November 2, 2021
Pistols and peanuts might sound like an odd mixture, but they’ll be going off with a bang together this weekend.
The South Burnett Pistol Club will be hosting the ISSF South-West Queensland Regional Championships and black powder events at their shooting range in Kingaroy from Friday.
And the peanuts? Competitors at the inaugural “Kingaroy Pistols & Peanuts” shoot will be literally “playing for peanuts” with special giveaways and raffle prizes, courtesy of The Peanut Van.
Sixty competitors from all across Queensland are set to shoot it off in the various target competitions.
Forty-eight entries have been received in the Open shoot, including 10 South Burnett club members.
Points gathered in the various categories count towards State and National selection.
The first events on Friday will be black powder shoots, but there will also be many other categories in action across the three days, from air pistols through to semi-automatics.
Club publicity officer Scott Collier said paralympian shooter Chris Pitt – who competed at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics – will be taking part in the competition.
Top 10 Australian shooter Bruce Dimond will also be coming along.
Bruce told Scott the last time he was in Kingaroy was when he was a child, watching his father compete in a shooting competition.
Scott said there were four ranges at the Kingaroy facility: two 25m, a 50m and an indoor 10m air pistol range.
He said the South Burnett Pistol Club had 98 members, many of whom shoot regularly at the range.
This was the first time for some years that a Regional Championships had been hosted in Kingaroy.
“There’s also a social component to the shooting competitions. Many are retirees who travel from shoot to shoot,” he said.
