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Clear skies mask a hidden terror at Bathurst range SHOOTING

            A NEAR perfect day was laid on for all who attended the Bathurst Rifle Range on Saturday for the K Redding 700 yard trophy. However, clear skies and bright sunshine masked a hidden terror for target shooters, a severe mirage, which boiled and swapped sides at will.

           Graeme Bright was the day's standout shooter and although he could not achieve a possible, he was the most consistent, droppping just the one shot in each stage. Bright's 98.09 drew him to within one point of club championship leader Steve Williams, who had an up and down day. Williams' first stage 47.02 was off the pace and despite scoring the only possible of the day, a 50.02, he finished one shot shy of Bright. 
Gordon Shepherd, with stages of 48.05 and 47.04, couldn't quite match it with the top pair while John Coghill shot a large group resulting in a poor 91.05.

           B grade saw Jan Sibera's run of good scores continued as he put it to his fellow competitors with stages of 46.04 and 48.03. Dennis Lavelle and Ron Gibson more than matched Sibera's first stage, but could not maintain the pressure when the time arrived. Second stages of 45.02 and 45.01 were just not good enough. 
Keith Redding kept to his own target but the treacherous mirage took its toll with the odd magpie or two. Tim Robinson, in only his third appearance on the mound, had an excellent shoot under the coaching of club captain Bright.

           In F class Jeff Eppleston fell foul of an inner four in each stage but managed to regroup to record two stages of 55/60.
Roger Northcott suffered even more with a triple inner count in his first stage 50, but managed to reduce that to a one inner stage of 54 in his second dig. 
GeoffWillis spoiled a good first stage with a double inner finish for just 51/60. However, he flirted with a 25 calibre rifle in his second stage and its capabilities were put under extreme pressure. A couple of misses followed by inners and bulls saw a sorry 42/60 printed on the score card.

           Graham and Ethan Willis both tried out the F class discipline with excellent results. Ethan (51/60) beat both his father Graham (50/60) and uncle Geoff (51/60) on count back.

           This week is the start of the Captains Trophy over 800 yards. 

SCORES:
D Lavelle 92.05 (10¼) 100
J Eppleston 110 (10½) 100
R Gibson 92.02 (7½) 99½
J Sibera 94.07 (5) 99
R Northcott 104 (14¾) 99
G Bright 98.09 (1/2) 98½
S Williams 97.04 (1) 98
G Shepherd 95.09 (3) 98
K Redding 78.01 (20) 98
J Coghill 91.05 (6¼) 97¼
G Willis 93 (16½) 91¼
T Robinson 86.01

by John Coghill