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Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 2nd January 2016 Norman Rutherford Memorial Trophy, 800yards

            The return of some weather normality was the talking point at Saturdays shoot for the Norman Rutherford Memorial Trophy. After weeks of horrendous shooting conditions and a washout on Boxing Day the day produced a mild northerly fishtail breeze and a readable mirage. This was emphasized by the number of centre bull’s eyes reappearing on scorecards which have seen very few in recent weeks. 

           Graeme Bright set the standard with a well compiled 49.06 and Gordon Shepherd followed up with a 48.05, Shepherd getting all of his in a six centre burst albeit using every millimeter of the centerline. Dennis Lavelle, 47.03 and John Coghill, 46.03 also prospered but not to the same degree as the A grade pair as all appreciated the milder conditions. 

           Geoff Willis fresh from a very successful 2015 had a moderate shoot and Jeff Eppleston likewise but both shooters were very light on super V’s. Ken Eppleston visiting from West Wyalong kept pace with the local pair whilst newcomer to target shooting, Shaun Todd from Burraga, seemed at home with this shooting game.

           The dreaded magpie made an appearance in the second stage hitting both of the leading competitors. Brights' miscalculation resulted from a mirage which picked up and a flag which didn’t, inducing Bright to ignore both, hence his demise. However he scored a fine 48.06 leaving Shepherd to shoot a big 49 or better. Shepherd was not up to the challenge falling away badly with a 46.01 giving Bright an easy Cock of the Walk win. Coghill likewise was no match for Lavelle who despite a mid-stage wobble shot a 48.03 to win the B grade by two points. 

           Willis tried a different projectile which did not perform anywhere near his expectations. He is now left with a bag full of projectiles which wobbled out of his barrel like an old man on a walking stick. Jeff Eppleston shot a fine 59.6 to win the F-class COW but his brother Ken using the same rifle couldn’t reproduce the same result. Todd came to grips with target shooting discipline quite quickly dropping just three points in his last 6 shots.

           Lavelle won the Norman Rutherford Memorial Trophy and Bright the six week long K Harvey Trophy. The Gilmour Cup and the second round of the Club Championship start next week at 300 yards.

Scores:

D Lavelle TRB 95.06 (5) 100

J Eppleston FSA 116.10 (3 ¾) 99 ¾

J Coghill TRB 93.04 (6 ¾) 99 ¾

G Bright TRA 97.11 (2 ¼) 99 ¼

G Shepherd TRA 94.07 (3) 97

G S Willis FSA 109.4 (6 ¾) 96 ½

K Eppleston FSA (WW) 95.3

S Todd FSB 93.2.