2015 - ANNUAL REPORT OF THE FULLBORE SECTION

2015 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE RNBRA FULLBORE SECTION

TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE

ROYAL NEW BRUNSWICK RIFLE ASSOCIATION

OCTOBER 18, 2015

This has been another busy year for the RNBRA Fullbore Section. We sponsored 22 matches in total, which were attended by 204 participants. Each of these matches required the services of dedicated people to prepare, set up and take down the range, to organize the event, to serve as Range Safety Officer and to set up and take down the scoring system. Needless to say, many people helped in making these matches successful.

Matches Hosted by the RNBRA Fullbore Section

The following 7 Target Rifle and FTR matches were held on the Batouche Range at CFB Gagetown. We thank the base personnel for their assistance and continued cooperation with our shooting program. The "Season Opener", the "Fredericton Centennial Match", the "Memorial/MacGillivray Match", The "Coleman/Stapleford Match", the "RNBRA - Annual Prize Match", the "Long Range Practice" and the "Any Rifle-Any Sight Match" drew the participation of 73 shooters.

In addition, Batouche was the venue for our section's 2 Black Powder Cartridge matches; 1 Precision Rifle Match and 4 Military Rifle Matches with a total of 30 participants.These figures are based on information available at this time.

The following 4 matches were hosted by the Club de Tir Saint Antoine Gun Club at their beautiful 600 meter range. The "Sierra Bullet Match" in which the Sierra Bullets Co. donated the prizes, drew 15 shooters. Our thanks go to Sierra for their annual support. The "Inter-maritime Team Trials" were held in Saint Antoine. The "RCR Centennial Match" and the "All Comers Match" followed in the schedule. These events drew 55 participants.

This year we were fortunate to shoot 3 matches at the lovely Saint Gabriel Range. The "Saint Gabriel 600", The “Gautreau 600” and the “Bastarache Bash” drew 35 participants.

Similarly, our Annual Prize Match was a bit better attended than last year. The match was well organized by Gordon Holloway, the Vice-chairman of the Fullbore Section and many volunteers. Some very good scores were recorded and all enjoyed the event.

          

Further, New Brunswick contributed 5 competitors to the Annual "Mini-Palma Match", in which a team comprised of Maritime shooters faces off against a team from the New England States. This year the match was held in Nova Scotia. Our Maritime Provinces Team, lead by Captain John Marshall from NS, won this match for the third year in a row!

The RNBRA Annual Smallbore MTR competition was held this year in Woodstock NB, with the Woodstock Rifle and Pistol Club hosting a very fine event under the direction of Dr. Hans van Spingelen. Both senior and junior shooters attended this event. The Fullbore Section contributed both expertise for the event and the Snow and Burge Prize to the top Junior shooters.

Projects and Issues During 2015

1. After many years of membership  in the RNBRA and attending our APMs, our friend Leo d’Amour may not be able to travel to New Brunswick any longer. Our section is sponsoring Leo as life member of the RNBRA.

2. A second issue, which has occupied much of the efforts of former RNBRA Treasurer Michelle Cormier, former Fullbore Section Treasurer Conrad Leroux, Lorraine Chapman and Larry Schriver has been the identification of Fullbore Section moneys, investments, trust funds etc. in an effort to repatriate the Section's finances. Many thanks to all of the above.

At this point, the Fullbore Section controls its own operating finances and the repatriation of the Trust Funds is almost complete. In the interest of collaboration, the Fullbore Section has relinquished its claims on the MacGillivary Trust Fund. The Snow and Burge Trust Funds have been rolled into one as both are to provide prizes to Junior members and to encourage their development as Fullbore shooters. The Alban Emery Trust Fund is to be used to provide prizes for the Alban Emery Matches at the APM. The Al Lockett Prize Fund is for providing a prize at the annual All Comers Match. The trust funds have yet to be invested once fully repatriated.

This year, for the first time in many years, the Funds have provided a plaque and a small cash prize, in keeping with their intended purposes, to the top shooters in the Junior Prone MTR Match, the Alban Emery Aggregate and the All Comers Match.

3. Financially, we are on track to remain in the black after this calendar year. In anticipation of having, eventually, to replace our e-target systems we have set aside $10 per shooter per match for this purpose. We gratefully acknowledge about $1400 received from the RNBRA. At this point, this money has been set aside to fund the acquisition of an additional electronic marking system. More detailed financial statements will be available at the AGM and the Fullbore AGM.

3. Thirdly, the changes that took place at CFB Gagetown continue this year and these primarily affect our scheduling. Heather McKinnon, our liaison with the base, has been most helpful in arranging access to Batouche. Our thanks go to her.

4. The RNBRA Fullbore Blog site continues its coverage of all Fullbore activities and has been visited almost 50,000 times in total by readers in Canada and around the world.

5. The Executive of the Fullbore Section normally communicates by e-mail or phone but  has met, more or less formally, three times this year. One of these meetings focused on budgetary matters, the second focused on the upcoming MTR Match and electronic targets while the third was devoted to Fullbore Trust Funds.

6.  The Annual Meeting of the Fullbore Section will be held in Sussex NB on November 8, 2015.

7.  The annual planning meeting (known as the "Atlantic High Power Rifle Committee Meeting") of the Fullbore Sections of the Three Maritime Provinces, will be held in Amherst NS on October 25, 2015 at the Wandlyn Inn. At this meeting the schedules of our major matches is set so that there is no conflict in dates. Other issues are usually also discussed.

8. We thank the RNBRA for continuing to purchase insurance coverage for all its members with the National Firearms Association (NFA). This insurance covers liability arising out of our shooting activities and covers "RNBRA sanctioned" shooting events.

9.  Lastly, the Fullbore section will be recognizing the long term dedication to, and work on behalf of, Fullbore Shooting in New Brunswick of one of its long-time members.

Out of Province Shooting, Matches and Championships

New Brunswick target shooters have traditionally been very supportive of championships in the sister provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island as well as championships hosted by the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association.

This year, Fullbore Section members went to 10 “out of province” matches (47 competitors). Our shooters did well with several top finishes in the "PEI - Annual Prize Match" (7 shooters) at their Alexandra Range, the "Nova Scotia - Annual Prize Match" (4 shooters) at their Bull Meadow Range, the "Atlantic Championships" (10 shooters) held in Nova Scotia, the "Canadian Target Rifle, F-class and Blackpowder Championships" (9 shooters) held in Ottawa at the Connaught Ranges, in the "Mini-Palma” (5 shooters) held in Nova Scotia at the Bull Meadow Range and in the annual “InterMaritime/British Team Match” (9 shooters) held at the Alexandra Range in PEI. In addition, 1 competitor went to the “Victoria Day Matches” in Ottawa, two others went to the “Bisley Fullbore Championships” in England, and 2 competitors went to the World Long Range Championships in Camp Perry, Ohio.  Additionally, 1 competitor went to the World Veterans Individual Target Rifle Championships at Camp Perry and was a member of the Canadian Veterans Team which won a bronze medal at the World Long Range Championships. These participants were not assisted by the RNBRA Fullbore Section as funds were not available. They are to be congratulated not only for their fine shooting and competitive spirit but also for their dedication to this sport.

New Shooters

We were pleased to see a number of new or re-newed shooters join us this year. A big welcome to Ahmed alSaggaf, Nick Munn, Matt Lambert, John McCluskey, Hermel Duguay, Robert Roussel, and Gaetan Richardson. We hope you enjoyed yourselves at our matches and found a home for your shooting passion. We hope to see you all during 2016.

Sad News

We were saddened to mark the passing away in August of Martin F. Topf, a shooting friend and mentor to many of us. Although not a fullbore shooter, Martin is well known in the New Brunswick shooting community for his decades of supporting shooters and various disciplines across the province. Our condolences go out to the Topf family.

People to Thank

The following very dedicated and impressive people have made my job of Chairman of the Fullbore Section so much less difficult. They have also contributed to Fullbore shooting in significant ways during the past year - in fact it would be a truism to say that Fullbore shooting in New Brunswick could not have happened without their contributions. My thanks for your service.

  1. The Fullbore Section Executive: Gordon Holloway - Vice Chairman; Don Coleman - Secretary and Representative to the RNBRA Board;  Daniel Chisholm - Treasurer and Representative to the DCRA and Michael Lutes -  RNBRA President.

  2. Adam MacDonald for his dedication and help with the electronic target system.

  3. Ron Surette and Michelle Cormier for their work in organizing, range maintenance, match directing and "RSOing" many Fullbore Section events. Also, The Club de Tir Saint Antoine Gun Club for allowing us to use their facility for several events.

  4. Paul Bastarache and J.C. Gautreau for their work in organizing, range maintenance and hosting the matches at the Saint Gabriel Range.

  4. Gordon Holloway for his tireless work on the 2015 Fullbore Section APM.and also the many volunteers who made this event a success. Special mention to Michael Lutes for stepping in to provide RSO coverage during the APM.

  5. Paul McIlveen, Mike Leroy and Brian Doherty, Match Directors, for looking after the Black powder, Precision and Military events.

  6. Paul Bastarache, J.C. Gautreau, Michelle Cormier, Don Coleman, Ron Surette, Conrad Leroux, Adam MacDonald and Michael Lutes - Match Directors, for looking after many TR and FTR events.

  7. Michael Lutes and Don Coleman for picking up the slack when I could not attend an event or be there to represent us.

  8. The many unnamed and generous shooters for donating their time, effort and knowledge to ensure events were successful, that the work would get done and that new shooters would benefit from their expertise.

  9. Those who contributed write-ups and pictures to the Fullbore Section Blog.

Respectfully submitted to the Board and members of the Royal New Brunswick Rifle Association,

G. H. (Bert) deVink, Fullbore Section Chairman