IT’S been a long time coming but Orange Pistol Club pair Dean Brus and Davey Oates have finally done it - they’ve beaten world pistol shooting powerhouse Ralf Vanicek.

Vanicek - a German and world pistol champion - dominated the German International Shooting Championships earlier this month but fell down in one area.

Paired up for Australia in the two-man team event, Brus and Oates shot near perfect scores to knock off German clubs, HK Gold and Sig Sauer 1, and South Africa.

Brus was rapt with the result.

“It’s the best we’ve done. We’ve finally gotten over those Germans,” Brus said.

“Our personal tallies from our final 60 shots in the individual match were totalled and we came out on top.”

Brus said it has always been an achievable goal to win against such high-quality opposition.

“We’ve been travelling to Germany and then back to Australia and been getting bronze and silver, so we were always close,” he said.

“We’ve always wanted this and we knew they were gettable. He’s (Vanicek) the world champion so to beat him is great.”

The pair arrived in Philippsburg, Germany, on August 9 and competed in several shooting events but the two-man team event is where both Brus and Oates shone.

Only needing their last 60 shots to be counted, the pair shot from the challenging distances of seven, 14 and 50 metres.

Brus shot a score of 589 (out of 600) and Oates hit 591 to score a total of 1180 and take out the tournament ahead of Germans Marc Kleser and Markus Emmel in second and Ralf Vanicek and Helge Peters in third.

Both had to overcome foreign conditions in order to win and Oates said that was the hardest part.

He believes the condition at Philippsburg favoured the northern hemisphere shooters.

“There was different targets and different ammunition, it’s not as heavy to shoot here as it is over there,” Oates said.

“And in the southern hemisphere the light is different, too. Over in Europe everything is back-to-front. But with all of that you can’t go over there and change your routine. You have to stick with what you’ve been doing in practice.

“When you go away and turn up to a place the conditions are very different. It’s hard to simulate what you’ll get in Germany back when you train in Australia.

“So to go over there and come away with first was great.”

The results will go towards both Brus and Oates qualifying for the World Championships in Stockholm, which are to be held in Sweden, in August next year.