World Creedmoor Association - Long Range Black Powder Rifle Match, 10-15 September 2006, Duncan Range, Belmont
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The International Long Range Black Powder Creedmoor Match and the Palma Trophy By Meredith Nestor The World Creedmoor Association held their International Long Range Black Powder Match on the beautiful Queensland Rifle Association Duncan Range at Belmont Shooting Complex in Brisbane, 10 – 14 September 2006, 130 years after the original match on 13-14 September 1876. Over 20 firers competed using replica breech loading and muzzle loading firearms on NRAA targets with fullbore scoring areas. Individual matches are shot over two days at 300, 500, 600, 800, 900 and 1000 yards. The Long Range Teams Match is then shot at 800, 900 yards and 1000 yards over the next two days. The countries of Australia, USA and New Zealand are all represented among the competitors. The match has its origins at the Creedmoor Rifle Range, Long Island, New York, USA. In 1873, long distance target shooting started in the grounds of what had been Creed farm and that range has been called ‘Creedmoor’ ever since. It was the original venue for a number of international long range rifle matches that received widespread public interest and press coverage. On 26 September 1874 Creedmoor witnessed a crowd of over five thousand people all come to see the USA and Ireland compete. The match was won by the home team with a score of 934, three points ahead of the visitors, because JK Millner of the Irish team fired the first shot at 900 yards on the wrong target. In 1876 the Centennial International Match was inaugurated at Creedmoor, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the United States and a special honorary challenge prize, the Palma trophy, was established. Teams of eight competed at ranges over 800, 900 and 1,000 yards with muzzle loading and breech loading rifles. The match was won by the USA (3,126 points) from Ireland (3,104), Scotland (3,063), Australia (3,062) and Canada (2929). Ireland’s J.K. Millner redeemed himself shooting fifteen bull's-eyes at 1,000 yards for an unprecedented possible score of 75 without sighting shots. The competition was shot irregularly for many years and eventually went into abeyance in 1928, with the trophy being returned to the US Government in 1930. Sometime after this the original magnificent 7½ foot tall Palma trophy apparently disappeared from the State War and Navy Building however a miniature was found many years later in a London antique shop. The Palma Match was resurrected in 1966 and is the oldest international shooting match still fired in the world. Firers now compete with modern bolt action fullbore target rifles using smokeless powder ammunition. Teams have increased to 16 firers however the distances shot are unchanged. The National Rifle Association of Australia (NRAA) is preparing an Australian team to compete in the Palma Match in Canada in 2007 and the match will be hosted by the NRAA and the QRA at Belmont in 2011. The World Creedmoor Association has recently resurrected the match in its original format with competitors using black powder propellant and replica firearms which emit spectacular plumes of smoke when fired, as captured in the photos during practice day on 10 September. This was only the 4th Creedmoor challenge since its resurrection.
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