RIFLE SHOOTING

Evening Star, Issue 22895, 1 March 1938, Page 14

RIFLE SHOOTING

THE KING'S PRIZE D. ROOTS IN THE LEAD A PROTEST LODGED (Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, Feb. 28. Rapid wind changes were responsible for many low scores at the national rifle meeting at Trentham today, when firing took place in three of the matches of the Championship Belt series. At the conclusion of the day’s shooting, D. Roots (Patea) was leading for the King’s Prize with an aggregate score of 287 out of a possible 300, but a protest lodged against the time he took in one of the afternoon matches has yet to be considered by the executive. He holds his present place as leading man for the King’s Prize subject to ,the decision on this protest, which was lodged by a New Zealand competitor, A South African, L. Serfontein is in second place with 284 and the commandant of the visitors, Colonel R. Bodley. is third with 282. E. M. Wrigley (Opaki) occupies the fourth position with a similar score. As a result of to-day’s shooting all the short-range and middle-distance matches in the Championship ’ Belt series have been fired and to-morrow the marksmen will move back to the long ranges for the three remaining matches in the series before the firing of the final match for the King’s Prize, Although the weather was fine, boisterous conditions were experienced on the range, a rear fishtail wind changing rapidly from left to right. At times it reached almost gale force and seldom were the pennants down the sides and middle of the range blowing in the same direction. The wind required careful watching, but very often those who got their shots away quickly had the best results. Some were inclined to be over-cautious, with the result that a sudden change in the direction of the wind carried the bullet out to near the edge of the aiming mark. For part of the day there was bad light, although the force of the wind moderated slightly in the afternoon the vagaries of the breeze were just as bad as in the morning, and many experienced men were unable to master the conditions. Non-observance by some competitors of the time limit of one minute perf shot was the subject of much adverse comment on the range. During the morning shooting cases occurred of marksmen taking close on half an hour to score their 10 rounds instead of the stipulated time. This frequently meant that the last men in the squads to fire were unduly penalised by having less time to shoot than those who fired before them. In New Zealand the time limit is the same as that in force at Bisley, but in Australia the limit is 45sec. Reference to the long time taken by some competitors was made by the chief range officer. Captain A. H. L. Sugden, when the marksmen assembled at the squadding posts after the luncheon adjournment. He said that the rule had not been observed during the morning as it should have been, and that he had instructed the range staff to deduct shots if the time limit was not adhered to during the afternoon shooting. There had also been slackness in scoring, and he had seen instances of scorers asking a competitor what he. had made instead of informing him of his score A protest against the time taken by Roots with his shooting in the ■ afternoon in the Otago Match (10 rounds at 300 yards), in which he made a possible, has been lodged with the executive. The protest will be considered to-morrow morning, and in the meantime the prize lists for the match and also for the Trentham Aggregate, which is awarded for the highest scores in the short-range and middle-distance , belt matches, have been withheld pending determination of the protest by the executive. However, the tentative list of leaders for the King’s Prize is an indication of the order that the marksmen will take in the prize list for the Trentham Aggregate. The two-range Wellington match, of 10 rounds at 500 and 600 yards, was fired in the morning. The match was won by W. N. Kummer (Opaki) with 97. He had 49, at 500 yards and 48 at the second range. L. Serfontein (South Africa) finished in second place with 96 and D. J. Guiney (Petone) was third with 95. He had the highest individual score at 600 yards, where he dripped only one point. Three men, V. E. Donald (Featherston), Roots and a tyro, T. Gaudin (Mataura), had possibles at 500 yards, but all of them dropped several points at the next range. Forty-nines were frequent at the shorter ranges. With the completion of four matches in the championship series, the following marksmen are leading for the King’s Prize:— __ , j. D. Roots (Patea) .. .. ... 287 L. Serfontein (South Africa) ... 284 R. Bodley (South Africa) ... .. 282 E. M. Rigley (Opaki) 282 B. Taylor (Stratford) .. .. .. 281 A. R. Symons (Okaua) .. 281 P. N. McVicar (Waipukurau) .. 281 M. Eksteen (South Africa) ~ -. 279 F. H. James (Napier) .... .. 279 R. Congreve ; (Old Navals) .. .. 278 A. H. O’Donnell (Petone) .. .. 278 R. H. Nicholl (Petone) ~ .. ~ 277 H. King (Masterton) .. ..... 277 P. R. Catley (Levin) 277 F. T. Hite (Taradale) •• .. .. 277 H. A. Lumsden (Hautere) .. .. 277 R. F. Wakefield (Ashhurst) .. .. 276 P. Churcher (Cheltenham) .. .. 276 P. Coote (Nelson College) .. .. 276 P. G. Bapty (Indian Army) .. .. 276 W, H. Masefield (Blenheim) .. 276 J. I. King (Karori) .... .. .. 275 H. J. Brehaut (Okawa) 275 D. F. Keir (Christchurch) . • .. 275 J. H. Kearney (Napier) ■•. .. .. 275 F. Whitehead (Cheltenham) .. 274 H. A. Crorffle (Ashburton) .. 274 K. Griffiths (South Africa) .. .. 274 P. Berry (Tararua) 274 R. Bramley (South Africa) .. .. 274 F. Bowes (Auckland) 274 H. R. Hunt (Suburbs) .. .. .. 274 J. R. Draffin (Akarana) 273 P. W. Congreve (Old Navals) 273 D. P. Donald (Opaki) 273 T. Goodall (Suburbs) .. .. .. 272 H. W. Feast (Greytown) ~ .. 272 J. R. Keoghan (Westport) .. 272 H. Frankland (Karori) .. .. 272 J. H. Thompson (Wairakei) . . 272 P. B. Goldfinch (Karori) .. .. 272 D. Banks (Kimbolton) .. .. 272 L. Boxhall (South Africa) .. .. 272 L. Share (Karori) 272 L. E. Braithwaile (Okawa) ~ 271 A. C. Edmonds (Alfredton) .. 271 M. Holland (Ashburton) .. .. 271 C. H. Hickenbotham (Christchurch) 271 G. G. Kelly (Christchurch) .. 271 R. J. King (Opaki) 271 L. H. Proffitt (Napier) .. .. 271 J. Huston (Patea) .. 271 S. A. Pruden (New Plymouth) .. 271

Following were the results of matches to-day:— WELLINGTON MATCH. (Ten Rounds at 500yds and 600yds) £5 —W. N. Kummer (Opaki) 97. £4—L. Serfontein (South Africa) 96. £3 each —D. J. Guiney (Petone) 95, F. Ligh toller (Dannevirke) 95. £2 each—P. Churcher (Cheltenham) 95 C. J. Nix (Featherston) 95, V. E. Donald (Opaki) 95. R. Bodley (South Africa) 95. . Thirty-four competitors received £1 each, and 24 10s each. The B Grade was won by P. Coote (Nelson) with 94. He received £3. Colquhoun (Akarana) and E. A. Johns (Auckland), with 94 and 93 respectively, received £2 each. HAWKE’S BAY MATCH. (Ten rounds at 600 yards) £s—B. Taylor (Stratford) 48. £4—H. A. Croinie (Ashburton) 48. £3 each—F. Whitehead (Cheltenham) 48, L. Serfontein (South Africa) 47. £2 each—H. L. Mason (Christchurch) 47, D. Roots (Patea) 47, R. Bodley (South Africa) 47. P. ,R. Cloete (South Africa) 47. Thirty-four competitors received £1 each and twenty-four 10s each. J. C. Kelly (Auckland) was the winner of the B Grade with 47. He receives £3. The runner-up was C. L. Monckton (Waipukurau) with 46. He takes £2 in prize money. The first places in the Tyro Grade were filled by D. B. Collie (Invercargill) and A. Falconer (Mataura), each with 44. A challenge trophy for competition by teams taking part in the Interprovincial Teams’ Match, to jae fired for the first time the day before the opening of the National Rifle Association's ankual meeting next year, has been promised to the association by Major P.. S. Bapty, formerly of the Indian Army, who is competing at the present meeting at Trentham. Major Bapty said to-day that he was having a most enjoyable time on the range at Trentham, and that he would like to present some trophy as a reminder, of his . happy association with New Zealand riflemen. \

Keen appreciation of Major Bapty’s gift was expressed by the chairman of the executive of the association (Mr W. Mcßain). He said the gift would keep Major Bapty’s name fresh in the memory of riflemen.