News

Bathurst Rifle Club Inc. 19th August 2017, W & J Brown Shield. 900yards

             The Australian contingent at the ICFRA F-Class World Long Range Rifle Championships in Ottawa, Canada excelled, winning both individual and team events.  Bathurst Rifle Club members Jeff Eppleston and Geoff Willis have done the Club proud winning a silver medal at only the second time Australia has competed at this event. After leading by eleven points on the first day the Australian team was unable to hold off the more experienced USA team at the long ranges. 

             Eppleston was also a member of a combined F Open / FTR team which won gold in a team’s event at the Dominium of Canada National Championships held as a prelude to the Worlds against six other nations. Willis finished 31st of 174 competitors in the individual section of the Canadian Nationals whilst Australia won the F Open section of the Worlds. Rod Davies, Cessnock Rifle Club, won the individual World Championship in F open. 

             Closer to home the QRA State Championship and Queens Prize competition was held in Brisbane last week and the cold front which hit Bathurst on Friday created havoc at the Duncan Range on Saturday morning Even the best were blown about the target like novices and the Bathurst representatives were no exception. The Queens and Grande Aggregate were won by 2015 World Full Bore Champion Lyndhurst’s Ben Emms whilst Bathurst’s Steve Williams and Nick Cock finished in 34th and 36th in the Queens and 27th and 28th in the Grand Aggregate. 

             On the local front the tail end of the bad weather toyed with non travelling members with the same irreverence dished out to the shooters in Brisbane. Coming over the Sulman Park ridge the breeze swapped from down range to almost square westerly in rapid time and totally unpredictably. On a day not seen for some time outer two’s were more prevalent than blades of grass on the rifle range. 

             John Coghill seemed to have some idea until he started his second stage with a magpie three/ outer two. Gordon Shepherd didn’t even have that nibble of success piling inner fours on magpie threes and outer twos’. This was a sign of what was to come for the F-class group.

             Grahame Willis headed the less experienced duo of Ben Wright and Aaron (AJ) Smith to a beating and all looked for a hole to swallow them up. Willis’s 50.3/60 was the best stage.

             Coghill won the B Gurdon Cup and W & J Brown Shield and Willis the A Pratley Shield.

             Next week is a practice day at a distance to be determined  

Scores:  

J Coghill TRB 85.04 (12) 97

G Shepherd TRA 82.03 (10 ¾) 92 ¾

G P Willis FSA 97.3 (11 ¾) 90 ¾

B Wright FSB 95.2 (12) 89 ¼

A J Smith FSB 80.0 (12) 78 ¼

by John Coghill