OVER the Easter long weekend, Cooma Sporting Clays (CSC) hosted its 41st Cooma Easter Classic with some of the nation's finest shooters taking part.

The Classic is the only four-day event on the NSW Sporting Clays Calander and is one of the nation’s premier sporting clays tournaments with ten events held over four days. Shooters from novice through to expert, teenagers to octogenarians all compete together in the breathtaking Snowy Mountains with the glorious weather making this year’s event more enjoyable for all involved.

Competition began on Good Friday with the 75 target Sub-Gauge NSW Championship, generously sponsored by Perazzi Australia & Gamebore Australia. 142 shooters competed with the target setting and conditions generating outstanding scores.

The overall winner of the 75 target Sub-Gauge NSW Championship was Greg Morey shooting a stellar 73 out of 75 targets.

Saturday saw 166 shooters compete for the 100 target state team selection sponsored by Sporting Clays NSW. This event is also the first leg of the Easter Classic.

Andrew Garvie took the overall win breaking an impressive 93 out of 100 targets.

Easter Sunday saw the culmination of 41st Easter Classic, sponsored by Safari Firearms and Cooma Ex-Services Club.

The event retained 148 shooters competing over the total 200-targets across the Saturday and Sunday. The overall winner was Stephen Cooper shooting 181 out of 200 targets highlighting great consistency in recent form.

An ultra-keen 116 shooters stayed on for the Monday public holiday competing for the 75 target Side by Side NSW Championship sponsored by Territory Firearms.

The keenest shotgun aficionados dust off their vintage side by sides for this event with some guns approaching 100-years-old.

The in-form Stephen Cooper took out the championship with 69 out of 75 targets in yet another great effort.

Cooma Sporting Clays president Andrew Fairfield-Smith declared this Easter Classic one of their best with another strong showing from shooters locally, across NSW and even interstate.

"To the competitors, thank you for travelling from across the eastern states, making the Easter Classic the premiere event that it is," Fairfield-Smith said.

"A big thank you to our sponsors for their generous support without which the event could not be as successful.

"The club is also truly fortunate to have an active membership and we thank all our helpers for the weeks of arduous work preparing for the event and for giving 100 percent over the Easter weekend.

Each year at the Classic, the club also runs a major raffle with first prize to the value of a new Beretta Silver Pigeon sponsored by Safari Firearms. Second prize is a limited-edition CSC gun slip created by one of its industrious members. The major prize won this year by CSC member Glenn Schofield.

A second raffle was drawn on Easter Monday for a two-night stay at the beautiful Hygge ECO Cabins East Jindabyne with the prize generously donated by locals and CSC members Josh and Liz Willett. Corina Rowling was the winner.

More pictures of the Easter Classic Shoot can be found on page 34.