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[b]Diggers and George James Cups -Bathurst Rifle Club 3rd December 2011[/b] Summer has commenced and the warm weather brings with it more severe mirage conditions to mix with the lighter and variable breezes. Saturdays light westerly breeze was neither steady nor one directional.

With some flags indicating the breeze coming from one direction and further up the range other flags indicating an entirely different scenario the mirage set about proving all the flags unreliable.

Although no one went through the day totally unscathed there were some good shoots and five of the sixteen stages went very close to achieving the possible. The best of the competitors was Steve Williams who twice shot 49 with bags of seven and four centre bulls-eyes.

Gordon Shepherd went close to matching Williams but was unable to stay with the Champion falling short of the Cock of the Walk by one point and a handful of centre bulls. Stages of 48.04 and 49.02 easily secured second spot on the day.

Ron Gibson pulled off a surprise with a first stage 49.02. He was however unable to maintain the high standard, shooting a 46.03 second stage. Gibson has been known to post big scores in the past and is regaining consistency in recent shoots, easily won the B grade section.

Lawrence Sim did not have a good day but a rushed preparation and a busy schedule did not help his cause. Sims’ group tightened as the day wore on as scores of 44.02 and 46.01 indicate.

Dennis Lavelle created an interesting aside as he tried optical class for the first time. Optical class dispenses with the peep sights used in target rifle and replaces them with a telescope whilst maintaining the standard target rifle hold and posture. Whilst Lavelle used a bush rifle for his first foray into the discipline scores of 42.01 and 44.0 were sufficient to encourage him to fit the scope to his target rifle for his next outing.

F-class saw the biggest turn up for many months with Grahame Willis finally coming to grips with his new rifle and putting a score on the target which neither his brother Geoff nor Club Champion Jeff Eppleston could match. Wills destroyed his competition with a 59.4 first stage easily eclipsing the 55’s by both Geoff Willis and Eppleston. Despite not repeating his first stage heroics his 57.2 was still better than the 56.4 by Eppleston and the 55.3 by his brother. The COW was his second in four shoots this year

Williams results from the ACT Queens were very pleasing the shooter winning the Veterans Award, finishing 4th in the Grand Aggregate, 3rd in the R A Rolfe lead-up event and 20th in the Queens Aggregate. Geoff Willis after mixed results in the lead-up finished 7th in the F-class division of the Queens Award

The final 600-yard range of the Diggers and G James Cups, and the second round of the Club Championship, will be conducted next week, the tenth of December.

SCORES: G P Willis (F) 116.6 (4 ½) 100 R Gibson 95.05 (5) 100 S Williams 98.11 (1/2) 98 ½ G Shepherd 97.06 (3/4) 97 ¾ J Eppleston (F) 111.7 (3) 95 G S Willis 110.4 (F) 3 ¾) 94 ¾ L Sim 90.03 (4) 94 D Lavelle (O) 86.01 (7 ½) 93 ½

[b]Diggers and George James Cups -Bathurst Rifle Club 26th November 2011[/b] As if by magic the wet weather, which had already decimated local sport, disappeared, and left a rifle range with a mostly fine and sunny disposition for the competitors not frightened off by the previous 12-hour deluge.

Although predominately sunny, a nasty northwest wind which was several rungs above a breeze, continually swept the range and taunted shooters. Steve Williams, Graeme Bright and Geoff Willis, recently returned from a wild and wooly ACT Queens prize meeting in Canberra, used that experience to good advantage staying at the top or near the top of the score board all day.

Williams and Bright both shot 48’s but found centre bull’s-eyes hard to come by with Williams totaling only two and Bright failing to pierce the centre ring. In fact it was Gordon Shepherd who took the early honours with a 48.03 whilst John Coghill lost three points with skinny inner fours and Dennis Lavelle experienced sighting problems with clouds causing fluctuating light conditions.

The second stage produced a tight struggle with Shepherd setting the tone with another 48 but Bright rose to the challenge and produced a 49.04 to pip Shepherd by a point. Williams the reigning Club Champion was not about to surrender and pulled out a 49.06 including five centre bull’s-eyes in succession to snatch the Cock of the Walk from Bright by a single centre. Coghill and Lavelle were simply no match for the top three.

F-class was equally as challenging, with Club Champion Jeff Eppleston trying to maintain his edge over the Willis brothers. Again the first stage was even, Eppleston with a 58.5, Geoff Willis a 58.3 and Grahame Willis a 56.3, which included an inner four, all in the mix.

Both Willis’s threw out the challenge with 58’s, but Geoff was able to maintain his two point first stage gap increasing his lead over Grahame by one super v. Eppleston, who stayed at home during the ACT Queens, set out to underline his top dog status by shooting the best stage of the day in quite difficult windy conditions. Eppleston's 59.3 won him the COW by a single point

The starting range of the Club Championship did not produce any surprises but the closeness of the scores bodes well for an exciting battle for 2012 Club honours.

The only 500-yard round of the Diggers and G James Cups will be conducted next week, the third of December.

SCORES: J Coghill 93.04 (8 ½) 100 G S Willis (F) 116.8 (4) 100 G Shepherd 93.04 (3 ¾) 99 ¾ J Eppleston (F) 117.8 (2 ½) 99 ½ G P Willis (F) 114.7 (5 ½) 99 ½ S Williams 97.08 (1 ½) 98 ½ G Bright 97.04 (3/4) 98 ¾ D Lavelle 86.06 (8 ¼) 94 ¼

[b]Diggers and George James Cups -Bathurst Rifle Club 19th November 2011[/b] The ACT Queens Prize Meeting at the McIntosh Rifle Range in Canberra has again attracted Bathurst Rifle Clubs top shooters and left the local competition lacking in both numbers and quality.

The day was hot, humid and the northwest wind was particularly fickle in both direction and strength. With the directional flags having difficulty keeping up with the changes it was little wonder competitors were left floundering at times.

Early shooters copped the worst of the conditions and the magpie ring attracted several visits as the fall of shot straddled the bulls’ eye. Dennis Lavelle and Ron Gibson were the first to feel the wrath of the breeze and could do no better than 41’s, with just one centre between them, that to Gibson. Jeff Eppleston and Grahame Willis didn’t fare much better as the F-class shooters, most of whom prefer to shoot off, rather than move sights, couldn’t beat the changes even with their rapid fire techniques.

Gordon Shepherd and John Coghill were perhaps the first to feel the easing conditions but the changes by no means disappeared. Shepherd’s 47.03 set the standard and Coghill scrambled a 47.01. Gibson returned to the mound with an improved 44.01 but found the wind still retained its lumps.

Shepherd held his nerve with the top stage of the day, a 48.03, and Lavelle, with fresh ammunition, followed suite with 47.05. Coghill experienced the lumps and the troughs in his 45.03, leaving Shepherd with the Cock of the Walk by a 3-point margin.

The F-class pair improved markedly although Eppleston dropped two points with an inner four but held on for a 57.3, his group tightening significantly. Willis avoided the inner circle but his group just overlapped the bulls’ eye ring, the resulting 56.1 falling 3 points short of Epplestons' COW winning score.

Preliminary results of the ACT Queens Prize have placed Steve Williams at twenty and Graeme Bright at sixty-nine. Geoff Willis after getting as high as fifth in F-class hung on to finish in seventh place. Results of the Grand Aggregate were not available at the time of writing.

The second round of the Diggers and G James Cup commences next week at 300 yards with a late start (2.00pm) due to a cycle event in Sulman Park

SCORES: J Coghill 92.04 (7 ¼) 99 ¼ G P Willis (F) 108.4 (10 ½) 98 ¾ G Shepherd 95.06 (3 ¾) 98 ¾ D Lavelle 88.05 (7 ¾) 95 ¾ J Eppleston (F) 111.5 (3 ¾) 95 ¾ R Gibson 85.02 (7 ¾) 92 ¾

[b]Diggers and George James Cups -Bathurst Rifle Club 5th November 2011[/b] The 2012 season commenced on a sad note with the passing of Jan Sibera, a valued club member of 42 years standing. Sibera’s contribution to the club will be remembered with his name gracing almost every club trophy for 106 winning performances. Vale Jan Sibera.

The first of the Diggers and G James Cup ranges was hardly an eventful occasion with warm sunny weather and a breeze, which wouldn’t settle on any one direction, continually varying in strength, whilst swapping sides at will.

The biggest winner on the day was Lawrence Sim who plucked his first possible, a 50.05, from among the ruins of almost the entire field of shooters. Sim with less than one years experience at target rifle threaded his way through the myriad of wind direction changes and strength variations to do what no one else could manage on the day.

Even Club Champion Steve Williams fresh from recent international competition was caught out on two occasions for a pair of 49’s but the 98.09 was sufficient to take the Cock of the Walk from Sim whose first stage 47.02 was his undoing. Sim however easily won the B grade COW

Graeme Bright did not have a good day experiencing a number of high and wide shots as he battled to put together a pair of 47’s. Bright, despite his burgeoning group size, generally shoots a high centrebull count, but will need to reduce his grouping when he competes at the North Shore DRA OPM at Hornsby this Sunday.

Ron Gibson continues to improve and a good 48.06, second stage, bodes well for the upcoming season. John Coghill on the other hand, continued his form slump after a promising start with a new barrel. There were some good signs but wild shots put paid to any chance of a good score. Clint Mills jumping from target rifle to F-class and back again had a good second stage 43.05 after a 38.0 and is yet to decide on his choice of discipline.

In F-class Grahame Willis is not confident with his new rifle, as it appears to drop out the bottom of the target as it warms up. A 56.5 second stage was his best return on the day and won him the COW from Aaron Smith who continues to show form with his “off the shelf” Remington.

Both Geoff Willis and Jeff Eppleston were reduced to single stages, work commitments restricting their appearances on the mound.

The Drive Bathurst event on Mount Panorama takes precedence next weekend and the 2012 season will recommence on the 19th November with a 600-yard range of the Diggers and G James Cup

SCORES: L Sim 97.07 (7) 100 R Gibson 93.10 (11) 100 C Mills 81.05 (19) 100 S Williams 98.09 (1 ¾) 99 ¾ G P Willis (F) 108.6 (10) 98 ¼ J Coghill 87.05 (9) 96 A Smith (F) 104.3 (11 ¼) 96 G Bright 94.10 (3/4) 94 ¾ G S Willis (F) 56.3 J Eppleston (F) 49.0

[b]W & J Brown Consolation Trophy-Bathurst Rifle Club 29th October 2011[/b] The final chapter of the 2011 season closed on Saturday with the running of the W & J Brown Consolation Trophy at 600 yards. The trophy, which goes to the highest scoring shooter on the day, has one stipulation and that is that the recipient has not won a competition throughout the year. With that in mind it was not surprising that there were limited eligible competitors and most of those failed to appear to contest the somewhat dubious award.

Aaron Smith, a new member in 2011, took out the trophy with a handicap score of 99, although, he was beaten on the day by Dennis Lavelle, who just avoided the prize by winning the R Steel Trophy. Ironically the R Steel trophy (or bridesmaid trophy) is awarded for the most second place finishes in yearly competition.

The day was warm and mild but contained a northwest to west breeze which had some venom. Very rapid changes in strength and direction kept scores to a moderate level. Graeme Bright, Steve Williams and Lavelle did best of the full bore group whilst Smith upset the more fancied F-class shooters with his first Cock of the Walk performance.

There were no possibles although Bright came closest with a 49.03 second stage to clinch the A grade COW by two points from Williams whose international exploits were chronicled in the Western Advocate last Thursday. John Coghill was all at sea after an extended break but with a change of ring sizes made some progress. With regular inner fours decorating the scorecards, avoiding the magpie three became a difficult proposition and F-class shooters were not immune.

Smith, who was using his Remington Rifle with Schmidt and Bender telescope, had his best day on the mound and debunked the theory that “off the shelf” rifles cannot compete with specially built equipment.

Grahame Willis launched his new barrel and had a tentative first stage before tightening his group considerably. Geoff Willis on the other hand was less than happy with his effort after cleaning up at the Cobar Open Prize Meeting (OPM) in September. Clint Mills returned after a long break and using two different scoped rifles kept pace with the field in F-class but Jeff Eppleston was left unimpressed with his performance.

Jason Honeyset who has dabbled in small-bore, bench rest in Sydney tried target rifle for the first time with good results although light changes late in the day highlighted some of the difficulties not encountered in indoor shooting.

The past month has seen some excellent performances by Club members and a very successful OPM at the Bathurst range last week put the seal on a successful 2011.

The 2012 season will commence with the Diggers and G James Cup next week at 300 yards before a week off for the Drive Bathurst event.

SCORES: D Lavelle 93.04 (7) 100 A Smith (F) 107.4 (11 ¾) 99 G Bright 97.07 (1 ¼) 98 ¼ G P Willis (F) 107.3 (9 ¼) S Williams 95.07 (0) 95 G S Willis (F) 104.3 (9 ½) 94 ½ J Coghill 89.05 (4 ½) 93 ½ J Eppleston (F) 104.1 (6 ¼) 92 C Mills (F) 106.3 J Honeyset 76.01