SMALL-BORE RIFLE SHOOTING

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 83, 7 April 1936, Page 20

SMALL-BORE RIFLE SHOOTING

i CLUB OPENINGS

SOME PROMISING SCORES

The "Evening Post" Club had another good attendance last week. The shooting was of a high standard, and several of the new members showed further improvement. The best scores were those of G. Oldham 100 (old target), and on the new target H. Allen 69, H. Nickless 69, and J. Bradley 68. Among the ladies Mrs. Day (67) and Mrs. Hollis (65) shot well. PETONE LADIES' CLUB. On Tuesday last the 1936 season of the Petone Ladies' Club was officially opened. Approximately 70 persons were present, including vice-presidents and representatives from the Hutt Valley Ladies, Central and Frontiersmen's Clubs, H.M.S. Leith and H.M.S. Wellington, Mr. and Mrs. Nickless and Mr. and Mrs. Wilson (secretary of the Wellington Miniature Hifle Association). Apologies were received from the Hon. W. Nash (patron) and.Mrs. Nash, Mr. and Mrs. Stickells, Mr. and Mrs. Scambary, and H.M.S. Dunedin. The club president, Mrs. Porter, who was the recipient of a beautiful bouquet, extended a welcome to all present, and called on the naval visitors to fire the first shots. During the evening items rendered by little Colleen Gay and Lieut. Taylor were very much enjoyed. Competition was very keen in the shooting, for which the following received trophies: Mesdames Nickless, Lewis, Lorrigan, Ffrost, and Greenfield; Messrs. Marsden, Porter, Bryan, Nickless, and Petty-Officer Gatehouse, Rooms, and Purks. Thanks to the Petone Ladies' Club were extended by Lieut. Taylor on behalf of the naval visitors and by Mrs. Greenfield, Mr. Porter, and Mr.-Nick-less ("Salvo") on behalf of the vicepresidents and other visitors. A most enjoyable evening was brought to a close with the singing of "Auld Lang Syne." PORT NICHOLSON LADIES. The official opening of the Port Nicholson Ladies' Club was held last week; there was a good attendance of members and visitors. The president, Mr.' Alexander, in declaring the range open, wished the club every success, and then fired the first shot. There was some good shooting among the ladies. Miss Halliday and Miss King are to be congratulated on shooting 68 upon the new targets. The trophies presented for the evening were won by Miss Halliday and Miss King and Messrs. T. McGill and W. V. Philpott. Members of the Port Nicholson Ladies' Club are notified that the next shooting night is Thursday, April 23. SOUTH CLUB. The South Club commenced practice shooting on March 24. The attendance has been good at both practices. There are still a few vacancies for new members. The new metric targets have been adopted, and the scoring, although not as high as on the old targets, has been good. No possibles, have been attained, but several have scored 68's and 69's. The club competitions will commence tonight. During the Easter Show, entrance will be at the top gate, where one of the. officers of the.club will be in attendance from about 7 o'clock onwards. PUBLIC SERVICE CLUB. More than twenty members- attended the opening of the Public Service Club's official season. The president, Mr. Poutawera, welcomed a visiting vice-president, Mr. W. E. Arnold, Commissioner of the Government Life Insurance Department, and called upon him to declare the season open. Mr. Arnold wished the club and its members every success. He said he was very glad to accept office as vicepresident; he had been interested in the sport for a long time. He called upon the lady captain, Mrs. Furlong, to fire the first shot. Two teams of eleven aside were picked by the lady captain and the club captain, Mr. Craig. The captain's team was successful, the scores being 679 against 630. Nobody scored the possible, 70, but H. V. Ci;oxton and L. R. Poutawera each got 69, and W. A. Nicholson got 68. Mesdames Croxton and Furlong scored 65 each. Among the new shots very creditable performances were put up by Mrs. Seaton and Messrs. W. E. Arnold and A. Williams. The new metric; target was used. REAL HELP TO OUTSIDE. SHOOTING. Small-bore shooting in relation to full bore is dealt with by J. C. Walker in the "Rifleman." He says:— For some curious reason many service, rifle shots are still under the impression that small-bore shooting is of little help to improve one's full-bore shooting. If they would only try smallbore work some of them would soon discover that their holding was anything but as good as they thought. • It stands to reason that a man who can hold the carton (one minute of angle) at 25 yards with the small-bore rifle and knock up consistent strings of "possibles" and 99's, will make a thundering good group at 200 yards and. over with: the service rifle on bulls that are two minutes of angle at least, once he has gained experience in wind judging. For years I paid my annual visit to Bisley with the service rifle, but could only manage to scramble into some of the "M" prize lists with a certain .amount of luck. Just over three years ago I took up small-bore shooting seriously, shot summer and winter, and have since discovered that I can shoot through a hard Bisley meeting with the full-bore* without feeling in the least fatigued. This year I managed to finish 18th in the "King's Final." Hitherto I had not even got into the second stage; What little success I have achieved so far with the service rifle I owe to consistent practice throughout the year with the' small-bore rifle.' i My advice to full-bore marksmen who have no use for small-bore shooting is to try a few 25-yard cards with the small-bore weapon next time they get suspicious about their hold and trigger pressing. The .22 will soon discover any flaws. When the bull's-eyes at Bisley are made smaller in 1936 it is the full-bore-cum-small-bore marksmen who will again fill the premier places in most of the prize lists. I hope 'another full-bore-cum-small-bore shot will ride in the chair again next year,