RIFLE SHOOTING

Southland Times, Issue 21362, 7 April 1931, Page 7

RIFLE SHOOTING

OTAGO ASSOCIATION. FINAL COMPETITIONS HELD. (Per United Press Association.) Dunedin, April 6. The final competitions in the Otago Rifle Association’s Easter meeting which were ' held this morning were marked by excep- ■ tionally keen competition and some brilliant 1 shooting. In the early part of the morning conditions were very bad and shooting was postponed for an hour when the weather cleared. The competitions included teams matches for the Ladies’ Challenge Shield and the Ashburton Cup. The former is for competition among marksmen in Otago and Southland, while the latter is open to riflemen from all over New Zealand. At 300 yards excellent shooting was recorded, three possibles being scored by three different individuals. At the 500 yards range, competition was very close, and two more possible scores were recorded. At both these ranges the Dunedin A team, led with the excellent score of 168 points per range. At the 600 yards range conditions were much harder, the light being bad and the wind tricky. The highest team score at this range was put up by Dunedin B and Kiwi B both of which registered 159 points. The aggregates of the various competing teams were;— Dunedin A: (Riflemen O. G. Miller, A. Dippie, H. Potter, R. Graham and Lieut. R. J. McGill) 476. Kiwi A: (Riflemen W. S. Mills, H. Stinson, C. McKeich, R. Fenney and F. Clayton) 475. Dunedin B: (Riflemen A. Parker, W. A. Graham, W. Facer, J. Benfell and R. Mackie) 473. Kiwi B: 472. Invercargill City Guards: 463. Invercargill; 464. I Oamaru: 455. Gimmerburn: 450. • West Taieri: 437. HIGH STANDARD INVERCARGILL TEAMS’ SCORES. (Special to the Times.) Dunedin, April 5. The Otago Rifle Association’s meeting concluded this morning, when the Ladies’ Challenge Shield and Ashburton Cup teams’ matches were fired. Rain fell steadily in the morning and the start was delayed for an hour. The visibility was very bad throughout the match and the tricky wind upset many promising scores. Nine teams competed and the shooting was of a high standard. Both trophies were won by the Dunedin Rifle Club’s A team, who shot brilliantly at the first two ranges and won by the narrow margin of one point from the Kiwi Club’s (Dunedin) A team. Two possibles were registered at- 300 yards, G. Nicol (City Guards) and J. Dippie (Dunedin A) securing the coveted honour. At 500 yards A. Ford (City Guards) and F. Parker (Dunedin B) secured possibles, and at 600 yards R. Gillick (Kiwi A) was top scorer with 34. The winning team’s score, 476, is a record for the match, being three points ahead of the score by the City Guards team last year. The two Southland teams shot well, the City Guards team being fifth, eight points behind the winners, with the Invercargill Club’s team a further four points behind. The Invercargill teams’ scores were:—

300yds 500yds 600yds Total A. Ford 31 35 31 97 G. Nicol 35 30 31 96 R. Ure 30 32 32 94 J. Tansley 32 34 27 93 W. McChesney 30 30 28 88 468 ■' Invercargill. 300yds 500yds 600yds Total A. R. Wills 34 32 33 99 W. E. Diack 32 34 29 95 C. H. Wilson 1 29 33 29 91 H. H. Moss 29 '32 29 90 W. Milley 28 33 28 89 464