News

Bathurst Rifle Club Inc. 11th Aug 2018, W & J Brown Shield, 700yards

             Saturday’s shoot was conducted in what one competitor called brutal conditions and the score cards certainly indicated a less than happy day on the mound. Shooters arrived at the range with some trepidation as the strong north-westerly wind gusted across the open fields.

            Gordon Shepherd and John Coghill drew the number one positions and their experiences set the tone for the day posting 41.03 and 37.01 respectively. With the wind gusts varying from 6 to 11 windage points and changes, which because of the direction were almost impossible to read, outer two’s were a very common number. At some points during the day the directional flags were vigorously pointing skywards. The wind gusts caused the projectile to deviate anywhere from 0.5 to 2.5 metres or about the width of the target.

            Graeme Brights' first stage was testament to his patience dropping just 4 points for a reasonable 46.01 and F class competitors Geoff Willis and Colin Howell likewise did a fair job of countering the “brutal” conditions with scores of 54.2 and 52.4.

            From there on first stage scores declined rapidly to depths not seen for some time and the second stage was little better. Jeff Eppleston who included a magpie three in his first stage 48.1 slumped even further failing to go near the super centre in an inner ridden 46.0. In defence of his shoot he was using a new barrel which needs running in. Howell who had 4 super X’s in his first stage slipped with a 51.2 to just fall short of Willis who stumbled to an X free 52.0. Willis whose last barrel ended up as a garden stake was better pleased with his new choice of rifle.

            Ron Gibson copped a lathering in his first stage but improved 9 points in his second effort whilst Shepherd (+5) and Coghill (+7) also lifted their game. Nick Webster followed the trend with a 12 point improvement in fact actually topping the F class second stage with a 52.1.

            Bright rounded out the day with a disastrous double magpie finish after failing to spot a big wind drop-off. He was however untroubled to win the A grade Cock of the Walk.

             The W & J Brown Shield continues next week at 800 yards with a change of format. The day will consist of a 10 shot match and a 15 shot match for a maximum score for target rifle of 125 and F-class 150

Scores:  
G Bright TRA 91.02 (5) 96;
G S Willis FSA 106.1 (8 ¾) 95 ¾;
G Shepherd TRA 87.04 (8) 95;
C Howell FSB 103.6 (10 1/4) 94 ¼;
J Coghill TRB 81.01 (12) 93;
N Webster FSB 92.1 (12) 86 ¾;
R Gibson TRB 73.01 (12) 85;
J Eppleston FSA 94.1 (6 ¼) 83 ½:

by John Coghill

All scores/plots can be found Here.