KING’S PRIZE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 5 March 1935, Page 2

KING’S PRIZE

NATIONAL RIFLE MEETING A. H. O’DONNELL LEADING trentham shooting (By Telegraph—Press Association) TRENTHAM, 4th March. Witli the completion of all the championship short range matches and one long range match at the end of the day’s shooting at the National Rifle Meeting at Trentham to-day, A. H. O’Donnell, of the Petone Rifle Club, is leading for the King’s Prize with an aggregate score of 286 out of 300. The next two positions are occupied by two Napier marksmen, F. 11. James and R. Nicholson, each'with 282. James was the King’s Prizeman in 1913. Two more long range matches will be decided to-morrow, and the forty marksmen with tlie highest aggregate will compete in the final match for the Championship Belt on Wednesday afternoon. When the shooting commenced in the morning the light was dull’but fairly even. As the day advanced there were occasional patches of sunshine, which caused a mirage, and although conditions were at times tricky and required careful watching, they were not difficult to follow. Dark, low-lying clouds adversely affected visibility in the afternoon, and a strong frontal fishtail breeze also blew down the range. High scores were fairly plentiful at 500 yards in the two range Wellington match, but back at 600 yards there were many crashes and more than one ex-King’s Prizeman returned mediocre figures. The failures were due principally to bad holding rather than to wind variations. The winner of the match was H. Cromio (Ashburton), with 98. He scored the only possible at 600 yards. Second place was filled by K Grigsby (Morriiisville), with 96. F. H. James (Napier), who had a possible at 500 yards, finished in third place with 96. The only other possible at 500 yards was obtained by J. PPetersen (Tararua), but at the 600 yards range he dropped six points. Those who did well at the short range but lost ground at the longer distance included the reigning champion, R. H, Nicholl (Petone). He dropped one point only at 500 yards, but at 600 yards could not do better than a 43. The last of the short range championship matches was the Hawkes Bay match, ten rounds at 600 yards, which was won by A. H. O’Donnell (Petone) with 49. His string of bulls was broken by an “inner” for his second shot. Several dropped only two points, but G. G. Kelly (Auckland City) had the best finish for second place.

TRENTHAM AGGREGATE!

With the completion in the afternoon of the firing in the Hawkes Bay match, the Trentham Aggregate was compiled, •this being awarded for the highest aggregate scores in the' short range Championship Belt matches. First place in the aggregate was gained by O’Donnell with 239 out of a possible of 250. Second highest score was obtained by F. H. James (Napier) with 238, and A. H. Cromie (Ashburton) finished in third position with 235. Six forty-nines were registered in the Taranaki match, ten rounds at 800 yards. First place went to L. Palmer (Otorohanga), and the next two positions in the prize list were occupied by F. H. Sharland (Nelson) and R. Congreve (Old N avals).

THE KING’S PRIZE LEADERS At the end of to-day’s shooting the following were in the lead for the King’s Prize:— A. 11. O’Donnell (Petone) 286 F. H. James (Napier) 282 R. Nicholson (Napier) 282 F. Bowes (Auckland City) 281 E. Ballinger (Petone) 280 A. It. Wills (Invercargill) 280 11. H. Mclntosh (Blenheim) 219 A. R. Elgar (Okato) 279 H. V. Croxton (Karori) 279 C. Whiteman (Upper Hutt) 279 H. Simmonds (Auckland City) 278 W. Johnston (Featherston) ......... 278 C. J. Nix (Featherston) 278 L. E. Braithwaite (Okawa) 278 RESULTS Results are as follows: WELLINGTON MATCH (Ten rounds at 500 and 600 yards) £5—H. A. Cromie (Ashburton), 98. £4—K. Grigsby (Morrinsville), 96. . £3 each—F. H. James (Napier) 96, R. Nicholson (Napier) 95. ' £2 each —D. Roots (Patea) 94, F. C. Hogg (New Plymouth 94, H. H. Mclntosh (Blenheim) 94, L, Davidson (Patea) Thirty-four collected £1 each, and fourteen 10s each. The B gi’ade was won by S. C. Parkinson (Auckland City) with 95. HAWKES BAY MATCH (Ten rounds at 600 yards) £5—A. H. O’Donnell (Petone), 49. £4—G. G. Kelly (Auckland City) 48. £3 each—H. V. Croxton (Karori) 48, H. Simmonds (Auckland City) 48. £2 each—lt. C. Anderson (Invercargill) 48, F. C. Hogg (New Plymouth) 48, E- Ballinger (Petone) 48), G. R. Smith (Okato) 47, R. Nicholson (Napier) 47. Thirty-four took £1 each, and fourteen 10s each. The B grade winner was C. B. Benton (Okato), with 48. TRENTHAM AGGREGATE (For highest score in Canterbury Match, Hawkes Bay Match and Wellington Match) B.S.A. Cup, B.S.A. Gold Medal and 5—A. H. O’Donnell (Petone), 239. £4—F. H. James (Napier) 238.

£3 —H. A. Cromie (Ashburton) 235. £2 each —R. Nicholson (Napier-) 234, F. Bowes (Auckland City) 234. Ten received £1 cadi, and ten 10s each. TARANAKI MATCH (Ten rounds at 800 yards) £5—L. Palmer (Otorolianga) 49. £4 each—F. H. Sharland (Nelson 49, R. Congreve (Old Navals) 49. £3—H. R. Hunt (Suburbs) 49. £2 each—T. W. Warburton (Petone) 49, L. G. Benton (Featherston) 49, J. C. Carter (Petone) 48. £1 10s each—W. H. Ballinger (Petone) 48, H. V. Croxton (Karori) 48. ' Thirty-three received £1 each, and fourteen 10s each. The B grade was won by F. Booking (Cheltenham) with 48. NEW PRESIDENT WELLINGTON, 4th March. Dr. A. F. Ritchie Crawford, of Invercargill, was to-night elected president of 'the National Rifle Association at the annual meeting of members. He succeeds Colonel F. B. Creswell, who lias announced his retirement from that office. THE AUCKLAND MATCH , _ TRENTHAM, This Day. Championship shooting at the National Rifle Meeting at Trentham this morn-, ing was confined to one range of the two-range Auckland match, ten rounds at 800 and 900 yards. The first squads to fire struck a rough patch of weather, but as the morning advanced conditions improved, and scores were consequently higher. The overnight leader for the King’s Rrize, A. H. O’Donnell (Petone) maintained his lead for the Championship Belt by scoring 47 at 800 yards. POOR-QUALITY AMMUNITION ON ISSUE RIFLEMEN’S CRITICISM TRENTHAM, This Day. Criticism of the quality of the ammunition issued to rifle clubs by the Defence Department was voiced at the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association and members of rifle clubs at Trentham last night. It was stated at the latter meeting that owing to the faulty ammunition on issue it was difficult to retain the enthusiasm of members, with the result that attendances at the weekly shoots were decreasing all over the country. Speakers at the meeting of the National Rifle Association contended that the poor quality of the ammunition issued to clubs was largely responsible for the entries for the National Meeting at Trentham not being larger. Rifle clubs’ members capable of good performances become discouraged with their continual failure to achieve results, and did not consider it worth while attending national eveijts. NELSON RIFLEMEN (By Telegraph—Special to “The Mail”) TRENTHAM, 4th March. In the various matches Nelson riflemen scored as follows: Wellington Match—Sharland 91, Jonas 90. Mitchener 90, Russell 83, Neame 85. Hawkes Bay Match—Sharland 46. £1; Neame 45, 10s; Jones 45, Russell 45, Mitchener 44. Taranaki Match—Sharland 49, 70s; Russell 47, £1; Neame 46, £1; Jones 46, Mitchener 40.