News

Bathurst Rifle Club Inc., 6th February 2021, F A Wilde Trophy 300 yards.      

          The start of the F A Wilde Trophy on Saturday from 300 yards went ahead after a fortunate break in the weather allowed just enough time to set up targets and erect gazebos over the shooting area. The mostly light rain throughout the afternoon caused problems for some shooters with the front sight fogging or getting wet but most seemed to handle the conditions well enough. The wet flags not responding effectively in the north easterly breeze may have been the most difficult aspect in achieving a top score.

          In Target Rifle class Steve Williams top scored with a run of centre bulls in his second stage to hold back Graeme Bright by three centre bulls for the days shooting with Gordon Shepherd finishing one point behind the leaders after an unfortunate two inner finish to his first stage score. Dennis Lavelle finished another three points down for the afternoon with Ron Gibson losing too many points as he tried to find the centre during his first stage. John Coghill started with a good first stage but after several problems at the start of his second stage due to the wet weather he retired.

          F Class shooter Jeff Eppleston topped the field again after a great first stage score and looked like achieving the Holy Grail score with his second stage where he had landed nine shots in the super centre only to lose a point on his last shot to an unpredictable wind gust. Visiting shooter Terry Howell had a great second stage to finish one point behind the lead with a two super centre advantage over Geoff Willis. Col Howell had a reasonable start to the day but a two bull finish to his second stage placed him a further three points behind and two points ahead of Phil Mahon who dropped too many points early on to catch the leaders. Nick Webster had great elevation in his first stage but the wet weather contributed to poor grouping and a loss of too many points in his second stage. New shooter Khoby tried out target shooting and appeared to improve with every shot hitting the centre bull four times and scoring one super centre.

          Next week shooting will be from 500 yards for the second round of the F A Wilde Trophy competition.

 by Geoff Willis

Scores:
J Eppleston 119.13 (1) 100,
G S Willis 118.8 (2.75) 100,
G Shepherd 95.7 (5) 100,
P Mahon 113.6 (7.25) 100,
D Lavelle 92.7 (12) 100,
S Williams 96.12 (2.25) 98.25,
G Bright 96.9 (2) 98,
C Howell 115.7 (1.25) 97.08,
N Webster 108.2 (6) 96,
R Gibson 82.2 (10.5) 92.5,
T Howell 118.10,
J Coghill 47.1 (Ret.)
Khoby 54.1.

All scores/plots can be found Here.