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Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 8th August 2015 W & J Brown Shield, 800yards

            The small contingent of Bathurst Rifle club shooters is about to get even smaller with Graeme Bright heading off to Queensland to contest the Queensland Rifle Association Queens series at the Belmont rifle range next week. The Queens will be held after the F-class Nationals where fellow club members Jeff Eppleston and Geoff Willis are representing NSW.

           The Club however welcomed back a long time member Ian Cunningham who last shot on the range in 1992. Cunningham started with the club in the 1960’s and shot sporadically through to his retirement from the mound due to family and work commitments. Along with newcomer Ron Hartley, Cunningham tried out on target rifle with a supporting bipod and the full F-class discipline.

           The day was perfect for trying the sport with little or no wind, bright sunshine and a moderate mirage, even though the distance of 800 yards added a little difficulty to the job at hand. Bright warmed up with a superb shoot of 99.10/100, his only blemish being a low elevation shot midway through his second stage.

           Grahame Willis also showed that he too if he had nominated would most probably have been in Queensland with the team contesting the F-class Nationals. Willis shot 119.10/120 in another good display following on from his Club Championship winning year.

           Gordon Shepherd and John Coghill both flirted with the magpie ring dropping multiple points whilst Dennis Lavelle managed to avoid that embarrassment but still collected the regular inner four. Coghill tightened up in his second stage but was unable to catch Lavelle who won his third Cock of the Walk in a row and his 24th for the year. Shepherd eliminated the wobbles and planted a 50.05 possible on his scorecard to get some satisfaction from his shoot.

           Hartley found the experience somewhat different from what he had expected and Cunningham was not impressed with the scoped rifle discipline preferring the familiar experience of full-bore target rifle.

           The W & J Brown Shield will conclude next week at 900 yards.

Scores:

G P Willis FSA 119.10 92 ¾) 100

G Bright TRA 99.07 (½) 99 1/2

G Shepherd TRA 7.09 (1 ½) 98 ½

D Lavelle TRB 94.06 (3 ¾) 97 ¾

J Coghill TRB 93.07 (3 ½) 96 ½

I Cunningham TR/rest 38.02-FStd 36.0

R Hartley TR/rest 17.0 

by John Coghill