June 26th, 2021

First Time at 1000 — Verdant Visions from DownUnder

Zac Cameron Queensland Cairns Oz Australia F-Class

For those of us in the Western USA facing drought, heat waves, and forest fires, it is a bit amazing to see a shooting range with verdant green fields, and lush vegetation. Well that is the environment in far-away Queensland, Australia. Here is a photo essay from Aussie Zac Link Cameron who hails from Cairns, Queensland, up near the Great Barrier Reef. On June 20, 2021, Zac was at a scenic range, shooting out to 1000 yards. He posted on Facebook: “Beautiful morning for it at a beautiful range!”

Zac Cameron Queensland Cairns Oz Australia F-Class

Zac was competing at 1000 yards with his lovely “missus” Morgan Crisp at the Atherton Rifle Club range, situated west of Cairns in Queensland. Zac and Morgan are members of the Cairns Rifle Club, which also has an 800m range north of Cairns, located inland from Wangetti Beach (see map below). Posting on Facebook, Zac wrote: “First time at 1000 yards for the Missus today with her factory Howa 1500 in .223 Remington. Conditions couldn’t have been more perfect other then the swirling wind not making up its mind! But the little .223 did bloody good for its first outing past 800m. 1000 yards today and my gosh Atherton is a beautiful range!”

Zac Cameron Queensland Cairns Oz Australia F-Class
Zac wrote: “Dropped 2 points on my first target and didn’t drop any on my second. I definitely need to work on my wind reading though.”

Zac Cameron: “Beautiful morning for it at a beautiful range!”

Zac Cameron Queensland Cairns Oz Australia F-Class

Indeed, this is a beautiful range. It’s great to see all that greenery. Here is a fly-over video from the Atherton Tableland Gun Club Range, west of Cairns, another popular Queensland shooting venue. You can see other Queensland shooting ranges on Zac Cameron’s Long Range Australia FNQ Facebook page.

Zac Cameron Queenland Cairns Oz Australia F-Class

Australia Rifle Competition Disciplines

As stated on the Cairns Rifle Club website, there are multiple disciplines sanctioned by the National Rifle Association of Australia (NRAA) which are shot by Cairns Rifle Club:

Target Rifle: This discipline is shot with a .308 or .223 caliber rifle, and held by the shooter using peep sights and a sling. Target Rifle has been actively contested since before World War I. The Cairns Rifle Club has operated continuously since 1893 — 128 years.

F-Class: This discipline is contested with optical sights (scopes) and the use of bipods or rests. Three categories of F-Class exist. Two are shot from an adjustable rest being F-Standard which is limited to either .308 Win or .223 Rem caliber rifles and F-Open which is unlimited up to a maximum of 8mm. The other discipline is F-TR which is shot from a bipod and limited to .308 Win caliber. [Editor’s Note — This is different than in the USA which has F-TR (bipod .223 Rem or .308 Win) and F-Open (front rest, open caliber) only.]

Sporting/Hunting Class: The most recent addition to the disciplines is the Sporting/Hunting Class.

The disciplines are contested at distances from 300m through to 800m at Wangetti and up to 1000 yards elsewhere. Here is a MAP for Wangetti, 40km north of Cairns.

Zac Cameron Queensland Cairns Oz Australia F-Class
Zac Cameron Queenland Cairns Oz Australia F-Class

Zac and Morgan are members of the Cairns Rifle Club, an organization with a rich history, going back to 1893. Here are Cairns Rifle Club members in 1903:

Zac Cameron Queenland Cairns Oz Australia F-Class