News

Bathurst Rifle Club Inc. 19th January 2019, Hon. R L Gilmour Cup, 300yards

            It is rare that the conditions on the Bathurst Rifle Range give much consideration to shooters but Saturday was such a day.  There was little to no breeze, and with the cloud cover, only a slight mirage was evident. However the whisper of breeze swapped sides in a show of defiance and cruelled all contestants’ hopes of the elusive maximum with not one possible scored.

                Gordon Shepherd came closest but a wild last shot inner four brought a groan from the spectators and ruined a big performance. His 49.06 was however sufficient to secure the Cock of the Walk from Graeme Bright who came close after a magpie in the first stage set him a mammoth task to stay in contention, and despite a 49.01 second stage fell one point and a heap of centres short. Steve Williams who surprisingly had a moderate first stage 46.03 bounced back with a 48.06 second stage but that was too little too late to collect the bickies.

                 B grade produced a close contest with Dennis Lavelle turning around his one point defeat by Ron Gibson last week to secure his third COW of the year by the same margin. John Coghills' woes continued with a poor showing using his big bore .308.

                In F class Colin Howell showed his liking for the shorter ranges with a dominant performance in taking out the COW by three points. Howell shot an equal top first stage 58.4 and then finished that off with 59.3.  Grahame Willis who matched Howells’ first stage faltered with a disappointing 56.3 second stage as did Jeff Eppleston who despite shooting a competitive 57.2 first stage followed that up with a 54.1.

                From there the scores settled in the 105-108 range with Ben Wright leading an injured Geoff Willis still nursing a sore elbow and Phil Mahon who shot a magnificent super bull’s eye on the wrong target making up the numbers.                 

                There were some very good performances from first time shooters Andrew and Lewis Dunshea and Luke Engle who wrung the very best out of the club .223 scoped rifle. Andrew claimed parental rights over Lewis with a big 58.3 second stage but the margin was only 3 points after Lewis shot a solid 57.2. Engle who is finding Bathurst a welcome change from the hustle bustle of Sydney found the mark with an even better 57.4. All three showed excellent potential and are looking forward to contesting the longer distances in coming weeks.

                The Festival of Sydney Prize shoot will drag 4 of our top shooters away from the Gilmour Cup contest next week on the Bathurst range which continues along with the fifth 500 yard Championship.  

 Scores:   
R Gibson TRB 91.04 (12) 100
C Howell FSB 117.7 (3 ¼) 100
G Shepherd TRA 96.09 (4 ¼) 100
S Williams TRA 94.09 (5) 99
G Bright TRA 95.03 (3 ¾) 98 ¾
D Lavelle TRB 92.05 (6 ¾) 98 ¾
G P Willis FSA 114.7 (4) 98 ¼
P Mahon FSB 105.4 (12) 97 ½
B Wright FSB 108.4 (8 ¾) 97 ¼
J Eppelston FSA 111.3 (3 ½) 95 ½
J Coghill TRB 82.01 (11 ¼) 93 ¼
G S Willis FSA106.4 (4 ¼) 92
A Dunshea FSB 113.5
L Dunshea FSB 110.3
L Engle FSB 109.6

by John Coghill

All scores/plots can be found Here.