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[b]The W & J Brown Consolation Trophy 600-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 8th September 2012[/b] Wind, which has been the bane of target shooters over several weeks, again played with the minds and abilities of all who ventured onto the range at the weekend. It was not the strength of the gusty west-south-west breeze that brought shooters undone but rather the changes in direction, which were very difficult to read.

The best effort on the day was from F-class champion Jeff Eppleston who produced two stages, which would have been quite acceptable on a calm day, let alone the boisterous conditions encountered on Saturday. Eppleston held a very tight group for scores of 58.4 and 57.3 and rarely looked likely to deviate outside the centre bullseye.

In target rifle Graeme Bright used up nearly all the bullseye ring, cutting several lines in the process, as he scrambled to scores of 48.03 and 48.0. Bright however had every right to be satisfied with his shoot as he watched his competitors fall victim to the weather, which as well as being windy, was bitterly cold and ominously dull.

Gordon Shepherd started both stages with double inner fours but regrouped with just one further inner marking his scorecard in each stage. Scores of 47.01 and 47.02 were not unreasonable in the conditions and crushed his traditional foe; John Coghill who could manage no better than a 46.0 and a 45.02, sideways shots a feature of his shoot.

Club Champion Steve Williams’ poor effort was the biggest surprise of the day. Williams collected the days’ only magpie three when he was caught with a particularly vicious wind shift causing him to explore the outer reaches of the target. A suitably chastened Williams did not recover from the disaster, carding his lowest score on the Bathurst range for more than two years.

Ron Gibson seems to have overcome his misfire problem and without the distraction of “all click, and no bang”, his reading of the wind was quite good. A 45.02 first stage was up with the average for the day but unfortunately his second stage was filled with elevation shots and a disappointing end to the final shoot for 2012.

As there were no eligible contestants the W & J Brown Consolation Trophy went unclaimed this year. With the 2012 season concluded the range will shut for a period of seven weeks recommencing with the RSL/Kenny Spring Annual Open Prize meeting on 27th and 28th October

SCORES: G Shepherd 94.04 (8 ½) 100 J Coghill 91.02 (10 ¾) 100 G Bright 96.03 (4) 100 J Eppleston 115.7 (4 ¾) 99 ¾ R Gibson 87.02 (11 ¼) 98 ¼ S Williams 91.03 (1) 92

[b]The B Gurdon Cup & A Pratley Shield 9/800-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 1st September 2012[/b] Wind again played havoc with the scores at the last two ranges of the B Gurdon Cup and A Pratley Shield. Starting at the 900-yard range on a bright sunny day the wind appeared of little consequence as almost everyone got away to good starts. Coming from the south-southwest the light breeze suddenly unleashed some venomous changes in strength and direction.

The best score of the first stage was by Steve Williams, just back from the Queens in Brisbane where he finished 8th in the Duncan lead up event, but even he was bamboozled by a sudden drop off, and equally rapid increase, in the strength of the breeze. An accompanying change of direction added to the complexity of the change resulting in a magpie three and inner four after a string of bulls eyes

From that moment on shooters were on notice that the day was not going to be easy. One by one good starts dissolved into farce as the toll of outer twos, magpie threes, and inner fours mounted. Williams had five shots on without a dropped point before the trouble stuck. Gordon Shepherd had a great double centre, double bulls eye start before the inners and magpies flowed in his 43.02. John Coghill had an even better start with six shots on before he imploded with a magpie, outer, inner, inner finish for just 43.02, and Graeme Bright followed the pattern with a magpie and two inners in a 46.02. Ron Gibson’s’ woes continued with misfires blighting his 40.02 effort.

The F-class competitors were treated even more harshly as the centre bulls eyes and super V’s became the exception rather the norm. The only competitor able to hold his head up was Dennis Lavelle (54.3) who only succumbed to the one inner four blemish as he tried valiantly to hold a tight group. Jeff Eppleston and Grahame Willis fell victim to the magpie curse with scores of 48.0 and 48.2

The move to 800 yards was welcomed but the carnage continued for some. Willis, Shepherd, Lavelle and Gibson made little headway against the quirky breeze, which even swapped sides as the torment continued. They were unlucky to shoot before the wind settled. Coghill was the first to get the easier conditions and just missed a possible with a last shot inner four (49.07) after a string of seven centres. Eppleston started with a five before slotting four super V’s and five sixes in his 59.4 but Bright faltered with a couple of inners for 48.05. Gibson’s misfires ruined his day and the rifle and ammunition are under close investigation. Williams put the sealer on the day with a final 50.06 stage to end the misery.

Williams won the Cock of the Walk for the twentieth time this year with Eppleston taking out the F-class section with his 17th win. Bright was the winner of the B Gurdon Cup and Gibson won the A Pratley Shield. The W & J Brown Consolation Trophy next Saturday will conclude the 2012 season.

SCORES: S Williams 97.07 (1 ¾) 98 ¾ J Coghill 92.09 (6 ½) 98 ½ G Bright 94.07 (4) 98 G Shepherd 89.04 (8) 97 D Lavelle (F) 107.4 (8 ¾) 96 ½ G P Willis (F) 102.5 (12 ¼) 95 ¼ J Eppleston (F) 6 ½ (94 ½ R Gibson 83.04 (7 ¾) 90 ¾

[b]The B Gurdon Cup & A Pratley Shield 6/700-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 25th August 2012[/b] The windy weather which has predominated over the past few weeks continued on Saturday and again proved beyond the capabilities of all contestants as they moved through the 600 and 700 yards ranges of the B Gurdon Cup and A Pratley Shield.

The 600 yard first stage produced some shockers with only John Coghill and Graeme Bright showing any sign of understanding the breeze. Coghill shot a 47.04 despite mid stage elevation mishaps whilst Bright with a 46.03 was again troubled by a mysterious windage zero error. Ron Gibson continued to have a misfire problem and the effect showed in his 44.0 whilst Gordon Shepherd completely lost the plot with 43.02, a magpie three included amongst a string of inner fours.

The F class competitors were, if anything, even more bamboozled as one by one they succumbed to the wind. Jeff Eppleston did best in a group who could barely break 50/60. Eppleston with a 52.1 was a point clear of Aaron Smith on 51.1 and Grahame Willis on 51.0. Liz Willis (48.0) found the going tough, as did Dennis Lavelle (47.1) and Clint Mills (45.1), who again experienced difficulty zeroing his telescope.

With no letup in the complexity of the wind the 700-yard range was always going to be just that little bit harder. Coghills’ day disintegrated with a bullseye on the wrong target, which preceded a string of inner fours, compounding his humiliation. Gibson was again troubled by misfires, which resulted in a 42.0 but an inspection of his rifle bolt after the stage pointed to a loose screw being the culprit.

Shepherd improved a little for a 45.04 but dual inners scattered through the shoot brought about his undoing. Bright won the Cock Of the Walk almost by default as his second stage 47.04, although equal best on the day, was far from convincing.

Most of the F-class contingent showed improvement, the best of them being Eppleston, who put seven shots on the board before a slight wobble and a shaky five-four-five finish, gave him a 55.2 and the F-class COW. Liz Willis jumped 3 points to a 51.1, Grahame Willis 2 points to 53.1, and Mills after sorting out his telescope zero, 4 points to 49.1.

Smith ran into inner four territory, before carding 49.0, and Lavelle, choosing discretion over valour, retired from the shoot. Geoff Willis, unable to contest the first stage, shot two 700-yard stages for 52.0 and 55.2 equaling the days best F-class stage.

The final round of the B Gurdon Cup and A Pratley Shield, which Bright leads by 1 ¼ points, will be held next week over 8/900 yards.

SCORES: G P Willis (F) 104.1 (12 ½) 97 G Bright 93.07 (3 ¼) 96 ¼ G Shepherd 88.06 (7 ¼) 95 ¼ E Willis (F) 99.1 (13) 93 ½ A Smith (F) 100.1 (10 ¾) 92 ¼ R Gibson 86.0 (5 ¾) 91 ¾ J Coghill 85.04 (6 ¼) 91 ¼ J Eppleston (F) 107.3 (4 ¾) 87 ¼ C Mills (F) 94.2 D Lavelle (F) 47.1-Rtd G S Willis (2x700) 107.2

[b]The B Gurdon Cup & A Pratley Shield 3/500-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 18th August 2012[/b] Despite another week of turbulent weather the conditions for Saturdays shoot were not as bad as expected. The predominantly westerly wind, although gusting at times, didn’t present anywhere near the degree of difficulty of the previous week.

A feature of the first 300 yard stage was the high ratio of centre bulls eyes carded with the target rifle shooters matching the F-class contingent in the number of super v bulls recorded.

John Coghill set the scene at the 300 yard mound with a stage of 47.05, and despite a run of four centre bulls eyes he lost a couple of points to the wind changes and one over the top. Graeme Bright followed and commenced with side-to-side inner fours before discovering his windage zero was out. A further late inner four reduced his score to 47.03.

Gordon Shepherd then strode to the mound and destroyed the centre of the target, his last five shots being centre bulls eyes in a total of 47.07. Shepherd didn’t trouble the bulls eye ring but as with the previous shooters, lost shots to the gusty wind.

The F-class shooters also found the wind gusts a little difficult to read and their groups were too large to remain inside the centre bulls eye ring. Aaron Smith was the best in the first stage with a 55.1 despite an inner four spoiling an otherwise steady shoot. Grahame Willis also collected an inner in his 54.3 whilst Geoff Willis left the inner out of his repertoire, but too many bulls eye 5’s reduced his score to 53.2.

Clint Mills sporting a new Nightforce telescope on his rifle had a nightmare stage with the large variation in elevation a feature in his 36.1 stage.

On moving back to the 500-yard mound Coghill and Shepherd found the larger bulls eye couldn’t accommodate their even larger groups. Their tight groups at 300 yards had blown out and produced scores of 45.01 and 44.01. Bright however made a mockery of his challengers with a masterly 50.06 possible, putting the sight zero problem to bed and taking out the Cock of the Walk by a comfortable margin.

Smith deleted inner fours from his scorecard shooting just 4 bulls eyes in a stage of 56.2 taking out his first COW for the year and just his second since taking up the sport late last year. Mills put his first stage woes behind him as he gathered a tidy 53.3 with just the one inner four slipping outside an otherwise tight group.

Grahame Willis didn’t have a happy 500-yard stage as a trio of bulls eyes, followed by a pair of inners reduced his score to a lowly 51.0. Geoff Willis who had to leave early shot two 300-yard stages making him ineligible for the trophies, but the days best F-class stage of 57.2 was some compensation.

The second round of the B Gurdon Cup and A Pratley Shield will be held next week over 6/700 yards.

SCORES: A Smith (F) 111.3 (10 ¾) 100 G Bright 97.09 (3 ¼) 100 J Coghill 92.06 (6 ¼) 98 ¼ G P Willis (F) 105.3 (12 ½) 98 G Shepherd 91.08 (5 ¼) 96 ¼ C Mills (F) 89.4 G S Willis (F) 110.4