CONTROL OF MINIATURE RIFLE SHOOTING.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19598, 19 September 1933, Page 8

CONTROL OF MINIATURE RIFLE SHOOTING.

To the Editor ot " The Tlmaru Herald ” Sir, —In reply to Mr. I. A. Blackwood’s letter in your issue of to-day I, as secretary of the South Canterbury Miniature Rifle Association feel it my duty to write and make things a little more clear to the public now that Mr. Blackwood has opened the ball. It is the rule of the Association that no club shall shoot any round of the Hayhurst Shield competition unless there are two scrutineers present. It is the duty of the club captain to make his own arrangements regarding scrutineers. The duty of the scrutineers is to see that the range is the correct length, that the right men shoot on the target set out for them, and that the targets are not tampered with in any way, and when the shoot has been completed the two scrutineers should sign the targets as correct and take them away and see them posted or delivered to the secretary of the Association. It is the captain’s duty to see that the scrutineers are present before he allows the shooting to start. Now, it is not customary for a shooter to go round and check up and count the scrutineers before they should fire a shot, but he should take it for granted that everything is O.K. when the captain gives the “all clear.” Mr. Blackwood says at the beginning of the night there was a member of another club present. That is quite correct. It was a member of the Selection Committee, who waited for me to shoot and then left the building with me. Now I wish to make it very clear that the Association does not for one moment think there was anything underhand or not straight about the Timaru shoot. We all know it was done perfectly honestly in every shape of the word. The way the Timaru range is constructed it is impossible to shoot under 21 yards. That means the Timaru Club have been shooting one yard further than other clubs. But they omitted to get scrutineers before they started the shooting and carried on without them, which is contrary to the rules of the Association, and every club has been notified that these rules would be enforced. The Timaru Club was very unfortunate in the scrutineers not turning up, and it was a mistake to have carried on. As a member of the Association, I had only one thing to do; I could not make fish of one and flesh of the other. I consider the action of the Timaru Club in not accepting the Association’s offer of another shoot, a very fine one, as had they won the competition, there might have been a nasty feeling creep in. As it is, I consider it will do a lot of good for shooting in South Canterbury. As I have stated, the breach was purely one of carelessness or neglect, and I would like to congratulate every member of the Timaru Club on the very fine way the Association’s ruling was accepted. These are the facts, and the finish.—l am, etc., W. DUNCAN, Secretary South Canterbury Miniature Rifle Shooting Association. Timaru, September 15, 1933.