The difference this year is the Orange shooters won’t have to travel overseas to compete in the WA1500 World Championships.

The 2013 championships will be at Whiteman International Pistol Club in Perth and the Orange pair will represent Australia for the third consecutive time.

Oates and Brus represented Australia at the 2009 championships in Germany and the 2011 event in Sweden.

They won silver medals in the international teams competition at both events.

Oates and Brus have different opinions about shooting in Australia this time.

Oates would like to be travelling overseas again, while Brus is looking forward to shooting on home soil.

“For me, I really love going overseas and seeing different people and a bit of history,” Oates said.

“This time all the rest of the world will have to contend with what we normally have to contend with. We hope to capitalise on that,” Brus explained.

What Brus is talking about is the vastly different light and weather conditions he and Oates experienced when shooting in Europe, often in indoor ranges.

The Whiteman range is an outdoor facility.

“We have very bright, prominent light,” Brus said.

“The range in Perth is in an open, sandy area so there’s also an element of glare. The Europeans will have a similar amount of difficulty over here as what we’ve had over there.”

Brus and Oates will be joined by Tamworth’s Don Pollard when they shoot in the international teams event.

This will see them shoot against teams from across the world.

The Orange shooters will also compete in the open competition where they could claim the world club title an individual crowns.

“The goal will be to shoot the best we can,” Oates said.

“You’d always put it on your wish list to go one better. Hopefully, if the gods smile on us on the day, we’ll get a result.”

Their selection in the national team was confirmed after the national championships in March.

Since then they have enjoyed a break from heavy training and competition.

Now they’re about to get back into it starting this weekend when they go to Tamworth for an open tournament.

There are also state title events spread over the coming months before the World Championships are contested from November 2-7 in Perth.

Joining them in Perth will be fellow Orange and District Pistol Club members Brian and Helen Johnson who have been selected to attend as judges.

“It’s the pinnacle for them too,” Brus said. 

“It takes as much dedication and training as competing does.”