RIFLE SHOOTING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 82, 19 March 1928, Page 3

RIFLE SHOOTING

THE ARMY MEETING HAWKE’S BAY SUCCESSES. A VINE PERFORMANCE. Hawke’s Bay oadeU avd territorial* were, as was shown by the press messages, very successful at the Army ride meeting at Trentham, when they succeeded in carrying off the following trophies:—Stafford Shield, A.R.A. Challenge Shield, Lewis Gun champion trophy, and 14 A.R.A. Silver spoons. The first success gained in a team event was the Lewis anti-aircraft match, won by two points from Ist Otago, an Oamaru team. As this was the first year this event has been on the programme the win was very creditable. The same night two night-firing competitions were held. In the Vickers gun match the Hastings team established a record of 132 hits out of 200 rounds fired. The merit of this win can be best judged by the fact that 17 teams competed and Hawke’s Bay scored more points than the remainder put together. NIGHT FIRING. In the Lewis gun and rifle section night firing three Verey lights are sent up at intervals of about 20 seconds and the team engages a row of figures at about 150 yards. Wanganui were first with 60 hits and Hawke’s Bay second with 43 points. In the Regimental teams match 26 teams competed, including a Permanent Staff team from each command. In this the Hawke’s Bay team put up their best performance as they won by the comfortable margin of 22 points. In the Vickers gun championship Hakwke’s Bay finished sixth. Seventeen teams competed. In the Lewis gun championship the Hawke’s Bay team were again successful with a score of 104 points, having a margin of 14 points over the second team. The last of the teams matches was the battle practice event and the Hawke’s Bay team were again successful, winning, by over 40 points. Summarised, Hawke’s Bay were eligible to compete in seven team events and their record was: 5 firsts, 1 second and 1 unplaced (sixth) — a record that should stand for years. THE VARIOUS TEAMS. The teams were as follows:— Lewis Anti-aircraft.—Sergeant L. Hampton, Corporal A. Hood, LanceCorporal J. M. Carmichael, 4ind Lance-Corporal A. R. Symons, all of Hastings. The same team also won the Lewis gun championship. Vickers gun team.—Sergeant D. R. Graham, Lance-Corporal W. J. Burton, Lance-Corporal P. Crawford, Lance-Corporal J. C. Cater, and Private J. Forrest, all of Hastings. The rifle championship team.—D. R. Graham, W. J. Burton, J. M. Carmichael, L. Hampton, A. R. Symons, of Hastings; Sergeant G. W. Stewart and Corporal H ,E. flllis, of Napier; Sergeant Slade, of Gisborne.

CADET SERIES. In the cadet series all the Hawke’s Bay representatives showed up well, in the prize list and Cadet C. Burton, of Hastings, finished third in the championship, taking the A.R.A. bronze medal. In the rifle matches several good performances were recorded, the most consistent firer being Corporal H. E. Ellis, of Napier, and Lance-Corporal J. M. Carmichael, both of whom finished well up in the Armv Championship and the King’s Medal. The best performance was in getting ten men in the King’s 100, which, considering that there were 600 competitors and 25 units represented, was really good for one unit. Tlie team from W.E.C. Mounted Rifles (Waipukurau) were also well up in the prize list and in the Vickers gun match finished second, two points behind the winners. Trooper F. A. Burgess also won the second stage of the army championship Lance-Corporal Carmichael, son of Mr. Carmichael, of the Hastings railway staff, made a good showing for the King’s Medal, coming eighth on the list. He was looked upon as a likely winner, in view of his averages through the meeting, but though he maintained his scoring at two of the ranges he fell away in the snap firing. Sergt.-Major O’Leary, who was in charge of the team, has reason to be proud of his lads, who responded so well to his tuition and training. The team of fifteen brought home in prize money eight shilling short of £lOO. INTER-CLUB MATCH. NAPIER DEFEATS OKAWA. On Saturday afternoon the Tutaekuri range was the scene of an interesting teams’ match between the Okawa and Napier Clubs. Although the wind maintained a steady strength, the light was very changeable. Napier A were the winners with the good total of 478. while the Napier B team finished with an advantage of 21 points over Okawa B. Rifleman L. E. Brathwaite, of Napier A, with the fine score of 100 points, registered the best individual total. Following are the detailed scores:— NAPIER A

WAIPUKURAU CLUB. Tile final round for the Harding Cup and the fourth round for the Hunter Shield and Hodge Cup wore tired at Mount Vernon range on Saturday. L. F. Taylor headed the Ifct for Mrs Harding’s Cup and Rifleman J. Granger secured top score in the Hunter Shield and Hodge Cup competition. Mrs Harding’s Cup was won by Rifleman A. Chamoers, with an aggregate of 177, Rifleman J. Granger being, the runner-up with 175 and Rifleman J R. Atkin s third with 174. The leaders in the shield and Hodge Cup, with one shoot to go, are:— Shield: L. J. Taylor 391, F. McVicar 391, C. Woodward 389, A. Chambers 387, J. R. Atkins 385. Hodge Cup: J. R. Atkins 396. C. Woodward 394, A. Chambers 393 D. Cochrane. 393. The loaders in the aggregate belt, with two shoots to go. are:— J, R. Atkin s 513. A. Chambers 508. F. McVicar 507 C Woodward 507. L. J. Taylor 502. Detailed scores are as follow:— MRS HARDING’S CUP

300 500 600 Tl. Yds. Yds. Yds. T«. E. Brathwaite 34 34 32 100 G Eyles 32 32 32 96 L. Profitt 33 31 32 96 F James 32 .33 29 94 R Nicholson .... 31 34 27 92 Total 478 OKAWA A Pres. W Green 30 33 31 94 F White 30 33 30 93 S. Palmer 28 31 30 '8& J. Mathewson .. 30 32 27 89 F. Hum ph revs . ■“) 39 86 .AP1EK B L E. Brathwaite 31 31 31 96 A. J, Smith .... 30 34 28 92 Pres. Hawkins .. 29 32 28 89 p Fxldv 29 29 30 88 L. Smith 25 29 30 84 Total 449

OKAWA B. D. Thompson .. . 29 33 32 94 H Furnisis .... . 30 30 28 88 G. Long . 30 30 26 86 R. Cleary . 29 26 27 82 E. Rivers . 24 28 26 78 Total 428

500 600 n. L. J Taylor (scr) 44 45 89 J R Atkins (-1) 45 40 89 D. Cochrane (15) 38 35 88 F. McVicar (scr) 44 43 87 S. Annand (9) .., 45 29 83 J. Granger (5) ... 42 34 82 A. Chambers (scr) 40 40 80 W. G Bryce (scr) 43 37 80 J. McBride (15) 26 37 78 SHIELD AND HODGE CUP. Yds. Yds. Yds. 300 500 600 Tl. Granger (4) .’... 46 45 38 133 Atkin s (51 46 41 89 181 Annand (21) .... 37 41 32 131 McVicar (scr) .. 44 48 38 130 Casserlv (26) ... 86 36 31 129 Chambers (scr) .. 41 43 45 129 Woodward (scr) 44 45 39 128 Cochrane (14) ... 41 32 41 128 Bryce (scr) 42 42 38 122 Fryer (scr) 44 39 38 121 Taylor (scr) .... 4? 43 36 121 Bird (26) ' 32 35 27 120