News

Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 20th June 2015 C R Kelly Cup, 700yards

            Three of the clubs’ top shooters were in Brisbane competing in the National Rifle Association of Australia National Championships and although the weather conditions on the home range were fairly benign those remaining in Bathurst couldn’t approach the level of excellence displayed over recent weeks.

           An almost calm day was bedeviled by a mirage which was very difficult to read. Occasionally swapping sides but never steady the predominantly right mirage caused a variety of errors from the ubiquitous magpie three to strings of inner fours. There were no heroics amongst the target rifle shooters but the F-class competitors fared somewhat better.

           Geoff Willis performed best on the day with just three blemishes in a score of 117.7 to win the F-class Cock of the Walk. He set the standard for the day but even he was caught by the devil in the bright sunshine. Ben Wright continues to amaze in his progress with the scoped rifle and although he couldn’t find the super centre (112.0) he had almost perfect elevation and only the unfamiliarity of shooting in mirage conditions held him back from a really good score.

           Grahame Willis was not pleased as he dropped three points to start his stage and came adrift as he dropped another three points on his last three shots. A second stage 58.3 couldn’t cover his disappointment.

           Target rifle was again taken out by Dennis Lavelle who has his .223 rifle singing. In the difficult mirage conditions Lavelle, 46.0, held a slight lead over Gordon Shepherd, 45.02, and John Coghill, 44.0, as the total of inner fours mounted steadily. Coghill crashed again, adding a couple of magpies to his second stage inner tally and Shepherd followed with his own magpie three in another boom or bust stage of 46.05. Shepherd has consistently amassed large centre counts even if his score doesn’t indicate good accuracy. Lavelle as he has done over recent weeks rallied with a day topping 48.03 to take out, not only the B-grade, but also the overall COW.

           As for the National Championships, in the lead up event, The Presidents Cup, Nick Cock placed 18th, Steve Williams 24th and Graeme Bright 47th whilst in the Queens Prize Williams placed 26th, Cock 34th, and Bright 62nd. The Grand Aggregate results were Williams 22nd, Cock 25th and Bright 49th.

           The C R Kelly Cup will continue next week at 800 yards. 

Scores: 

G S Willis FSA 117.7 (5 ¾) 100

G P Willis FSA 111.5 (7 ¾) 99

D Lavelle TRB 94.07 (4 ¾) 98 ¾

B Wright FSB 112.0 (5 ½) 98

J Coghill TRB 87.03 (8 ¾) 95 ¾

G Shepherd TRA 91.07 (4 ½) 95 ½

by John Coghill