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[b]Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 9th March2013 W Cutler Cup. 500 yards [/b] Saturdays shoot was conducted under sunny skies with little or no breeze. A light mirage swapped sides all day but the degree of difficulty for shooters was shown up by the fact that almost half the competitors achieved handicap level or better.
The F-class competitors reveled in the light conditions, none more than Grahame Willis who has found redemption in the new Berger projectile. After a frustrating six months where no matter what he tried, worked, Willis changed to the newly approved Berger projectile with great success. Willis has been very competitive in recent open prize meetings and has taken out three of the past five Cocks of the Walk at home. With his newfound confidence Willis joins his brother Geoff in a two pronged assault on Club Champion Jeff Epplestons’ monopoly hold of that trophy. Eppleston threw everything at Willis with a 118.12/120 but although unable to match Epplestons’ tight group (12 super V’s); Willis kept all bar one of his shots inside the centre bull ring. Both men shots possibles in the tight contest. Target rifle was not as competitive, but Gordon Shepherd showed a renewed vigor to claim the Cock of the Walk. Shepherd has found it difficult to close out his shoots in the past few months but seems to have overcome that problem with a masterful performance. A 48.04 was followed by a win defining 49.02 squashing his challengers John Coghill and Ron Gibson who had matched him in the opening stage. Both Coghill and Gibson collapsed in their second stages with far too many inner fours whilst Graeme Bright continues to battle with his consistency despite many alterations to his rifle. Laurie Sim seems to have lost his way a little as he continues to play with his reloads. Jake Miles started slowly but progressed to his best score in his short shooting career but Dennis Lavelle is bumping along the bottom at the moment unable to show his true ability. Newcomer Brad Aitcheson arrived with a boom starting with two centre bulls eyes before settling for a 53.0. A change of ammunition to a less competitive round brought him back to earth but 101.0/120 was a great start.
The W Cutler Cup concludes next week at 600 yards

Scores: G P Willis (F) 119.4 (3 ½) 100 G Shepherd 97.06 (4) 100 J Coghill 92.06 (9 ½) 100 J Miles (F) 106.3 (16) 100 J Eppleston (F) 118.12 (1 ¼) 99 ½ G Bright 95.06 (3 ¼) 98 ¼ G S Willis (F) 111.2 (5 ¾) 97 ¼ R Gibson 92.04 (5) 97 L Sim 87.02 (9 ½) 96 ½ D Lavelle (F) 103.6 (11 ½) 95 ½ B Aitcheson (F) 101.0

[b]Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 2nd March 2013 W Cutler Cup, Championship & QVM 300 yards [/b] The rain held off but the strong south-westerly breeze had enough venom to disrupt the plans of shooters hoping to climb the championship ladder. There were some upsets and near misses as the wind whistled through the trees on the eastern flank of the range. Nick Cock of Lithgow RC was the top shooter but was ineligible to take the Cock of the Walk. Gordon Shepherd won that honour despite a tentative second stage 47.04 but Steve Williams virtually threw away the win with two inner fours in his last three shots, gifting Shepherd the COW by a two centre bullseye margin. Another who fumbled the chance to come out on top was Laurie Sim who looked home when he lined up his last shot for a second stage possible, and an unassailable lead. However a slight wind shift, aided by a nervous jerk, saw the projectile disappear into the magpie three ring. Despite his disappointment Sim won the B grade COW by a comfortable margin. Graeme Bright, still fiddling with triggers didn’t challenge but improved significantly on recent outings and John Coghill did better than form of late but has a long way to come back. The F-class contingent appreciating the short range proceeded to punch holes in the centre of the targets to the point that they had to be changed half way through the shoot. Jeff Eppleston was the main culprit as he accumulated 12 super V’s in his winning score of 117.12. Eppleston was however fortunate that Grahame Willis, who was on the way to the COW with seven on, dropped two points in his last three shots to finish just one point behind. Geoff Willis and Dennis Lavelle achieved moderate scores without throwing out any real challenge. Clint Mills and Aaron Smith made a rare visits to the range and proceeded to have a personal dual, Smith winning the bragging rights by a solitary super V. The W Cutler Cup will continue next week at 500 yards

Scores: G P Willis (F) 116.7 (7) 100 J Coghill 92.04 (11 ¼) 100 D Lavelle (F) 109.2 (13 ½) 100 J Eppleston (F) 117.12 (2 ¼) 99 ½ L Sim 95.06 (4 ¼) 99 ¼ G Shepherd 96.09 (2 ¾) 98 ¾ S Williams 96.07 (2) 98 G Bright 93.07 (4) 97 G S Willis (F) 110.3 (4 ¾) 95 ¾ C Mills (F) 97.1 (13 ¼) 92 A Smith (F) 97.2 (10 ¾) 89 ¾ N Cock

[b]Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 23rd February2013 J Wilde Memorial & K Redding 8/900 yard Trophies 900 yards [/b] Saturdays’ 900 yard Championship event became a lottery when the forecast wind and rain greeted shooters right from the start and there was not once in the whole days shoot where a competitor experienced consistent conditions for a complete stage. A measure of the large and rapid variations was in Steve Williams’ two magpie three’s in his two otherwise unblemished stages. Holding comfortably in the bulls eye ring Williams was caught twice with almost unreadable changes. It was however not enough to lose the Cock of the Walk as neither Gordon Shepherd nor Graeme Bright could match Williams’ consistency. Shepherd lost his chance with a 45.01 first stage despite a good 49.01 second stage but Bright saw his chance disappear with a miss due to an early let off, courtesy of unfamiliarity with his new trigger. A days’ high 49.04 second stage was little compensation, a championship score going begging.
The B grade was also quite eventful with Laurie Sim gaining a two shot lead over Adam Parkinson. Parkinson laid on a steady 46.02 second stage but the ball was in Sims’ court, needing only a moderate 45 to take the COW. With 9 shots on Sim needed an inner four or better to take the win but a bulls eye on the wrong target left him shattered. F-class scores were quite tight and super V’s were almost extinct. Malcolm Wright was the early leader with 53.2 but he retired when a rain squall hit. Grahame Willis shot the only respectable F-class score, a 57.2 second stage, easily winning the COW, as Geoff Willis and Dennis Lavelle battled to break 100/120.
The J Wilde Memorial Trophy was won by Shepherd and the K Redding 8/900 yard trophy went to Parkinson. The W Cutler Cup commences next week at 300 yards with a late 2.00pm start due to motor racing and motocross events on the Mount.

Scores: G P Willis (F) 107.4 (17) 100 G Shepherd 94.03 (6 ¼) 100 G S Willis (F) 100.3 (18 ½) 98 ¾ S Williams 96.06 (2 ¼) 98 ¼ A Parkinson 89.03 (8 ¾) 97 ¾ G Bright 91.05 (4) 95 J Coghill 81.01 (13 ¾) 94 ¾ D Lavelle (F) 102.2 (11 ½) 94 ½ L Sim 86.02 (8 ¼) 94 ¼ J Miles (F) 92.2 M Wright 53.2-Rtd

Geoff Willis, Grahame Willis and Jeff Eppleston have been travelling recently with a high degree of success. Geoff Willis won the two day Festival of Sydney despite soaking conditions on the second day which forced many to abandon their quest, among them Eppleston who was amongst the leaders on the first day. Geoff also won F-class at the BMDRA Open Prize Meeting in Lithgow and Grahame featured amongst the prizes at Tumut last week

[b]Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 16th February2013 J Wilde Memorial & K Redding 8/900 yard Trophies 800 yards[/b] The weather for the reintroduction of rifle shooting on the Bathurst range produced a typical summers’ day with a whisper of breeze, sunny skies, and a mirage to add to the mix. Maybe it was the break from shooting, or the breeze which wrapped some directional flags twice around the flag poles, which led to lean scores for all of the first stage and most of the second. Adam Parkinson didn’t need to employ either excuse as he made one of his rare appearances on the mound. Parkinson whose employment has limited his shooting made light of his lack of practice and almost novice status (hadn’t shot competitively before 2010), knocked off club champions and ex champions in a Cock of the Walk winning shoot. Parkinson, who had only previously shot one possible, collected his second in a final stage 50.07 to add to his first stage top score of 48.03. The two shot winning margin was a sign of his dominance Steve Williams was beaten for the first time in several weeks despite matching Parkinson’s’ 50.07 whilst Graeme Bright finally started to emerge from weeks of despair with replacement parts, modifications and other tweaks finally squeezing some consistency from his re-barreled firearm. Brights' 47.02 and 49.04 was a great improvement and his best showing in weeks. Gordon Shepherd started with a 48.03 equal best first stage and achieved his aim of not shooting a bird in either stage, but the strain told and he jerked an outer two mid second stage. Ron Gibson had a less than happy shoot with a rough patch mid second stage rounding out a bad day The F-class shooters did not appreciate the distance or the breeze, with only Jeff Eppleston redeeming some respectability with a second stage 56.2. Dennis Lavelle and Jake Miles both found the day challenging.
Both the J Wilde Memorial Trophy and the K Redding 8/900 yard trophies will conclude at the 900 yard mound next Saturday 23rd February.

Scores: A Parkinson 98.10 (3) 100 G Bright 96.06 (1 ¾) 97 ¾ G Shepherd 93.08 (3 ¾) 96 ¾ S Williams 96.11 (1/2) 96 ½ R Gibson 89.05 (7) 96 J Eppleston (F) 107.3 (6 ¾) 94 ¾ D Lavelle (F) 98.2 (8 ¾) 89 J Miles (F) 98.4

[b] Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 26th January 2013 J Wilde Memorial Trophy 700 yards[/b] The hot humid weather and the NSWRA Festival of Sydney Open prize meeting at Malabar combined to limit the number of shooters at the local competition on Saturday and some of those who turned out wished they had chosen not to compete. With typical high-summer conditions the humidity induced a mirage that reduced the target to a blur even looking through powerful spotting telescopes. To add to the difficulty the light breeze swirled around, sometimes running with the mirage and other times in direct opposition. The first stage was an unmitigated disaster for some but Gordon Shepherd and Ron Gibson were able to at least give themselves a chance of posting a reasonable score for the Club Championship. The F-class shooters were no better off with the lines on the murky target impossible to clearly define through their scopes, and any chance of posting a championship score drifted away with the mirage. Shepherd looked a certainty to take the target rifle Cock of the Walk until a magpie three late in his second stage opened the door for Gibson. Gibson who earlier in the day had stated his mission was to eliminate the dreaded bird from his shoot achieved that aim and in doing so snatched the top prize from Shepherd’s grasp. John Coghill had a disastrous day, little good coming of any effort he made to improve his position. Changing batches of ammunition half way through his second stage was the straw that broke the camel’s back. There was little between Grahame Willis and Dennis Lavelle in either stage, Willis edging Lavelle by a point in each, to win the F-class COW. It‘s doubtful if either score will feature in their final Club Championship total The J Wilde Memorial Trophy will recommence on the 16th February at 800 yards due to a two week recess for the Bathurst Gun Clubs’ Top Gun shoot and the Bathurst 12 hour motor race.

Scores: R Gibson 94.04 (6 ¾) 100 G Shepherd 93.05 (5) 98 G P Willis (F) 102.4 (15 ¼) 97 ¾ J Coghill 83.01 (13 ½) 96 ½ D Lavelle (F) 100.4 (6 ¼) 88 ½