RIFLE SHOOTING

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22274, 13 December 1937, Page 14

RIFLE SHOOTING

NOTES AND COMMENTS [By BULLSEYE.] Fixtures December 18—Christchurch Defence Club’s third three-range competition (300, 500, and 600 yards), at Redcliffs. December 18—Sydenham Defence Club s third competition at Redcliffs. December 27—Canterbury championship meeting at Redcliffs. Shield Match Abandoned Unsuitable weather on Saturday caused the Oakes Shield challenge match, between the Ashburton Defence Club (the holder) and the Sydenham Defence Club (the challenger), to be abandoned for the second time this season. Both clubs have strong teams, and a good contest was expected. There now appears little likelihood of the match taking place until towards the end of the season. New South Wales Meeting Entries are still coming in remarkably well for the New South Wales sesquicentenary matches, and the fol Wales completed list to date;— New South Wales (metropolitan) 150. New South f Wales (country) 315. Victoria 130. South au= tralia 72. Queensland 94. Darwin 1. New Zealand 31. Tasmania 7. Western Australia 12. South Africa 14, Great Britain More than 90 per cent, are entered for the A series. The total number ffind* vidual entries now to hand is 902. It been decided to accept up to 1400 entries the cached b The^ I’ar 1 ’are en 674 of r?guTa'?’ competitors who have not yet, sent their e " tn “’ rv but la ree association has received a larg £ number of entries from new men. therefore looks as though s°me n i P c S old competitors will be shut out lime they send their entries soon.

South African Team The South African rifle team, wjjteli will leave Cape Town by the Themistocles on December 31. and is due to arr JY® Sydney for the scsquicentenary matches on January 20 next, consists of the following: Colonel R. Bodley, commandant. Lieutenant Clocte, adjutant; Lieutenant Narfontien, Sergeants Boxhall. J. E. Johnson A. E. Spradbury. Messrs Baxter, Bramley, Gibb. Griffiths. Hague. McCurrock. and Melville. ~ Bodlcv. Johnson, and Spradbury weie members of the South African team whicn won the Mackinnon Cup at Bisley in 193(1. Of the three. Colonel Bodley is known to Empire riflemen because or ms many outstanding successes, both at homo and at Bisley. Sergeant Johnson will be remembered as the competitor who was announced to the world as the winner of the 1936 "King’s” at Bisley. only to be subsequently displaced bv another South African, Sergeant Basschau. Cablegrams and telegrams bad been dispatched to all parts of the Empire, announcing Johnson as the winner. Spectators and National Rifle Association officials alike had overlooked the fact that Basschau’s target had been put out of action by the gale which was then blowing, and that he had five. to go. He required 24 of the possible 25 points to win. and he was successful in scoring this total. Empire Trophy

The Empire trophy, presented by Australian riflemen in 1907 to commemorate the first visit to Australia of a British team, has not gone round the Empire like (he Kola pore and Mackinnon challenge prizes. Of the nine contests Australia has been successful five times, and Great Britain has won the others. Australians, too. have held the upper hand at record-making for the competition. The highest possible score is 2400, and the Australian team at the 1924 Bislev set the unbeaten aggregate of 2248 points. The margin of error was 19 points a rifle in a possible of 300, or 3.16 points average of a possible 50 a rifle at each distance. Australia's winning score at Bisley this year was 26 points below this record. Great Britain’s highest card was 2210. when it won in 1013, hut the South Africans, who made themselves deservedly famous at Bisley a year ago, scored 2216 when runners-up to Australia in 1924. Jottings Preparations arc well in hand for the Canterbury championship meeting to be held at Redcliffs on Boxing Day. It is expected that 16 to 18 targets will be m use during the meeting. According to advice and inquiries received from rifle clubs throughout the South Island, the entry should be a record one Every encouragement has been given to the tyro shot this year, and this will no doubt lead to additional entries. What might be a world's record, was put up by Lieutenant C. F. Kennedy, of Canada. at the Canadian Rifle Association's meeting this year. In recording full scores for each of his seven shots at 200. 500, and 600 yards, he equalled and possibly established a world record under the conditions—a five-inch "bull” at 200 yards and 15-inch "bull” at 500 and 600 yards. There is no record of any similar score having been recorded anywhere previously. Next to Kennedy’s 105 was Major J. W. Houlden, with 34, 35, 35—104. He wont on to become runner-up in the Governor-General’s final, which is similar to the King's prize in Now Zcaalnd. A place in the annual Canadian rifle' team to Bisley is restricted to members of the Canadian military forces. This restriction has applied only during recent years, before which members of civilian rifle clubs were also eligible. The leader in the British Hundred Roll, C. A. Sutherland, of the Angus Rifle Club, is putting on some very fine scores in this

and 600-yard ranges. Scores were:—loo, 100, 101, 102, 103, 103 respectively. F. E. B. Guise (Gloucester), a noted British short-range marksman, is next in order with a total of 60S. Club fixtures throughout Canterbury were postponed on Saturday because of the wet weather. . , H. A. (“Harry") Cromie, of the Ashburton Defence Rifle Club, is the sole Canterbury representative, in the New Zealand team for the Australian sesquicentennial meeting. A brief history of his record is as follows:; —Winner of Canterbury championship title in 1924; third in the King’s prize at the national meeting at Trentham last March, and has been fourth, sixth, and eleventh since 1932; winner of Rifle Challenge Cup 1932-34; third in service championship, 1930; member of team which won the champion teams| match and the champion service teams' match at Trentham in 1930; winner of Ashburton Club’s championship from 1934Cromie previously visited Sydney with the Petone Club in 1932, and on that occasion finished seventeenth in the Longfield aggregate and fifty-ninth in the "King’s.” The Mirage The greatest difficulties of the beginner are on the days when the wind is certainly changing, but the flags are either lazy or flying all ways at once. It is then that he realises that he has to learn about the mirage. When the wind is so strong that it requires an allowance of eight degrees at 600 yards, the mirage is running too fast for satisfactory reading; above this strength of wind the flags must generally be used alone; below, both flags and mirage can be used in conjunction. Mirage is especially useful when shooting in fish-tail winds. As a general rule, if the flags differ from the mirage, trust the mirage. When a fish-tail wind is blowing, the w J nd may change from left to right. When the wind is "dead in.” that is, blowing straight up or down the range, the mirage will have a curious appearance, and is said to boil. Then no windage is required. The amount of change on the wind scale which is required for a certain change in the wind, as shown by a variation of the mirage or flag position, cannot be calculated by any rule; only experience will tell how much allowance is necessary. Therefore plenty of practice in wind-judging is required, and this is only of use when the marksman is holding so well as to have no errors due to bad shots. If he is not holding well, the errors of holding are added to the errors of wind-judging, and the wrong idea is obtained.