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[b]The W & J Brown Shield 900-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 11th August 2012[/b] After the horrendous winds of the previous few days, shooters arrived to find a brisk and cool southerly breeze sweeping down the slopes from Mount Panorama. At first glance the mountain and trees on the southern and eastern side of the range seemed to shield the range from the worst of the wind, but looks were deceptive.

The 900-yard range is difficult at the best of times and the conditions combined with the distance made for a very challenging afternoon. Whilst there were short periods of relative calm, no shooter had the luxury of a full stage without sharp, intermittent shifts of wind strength and direction. The forward fishtail was virtually unreadable.

Graeme Bright started with bullseye, centre bullseye sighters, before he became the first to feel the wrath of the unusual conditions. His third shot, an outer two, set the scene for the whole afternoons shoot. Bright stumbled to a 44.03 before Gordon Shepherd after starting with a magpie three did well to accumulate a 46.02. John Coghill tried to hold a tight group but despite 4 centre bullseyes succumbed to the outer-magpie curse. Ron Gibson suffered even worse and seemed to be suffering from some rifle or ammunition gremlins.

The second stage produced one or two better performances with Bright taking the Cock of the Walk by reason of the days’ best stage, a 48.04. Coghill tried to match Bright and looked to have the win in his grasp before a last shot inner four relegated him to second position. Shepherd blew up with magpies and inners dominating his scorecard, gifting Coghill a rare chance to gloat. Gibson suffered a malfunction when a bullet came apart in the throat of his rifle scattering gunpowder through the action and causing him to retire, the ammunition undoubtedly a contributor to his first stage woes.

F-class competitors couldn’t take a trick and were not immune from the outers and magpies suffered by their target rifle compatriots. Jeff Eppleston claimed he had a dream run through both stages with little wind interference in his scores of 56.1 and 56.4, but despite his modesty, the evidence is that he had a superior shoot and was able to largely overcome the tricky conditions, to easily win the F-class COW.

Dennis Lavelle, Grahame Willis and Elizabeth Willis all found the conditions impossible and breathed a sight of relief as their last bullets were blown off course. With the highest score, apart from Eppleston, being 95/120, next weeks 300-yard range looks quiet appealing

The final open competition of 2012 commences next Saturday with the first of three stages of the B Gurdon Cup and A Pratley Shield over, 3/500 yards.

SCORES: J Coghill 90.07 (11 ¾) 100 J Eppleston (F) 112.5 (6 ¾) 99 G Shepherd 88.03 (8) 96 G Bright 91.06 (3 ½) 94 ½ G P Willis (F) 95.1 (12 ¾) 89 ¾ E Willis (F) 93.1 (13 ¼) 88 ½ D Lavelle (F) 95.0 (8 ½) 86 ¼ R Gibson 34.0- Rtd

[b]The W & J Brown Shield 800-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 4th August 2012[/b]

With just a small contingent of shooters turning out for the 800 yards W & J Brown Shield there was little competition in any of the grades. The westerly wind, which sprang up mid morning, continued unabated throughout the afternoon with occasional strong gusts troubling most shooters.

Graeme Bright did best, but not without some controversy, after two shots were found on his target, but only one was signaled. The other was a centre bulls eye. After consultation with the marker a protest was lodged and the higher score awarded. This gave Bright a 49.5 and a two shot lead over John Coghill who had matched Brights' original score despite himself scoring a magpie.

The second stage provided no such controversy as Coghills’ challenge fell away with some unsteadiness on the mound, which led to a number of inner fours. Bright seized on the chance and despite another magpie (no challenge this time) easily took out the Cock of the Walk.

Lawrence Sim after making several modifications to his rifle, which improved his mound posture and generally made for a more comfortable shooting position, could not capitalize on the positive changes. The strong wind took the points after Sim succumbed to a number of magpie three’s in both stages.

F-class saw a reversal of fortunes as Geoff Willis and Dennis Lavelle battled for the days honours. Willis started in great form with his match rifle in a tune up for the upcoming Match Rifle Championships at Coonabarabran. With heavy projectiles, the wind had much less effect on the trajectory and his 57.2 evidenced the fact.

Lavelle using the 155-grain projectile could not compete initially but came home well with just a three-point gap separating the pair. Willis changed to a different batch of ammunition with disastrous results. A double magpie, inner four start, meant he was eight points down after three shots, a position beyond recovery.

Lavelle, needing just to match his first stage 53.2, did much better than that with a 57.2, despite another fumbling inner four, start. Lavelle ran out an easy 5-point winner of the F-class section.

With Queens prize competitions coming up in Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia and Match Rifle competitions also scheduled, the next three months will be a busy time for long-range rifle shooters.

The W & J Brown Trophy concludes next Saturday at 900 yards

SCORES: J Coghill 93.08 (5 ¾) 98 ¾ G Bright 97.09 (1) 98 D Lavelle FTR) 110.4 (7) 97 ½ G S Willis (F) 105.3 (7 ¼) 93 ½ L Sim 83.02 (9 ½) 92 ½

[b]The W & J Brown Trophy 700-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 28th July 2012[/b] One of the first real wintry days we have encountered at the range this year gave shooters a fresh set of problems to overcome when the W & J Brown Shield commenced on Saturday afternoon.

The cold wind and single digit temperature played heavily on shooters ability to hold the rifle steady and feel the trigger with any confidence. To compound matters the wind was unsteady and varied along the length of the range. When the flags at the top of the range stretched out, flags at the bottom went limp, and vice versa.

Steve Williams as usual went closest to taming the conditions in the first stage with a 49.03 but he was almost upstaged by Jeff Eppleston who shot a very tidy 58.3 F-class score.

With the season slowly drawing to a close and various State and National competitions coming up, several competitors chose to experiment with sights, ammunition and other equipment. Whilst scores suffered somewhat not all could blame that for their poor showing.

Graeme Bright and Gordon Shepherd were the next best in target rifle but inner fours at or near the end of their stages, and in the case of Shepherd a magpie three, robbed them of competitive scores.

Ron Gibson, John Coghill and Lawrence Sim all failed to come to grips with the conditions shooting far to many inner fours and magpie three’s to mount a credible challenge

Dennis Lavelle, now shooting in FTR class, pushed to mount some competition for Eppleston as Liz Willis faltered right at the end of a solid first stage. The Willis brothers Grahame and Geoff had the excuse of trialing a new tripod and ammunition in preparation for the upcoming National long-range rifle competitions, but their miserable scores, as with those of the target shooters were more about their failure to beat the conditions

        The second stage was a repeat of the first with only Eppleston, Gibson and Liz Willis able to hold their own against the increasingly changeable breeze and the biting cold. Eppleston did well to hold his tight group and finish with a 57.2, as did Gibson who could not eliminate the magpie but only dropped one other point in his 47.02 to take the B-grade Cock of the Walk.

Williams dropped three points in his second stage but easily won the COW after Bright and Shepherd were not able to improve on their first stage scores. Lavelle’s challenge fell away badly and the resurgence from the Willis brothers never eventuated

Coghill who chose the wrong day and range to pull out his small .223 calibre rifle made little ground on his first stage effort but Sims’ decision to change his eagle eye magnification bore immediate positive results with a much tighter 45.01 score.

The W & J Brown Trophy, the penultimate competition for season 2012, continues next Saturday at 800 yards

SCORES: J Eppleston (F) 115.5 (4 ½) 99 ½ R Gibson 90.02 (8 ½) 98 ½ G Bright 93.06 (5) 98 S Williams 96.08 (1 ¼) 97 ¼ E Willis (F) 107.5 (9) 96 ¾ J Coghill 85.02 (11 ¾) 96 ¾ G Shepherd 92.04 (4 ¼) 96 ¼ L Sim 84.01 (7 ½) 91 ½ G P Willis (F) 99.1 (9 ½) 90 ½ G S Willis (F) 97.1 (6) 85 ¾ D Lavelle (F) 108.5

[b]The J Sibera Trophy 600-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 21st July 2012[/b] Saturday produced another fine mild winters day ideal for long range target shooting but again nobody was able to take full advantage of the bright sunny conditions. An innocuous looking breeze wandering down from the hill behind the butts, flicked left and right in a lazy manner, but it was enough to catch shooters out if they wavered in their concentration.

No one was able to go through the first stage unscathed with Steve Williams and Gordon Shepherd the best of the group. Both dropped just the one shot midway through their stages but from there on, it was regular inner fours on the menu for the remaining shooters.

F-class shooters were not spared with inners appearing on every scorecard. Jeff Eppleston who had not faltered, succumbed to the fickle breeze with a late inner four, his only dropped points of the stage.

The scores were not disastrous but the overall consensus was that they should have been better. Even elder statesman, Roger Northcott, the Clubs most experienced coach, who was spotting for shooters, missed a couple of the more subtle moves.

Lawrence Sim and Ron Gibson gave a good account of themselves with 47’s whilst Graeme Bright and John Coghill were less impressed with their 46’s.

The F-class group was not on the boil, with too many bull’s eyes and not enough centres, mixed with the occasional inner fours weighing down their scores.

The second stage scores did not improve for either discipline, but target shooters took out the top five places in the day’s handicap section with a more consistent performance. Williams showed his superiority with a 50.04 possible, to take the Cock of the Walk from Shepherd who struggled to a 47.04. Bright although improving 2 points with a 48.05 was well back in third place and Coghill was only able to improve one centre bull’s eye on his first stage score.

Gibson slipped a little but was able to hang onto the B grade COW from Sim who dropped out of contention with a 45.02, but his climb out of the doldrums continues.

There was no improvement in the F-class scores either with the total lack of a good group on any target, leading to the over abundance of bulls eye fives instead of centre bulls eye sixes. Eppleston by reason of his first stage 58 took out the COW by 4 points from Geoff Willis despite Willis scoring eight super V’s to Eppleston’s two.

Dennis Lavelle was a little unfortunate that a scoring error forced him to take an extra shot which turned out to be an inner four, but his group was quite large and was emphasized by the total lack of super V’s. Grahame Willis and Liz Willis have had better days as their scores of 106.3 and 102.3 showed.

The W & J Brown Trophy commences next Saturday at 700 yards

SCORES: R Gibson 93.07 (11 ¾) 100 L Sim 92.02 10 ½) 100 J Coghill 92.07 (10) 100 S Williams 99.08 (1/4) 99 ¼ G Shepherd 96.07 (2 ¾) 98 ¾ J Eppleston 114.2 (2 ¼) 97 G Bright 94.08 (2 ¼) 96 ¼ G S Willis 110.8 (3 ½) 94 ½ E Willis 102.3 (9) 92 ½ G P Willis 106.3 (2 ¾) 90 ¾ D Lavelle 108.0

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The J Sibera Trophy 500-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 14th July 2012
The 500 yard range of the J Sibera Trophy was not one of the better scoring events of the year, the cool windy conditions ensuring zero possibles, and only one 49 in the target rifle category. F-class shooters did not fare any better with 58’s being the best in their group.

Steve Williams with a 49.03 first stage, which included several line shots, consolidated his lucky one point lead with a 48.05 second stage to narrowly win the Cock of the Walk from Graeme Bright and Gordon Shepherd. Bright and Shepherd both with a pair of 48’s was left lamenting their last shot inner fours which cost them the days honours.

With more centre bulls eyes than Williams the pair fell one point short of Williams score. In fact second place was only determined after a count back to the fifth last shot, gave Bright the nod.

Whilst the scores were close at the top, two B graders turned their fortunes around with much improved form over their recent outings. Ron Gibson fell foul of a last shot inner four but held his group together to pencil in a 94.03 and win the COW with his best score in the past two months.

The most pleasing aspect of the day was the improvement in the form of Lawrence Sim who has had a rough time since rebuilding his rifle and fitting a new barrel. A complete change of sight settings, going larger in the front and smaller at the back, tightened his group up considerably and pointed to a return to the form that saw him get his first possible earlier in the year. A pair of 46’s was a good return.

The not so good aspect was the form of John Coghill who returned a poor 86.03 after changing back to his .223 calibre “rabbit gun”. Coghill has sent the stock away for modifications to change the sling attachments.

F-class was also very close with the Willis brothers, Geoff and Grahame fighting out an exciting finish, a last shot bulls eye almost costing Geoff the COW. With both shooters on matching 58.3 first stage scores, just one super V separated the pair at the end of the shoot.

Dennis Lavelle was a surprise contestant in F-class after shooting Optical class for several weeks. Lavelle who fitted a bipod to his scoped rifle, craved for the competition, and almost pulled off a huge surprise. Three bulls eyes at the finish of his second stage was all that kept him off the podium.

Jeff Eppleston was not at his best and with bulls eyes coming in pairs, and at inopportune moments, his 113.9 was two points shy of the winner albeit with more super V’s. Liz Willis had a “Coghill” day after her heroics of last week but that is to be expected as consistency only comes with experience. A disappointing second stage 46.0 was the downer of the day

The J Sibera Trophy concludes next week at 600 yards

SCORES:
R Gibson 64.03 (7 ¾) 100
L Sim 92.03 (8 ¼) 100
G Shepherd 96.09 (2 ½) 98 ½
G P Willis (F) 115.5 (2 ½) 98
G S Willis 115.6 (F) (2 ¼) 97 ¾
S Williams 97.08 (1/4) 97 ¼
G Bright 96.09 (3/4) 96 ¾
J Eppleston (F) 113.9 (1) 95
J Coghill 86.03 (4 ½) 90 ½
E Willis 98.2 (8 ¼) 88 ½
D Lavelle (F) 114.6



Attached is a picture of Elizabeth “Liz” Willis preparing to shoot after scoring her maiden possible (60.2) last week. Club Captain, Graeme Bright is in the background.

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