News

Bathurst Rifle Club Inc. 8th July 2017, C R Kelly Cup & K Redding 8/900 yards, 900yards 

              The first of several rounds of the Club Championship was completed on Saturday with the conclusion of the C R Kelly Cup and K Redding 8/900 yard trophies. The weather was overcast with a stiff breeze from the west but didn’t appear to present too great an impost on shooters.

              Appearances however can be deceptive and for most, the day became very frustrating, if not comical, as shot after shot disappeared into the outer reaches of the target. Magpies threes were very common and outer two’s showed up on several scorecards. At the conclusion of the shoot competitors were still scratching their heads wondering what spell the weather had cast on the range. There was of course one exception, and it was no surprise that Club Champion Nick Cock showed all the attributes which sees him regularly representing Australia. Cocks’ shooting is a level above his fellow club members and he showed this again with a masterly display in the difficult conditions dropping just two points and scoring centre bulls’ eyes at a rate of one every two shots.

             Graeme Bright tried hard but a dodgy start ruined his chances despite a fairly solid second stage. As for the rest of the target rifle shooters the day was full of frustrated mutterings and finally some degree of mirth. Gordon Shepherd, Dennis Lavelle and John Coghill dived into the deep end and notched up outers, magpies and inners at a great rate and their scores are destined to be consigned to the Championship waste bin.

             In F class the Canadian hopefuls again settled for coaching practice as their day of reckoning approaches. Even with telescopes and coaches the day was one of trial and error as only Jeff Eppleston, produced a possible. Geoff Willis dropped three points in a second stage 57.5 and Brett Bond (Lithgow SARC) could manage just a pair of 57’s.

             Back to the Championship contenders Grahame Willis was caught out with a 54.2 first stage and Ben Wright could do no better, scoring just 53.0. Both improved in the later stages for totals of 111.3 and 109.2, marginal Championship scores at best. Luke Harris (Hornsby RC) was all at sea in a first stage disaster but regrouped with a 53.1 second dig.

             Coghill won the C R Kelly Cup and Cock, the K Redding 8/900 yard trophy.

             The J Sibera trophy starts next week at 300 yards.                       

Scores:    

B Wright FSB 109.2 (12) 100

N Cock TRA 98.10 (1 ¼) 99 ¼

G P Willis FSA 111.3 (6) 97 ½

G Bright TRA 92.06 (3 ½) 95 ½

J Coghill TRB 81.03 (12) 93

D Lavelle TRB 83.05 (9 ¾) 92 ¾

G Shepherd TRA 85.02 (5 ¼) 90 ¼

J Eppleston FSA 117.7

G S Willis FSA 116.8

B Bond LSARC FSA 114.4

L Harris Hornsby RC FSB 90.2

by John Coghill