By Darin Grenz
Traveling to the Rifle Metallic Silhouette Nationals in Australia is the highlight of my shooting calendar each year. Catching up with old mates, exchanging witty zingers on the firing line, and testing your skills against a bigger pool of competitors—that’s what makes it so much fun.
This year’s event at Monarto, South Australia, was no exception. Practice kicked off on Thursday, August 28th. Friday was supposed to be the Air Rifle match, but with weather warnings in place, it was postponed. Instead, Saturday featured a full 80-shot rimfire match and a 40-shot air rifle match. With over 50 competitors, it turned into a marathon day—finishing late under the headlights of several vehicles!
Sunday brought the centrefire match: 80 shots with a rifle of at least 6mm calibre, ideally delivering over 1,000 ft-lbs of energy at 500m to knock over those stubborn rams. Monday wrapped things up with the Hunter Class matches—40 shots each for rimfire and centrefire using lightweight rifles and 2-pound triggers.
I had a fair bit of success this year—taking gold in both A Grade centrefire matches was a highlight. It always helps to shoot a personal best at a Nationals. But what I’m most proud of? Finishing 9th overall in the 5-gun aggregate and earning my third Top Ten patch in a row. Looks like I’ll just have to return next year to chase a fourth!
If you’ve ever thought about competing in Australia, I highly recommend it. Aussies really know how to put on a shoot. The facilities are typically top-notch, the shooters passionate, the food good, and yes—there was even a campfire or two in the evenings. Monarto’s prize table is legendary—over $15K in prizes this year. Sadly, as a flyer, bricks of primers and bottles of powder were out of the question!
International travel with firearms isn’t without its challenges. The paperwork is the biggest hurdle. First, you’ll need an invite from the SSAA for the specific competition you wish to attend, then notify MFAT that you’re taking firearms out of NZ. You’ll also need Australian Border Force (ABF) approval via Form B709A and a Visitor Firearms Licence to get your guns into Australia. Coming back is just as tricky: register as an exporter with ABF, complete a B957 Export Declaration, get a Restricted Goods Permit, and ensure your NZ Police Permit to Import is in hand before landing. It’s a lot—but like the old Mastercard ad says: “Taking a few medals off the Aussies... Priceless.”
The other thing I would highly recommend is bringing a teammate. In my case, Erik Clausen has been traveling with me for the last decade to Australian shoots. Silhouette shooting requires a spotter to tell you where your bullets are landing and keep score as well. The other benefit is a 2nd person to keep an eye on your firearms when traveling, should you need to use the airport restroom or pop into a store.
In recent years, I’ve also started competing in the Lever Action Silhouette (LAS). It’s mostly the same crew from scoped rifle matches, but LAS has the bonus of being held on 200m ranges. Plus—who doesn’t have a lever gun lying around? The sport’s gaining traction in both Australia and NZ, with Taupō now hosting LAS events and Tokoroa’s silhouette ranges being re-certified for LAS. Erik has been helping out with this. There are early discussions of organizing an Invitational Shoot in 2026 to bring some Aussies over here. Will we have enough good shooters here to keep the medals in NZ?
We will just have to keep practicing. The North Canterbury Branch is installing electronic targets soon. These will give a shooter the ability to see how they shoot at properly scaled silhouette targets at 50m, 100m and 200m. Come say hi if you see me standing at the 200m line shooting off-hand on some range day.
If you’re looking for a shooting discipline that feels like hunting—offhand shooting at animal-shaped targets from 18 yards to 500 metres—give Rifle Metallic Silhouette a go. You might just get hooked.
