RIFLE SHOOTING

Southland Times, Issue 21581, 19 December 1931, Page 20

RIFLE SHOOTING

(By "Spotter.”) The Otafara range is available to clubs again and the local clubs are hard at it in preparation for the holiday fixtures. Southland riflemen will be well catered for during the Christmas and New Year holidays. The teams match which is being conducted by the Gore Club on Boxing Day at the McNab rifle range will prove a pleasant outing, while the Southland Rifle Association’s annual championship fixture to be fired at Otatara on January 1 and 2 will draw competitors from all the Southland clubs and entries arc expected from the Otago province. This year the annual competition for the Mackenzie Challenge Shield will be held on the McNab rifle range on Boxing Day, the fixture to be controlled by the Gore Rifle Club. The conditions of the match are seven shots with two optional sight ers at 300, 500 and 600 yards, teams to be of five men from any rifle club or defence unit with the Southland military district, each club or unit being allowed to enter any number of teams. Shooting will commence at 9 a.m. and it is expected that the match will be finished at 5 o’clock. The decision of the Southland Rifle Association in granting the Gore Club permission to conduct the Mackenzie Challenge Shield match is a wise one and will undoubtedly give an impetus to rifle shooting in the Eastern District. The clubs in the Eastern District are strong numerically and take a keen interest in their own club competitions and the. opportunity of meeting together on one range and measuring their skill with outside clubs will do a lot in the way of improving the standard of shooting and most important of all will foster the true club spirit. It is expected that, at least fifteen teams will face tho range officer at this fixture and the match will probably be the keen est ever fought in Southland. The Invercargill Club is sending three teams, City Guards two, Wakatipu one (possibly two), Gore three and Nightcaps, Mataura, Waikaia, Balfour, Pukerau, and Clinton will be represented. The executive of the Gore Club can be relied upon to see that everything is carried out without a hitch. Six targets are available and everything will be in readiness for a start when teams arrive at the range. Secretaries of clubs requiring any information can obtain same from the secretary of the Gore club, Mr C. AL Wilson, P.O. Box 133, Gore, or phone 4, Gore. Only New Zealand ammunition can be used in the Mackenzie Challenge Shield Match this year and it is possible that specially listed 1928 cordite will be available to teams.

The programme for the Southland Rifle Association’s annual championship meeting is out and has been circulated amongst the clubs. The programme is practically the same as last year’s, the number of matches being the same. The B grade prize list is deleted, the grades being confined to A and tyro and this should prove satisfactory. There are six matches in the championship series, two rounds of 300, 500 and 600 yards, ten shots with two optional sighters at each range. Nineteen prizes amounting to £l2 are alloted to each match, and in addition there is the championship aggregate, embracing the six open matches, which has twelve prizes amounting to £l3 5/-. A service match, seven shots and one compulsory sighter at 300 yards will be fired on the morning of the first day, fourteen prizes amounting to £8 going with this match. The status of a tyro has been altered from one who has not won more than ten shillings with a scratch score at an association meeting to that of one who has not won £1 or more. This will leave it more open for tyros and should prove more popular than the B grade which operated last year. The Mercantile Shield Match conditions are the same as in previous years, viz., teams of five men, the scores of the championship matches to count, the winning team to hold the shield for 12 months. The entry is 12/6 per team, the entrance money being divided into three prizes apportioned on the basis o£ 50, 30 and 20 per cent. Major P. Mackenzie, president of the Association, has presented a handsome silver cup for teams competition. This match will be fired on the afternoon of the second day, the conditions being seven, shots and two optional sighters. at 300, 500 and 600 yards, teams of five men from rifle clubs or defence units in New Zealand. The entry is 12/6 per team and 50 per cent, of the entrance money is divided into three prizes.

Intending competitors will note that entries close with the secretary, Mr C. H. Cunningham, 226 Tweed Street, Invercargill on Thursday, December 24. Club secretaries will assist greatly in seeing that their entries are forwarded early so as to give those in charge time to make the necessary’ arrangements. The Southland Rifle Association is fortunate in being able to secure the services of Mr C. H. Cunningham as secretary. The success of an association meeting depends mainly on the presence of a secretary who can be relied upon to carry out his duties in a thorough and efficient manner. In Mr Cunningham the association has a man who is an experienced rifleman and knows shooting rules and conditions, from A to Z, and competitors will find that the prize list will be posted up promptly and correctly and prize money will be paid out on the range. The ranees at Otatara to-day are 300 and 600 yards. The Invercargill Club will be firing the first stage of their A, B and C grade championships and the City Guards Club will fire the final stage of the Wilson Cup competition.