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Bathurst Rifle Club 15th August The W & J Brown Shield 700 yards

            The sunny day that promised a high scoring feast turned into a battle against the elements as the gusty south westerly wind moderated and became quite fluky in the bright afternoon sunshine.

As the shooters prepared to commence the days' proceedings it was clearly apparent that the target was much larger than usual. A quick rejig had the large 800-yard target dispatched and the smaller 700-yard target installed in its place.

           Graeme Bright started in a blaze of centre bulls-eyes, causing some to again question the size of the target, but he tapered off a little in carding a 50.05. Gordon Shepherd however fell foul of the early breeze with a wide magpie three but this was his only blemish in a 48.05, which included 4 consecutive centre bulls-eyes.

            Jan Sibera also commenced well but a couple of windage errors spoiled an otherwise good 48.02. From there matters became quite diabolical as scores tumbled and otherwise competent shooters seemed totally unable to fathom the complexities of the gusting breeze. Dennis Lavelles' 45.01 was peppered with inner fours and Ron Gibsons' likewise, in his 43.01. 

            Veteran Keith Redding matched the above pair almost to the end, an outer two bringing him undone, but the 41.02 not totally eliminating him from the game. Tim Halloran had a little help in the way of a coach and really lifted as his stage of 42.03 finished on 3 centre bulls-eyes. Even F class shooter Steve Jeffs wasn’t immune from the wind gusts, collecting an inner four in his 55/60

            The second stage was totally devoid of what could be termed a good score as elevation problems became endemic. The bright sun, low in the western sky, coupled with a light breeze and mirage playing all sorts of tricks took two points off Bright (48.04), and three off Shepherd (47.03), as the leading pair grappled with the conditions. Bright won the days COW in a canter but the B grade section was much tighter. 

            Sibera fell into a huge hole, his 43.03 even included a dreaded magpie, but Lavelle strung together 5 inners in a row gifting the B honours to Sibera by a single point. Gibsons’ day went from bad to worse as he also shot a bird in his 41.0 but Halloran, as, in his first stage, got better as the stage wore on, a 43.02 very creditable compared to the other scores. Redding gave the B graders a shake with a 45.0 and was also happy to give them some solid verbal advice.

            Jeffs wasn't any help or guidance to the full bore group as he could only scrabble together a 52/60 which again included the F class shooters bird, an inner four. Altogether a rather strange day, even though there were three handicap possibles, on the range best known for its alternating bulls and birds               

            The W & J Brown Shield concludes next Saturday at 900 yards.

Scores:     

S Jeffs 107 (17 ½) 100

J Sibera 91.05 (10 ¼) 100

K Redding 86.02 (15) 100

G Bright 98.09 (1) 99

G Shepherd 97.08 (1) 98

D Lavelle 90.03 (4 ¾) 94 ¾

R Gibson 84.01 (9) 93

T Halloran 85.05