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[b]The J Sibera Trophy 300-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 7th July 2012[/b] A perfect mid-winter day with bright sunshine, no wind and just a whisper of mirage was all that was needed to bring out the best in a day of firsts for newcomer Elizabeth Willis as she achieved her best results in a short career.

Willis produced her first possible, a 60.3 second stage masterpiece, and in doing so also topped the handicap ratings on the first day of the J Sibera Trophy. As fate would have it Willis was using a rifle purchased from the late Jan Sibera.

F-class shooter Grahame Willis was prominent from the start shooting a 60.4 first stage possible and Optical class competitor Dennis Lavelle also “got the lot” with a 50.05 score.

With the 300 yard range suiting the F-class shooters Jeff Eppleston 59.5 and Geoff Willis 59.3 just missed the top rung and target rifle trio Steve Williams 49.04, John Coghill 49.03 and Graeme Bright 49.03, were all in the same boat. There did not appear to be any consistent reason for the blemishes except for maybe a little inattention to the mirage which lazily flicked from side to side at irregular intervals.

Gordon Shepherd pulled out his usual magpie three in a 47.04 stage but Lawrence Sims’ travails continued with another below par performance. Andrew Trevillion was another dissatisfied with his shoot, as the new Lawton rifle did not live up to expectations.

The second stage was all Liz Willis as she blitzed the competition. The F-class group of Eppleston, Willis and Willis were left in her wake and consistently missed the centre bullseye. Grahame Willis eventually won the Cock of the Walk with all four competitors just 2 points apart, adding to his triumph as a member of the Country team which won the NSW City versus NSW Country match in Sydney last week.

Trevillion retired after a starting with a string of inner fours unable to understand the reasons for the under performance of the new rifle.

For the target rifle shooters the possible was impossible, none able to get through the second stage unscathed although both Bright and Shepherd gave it a nudge. Both scored 49’s with Shepherd throwing the Challenge at Coghill who again buckled under pressure. A couple of early points lost, and a nervous inner four, late, caused Coghill to again bow to his nemesis. Williams after traveling to the National Queens prize meeting in Brisbane and coaching the NSW Country team to a win over City in Sydney didn’t demonstrate his usual dominance on the local front, dropping a couple of points for a 48.04 to come second to Bright in the COW

Lavelle looked to be headed to a double but two late inners set him back whilst Sim sought help from Williams to sort out his problems after another poor stage. Ring size choices and rear aperture adjustments are next on the agenda in his quest to return to his good early form.

The J Sibera Trophy continues next week at 500 yards

SCORES: E Willis (F) 115.3 (8 ¼) 100 D Lavelle (Opt) 98.9 (2 ½) 100 J Coghill 96.04 (4 ½) 100 G Shepherd 96.09 (3) 99 G Bright 98.07 (1) 99 G P Willis (F) 117.5 (1 ½) 98 ¾ J Eppleston (F) 116.9 (2) 98 ½ S Williams 97.08 (1) 98 G S Willis (F) 115.8 (1 ¾) 97 ¼ L Sim 77.02 (13 ¾) 90 ¾ A Trevillion 51.1-Rtd

[b]The C R Kelly Cup 900-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 30th June 2012[/b] Saturday produced another fine but cool day with a mild westerly breeze, that on first appearance seemed to vary greatly in intensity and direction. However as the day unfolded it became apparent that the degree of variation was much less than anticipated.

The first to wake up to this fact was Graeme Bright who calmly went about his business with a 50.04 possible, setting the standard for the days competition. Grahame Willis followed suit in his F-class discipline slotting a 59.5, dropping just the one point with a skinny bulls eye.

Dennis Lavelle on the other hand didn’t find things to his satisfaction when he realized that he had run out of elevation adjustment on his telescope over the 900-yard distance. Having to aim at a point (a clump of grass) some one metre higher than, and half a metre right of the target, Lavelle had a remarkable shoot scoring a 48.1/50.

Others were not so fortunate with their scores more reminiscent of a blustery winters day at 900 yards. John Coghill straddled the bulls eye for three consecutive inner fours in producing a large group for his 46.03. Elizabeth Willis adjusted her shooting position with a lower front rest and a slightly flatter prone position and as a consequence of the changes dropped points to inner fours, which diminished the quality of her shoot.

Gordon Shepherd and Geoff Willis were way off target. Shepherd was left totally nonplussed with his stage of 42.0, which included two magpie threes, four inner fours, and not a single centre bulls eye. Willis was just as wayward with just one centre bulls eye in a string of bulls eyes, finishing with an inner four, for just 50.0 points.

The second stage produced a huge turnaround as if shooters had finally realized that it wasn’t as hard as they had imagined. Shepherd produced the best shoot of the stage with a 49.05, a run of 5 centre bulls in a row preceding his only blemish, an inner four, in a 49.05 score. Bright wasn’t able to repeat his first stage performance however, carding just 48.03 and Grahame Willis likewise dropped three points with a run of bulls eyes for a 57.2.

Coghill was quite inaccurate with some wild inners and discovered on leaving the mound that his rear sight was loose. Geoff Willis meanwhile stuck with a batch of ammunition which he admitted later, was just not up to scratch, and Lavelle finally came to grief with his scope problems overwhelming his first stage ingenuity.

Liz Willis adjusted quickly to her new shooting position and produced an impressive six, centre bulls eye finish in a score of 55.0, following on from her great shoot of last week, and continuing her rapid improvement in the sport.

Bright won the days Cock of the Walk and Grahame Willis the F-class section along with the C R Kelly Cup, with a score of 199 ½ to Brights' 199 ¼.

The late Jan Sibera will be remembered next week with the commencement of the J Sibera Trophy at 300 yards. The 2012 AGM will be held in the clubhouse at the end of the shoot

SCORES: G P Willis (F) 116.7 (6 ¼) 100 G Bright 98.07 (1 ¼) 99 ¼ E Willis (F) 107.3 (11 ¼) 98 ½ J Coghill 92.03 (6) 98 D Lavelle (Opt) 90.1 (6 ¾) 96 ¾ G Shepherd 91.05 (5 ½) 96 ½ G S Willis (F) 101.1 (9 ¾) 92 ¼

[b]The C R Kelly Cup 800-yards-Bathurst Rifle Club 23rd June 2012[/b] After last weeks washout shooters were keen to get back on the mound and were treated to a fine, albeit chilly day, with just a mild westerly breeze, that occasionally drifted downrange.

Graeme Bright was the only shooter to take full advantage of the mild conditions and put paid to his recent indifferent form with a superb performance to score a double possible with eleven centre bulls eyes. Bright has been struggling to find the reason for his up and down form and appears to have hit on a possible cause of the problem.

Trying a batch of ammunition with the projectile mounted further back in the case instead of crowding the throat of the barrel seemed to give a much tighter and more accurate group. The proof will be in Brights’ performances in coming weeks.

Dennis Lavelle had a horror start with outer, magpie sighters, and then took another three shots to hit the bullseye. A strong finish saw him compile a 48.04. Lavelles’ second stage was spoiled by a magpie three midway through his shoot, and a further inner four had him settling for a 47.04

John Coghill reverted to his .308 rifle after using the smaller .223 calibre for the few past weeks, but was tripped up with sticking cases upsetting his rhythm. On changing ammunition he carded a 48.02. Coghills’ second stage 47.02 was more a case of impatience than studied performance as he finished on a low note with a pair of inner fours.

Ron Gibson and Gordon Shepherd were not on song with Shepherd jagging an outer two and Gibson cruelling his chances with a bullseye on the wrong target. Their second stages were little better than their first with both snagging magpie threes to punctuate their disappointing performances.

The F-class group consisted of Willis, Willis and Willis. Geoff Willis took the honours by a solitary point from brother Grahame but their results were not great with inner fours appearing on both scorecards. Second stages of 58.3 and 58.1 were of a better standard but still a little disappointing.

The story of the day in F-class was Elizabeth Willis who after a miserable first stage 47.02 which included a magpie three and three inner fours changed rifles and proceeded to match her much more experienced father and uncle. Feeling more comfortable behind the stock of her father’s rifle it is now a question of who uses which rifle. Liz’s 58.1 was her best stage so far in a short shooting career.

The C R Kelly Cup concludes next week at 900 yards

SCORES: G Bright 100.11 (0) 100 G P Willis (F) 113.2 (6 ¼) 99 ½ D Lavelle (Opt) 95.07 (4) 99 J Coghill 95.04 (4) 99 G S Willis (F) 114.6 (4 ½) 98 ¾ R Gibson 89.07 (9 ½) 98 ½ E Willis (F) 105.1 (12) 97 ½ G Shepherd 90.06 (2) 92

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The F A Wilde Trophy - 500 yards - Bathurst Rifle Club 2nd June 2012

Target shooters are a fairly staid bunch but Saturdays group were not to be denied their afternoon sport by a little rain. In fact, not just a little rain but continuous showers all afternoon. After contemplating another afternoon of sedentary delights in front of the television shooters rebelled and erected a gazebo over the mound (see photo) so that they could shoot “ in the rain, but out of the rain”. It was a master stoke of ingenuity.

With little or no wind the only downsides were the dark conditions and the misty rain threatening to obscure the target. With the threat of a soaking eliminated, every competitor brought his best to the mound.

Steve Williams and Graeme Bright were the first to show their wares with Williams announcing himself with a 50.07 possible. Bright was unable to match that but laid down a 49.05. Dennis Lavelle was next in line with a 49.04 and then John Coghill, deciding to stick with the .223 rifle that served him well last week, countered with a 49.06. The offending inner four followed a delay after blowing out the centre of the target.

Not to be outdone Jeff Eppleston showed he was at least as good by shooting a 60.5, F-class score. Geoff Willis was unable match that but recorded a respectable 58.4.

The second stage was almost as good as the first with two possibles and a high centre count for most shooters. Williams as expected outshone his competitors to take the COW but missed a rare distinction when he chose to keep his first sighter, a bull’s eye. He then put nine shots inside the centre bullseye ring to record a 50.09. Just to compound his disappointment he fired an extra shot that was a centre bull.

Coghill produced the surprise of the day with a 50.04 possible, his first for many months and a days’ aggregate of 99.10, his best score in over twelve months. He too fired two extra shots that were centre bulls eyes. Bright and Lavelle mirrored their scorecards with 48.04 apiece and finished with identical off rifle and handicap scores.

Eppleston just missed a rare double possible but increased his super V count to record a days’ total of 119.12. Willis decided to experiment with his ammunition after he realized he could not catch Eppleston but the changes were unsuccessful as he carded a 53.3 that included an inner four and numerous bulls eyes.

Williams and Eppleston are to contest the Blue Mountains DRA shoot in Lithgow this weekend before Williams heads off for the QRA Queens Prize meeting at the Belmont range in Brisbane.  

The F A Wilde trophy concludes next week at 600 yards

 

SCORES:
S Williams 100.16 (0) 100
J Coghill 99.10 (2 ½) 100
J Eppleston (F) 119.12 (1) 100
G S Willis 111.7 (8 ¼) 99 ½
D Lavelle (Opt) 97.09 (1) 98
G Bright 97.09 (1) 98

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