RIFLE TEMPERAMENT

Southland Times, Issue 19831, 30 March 1926, Page 4

RIFLE TEMPERAMENT

NATIONAL MEETING SIDELIGHTS. YOUTH AND AGE ON THE RANGE. TRICKS OF THE POINT-GETTER. Some of the older rifle shots, who were at Trentham last week for the national rifle meeting, have not yet recovered from their astonishment at the splendid climatic conditions which characterised the gathering (says the New Zealand Times). “It’s not Trentham at all,” said one old man who came to the meeting laden with waterproof coats, waterproof sheets to lie upon, and everything alse in his assorted kit especially designed to withstand the roughest spell of wintry weather. They were all used to the Trentham of treacherous winds and almost ceaseless rains, and could hardly understand the exceptional spell of the finest weather yet experienced for any rifle meeting held on these ranges. So hot was it one day that the marksmen who were firing fifteen rounds at 800 yards, were burning their fingers on their rifle barrels, while some of those who struck trouble with nickling. worked laboriously in the broiling sun, with the perspiration streaming from their faces and necks.

But they enjoyed it all. They were quite happy in their nondescript garb. Some shot in shirt and trousers; others went down in military kit, while one young fellow did all his shooting in a heavy military overcoat. And he got well up in the King’s Fifty. THE YOUNG SHOTS.

One of the characteristics of the meeting was the manner in which the young shots distinguished themselves. Cadet H. Judkins, of Christchurch, who shot well in all the matches, and helped himself liberally to the prize money, accomplished an achievement when he put on the possible at 900 yards in the final series of matches for inclusion in the King’s Fifty. In the final shoot he registered the creditable score of 49.

The story has been told of a youthful shot from the south, who, with creditable determination and grit, worked his passage through the meeting on his winnings, and emerged with about £lO and a rifle, which he purchased out of the prize money, and which served him faithfully in all matches. This instrument will no doubt be one of his most treasured possessions in years to come, when he scans the trophies on his sideboard in the drawing-room; for a man of his spirit will go far on the ranges. Conversely the old shots have distinguished themselves with «jual merit. Doubtless the oldest man on the range was “Tam” Fraser, who although not claiming to be the oldest shot at the meeting .(this distinction belongs to Colonel Ross) has | appeared for many years at the annual shoot, and went down to it like a youth. The first match in which he fired, his name figured among the prize winners, while in other matches he drew various amounts. THE iRIFLE TEMPERAMENT. The temperament of the rifleman is I something to be studied. Not till one ► watches him on the range is it appreciated how he works in with the elements. Shrewdness is not the least of his attributes, and he witches the range flags like a cat watches the proverbial mouse. A man gets a shot away while the flags are in a certain position, and if he has to wait minutes he will not get his next shot away till he Isees the flags in almost the same position. -neaffiire at Xbe

range. The advantage of this was shown on Friday, when the real Trentham fishtail wind was troubling the marksmen. One prominent shot from the south scored only seven out of a possible of 50 in the morning, so when he went down to the long range in the afternoon he took exactly half an hour to get away his ten shots, registering 49 out of the same possible. Nearby was Caldwell, the winner of the Belt, who got his ten shots away in seven minutes. Temperament was shown in all its nakedness on Saturday, when the final fifty went doyvn at 900 yards. The strain on the riflemen was terrific, and was plainly discernible on the countenances of some of the finalists. One man, who was well up on the list, after getting his ten shots away, could not rise from the mound without assistance, and had to be artificially revived. REACTION TELLS A STORY.

In most cases, it was the reaction after the strain. Just whether it was nerves which caused the veteran shot Simmonds to go to pieces in the shoot off for the Belt, it is difficult to say, for he has the reputation of being without nerves. When a man drops his rifle at the end of a strenuous shoot, and says to himself, “Well, I have finished—win or lose,” and then finds that he has to go down on the mound and fight his battle over again, the reaction would be greater than the initial strain. One man, when shooting off in the King’s prize match, found difficulty in hitting the target at all, and his card registered several crosses —signifying misses. Such is the temperament of the rifleman. But the meeting teaches them many things; and there are many little pages from the Book of Life enacted there. One marksman who was present at the 1925 meeting was called away in the middle of a match to attend the funeral of his mother. He attended the meeting last week, and in the same match crashed put him out of the • fifty. AN ASTUTE MOVE. Very few riflemen get away with any points on the range officers, who are ever ready for their shrewd point-getting moves, and who try, as far as possible, to get the shots away to the time limit. The story is recounted, however, of a well-known marksman who attended a meeting at which only Army service rifles without slings were used. It was not noticed till afterwards—and then by one of his friends—that the manner in which he won the big money was a particularly clever one. By turning a raincoat inside out of the mound and making concertinas of the sleeves, he constructed for himself an infrprovised sling. When he went down, he placed his elboys in the arm holes and stretched. In tkis manner he secured a steady hold of his rifle. This i$ only one of the tricks of the game. There are many more. When Trentham is in a bad mood it finds them out, for even the most astute riflemen cannot effectively counter the true fish-tail wind.