News

Bathurst Rifle Club 2nd August The J Sibera Trophy 500 yards

          Gordon Shepherd and Dennis Lavelle had a close tussle for the Cock of the Walk honours on a cold, and at times, very dull Saturday afternoon.

          A south westerly breeze gusting to about 5 knots and constantly swinging down range before squaring up again, was to much for all bar Shepherd who shot the only possible a 50.03 first stage. Even he was trapped by the vagaries of the breeze, which coupled with diminishing light restricted scoring in the second stage. 

          Lavelle had the misfortune of an interloper entering the range and causing a 10-minute break during his shoot, but was able to regain his concentration, dropping just one point for a 49.03. Both Lavelle and Shepherd struck problems with light and dropped 3 points each in the second stage, Shepherd holding on for a one point win in the days COW.

          John Coghill and Ron Gibson could not emulate the top pair and lost a number of points due to poor reading of the wind changes in their first stages but fought back well to lodge the best second stage scores (48's) in dimming light. 

          Jan Sibera, after his front sight tunnel demise last week, tried a new Koala tunnel but the change over was more difficult than expected and it will take a little time to get the hang of the new sight. Scores of 43.03 and 46.03 however, showed promise of things to come. Keith Redding needs the light to be at its best these days and it was well below standard in both stages. In the most part Redding was able to hold within the black but his group widened as the light deteriorated. Reddings’ score of 80.02 was below his recent form and the cold dull day had a deleterious affect on the veteran shooter.     

           Adam Parkinson, a new Bathurst settler, showed the benefit of Army reserve training with a couple of good stages of tight grouping and would have achieved better than his 41.01 and 41.0 scores (themselves excellent scores for a first time, full bore shooter) had his coach made adjustments for a high group in the first stage.      

           In F class Steve Jeffs had serious problems with his .223 rifle and ammunition, and reverted to the larger calibre .308 with reasonable results. A first stage 57/60 punctuated with just three bullseyes was followed by a string of centre bulls in the second until the wheels started to wobble and five bulls in his last seven shots produced a disappointing 55/60. A late burst of sunshine, the brightest of the day, may have upset his routine.      

          Next Saturday is the final round of the J Sibera Trophy over 600 yards. 

Scores:    

S Jeffs 112 (10 ½) 100

D Lavelle  96.05 (3 ¾) 99 ¾

G Shepherd 97.08 (2) 99

J Coghill 94.05 (4) 98

R Gibson 93.05 (4 ¾) 97 ¾

J Sibera 89.06 (7 ¼) 96 ¼

K Redding 80.02 (14 ¼) 94 ¼

A Parkinson 41.01-41.0