Sport
31 October, 2025
Mike wins World Championship Gold
Lake Bolac’s Michael Blackburn has achieved his dream of being the best precision rifle shooter in the world.
WRITTEN BY KAREN MCINTYRE
In individual competition, Mike placed first outright and first in the Open Men’s Division, in the International Precision Rifle Federation 22LR World Championships held in Shropshire, England.
From a field of 256 competitors across 21 countries, this was an elite win for Australia. Mike only dropped 11 shots in the 20 stages of the competition and achieved 12 perfect stage scores along the way.
Mike led the competition by three shots after day one, and held the lead throughout, to finish six points clear of his nearest rival, Matt Stiner of the USA, with Matthew Hui of Canada placing third. Mike scored 229 successful targets from 240 possible shots, a winning accuracy of 95.42%.
The Advocate interviewed Michael following his silver medal win in Italy in 2023. At that time, Mike aimed to go one better and bring home the gold. He has well and truly met that goal, and he and his family are thrilled with the result.
Wife Becky and sons Alex and Tommy were not there this year but did accompany him to the 2024 competition in the USA. They hope to be in Texas with him for back-to-back wins at next year’s world championships.
The Challenge of Precision Rifle Shooting
In what has become the fastest growing shooting sport in the world, competitors favour the pace, excitement, athleticism, and mental agility of precision shooting over the static and repetitious Olympic shooting disciplines.
The format for precision rifle competition is to unite the three principles of precision, positions, and speed to score as many points as possible within the time limit.
Competitors must move and shoot from various challenging positions (standing, kneeling, lying, improvising), fire under or over obstacles or other situations, manage different steel target sizes (from 5 mm to 100 mm), over known or unknown distances of between 20 m and 200m+ (primarily long range), and compete in the weather conditions of the day. The shooter must be inventive to solve the challenge and have an excellent knowledge of firearm ballistics.
Mike’s strategy for the winning result was more rounds and more preparation. “All the stages were very fast. I have to practice, to become familiar with the course, and concentrate to not make mistakes,” he said. He read the matchbook over and over and was obsessive with adjusting his gun, up to 15 times. “I rehearsed every move, it’s a lot of pressure”.
Advances since 2023
In 2023, Mike competed in the “factory” division, using a rifle purchased off-the-shelf in a gun store. Following that initial success, he obtained Bergara as his rifle sponsor, and this year he competed in the “open” category, which allows for custom alterations to suit the owner, an obvious advantage in competition. He has also been fortunate to gain sponsors for his scope, mount, shooting bag, tripod, and accessories to assist his campaign.
In between his life of farm work, Mike trains consistently both at home and with his Sporting Shooters Association Precision Rifle Club, known as Eagle Park at Little River. Six of the Australian competitors in the UK Championships came from this Club, including team-mate Phil Nash, who was 9th outright and 7th in the Open Class. The Senior Age Australian Team also had a podium finish, winning bronze.
“I have renovated an old chicken shed on the farm into my shooting range for target practice. It is pretty funny to think my mate Phil travels up to train with me; No. 1 and No. 7 in the world, coming from a chook shed at Lake Bolac!”
With such impressive results, where to now?
“I have achieved everything I set out to do in rimfire and will now focus on centrefire competition,” Mike confirmed. Compared to the .22 calibre, the centrefire is a bigger gun with a longer action and recoil. According to Mike, “more can go wrong”.
His recent success has him already well on the way to qualification for the 2026 IPRF Centrefire World Cup in Texas, in the Open Team.
Mike won the Australian Precision Rifle Series two weeks ago to achieve the coveted “golden bullet”. “I can’t believe the finish I’ve had to this season,” he said. “Winning the Golden Bullet was my number one goal for the year. It’s what I’ve put most effort into, and to walk away with the series championship I couldn’t be happier”.
What started as a hobby chasing rabbits and controlling vermin on the farm has led to national and international recognition. Mike wishes to thank his sponsors for their valuable contribution, and his family for their support in letting him get away to do the sport he loves.
For more information, you can see Mike’s win on Fieldsports Britain, Rimfire Magic, Episode 7 on YouTube
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