RIFLE SHOOTING

Southland Times, Issue 23288, 26 August 1937, Page 9

RIFLE SHOOTING

OPENING OF SEASON (By BULLSEYE) The new rifle-shooting season will open on Saturday afternoon, when the Invercargill Club will fire a teams match between sides chosen on the range by the range officer and deputy range officer. All Southland clubs will, no doubt, be making a start very shortly. The Thornbury Miniature Club intends going on to the open range this season with the .303 rifle and is now busy getting a range in order. It is reported that the Mossburn Club also will be using an open range. In Australia the rifle club movement is very strong, and almost every small country township has its rifle club and the larger towns have numerous clubs. There is no reason why New Zealand should not be in a similar position. Southland will very likely be represented at the big New South Wales National Rifle Association meeting which takes place next February. Four leading marksmen have already signified their intention of making the trip and competing for the biggest prize that has ever been offered in the world for rifle shooting. The winner of the King’s Prize receives £525, beside trophies. THE MINIATURE RANGE A new miniature club has been formed at Balfour, and should soon be in active operation. G. Dixon and A. Falconer were the top-scorers for the Mataura Club at the last shoot, with 79 each. W. Ramage, W. Webb and H. Anderson also shot well for 78 each. The Thornbury and Invercargill Clubs fired a teams match last Wednesday. The teams were of 11 men each. Invercargill made 862 and Thombury 813. The Invercargill average of 78.2 was a creditable performance. A. Town (Thornbury) scored 80 the possible. R. Graham, A. Pomeroy and F. E. Mayhew, of the Invercargill team, each made the possible. R. Darroch also shot well for 79.

The City Guards Club completed its B grade championship on Monday evening. It was won by J. McLew,

with R. Petrie second. The best scorers during the evening were D. Wishart, C. Sneyd and J. McLew, with 77 each. The R.S.A. Club’s nightly trophy was won by W. Mayhew, who shot well for 79. The winner of the Fraser Cup was H. Green. At the Police Club’s last shoot L. Woodford made the possible 80 and won the two nightly trophy. Woodford has been shooting well with the small bore recently and should be in good form when he gets out on the open range. B. Broomfield, with 79, also shot well. A. Chistiansen and T. Smith returned good cards of 77 each. W. O’Toole, of the Boys’ Club, headed the list at the last club shoot with the good score of 78. J. B. Doake was close with 77. There has been great improvement in the scoring of the boys during the last couple of months. The club will hold its final shoot of the season on Saturday evening. The Fortrose Club fired a match against the Glenham Club recently, each side having 15 men. Fortrose won by 26 points. Glenham averaged 71 for the 15 men, which is very creditable for a new club. The best individual scorers for Fortrose were F. Fitzharris, 78 and F. Ericson, 77. R. Robinson topped the list for Glenham with 77. A team of Fortrose women also fired against a team of Glenham women and the scores were:—Fortrose, 285; Glenham. ■ 246. The Gorge Road Club at its last shoot fired the final for the President’s Cup, the club’s handicap cup and the Consolation Cup. T. P. Beck won the President’s Cup for the best aggregate off the rifle with a score of 1379 points out of a possible 1520. This was a very creditable performance. L. Lobb won the handicap cup and J. D. Rutledge the Consolation Cup. A. Davis, with the fine score of 79, topped the list for the evening and wort the weekly button. Miss R. Lobb was top scorer for the women with 75.

In the New Zealand championships which were fired on the competitors’ own ranges under supervision S. L. Wall, of Invercargill, tied for first place in the B grade No. 2 match with the possible 100, and A. Pomeroy, of the same club, was fifth with 99. S. L. Wall was sixth in the B grade aggregate with 197 and Pomeroy was ninth with 196. The winner, L. Burford, made 198. In the A grade matches there was some fine shooting. The winner of the ' No. 1 match S. O. Hay, of United Club, Christchurch, made the possible of 10 bulls and in his tie shots made eight extra bullseyes, making a total of 18 consecutive bulls. T. Pritchard, Tauramanui, F. Hodge, United, Christchurch, and N. T. Taylor, Pleasant Point, also made possibles and nine competitors made 99 each. In the second A grade match, C. Blackwood, West End Club, Timaru, won with the possible 100, and 13 others made 99 each. S. O. Hay won the championship with 199, only dropping, one point in the 20 shots. T. Pritchard also made 199, but lost on the count in the tie shots. The United No. 1 team won the teams match.