AUSTRALIA: Get together near Melbourne

If we can plan next year at least 3 months out (preferably 6) I would love to attend the next one. I'm wagering that next year's BGRC Nationals will be at Ripley? At their new dedicated range.
Maybe arrange a get together at Ripley the weekend before the Nationals?
But if Tintin is doing the heavy lifting it will be in VIC and I'm fine with that too.

Great day , people and firearms. Enjoyed some new calibres / rifles. Had a blast!
Big thanks to Mark for organising the get together, and putting us up at Rigby's HQ Vic.
Here's a few pics, cheers Mick
Gun Rack
William Evans 318WR, Rigby big game 416Rigby, BSA 22 hornet, Mauser small ring 250 savage,Fat lady 577 2 3/4, Zastavia 350 Rigby, Montana 585 Hubel express. Hope I got them right

Parker hale 333jeffery?, Lee Speed 303,highland stalker 275, MC steer 7x57

PC3, shooting the fat lady

Blueflyer under recoil, 9.3x64?

Had a great weekend, big thanks to TinTin for putting it all together and hosting us. I had a blast. It was great meeting you all.

Just pulled into the driveway, time for bed.

Thanks to all involved. Special mention to @10.75x68 for a massive 18 hour round trip drive to join in.

We had a great afternoon with Bruce Bertram on Friday, touring the factory (in the midst of a .577 Nitro Express production run), being wowed by the taxidermy, eating his home made venison salami and buying brass and bullets.

His 'Alladin's Cave' stock room never ceases to amaze, with a mind boggling array of over 400 cartridge cases produced, most in stock and ready to go.

Plenty of .450 Nito Express on hand, so I got some more while the getting was good, along with some hot off the press, newly released 350 grain .458 projectiles, that will go well in .450 BPE loads.



Following a Thai dinner in the trophy room, the fine conversations extended well into the wee hours, with some great hunting tales told - some of which may even be true.

@264 - great memory on the gun rack photo's, the .333 Jeffery is on a DWM 98 action. There's also a custom .275 Rigby on a small ring 98 somewhere in the mix.

I think @264 may have grabbed some photos of ominous skies as we left my place early on Saturday morning. The very helpful local weather forecast was 'possible rain, in the morning, or the afternoon'.

Despite the heavens opening, there were some very special rifles amongst the group that we were able to shoot. The mighty 'Fat Lady' .577 2 3/4, pushing 650 grain Bertams at ~1850 fps, for about 5000 ft lbs, was a highlight for me. Great fun.

There were to be no long range endeavours undertaken. As the fog rolled in the AH Halloween targets were not visible at 100m. Hope someone got a photo of the fog.



@JPbowhunter 's gorgeous Lee Speed won my heart.

I suspect a few left thinking 'I now need a .....'

@JPbowhunter 's flintlock was also fantastic to see in action, a modern build Manton (1833?) pattern, by a local old school gunsmith.



We really appreciate the range staff vounteering to come in on their day off.

I was a bit slack with taking photos - hopefully some others with chip in some more.

Looks like a good time

Sorry I missed it. Hopefully I will make it next time.

Thanks for organising things @Tintin

It was a great day with some great rifles and even better folks.

Too many highlights to pick just one, but I sure did fall in love with @264 ’s 318WR. Quite possibly the finest gun I’ve ever laid eyes and hands on. Handling and shooting it has planted a bad seed in my mind. Classic gun making at its finest.

Shooting the fat lady was pretty special too, my first experience with a double.

Again, thanks all for a wonderful trip and hopefully we can do it again.

I'm not sure if Mick @264 has posted this link before. It is a write up about the rifle by @Marrakai , the previous owner of the Fat Lady .577 2 3/4".

http://www.marrakai-adventure.com.au/GreenerStory.html

As others have said Tintin thankyou for organising a great weekend, it was really good to put names to faces. Also managed to find another spot with a pretty good Vanilla Slices. For our overseas readers its a sweet that consist of custard, sometimes custard and cream (my preference), sandwiched between two flaky layers of pastry with either icing or as Tintin says dusted with cocaine (icing sugar...as daring as us older blokes get these days). I must try them at every bakery I come across and its starting to show

Bruce's was great.....circa 23 years since I'd last been there !! Purchased some goodies for rifles I don't even own yet ! It literally is a candy store for fully grown kids.....got me thinking what action is required for a 4 bore ....yep he even makes 4 bore brass and it makes the .700 NE look anemic ! Nahh the .585 Hubel makes me nervous just looking at it. I forgot to ask Bruce if he makes 2 bore cases for Samuel Bakers "Baby" line of rifles, everyone needs a 2 bore in the rack

My son is now really keen to go to Bruce's for a look now.......will he use his $$ or shop via the "bank of Dad" likely I know which

I'd also like to publicly commend Tintin on the work he puts in to get the "next generation" involved and interested in what we all on here love, and for mine is one of the best "pass times" a young bloke could get involved in. Many of the best people I have met have been involved in this game over the years and in particular the niche "african rifles" etc. corner of the sport. Its critical we pass on what we know to the next lot coming through where we can.

The next lot coming through need to be encouraged (us oldies need them to get them involved) and we should all be helping to foster their interest in the sport.

The young kids there this weekend were, I think, genuinely fascinated and interested in the vintage British and African style rifles on display.

There are so many rifles I didnt know I needed, some of them were out just so nice. Tintin and .264's .275's and the .318 WR William Evans to name a few....I want one now.

And the flintlock was fascinating as well.

Spread the message to the next generation folks "life's too short to hunt with ugly guns" (of which I own a few)

Thanks @pc3

The youngsters and their dads all asked me to pass on their appreciation for the AH crew being so generous in letting these lads fire rifles that even many shooting grown ups will rarely get to see, let alone fire.

I reckon a few of the young blokes will soon be watching The Ghost and The Darkness!

Please tell us how this went! Over this past year I have so enjoyed getting to know our Ausi mates!!!!! They are simply the very best and I have so enjoyed learning their awesome humor which I know understand!!!

Better pic of @JPbowhunter in action.

Very good variety of calibres, 250 savage, 223AI,303, 333 jeffery, 350 Rigby, 275,9.3x64 416 WSM 318 Westley Richards, 577 2 3/4 light nitro 585 hubel, and more! Got to shoot some I've never even seen before. The 350 Rigby was a stand out for me. hasn't helped me on the quest for a Rigby vintage 350 Rigby
Mark great picture.
The younger keen blokes were awesome to watch shooting the variety of calibres and firearms. Keen interested and willing to listen and learn. Some huge smiles .....
Looking forward to the next one.

No one has mentioned the 219 Donaldson Wasp! You don't see one of those every day!

BlueFlyer said:

No one has mentioned the 219 Donaldson Wasp! You don't see one of those every day!

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Oh, you can’t just tease like that, what rifle was it on…
Gumpy

Grumpy gumpy said:

Oh, you can’t just tease like that

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Well if you where there you would know! From memory it was on a HiWall, but I am not sure of the pedigree. It is a sexy looking little cartridge, a bit like a 222Rimmed improved with a large primer.

Now getting more serious. The guys were way too polite about the feed on my 416 WSM yesterday. I swapped the extractor claw last week and confirmed it extracted but I did not spend enough time confirming the feed. The feed was totally unacceptable.
I spent time today with the diamond hone relieving the claw tip so the case could slide up onto the bolt face without resistance. We are now back to silky feed.
I also did some work on the 338/348AI feed as I have never had any fireformed cases to run through the magazine. It also needed a bit of diamond hone work to get it working smoothly.

BlueFlyer said:

Well if you where there you would know! From memory it was on a HiWall, but I am not sure of the pedigree. It is a sexy looking little cartridge, a bit like a 222Rimmed improved with a large primer.

Now getting more serious. The guys were way too polite about the feed on my 416 WSM yesterday. I swapped the extractor claw last week and confirmed it extracted but I did not spend enough time confirming the feed. The feed was totally unacceptable.
I spent time today with the diamond hone relieving the claw tip so the case could slide up onto the bolt face without resistance. We are now back to silky feed.
I also did some work on the 338/348AI feed as I have never had any fireformed cases to run through the magazine. It also needed a bit of diamond hone work to get it working smoothly.

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I had to put up with (me) "drop mag and show clear", "I’ve done it", "that’s nice, now drop the mag and show me clear", then they go to the head RO and complain about me, who then said "ok, now drop the mag and show clear then". Only happened once.
The Donaldson wasp is an improved 22cal version of the 22HP, on a hiwall it could be loaded fairly warm.
Gumpy

Really bummed I couldn't make it... it would've been really nice to have put some faces to the names...

I was planning on bringing my 425Express up for people to have a shot of.
A bit of an unusual cartridge, and probably one not many people would've shot...

I have a bit of 400gn DGX stuff loaded up (the non-bonded stuff) that I want to shoot off so I can load up some A29s in it, and you guys could've helped me make some empty brass!

I'll save them for next time, where I'll be a definite starter.

Really glad you guys had a great day.

Russ

Rare Breed said:

Please tell us how this went! Over this past year I have so enjoyed getting to know our Ausi mates!!!!! They are simply the very best and I have so enjoyed learning their awesome humor which I know understand!!!

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Thanks @Rare Breed

That humour can take a while to pick up.

Went well. We all had a great time. Some more detailed reports above.

Mark, you should be commended for your efforts and time in organising the bringing together like minded hunters, and shooters.
Well done.
Apologies for my absence.

Great to see it was well supported and enjoyed by all.
Again well done.

Well done to all who attended.

this looks like a great time, wish i could go!