In 2002, Lowndes was able to back up his feat from the Olympics at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. There, he set a new Games record at 699.8 to deny Great Britain's Michael Babb a gold medal in the rifle prone. Lowndes captured a silver in the rifle three positions with 1251.2 points to add up his medal tally to two at these Games, narrowly losing the title to India's Charan Singh by a close, 0.3-point margin. The next season contributed to another monumental success for Lowndes, as he managed to get a gold medal and an Olympic quota place for Australia in his favourite event at the Oceanian Championships in Auckland, New Zealand with a steady 1231.4.