From October 8 to 11, the Army Shooting Championships took place at the “Lavanter Forcha” military shooting range in East Tyrol. Austria’s best marksmen of the army competed against each other in the assault rifle and pistol disciplines, both in individual and team competitions.
Shooting with the 77 assault rifle
When shooting with the 77 assault rifle, the participants had to shoot lying down at a target 200 meters away. Ten precision and ten rapid fire shots decided the placings. Colonel Adrian Fritzer from Carinthia secured the men’s championship title with 196 out of a possible 200 rings. Vice-Lieutenant Bruno Stollwitzer from Vienna followed in second place with 194 rings. Third place went to Stabswachtmeister Christian Bloder from Styria with 193 rings. Among the female soldiers, Staff Sergeant Elisabeth Jobst from Carinthia defended her title with 192 rings.
Pistol shooting
In pistol shooting, in which ten shots were fired from a distance of 25 meters, Vice Lieutenant Alois Steinwender from Salzburg dominated the men’s competition with 90 rings. Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Fetz from Vienna was close behind in second place with 89 rings, followed by Vice-Lieutenant Josef Hatus from Burgenland with 87 rings. After 2023, Staff Sergeant Elisabeth Jobst from Carinthia took the women’s title again with 86 rings.
Team competitions
The team “Salzburg 1” with Staff Sergeant Roman Wehrberger, Vice Lieutenant Günther Zwinger, Vice Lieutenant Albert Tschurtschenthaler and Vice Lieutenant Alois Steinwender won the team shooting competition with the assault rifle. They scored 382 out of a possible 400 rings and won with a lead of six rings over the teams from Vienna and Carinthia, while the team “Carinthia 1” with Vice Lieutenant Dieter Gaschler, Chief Constable Adrian Fritzer, Chief Constable Gert Wranz and Chief Constable Elisabeth Jobst won the pistol team competition. With 309 out of 400 rings, they secured victory, two rings ahead of Vienna and 21 rings ahead of Salzburg.
Overall ranking
In the overall ranking, which combines the results from the individual rifle and pistol competitions, Staff Sergeant Elisabeth Jobst and Vice Lieutenant Alois Steinwender were once again able to secure the title of Army Champion – a repeat of their success in 2023.
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