Hurley gun-barrel straight

Steve Hurley's golden run at the Australian Lever Action Rifle Championships continued when he set a new Australian shooting record on his way to an unprecedented eighth straight national title in Canberra.

Hurley and four other members of the Albany Lever Action Rifle Club - Kim and Sue Knapp, Bill Wellington and Mick McDonnell - returned from Canberra last week after Hurley was crowned national three-gun champion for a record eighth time.

The feat was set up with wins in the rimfire and centrefire titles before finishing second in the classic calibre championships.

His combined scores in the rimfire and centrefire led him to another two-gun title before his second placing in the classic calibre championships secured him as a clear winner of the three-gun title - 51 points clear of his nearest rival, Jim Buckley from NSW.

Hurley's consistent shooting led to him producing the highest score in any lever action rifle competition in Australia, with his 480 out of 500 writing his name into the record books.

Hurley, who last year won his sixth Albany Sportsperson of the Year award, described the feat as reaching the pinnacle in the sport.

"It was fantastic to have won eight straight but I think the highlight of the weekend for me was being the first person ever to shoot 480 - and I certainly picked the right competition to do it in," he said.

"It was my goal to do that. I just happened to do that at the nationals.

"I was shooting well in the comps leading up so I was quietly confident. Everyone from our club shot pretty well."

Hurley also hailed the performance of McDonnell, who finished runner-up in the two-gun championship and third in the three-gun championship.

The Albany Lever Action Rifle Club's impressive results were evident with Hurley, McDonnell, Kim Knapp (6th) and Bill Wellington (10th) all placing in the top 10 of the three-gun championship.

Sue Knapp was the stand-out ladies shooter, placing 21st overall and claimed the ladies two-gun and three-gun titles in a fruitful weekend.

Hurley said he would eye defending his title in Casino, NSW, next year and was looking forward to the WA titles, which will be hosted by Albany in 2016.