and Level 1 Biathlon) and has been devoted to coaching young biathlon shooters in the Gagetown area where they won one gold, two silvers and a bronze with one shooter going to the Canada Games. He also coached biathlon in Oromocto with a bronze and silver at the Cadet Provincials. The Canada Games Girls Standing Air Rifle Team in 2003 came from Gagetown.

In his usual understated manner he states that "it was a good ceremony which I enjoyed in spite of myself".

Congratulations from all of us in the Fullbore Section to Don for this well deserved honour.

RUNNING A MATCH ON BATOUCHE RANGE: Notes for Match Directors

1. At Range Control: signing out keys etc.

2. Prior to commencing fire, get permission to go live

3. Hourly Radio Check

4. When finished firing

FROM BERT deVINK - A PERSONAL THANK YOU

At the 2013 Annual Meeting of the RNBRA, I was given the Andy Gunther Award for my contribution to the maintenance of this blog. It was very late in the day and I was a bit overwhelmed by this surprising turn of events and so did not say all I had wanted to. I wanted to thank you for your vote of confidence in what I am doing with this site and to express my gratefulness that you think my efforts worthy of this award.

The idea of the Blog as a communication tool for the Fullbore Section came from Daniel Chisholm who started it several years ago. Because of his many other responsibilities, I offered to become the "editor" early in 2012 and have looked after it since then. Michelle Cormier and others have contributed many photographs of matches I could not attend. I believe the Blog started out and has quickly grown into a useful tool and record of the activities of the Fullbore Section.

In all honesty, I have enjoyed very much posting new information, match results and pictures of events and the shooters who take part in them. I especially have liked the opportunity the Blog affords me to sing the praises of New Brunswick Fullbore and Precision Shooters and the Teams we send to represent the Province of New Brunswick or the Maritimes. I hope to continue to do this for a long time to come and I look forward to your suggestions to make the blog even better.

Bert

20-10-2013 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF RNBRA

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ALL MEMBERS ATTEND !

From Bob Kierstead:

Greetings Fellow Shooters
Our 2013 outdoor shooting season is nearing a close and the various hunting seasons are soon approaching us with thoughts of moose, ducks, geese, deer and great camaraderie around the campfire.  It’s also that time again for the Annual General Meeting of the Royal New Brunswick Rifle Association.  Please mark on your calendar the day of this year’s meeting, October 20.  The meeting will be held at the banquet room of the All Seasons Restaurant at 1015 Main Street, Sussex. Coffee service will be ready for 9:30 with the meeting beginning at 10:00 am, lunch will be provided at noon. Club representatives please bring a brief report of your club’s activities during this past season to present to the meeting. This is always a good opportunity to meet and talk with shooters from clubs around our province and share information. We are all in the great fraternity of target shooting whether our particular interest is rifle, pistol, shotgun, black powder, or collecting.
Enjoy our Fall shooting weather which is often pleasant in New Brunswick and I’ll see you at the AGM and perhaps on the shooting range.
Good Shooting

THE FOLLOWING IS A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE RNBRA AGM - 2013 AND ARE NOT OFFICIAL MINUTES.
The Meeting was called to order by President Bob Kierstead followed by a reading of the minutes of our last Annual Meeting of 2012 by recording secretary Lorraine Chapman. These minutes were adopted as read.
Next followed the reports of the Officers of the Association - President Bob Kierstead, Membership Chairman Don Coleman, and Past-President Steven Stewart. The financial statements of the Association were tabled in the absence of the Treasurer, Bob Jones. Members may contact Lorraine Chapman with specific questions to be forwarded to the Treasurer.
The President also invited Francis Bezeau to relate to the membership his experiences of shooting on the Canadian Team to Bisley - this appeared for him to be a life changing experience. Similarly, Don Coleman spoke of his successful but trying experiences shooting at the Palma Match of 2011 in Australia.
Among all the successes and accomplishments of shooters, coaches and officials of New Brunswick which were presented to the membership,it should be mentioned that both Bob Kierstead and Ed Weatherdon have received the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for lifetime devotion to shooting sports in Canada - 2 of only 3 medals awarded to Canadians in shooting sports.
The meeting continued with the reports of committees, trustees, representatives and affiliated clubs. Daniel Chisholm reported on the Fullbore Section and highlighted some team and out of province events with the season ending with a "Mini-Palma" against the New England team. Paul Richie reported on the Smallbore section with emphasis on the Modified Target Rifle match in Woodstock and the Target Rifle match at Springfield. The Pistol Section (IPSC) was represented by Jodi Warren who informed us of the successful national event and other matches they hosted. The Youth Air Gun Section was represented by Don Brown who, with his daughter, related a variety of very successful match results. The Trophy Trustee, Murray Watts, told us of the many valuable trophies in his care and made the new catalogue available for $15. The Rifle Trustee, Wayde Clifford, has successfully liquidated the rifle holdings of the Association and is now devoted to recording the history of the Association. Bob Kierstead and Daniel Chisholm informed us of the activities of the DCRA.
Representatives of several clubs presented a report to the meeting. These included the Cap Pele Gun Range; The Sackville Gun Club; the Moncton Fish and Game Assn; the Saint Antoine Gun Club; the Lake George Gun Club; the Saint Gabriel Range; the Lamecque Gun Club; the Upper Miramichi Rifle and Pistol Club; the Petitcodiac Sportsman's Club; and the Woodstock Rifle and Pistol Club.
With respect to elections of officers and board members, Ed Chapman presented a synopsis of the deliberations of the Board and concluded that because of many errors and problems that surfaced after the call for nominations,  the Board is recommending that elections not be held this year but that the current Board and Officers serve for another year. Bob Kierstead and Steven Stewart answered question about this issue and also about the proposed constitutional changes. The new executive/Board will examine the elections procedures and nomination forms and make recommendations for constitutional changes to the membership at our next annual meeting.
A question about our website, under New Business, received the reply that Stephen Fox and Lorraine Chapman are working on renovating the current website to make it active and interactive.
Jason Arsenault of the Sports and Recreation Branch was on hand and answered many questions about funding of athletes and of the RNBRA.
Finally, the Andy Gunther Award for contributions to the RNBRA during the past year was presented to Bert deVink for his work on this blog.

contact bertdevink@gmail.com if there are any errors

21-09-2013 MINI-PALMA MATCH AT SPRINGFIELD - RESULTS

 The Annual Mini-Palma Match was held at the Springfield Ranges (Fredericton Recreational Shooting Association) outside of Fredericton on September 21 followed by an open "Fun Shoot" the next day. This is the 38th year that teams from the Canadian Maritime Provinces have met with their shooting friends and colleagues from the American New England States for a friendly match.

The venue alternates yearly between an American location and a Canadian one - this year it was in New Brunswick and next year it will be held in the USA.

The Canadian/Maritime ProvincesTeam for 2013: 
Captain, Coach and TR Shooter John Marshall,
Other Coaches and TR Shooters were Ian Hogg and Daniel Chisholm,
Other TR Shooters were Don Coleman, Jeff Jenkins, Marcel Kolb, and Ron Surette,
The Alternate TR Shooter was Conrad Leroux,
The FTR Shooters were Paul Bastarache, Bert deVink and Michael Lutes.

The American/New England States Team for 2013:
Captain, Coach and TR Shooter Ron Sekellick,
Other Coaches and TR SHooters were Jeff Cutlip, Pete Desantis, John Field, Ron Ouimette, Larry Racine, and Bob Riel,
Other Coaches and FTR Shooters were Mo DeFina, Bob Leach and Larry Piazza.

RESULTS:
1.     Overall Results
Maritime provinces Team - 2282V103
800 M - 781V46; 900 M - 751V34; 900 M - 750V23
New England Team - 2241V126
800 M - 757V44; 900 M - 746V42; 900 M - 738V40

2.     TR Results
New England Team - 1538V126
Maritime Provinces Team - 1522V103

3.     FTR Results (V=6)

Maritime Provinces Team - 760

New England Team - 703

Beside the shooting, which we all enjoyed, there was lots of time for camaraderie and socializing both at the range and at the banquet later that evening - which, unfortunately, not all could attend.

The weather was beautiful with lots of sun, some cloud and no sign of rain - all-in-all a fine day for a shoot. The wind was very tricky at times and cost many shooters a point or two but even so some very good scores were posted.

A Match like this requires a lot of work on the part of many people in order to make it a good experience. The following people, plus those who worked behind the scenes, all volunteers, deserve a tremendous vote of thanks.

• Thanks are due to the two Captains Ron Sekellick and John Marshall for their coordinating efforts.
• Match Director, Daniel Chisholm, did a lion's share of work setting up and maintaining his electronic scoring system, organizing the match, coaching and shooting - and.  .  .  .  . . cooking chili (which was very good!).
• The range, which is cut out of the woods, needed a lot of preparation and Daniel along with John Holleran, Michael Lutes and Jeff Seely did a marvelous job ensuring that the sight lines were clear and mounds neatly trimmed.
• Lunch at the range was organized by Conrad Leroux and enjoyed by all.
• During the shoot several people devoted their time to score for the other team - the New England Team was scored by two fine Acadian Ladies -  Michelle Cormier and her friend France Bourgeois. The Maritime Provinces Team was scored by two excellent gentlemen from Massachusetts - Jeff Cutlip and John Fields.
• Range Officer duties during the match was shared by Michael Lutes and Bert deVink.
• Michelle Cormier also did the excellent photography.

Individual scores may be viewed at this link

contact bertdevink@gmail.com if there are any errors

07-09-2013 All COMERS Match at SPRINGFIELD - RESULTS

Seven lucky shooters made it to the All Comers Match at the Springfield Ranges today. This was the last scheduled match of the Fullbore season and it was a beautiful day with frequent sun peeking through the cloud cover. Although it was a bit cool in the morning it quickly warmed up and became a warm, clear day perfect for enjoying shooting. Temperatures were around 15 C and the winds were mostly down range during the 300M match. At 500 M they died down with only a few gusts while at the 600M they were a bit more steady from the right and down range. The Match Director and RSO today was John Holleran. We used the electronic scoring system provided by Daniel Chisholm. Everything ran very smoothly without any glitches.

TR CLASS -

Daniel Chisholm - 149V21

FTR CLASS -

Bert deVink - 150V28

Mike Lutes - 150V25

Moe Bennett - 150V22

Francis Bezeau - 150V21

John Holleran - 148V25

Gord Holloway - 148V11

31-08-2013 to 01-09-2013 ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS IN PEI - RESULTS

The Atlantic Championships for 2013 were held in PEI at the Alexandra Range during the Labour Day weekend. Six TR, 10 FTR and 2 FO shooters came from all the Maritime Provinces and Quebec. All reports indicate that a good time was had by all with only a few glitches here and there.

The weather was mixed with at last one major downpour which did no good to ammunition and rifles, not to mention the shooters, but at least this was shared equally by all relays.

TR scored 0-5+V (HS = 150+30) while F Class scored 1-6 (HS = 180) for each of the 4 matches - the Bluenose, the Lady Slipper, the Down East and the Herring Choker. Each match was composed of 2+10 at 300yds, 500 yds and 600yds.

RESULTS - TR Shooters:
BLUENOSE                         LADY SLIPPER     HERRING CHOKER         DOWN EAST
Barry Langille - 149V13              149V21                         147V16                     148v16
Ian Hogg - 148V19                     150V16                          143V21                    150v15
Marcel Kolb - 147V12                 148V12                         147V10                     144v12
Bob Barwise - 140V7                  136V6                           132V4                       138v10
Myron Ling - 117V2                    131V6                            113V2                      117v3
Peter Dobson - DNC                   134V5                             DNC                         DNC

RESULTS - FTR Shooters:
BLUENOSE                          LADY SLIPPER     HERRING CHOKER         DOWN EAST
Francis Bezeau - 178*                    173                              172                          174
Ken Ferguson - 178                        178                              176                           171
Wendy Reid - 178                          170                              169                           174
Andy Webber - 177                        174                              177                           167
Mike Lutes - 177                            179                              172                           171
Bert MacDonald - 176                     163                              174                           164
Paul Bastarache - 174                    174                              174                           177
Mark Miller - 174                            166                              163                           158
Al Mutch - 172                               169                              162                           168
Dale MacLeod - 171                        169                              170                          165

RESULTS - FO Shooters:

BLUENOSE                            LADY SLIPPER     HERRING CHOKER   DOWN EAST       

Leo D'amour - 178                             175                             175                             164

Raymond Turcotte - 169                    155                             164                             155

RESULTS - GRAND AGGREGATE:
TR CLASS:                               FTR CLASS:                       FO CLASS:
Barry Langille - 593V66              Ken Ferguson - 702              Leo D'amour - 692
Ian Hogg - 591V46                     Paul Bastarache - 701          Raymond Turcotte - 643
Marcel Kolb - 586V46                 Mike Lutes - 699
Bob Barwise - 546V27                Francis Bezeau - 697
Myron Ling - 478V13                  Andy Webber - 695
Peter Dobson - DNC                   Wendy Reid - 691
                                                 Bert MacDonald - 677
                                                 Dale MacLeod - 675
                                                 Al Mutch - 671
                                                 Mark Miller - 657
see further details at http://www.peipra.ca/PEIPRA/Home.html and go to RESULTS
contact bertdevink@gmail.com if there are any errors

2013 DCRA - TR CHAMPIONSHIPS IN OTTAWA

The DCRA TR Championships held at the Connaught Ranges in Ottawa, have just finished this past Saturday the 24th with too many highlights to mention. Here are a couple of results that showcased some of the shooters from the Maritime Provinces. Congratulations to all for some very good shooting!

Canadian Masters Championship
1rst - Jim Paton from BC - 688V84
7th - Ian Hogg from PEI - 681V64
10th - Ray Smeltzer from NS - 680V69
20th - Barry Langille from NS - 667V62

Canadian TR Championship
1rst - Jim Paton from BC - 872V108
7th - Ray Smeltzer from NS - 864V94
10th - Ian Hogg from PEI - 863V76
15th - Daniel Chisholm from NB - 859V98
19th - Don Coleman from NB - 856V73
31st - Barry Langille from NS - 849V81
40th - John Marshall from NS - 834V71
44th - Jeff Jenkins from NS - 829V66

2013 - DCRA F-CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Last week and concluding this weekend the DCRA F-Class Championships were held on the Connaught ranges in Ottawa. Although many F-Class shooters were attending the World Championships in Raton NM, a good number of top notch shooters vied for the canadian title.

In F-OPEN, the winner of the Grand Aggegrate was Leo d'Amour with 735.51
In FTR, the Grand Aggregate winner was Fred Harvey with 734.54

New Brunswick shooters who attended, were Michael Lutes and Matt Wolf who placed 7th and 8th respectively with scores of 691.33 and 690.28. Congratulations fellows!

contact bertdevink@gail.com if there are any errors

10 & 11 Aug 2013 LONG DISTANCE MATCH AND CIRCLE TRAINING

This SATURDAY 10 August, we will hold a long distance MATCH and also a long distance CIRCLE TRAINING session, on BATOUCHE RANGE at CFB Gagetown:
- the match will be run by John Holleran.  Course of fire is 2ss15 at 800m, 2ss15@900m, and another 2ss15@900m.
- the circle training will be run by Daniel Chisholm, and will be held at 800m and then at 900m.  36 rounds should be plenty.
- you may shoot either the Match or the Circle Training.  The fee for either is $20.
- shooting will start at 10:00
- we'll shoot on electronic targets

We have Batouche booked for both Saturday and Sunday, so if the weather on Saturday looks to be threatening, we'll move both events to Sunday.  If this happens, it will be posted on the blog http://rnbrafullbore.blogspot.ca/ no later than 0600 Saturday morning.

(apologies for this relatively last minute update; originally we had scheduled the Sat. match to be at Springfield and the Sunday circle training to be at Batouche.)

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We had 8 people turn up.  Weather was bang on the forecast, a beautiful sunny and fairly windy day.  Three people did a Circle Training session and the other five fired the Match.