Ok. I promised everyone a review of the 2025, it has taken a little longer to put together, but I hope it is worth it.
First of all, I would like to sincerely thank all our volunteers for their incredible contribution to our sport. The work you do before, during, and after every fly match is immense, and much of it goes unseen. From running our successful matches to keeping ranges open and clubs operating week to week, the dedication and effort put in is remarkable. Please know that your commitment is deeply appreciated by everyone in our shooting community.
Next I need to thank everyone who has provided feedback and suggestions throughout the year on the scoring programs and statistics I’ve been providing. Your input, and the time many of you have spent helping to test the systems and identify bugs, has been invaluable. It has taken a fair amount of time and effort to put everything together and get it running smoothly, but hearing feedback from shooters and knowing that people appreciate the systems and the information makes it all worthwhile.
I would like to extend my thanks to all the shooters who attend matches, both registered and club. Everyone puts in a considerable amount of time and money to take part in these events, and without your participation there would be no reason to hold them. Seeing the number of competitors who continue to turn up, and the enjoyment you bring to the range is incredibly motivating and inspires everyone involved to keep dedicating their time and effort.
Finally, I would like to thank all the many sponsors who contribute to our sport. There are far too many to name individually, but I want to give special thanks to Nightforce. Their continued support as the major sponsor, not only for our Nationals but also for many other events, is greatly appreciated. Not many other shooting disciplines are lucky enough to have a major sponsor like this on board, and their continued support greatly appreciated.
I would like to congratulate the winners of the various matches held throughout the year. Your dedication, skill, and consistency have been outstanding, and it is great to recognise your achievements. Well done to everyone who has competed and excelled in these events, your efforts set a high standard and give the rest of something to strive towards. The stand outs of this are of cause the winners of our very prestigious Shoot of the Year Awards (Peter Cross, Vince Vainer and Michael Bell). To stay consistently at the top of such a competitive bunch of shooters is no easy task.
Below I have put together a summary of the year.
Summary
|
Total |
|
HG |
LG |
RF |
|
36 |
Matches, over 13 Registered Events. |
12 |
12 |
12 |
|
206 |
Individual Competitors |
122 |
119 |
165 |
|
1,172 |
Entries |
374 |
357 |
441 |
|
5,860 |
Targets scored |
1,870 |
1,785 |
2,205 |
|
959 |
Fly Patches Awarded |
306 |
274 |
379 |
|
240,741 |
Total Points Scored |
74,169 |
66,695 |
99,877 |
|
2,376 |
Total Fly's Shot |
698 |
585 |
1,093 |
Shooter of the year winners
|
Class |
Name |
Points |
Score |
Placings |
|
Heavy Gun |
Vince Vainer |
380 |
1015.16 |
1 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd |
|
Light Gun |
Peter Cross |
385 |
946.18 |
2 x 1st, 1x 2nd, 1 x 3rd |
|
Rimfire |
Michael Bell |
385 |
1073.27 |
1 x 1st, 3 x 2nd |
Highest Scores of the year
|
Heavy Gun |
Mark Welsh |
279.07 |
Brisbane Fly United Invitational |
|
Light Gun |
Peter Cross |
278.08 |
NSW State Titles Batemans Bay NEW NATIONAL RECORD! |
|
Rimfire |
Mark Lacey |
281.09 |
Qld Fly Shoot Championship Innisfail |
Smallest Group of the year
|
Heavy Gun |
Grant G |
1.049 |
Blue Heeler Classic |
|
Light Gun |
Vince Vaina |
0.928 |
Brisbane Fly United Invitational Championship |
|
Rimfire |
Cheryl Ball |
0.737 |
NSW State Titles 2025 |
Highest Target of the year
|
Heavy Gun |
Dave Groves |
59.03 |
South Coast Fly Championships |
|
Light Gun |
Vince Vaina |
60.01 |
South Coast Fly Championships |
|
Rimfire |
Michael Bell |
60.04 |
NSW State Titles 2025 |
Top 10 fly’s shot in an individual match
|
Michael Bell |
12 |
RF |
South Coast Fly Championships |
|
Chris Parry |
10 |
RF |
Brisbane Fly United Invitational |
|
Mark Lacey |
9 |
RF |
Qld Fly Shoot Championship Innisfail |
|
David Dundas |
9 |
RF |
Riverina Fly Championships 2025 |
|
Eli G |
9 |
RF |
NSW State Titles Batemans Bay |
|
David Dundas |
8 |
RF |
NSW State Titles Batemans Bay |
|
Phil Jones |
8 |
RF |
Brisbane Fly United Invitational |
|
Chris Parry |
8 |
RF |
Qld Fly Shoot Championship Innisfail |
|
Peter Cross |
8 |
LG |
NSW State Titles Batemans Bay |
|
David Z |
8 |
RF |
NSW State Titles Batemans Bay |
Top 10 Total Fly’s Shot
|
Vince Vaina |
102 |
|
Michael Bell |
76 |
|
Scott Benson |
67 |
|
David Dundas |
63 |
|
Kathy Dundas |
61 |
|
Mark Welsh |
58 |
|
Peter Cross |
51 |
|
Anthony Hall |
51 |
|
Fred Blacker |
50 |
|
Richard L |
47 |
Top 10 Total Fly Patches Awarded
|
Vince Vaina |
27 |
|
Scott Benson |
26 |
|
James V |
23 |
|
Richard L |
23 |
|
Michael Bell |
22 |
|
Andy Santa |
21 |
|
Mark Welsh |
21 |
|
Kathy Dundas |
20 |
|
Les F |
20 |
|
Anthony Hall |
19 |
Top 10 Total Points
|
Vince Vaina |
6,840.102 |
|
Scott Benson |
6,406.067 |
|
Michael Bell |
5,918.076 |
|
Mark Welsh |
5,770.058 |
|
Andy Santa |
5,574.044 |
|
James V |
5,237.043 |
|
David Dundas |
4,859.063 |
|
Kathy Dundas |
4,807.061 |
|
Richard L |
4,777.047 |
|
Anthony Hall |
4,747.051 |
Top 10 Matches Attended (each class is a match)
|
Shooter |
Matches |
|
Scott Benson |
29 |
|
Vince Vaina |
29 |
|
Andy Santa |
27 |
|
James V |
26 |
|
Mark Welsh |
26 |
|
Michael Bell |
25 |
|
Richard L |
23 |
|
Anthony Hall |
21 |
|
David Dundas |
21 |
|
Kathy Dundas |
21 |
|
Les F |
21 |
Attached is a spreadsheet that provides some more rankings. It includes:
- Ranked 2025 Multi Gun Leaderboard using a competitor’s highest individual score from any match for each class.
- Ranked Total Fly’s shot Leaderboard. (Per Class and overall total)
- Ranked Fly patches awarded Leaderboard. (Per Class and overall total)
- Ranked Matches attended. (Per Class and overall total)
- Rank score totals. (Per Class and overall total)
Fantastic effort Fred, thank you for taking the time to produce such a comprehensive report.
cheers,
Mark
Ok everyone below is a further break down individual targets and overall score spreads for the 2025 Fly Season.
Now I must note that I have been asked a lot of times this year my opinion on why the stats and scores seem to “favour” rimfire fly. In my opinion this is due to several reasons.
I believe that the biggest contributing factor is the ability to see where shots land. The merge does not play anywhere as a big a factor in Rimfire. You can make accurate quick adjustments knowing for certain where a shot has landed, rather then just “trusting the smash plate. It is not often you see a tight 4 for 5 shot group in the 1 outside rings in rimfire, but this is seen often in centrefire where a shooter believed their shots were hitting centre target.
I believe that the way the majority of matches are shot also plays a part. In Rimfire quite often only 2 details are shot, meaning that targets are shot earlier in the day when conditions tend to be better. With 500m fly there is normally 4 details. So the time between the A target and B target for light gun is considerably longer then between A target and B target for Rimfire, allowing for greater condition changes, and greater need to try and remember “What were the conditions like on the last target with this rifle.”
Of cause these are just my opinions, and I would be interested to hear what others think.
The data does throw out a few more anomalies that I can’t really explain. For instance, you often hear that “light guns will normally outperform heavy guns”, but the data does not seem to support that.
Why although there was a 60 point target shot in light gun, and none in heavy gun, was there 100 more 50+ point targets shots in heavy gun over light?
Why does rimfire have the most targets with 0 fly’s, yet the least total scores with 0 fly’s?
And of cause the biggest question that I would like someone to answer for me. Why does the bullet never impact point of aim, until you are holding off to the side of target somewhere and really don’t want it go point of aim? (I have also attached the data in a spreadsheet so that it is a little easier to read.)
|
Total |
Indervidual Target |
HG |
LG |
RF |
|
5,860 |
Total Targets |
1,870 |
1,785 |
2,205 |
|
7 |
60+ |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
1,649 |
50-59.05 |
416 |
312 |
921 |
|
2,087 |
40-49.05 |
692 |
600 |
795 |
|
1,167 |
30-39.05 |
412 |
439 |
316 |
|
556 |
20-29.05 |
198 |
244 |
114 |
|
276 |
10-19.05 |
98 |
130 |
48 |
|
118 |
0-9.05 |
54 |
59 |
5 |
|
41.004 |
Average Score |
40.004 |
38.003 |
45.005 |
|
49.00 |
Most Common Target |
45.00 |
38.00 |
47.00 |
|
86 |
Number of times shot |
61 |
50 |
79 |
|
11 |
10 point group |
0 |
2 |
9 |
|
345 |
9 point group |
80 |
63 |
202 |
|
1,233 |
8 point group |
334 |
259 |
640 |
|
1,423 |
7 point group |
468 |
368 |
587 |
|
979 |
6 point group |
349 |
320 |
310 |
|
650 |
5 point group |
208 |
247 |
195 |
|
427 |
4 point group |
156 |
152 |
119 |
|
236 |
3 point group |
73 |
110 |
53 |
|
153 |
2 point group |
52 |
56 |
45 |
|
112 |
1 point group |
35 |
57 |
20 |
|
291 |
0 point group |
115 |
151 |
25 |
|
5.98 |
Average Group Score |
5.77 |
5.32 |
6.67 |
|
0 |
5 flys |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
7 |
4 flys |
0 |
0 |
7 |
|
53 |
3 flys |
18 |
10 |
25 |
|
348 |
2 flys |
102 |
77 |
169 |
|
1,501 |
1 fly |
440 |
403 |
658 |
|
3,951 |
0 flys |
1,310 |
1,295 |
1,346 |
|
0.4 |
Average Fly's per target |
0.4 |
0.3 |
0.5 |
|
Total |
Finishing Total Score |
HG |
LG |
RF |
|
1172 |
Entries |
374 |
357 |
441 |
|
17 |
275+ |
2 |
2 |
13 |
|
184 |
250 - 275 |
33 |
25 |
126 |
|
275 |
225 - 250 |
83 |
62 |
130 |
|
277 |
200 -225 |
103 |
82 |
92 |
|
155 |
175 - 200 |
54 |
57 |
44 |
|
119 |
150 - 175 |
43 |
54 |
22 |
|
108 |
100 - 150 |
42 |
54 |
12 |
|
37 |
0 - 150 |
14 |
21 |
2 |
|
206.02 |
Average Score |
199.02 |
188.02 |
228.02 |
|
214.01 |
Most Common Score |
214.01 |
238.03 |
245.02 |
|
11 |
Number of times shot |
5 |
5 |
6 |
|
1 |
12 Flys |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
0 |
11 Flys |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
10 Flys |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
3 |
9 Flys |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
5 |
8 Flys |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
15 |
7 Flys |
2 |
1 |
12 |
|
33 |
6 Flys |
10 |
4 |
19 |
|
48 |
5 Flys |
12 |
10 |
26 |
|
90 |
4 Flys |
21 |
21 |
48 |
|
172 |
3 Flys |
60 |
47 |
65 |
|
280 |
2 Flys |
99 |
81 |
100 |
|
316 |
1 Flys |
102 |
111 |
103 |
|
208 |
0 Flys |
68 |
81 |
59 |
|
2.03 |
Average Flys |
1.87 |
1.64 |
2.49 |
Hi Fred,
thanks for your work on this and I second the thanks to all the volunteers.
Looking forward to 2026.
Cheers,
Dave
I like spin stabilised things.
Stone the Crows Fred!!!
Great work!
Belly
Bugger me Fred, we might have to have an Excel addiction intervention soon... "Fred, step away from the keyboard" 😉
Very well done.
Shane
Team "Be the Bullet" A Fly's worst Nightmare.
Truscott, Parry, Malin, Clow and Albrecht
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