Brendan Atkinson HoF 13

When we talk about Benchrest shooting in Australia there are not many shooters who have achieved more in terms of winning, participating or contributing to the sport than Brendan Atkinson. Brendan’s achievements are many and he has a trailer load of medals to his name. Some of his more notable achievements was the individual world championship title back in 2001 at the WBC6 in Nelson, New Zealand.

He was also part of the Australian 2009 World Championship winning team in South Africa. Coincidently, this was the first time anyone took the teams title away from the Americans which was quite an achievement for our guys. Brendan has won many Nationals matches where he has amassed an amazing 85 HoF points and holds the famous No 13 HoF number.

Brendan’s shooting skills are only part of the story. He has served the sport as the SA state delegate for many years, until recently he was also our international delegate for the World Benchrest Shooting organization.

Brendan’s work can be found in the SSAA Shooters Journal where he periodically pens an article in relation to benchrest shooting or reporting on the latest Benchrest Nationals. He is also the unofficial photographer at every shoot that he attends.

We caught up with Brendan and asked him to share some of his story with us.

G’day Brendan, I guess this is a standard sort of question, but what got you interested in Benchrest shooting?

It all started in Whyalla in 1973, after I went to a sports store to buy 22 ammunition. The guy suggested I join the SSAA as they were forming a Club in Whyalla. I joined and soon after Ron Botten approached me about joining the local branch. The Club members built a range with concrete benches, and I heard all about benchrest shooting. Ron advised me to buy Warren Page’s book “The Accurate Rifle” and I was hooked. We had a visit from a chap from FC Lovelock in Adelaide who were the Shilen agents for Australia. He showed us a film of benchrest shooting in the USA. I immediately ordered a Shilen DGA rifle in 222 Remington, which took eighteen months to get to Australia, but it was worth it. Later I purchased another DGA action and put it on one of Ron Marsden’s alloy stocks – it was chambered for the 6 x 47 cartridge and was a tack driver. I attended my first Benchrest Nationals in 1976 in Canberra, and have attended every Nationals since then to this day.

We all have to learn from someone, who was the person who guided you at the start?

Ron Botten in Whyalla guided me through hand loading of my hunting rifles to obtain the tightest groups. The basics were there for accuracy loading. When I returned to Adelaide in 1976, I joined Para branch and was guided by Syd Miller (HOF #6) mainly, and then Ron Marsden (HOF #5) with whom I had many a phone call. We shot every Sunday at Para, and it was a steep learning curve. Very much a case of watch and learn.

BR Equipment has changed over the years, what was your first BR gun and what do you currently use in terms of action, barrel scope etc..?

Factory built Shilen DGA in 222 Remington, wearing a Lyman 20x scope. Later I switched to a Leupold 24x which was later again converted to 30x by Wally Seibert.

These days I have two 6mmPPC rifles both built around BAT DS actions. I use March scopes on both. The light has a 48x High Master and the heavy wears a March 10 – 60x

I prefer either Bartlein or Krieger barrels -whichever is available at the time. My gunsmith is Jerome Ziersch at ZCR Custom in South Australia. My bullet of choice for many years now has been the 65 grain Berger BT. I use mainly Vihtavuori N133 for big events or ADI 8208.

I use ProShot rods and solvent for cleaning – brushes can be rinsed out in water, which is handy. My front rest was custom built by Keith Smith and is of the gearshift variety.

Tell us about your individual 2-gun WBC championship win in 2001.

WBC 6 was shot at the Nelson Range in New Zealand, and we shot the Pacific Regional two gun first. I was using a brand new 3 groove Maddco barrel with Elf bullets, and I did not do anything spectacular in the PRSC match. We then had practice days, and I upped the powder charge to 28.2gns of BM 1. I think I was the only competitor using that powder.

My last two practice groups were very small, so I went with that. The 100-yard light section was a miserable day with heaps of rain and wind – probably the coldest I have ever been at a shoot! I managed to hold it together for the first four groups and was sitting on a .1200 agg with one to go. I lost a shot in the fifth group, but the .1576 agg is still the World Record for that yardage at a WBC. For the rest of the shoot, I just hung in there and tried not to shoot any big ones. I did not do quite as well in heavy, but at the end of the shoot they told me that I had won the individual two gun. Only two non-USA shooters have done this.

Who was the toughest competitor you competed against over the years?

Internationally – probably Gene Bukys, Wayne Campbell or Tony Boyer – take your pick.

In Australia probably Ross Hicks (Murray’s Father).

Shooting a 4-gun Nationals or State shoot can be a daunting task for most shooters, what advice can you give to new shooters on how to prepare and what strategy to take to a 4 day shoot?

I will make the assumption that leading up to the event your rifle has been thoroughly tested and tuned – preferably have a couple of loads that work well in different temperatures. Canberra in January will probably be hot. Belmont in October warm and humid, and Silverdale in July freezing! It all has an effect. Some powders work well up to about 30 deg C and then go a little crazy – I put N133 in that category. BM 2 is good in the heat, and don’t overlook ADI 2219 (H322 in the USA).

Take more components than you think you will need. A four-gun shoot requires 350 business shots plus sighters and of course practice before the event. I usually carry 600 bullets and primers just to be sure. Take plenty of solvent and patches – your choice.

Make sure that you will have access to wind indicators – usually provided by the range plus individual collections from the competitors. Use your own if you have them.

Upon arrival at the range, have a look to see what rotation you are on and the bench numbers. Some shooters write this on a piece of tape and stick it to the front rest.

When you have some practice, use the benches that you will be competing on. You might learn a few things about where the wind blows through trees at the sides of the range.

You should know your shooter number – always check your target before you start – cross firing is very costly. There are those who have cross-fired and those who are going to.

All aggregates are important in any shoot but in a four gun the two most important ones are the 200-yard sporter and 200 yard unlimited. They are the ones where many shooters can come apart, and both require a lot of concentration.

Never, ever, give up on a group! Never think, well I can’t make it any bigger because you can. Every shot above the centre line is up there forever – sighters are free, so use them.

Take every opportunity to watch what the best shooters are doing. See if you can pick what condition they are shooting on. Never assume that because WW3 has started along the line that the conditions are good. On many ranges sets of conditions repeat themselves and if you can get onto one try to use it for the whole yardage. Works for me.

Ask questions – preferably before or after the shoot. Most shooters are only too willing to help a newbie who is trying to learn, but maybe not when they are loading ammo.

The best strategy of the lot is to treat every group as if it is the first one of the day. You cannot undo what has gone before, so look forward with a positive approach and accept the results as they come. Always try to shoot a better group and aggregate than your last one.

Above all – enjoy yourself! It’s a great sport so get into it.

You have had many achievements in Benchrest shooting, what do you consider your best and proudest achievement?

Being a member of the 2009 WBC Team that won the World Championship in South Africa – the first time a USA team did not win it. Winning the individual 2-Gun at WBC 6 was nice but the WBC is country against country and that meant a lot more to me. The greatest privilege in benchrest is to wear the Green and Gold representing Australia.

What is your favorite shoot of the year?

Obviously, the Nationals is the most important event on the calendar, but for a fun time the Australia Day Matches in Canberra would be hard to beat. Good shooting, good company and good food – what could go wrong?