The Mons range at camp Borden never ceases to amaze. The team settled into a good routine at the motel and managed to get out to the ranges with plenty of time to spare. A foreboding safety brief from the CRO about fire risks set the mood for the day, with the programme consisting of long range shooting only for the day.

Quick off the mark, the team capitalised on the early detail’s lack of any surprising wind, until the second detail experienced the first of the major 3 minute changes through zero towards the end of their shoot. Our Captain of Vice was hit more than most, his only shot out of the bull taking two points off the possible. Relentless, he settled back in for the second shoot at 900yds to put in the highest score on the range, winning the Brassey Match outright.

Temperatures steadily rising, the thermometers hit 30 by midday, which also meant a fall back to 1000yds for the Macdonald Stewart and John Brick matches. While the shooters may have had some respite from the incessant heat underneath the team gazebos, the range itself and all electronics were exposed. While on any normal day this would mean only a mild day of heat exhaustion, today it resulted in heavy mirage, faulty targets and some 6-8 min wind changes, making it feel just like the worst details of the Corporation back home. 

Thankfully, a fire on a different range shut down the John Brick shoot midway through the match, allowing some of us a dignified end to the day and a chance to some points in tomorrow’s Des Burke to find out the final standings for the Lt Governor’s final tomorrow afternoon.  

While the team recovered at various restaurants and local spots, our main reflection on the day was a phrase uttered by a seasoned local shooter after his first 1000yds, “**** you, Borden!” 

SR