RIFLE SHOOTING.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15128, 24 January 1917, Page 2

RIFLE SHOOTING.

LIEUT. CANNAN CHAMPION. MOST SUCCESSFUL MEETING, PUTIKI RANGE AT ITS BEST. Chief among the attractions at the Wellington District Rifle Meeting, which was concluded on the Putifci Range yesterday, was the Championship Grand Aggregate, the winner being Lieut. W. H. Cannan, of the Returned Soldiers’ Club Rifle Defence Corps, with a score of 46 out of a possible 68.Pvte. R. A 4. Wilton, of the 17th Regiment, was runner-up, with a score of 43. During the afternoon there was a good light, with practically no wind, and conditions for shooting were all that could be desired. Lieut. Cannan went down with the second squad and interest was centred on his target when it was known that he had put on 1$ out of a possible 28 in the slow firing, he being Weil in the lead up to that time. Shooting very deliberately, Lieut. Cannan in the rapid firing put on eight threes running and those people behind the 600 yards mound were already proclaiming him the winner when he fired his last two shots, which registered two ea'ch, bringing his total for the rapid firing up to 28 and his grand total for the match up to 46. Private R. H. Wilton, of the 17th Regiment, went down with the third squad, and his first shot in the slow firing registered a "bull.” He followed that up with a 2, a 3, and a 4, and subsequently with a 2 and two more bulls, making his total 23 the highest for the match. In the rapid firing he put on six threes, ttvo twos, and a one, which made his grand total 43. It looked either a tie or a wen when the one minute time which was allowed him was up and he could not get his last shot away. The red flag showed up, indicating a “wash out,” and his score stood at 43. It was hard luck, but he only had himself to blame. The winner (Lieut. Cannaan) is a returned soldier, having been wounded in France. He is president of the Returned Soldiers’ Club, and went out with the 9th Reinforcements. He is 33 years of age, and has been shooting for the past 16 years. Lieut. Cannan won the group meeting championship in November last by three points. His win is a popular one, and he was congratulated by practically all on the range. He is a good shot, very calm and deliberate .and he times his shots well. Two cadets, named Sergt. H. Lucena and Pvte. Boulton, who .qualified for the Championship Grand Aggregate, also deserve mention. The former ran into fourth place with the good total of 41, whilst the latter scored 14 at the slow shooting. Boulton evidently knew 7 all there w r as to be known about filling his magazine, because he had two shots away before anyone else in the rapid firing match. The following are the cards which w r ere returned by the first three men in the Championship Grand Aggregate:— Lieut. W. H. Cannan, Returned Soldiers; Slow 7 —l, 4, 3, 3, 3, 1. 3—lß. Rapid—3, 3, 3, .3, 3, 3. 3, 3, 2, 2—28. Total 46 Pvte. R. H. Wilton, 17th Regt.; Slow 7 —4, 2, 3, 4, 2, 4, 4—23. Rapid—3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 0. Total . 43 Rifleman H. E. Sayes, Martou Rifle Club: Slow—.3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 3, 3—17. Rapid—4. 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 0—24. Total 41 Among the visitors present during the afternoon were Lieut.-Col. McDonald, General Staff Officer, Wellington Military District. Major E. P. Cox, Group Commander No- 8 Group, and Major Sullivan. Those who worked hard to make the meeting a complete success were the secretary (Sergt.-Major J. A. Bell), Staff Sergt.-Majors H. Wray J. Spence, F. Martin, and A. E. Sharp, Captain S. V- Trask, Commanding Paymaster, had a lot of hard work to do, and did it well ' When the last squad had finished firing Captain Trask had the prize money ready for the winners, and his method of doing the work was admired. The marking was faultless, and much credit is due to the men and: cadets whose duty it was to signal the shots. At the conclusion of the meeting a match was put on for the Staff Sergt.Majors. It was indeed- a fight, and those men who had w'orked hard during the meeting had a lot of fun for a quarter of an hour or so. Before the Sergt.-Majors left the ground Cautain Tiask addressed them and thanked them for the w'ork they had done. During the course of his remarks he said that they had been responsible for bringing off one of the most successful shoots that had been held in the district. DETAILS OP THE MATCHESFollowing are the details of yesterday afternoon's shooting:— CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH. Conditions. —The 17 competitors having the highest score in the Territorial Match, the 25 best in the All Comers, and the 26 best in the Senior Cadets competed. , 600 yards. (a) —Slow. Target, First class figure. Lying. Seven rounds. Time limit--20 seconds allowed for each shot from the act of loading. (b) —Rapid. Target, first class figure. Lying. Ten rounds. Breech closed, cut-off in, magazine empty. Chargers not allowed. Time—One minute. Prize List:—-Ist—To the best.military shot .of the district—district Championship Belt, to he held for one year, and gold medal, presented by Dustin’s, Ltd., and £3 cash; 2nd—£2 and gold medal presented by Linton

Rifle dub, Palmerston North;. 3rd, £1 10s; 2 of £1; 2 of 15s ; 2 of 10s. 1— Lieut. W. H- Oaunau, returned soldier, 46. , ~ - „ , 2 Private R. A. Wilton, 17th Regiment, 43' ■* , , . _ „■ 3 Rifleman R. E. Sayos, Merton E. 0., .41. ~, „ , 4 Sergeant H- Lucena, 11th Regiment, 41. „ 5 Rifleman S. McNabb, Dannevicke R O 39 6 Rifleman H. Lloyd, Wanganui R.C., 38 7 Sergeant-Major J. T. R - Bell, N.Z. P.S., 36. 8— Rifleman H. Quarterman, Wanganui R.C., 36. . 9 Rifleman C. Bird, Karon R.C, 35. Counted out; Company Sergt.-Major H. R. King, 17th Regiment, 35. MATCH NO. 11.—200 Yards. SENIOR CADETS. (a) Slow target. Second-class figure, 7 rounds. Time: 20 secs for each shot from the time of loading. # (b) Rapid shooting target. Secondclass figure, 5 rounds. Six seconds exposure. Scoring as in, application. The breech to be closed and butt on the ground till target appears. I. Cadet H. Taylor, No. 43 Coy., 8.C., 42, £1 10s. 2. —Sergt. C. T. Hoard, No, 10 Coy., S.C., 40, £l. ' 3. —Corpl. A. Fleming, No. 11 Coy., S. 40, 15s. Cadets E. Boulton 40, C. F. Kruse 39, 10s each; Cadets S, J. Cronin 38, H. Brown 38, W. Tait 37, B. Savage 37, R. K. Gordon 37, Therkleston 37, W. Sbardlow 36, G. Wilson 35, 5s each; Corpls. W. K. Coleman. 35, L. Major 35, Sergt. Ri H. Lawrence 35, Cadets H. Walters 35, R, B. Sielby 34, Coy. SergtMajor S. Harvey 34, Cadet J. S. Young 33, Corpl. H. S. Reynolds 33, Cadet J. L. Mills 33, Corpl. A. Darby 33, Cadet M. Rogers 33, K. Denoson 33, Sergt. C. E. Floyd 32, Sergt. J. E. Hunt 31, 2s 6d each. Counted out.—Cadet J. James 31, Sergts. P. N. Caiss 31, and N. Naim 31. MATCH NO. 13.—300 Yards. SENIOR CADETS' CHAMPIONSHIP. Open to the 51 competitors having the highest scores in Matches 10 and 11. (a) ‘Slow. Second class figure. Seven rounds. Time; 20secs for each shot from the act of loading. (b) —Rapid. Target, second class figure. Five rounds. Time: 45secs. The time will commence when the targets appear. Magazine empty, breech closed, cut-off in. Chargers not allowed. Prize list:—lst; Senior Cadet District Championship Belt, valued at .£lO 10s presented by Group and Area Officers in the Wellington Military District (to be held for one year), and Medal valued at £3 3s, presented by Purser's Ltd., Wanganui, and cash £1 10&. 2nd ; £1 and trophy, valued at £1 Is, presented by Mr N. Meuli, Wanganui. 3rd: 15s and trophy, valued at £1 Is, presented by Mr M. Spurdle, Wanganui. 4th: 10s and trophy, valued at 10s 6d, presented by Mr H. Drew, jeweller, Wanganui. I. —Cadet W. Bhardlow, 61st Coy., 34, £1 10s and Championship Belt and Medal. 2. Cadet M. Rogers, 112 th Coy., 33, £l. 3. Cadet S. Wilson, 45th Coy., 31, 15s. . 4. Cadet D. Abbiss 30, 10s. Cadet E. Boulton 28, Corpl. F; Freeman 28, Cadets H. Taylor 27, A. S. Reynolds 27, 7s 6d each; Lanbe-Corpl. H. Brown 27, Sergt. H. Walters 26, Cadet R. Edmonds 25, Sergt., C. E. Floyd 24, Cadets D. Owen 24, W. Tate 24, Bugler D. C. Nicholls 22, Cadets S. F. Loveridg© 22, R. H. Gordon 22, A. Fleming 22, 5s each; Sergt. Cronin 21, Cadet A. Darly 21, Sergt. B. Savage 21, Cadets T. H. Parkes 21, A. Therkleston 21, C. H. Brown 21, B, Bellringer 20, E. P. Woods 19, 2s 6d each. . EXTRA MATCH; 300 ya,rds. All comers. Ten rounds, slow firing. 1— Sergt. S. L. White, No. 8 P. and T., 35, £3. 2 Efim. T. Simpson, Feilding R.C., 34, £2. 3 Corpl. D. P. Whitmore, No, 8 P. and T. 34, £1 10s. 4 Sergt.-Major J. S. Wilson, N.5.P.5.,. 34, £l. Efim. O. E. Hoggard 34, Sergt.-Major C. A. Ibbotaon 34, 15s each; Sergt. H. Lucena 30, Coy. S.M. H. E. King 33, 10s each; Rflm, H. Quartermain 33, Pte. E. A. Wilton 32, Sergt.-Major R. 5. James 32, Lieut. C. D. Arnold 31, 7s 6d each; Sapper D. Catley 31, Lieut. A. C. Nathan 30, Lieut. D. S. Robertson 30, Rflm. W. Salt i 30, Capt. V. Dunne 30, Sapper A. Y. Mattingley 30, Sergt.-Major J. Harrison 30, 5s each. Counted out:—Rflm. G. Coulam 30, Sergt. A. C. McCardle 30, Rflm. <3-. Purser 30. MATCH No. 13; 150 yardd, FIRE FIGHT. Teams.—Teams of four Senior Cadets from any one company, under the command of their officer or non-compiis-sioned officer. Any number of teams may enter from one company, but no individual may fir© in or command mqro than one team. Corporate allowed, in a team. Targets.—Four iron falling plates per team. Teams will fir© in pairs. When a plate is hit the Cadet in the opposing team, whom this plate represents, will be tolck to “Cease fire,” On this command he will stop firing, lie still, and not talk. Method.—Fall, in 20 yards in rear of firing point at th© order. Ammunition will be laid out at the firing point. On the comand “Fire” teams rush to the firing point .and open fir© without further orders. Prize list.—First, £3 an<i four silver medals presented by Mr Percy Bailey, jeweller, Wanganui; second, £2; third, £1; fourth, 12s. This match proved to be on© of the most interesting of th© meeting. No. 63 Coy. Senior Cadets’ squad, under Lieut. F. Wilkie, proved th© winners, and they put up a record performance, firing eight rounds in 50 seconds, and putting up the remarkable score of (92. The team consisted of Corporal G. T. Wright, Privates C. F. Kruse, W. If. Corney, arid P, McCallum. MATCH No. 14; 150 yards. Staff Sergeant-Majors on Duty, Conditions the earn© as in Match No. 13. This match provided a lot of fun for competitors and spectators alike. Th© winning team consisted of Staff Sergt.Majors J. Spence and H. Wray and Sergt.-Majors Williams and W. B. Mathieson, who put up a total of 76. The runners-up were Warrant Officer Mahoney, Staff Sergt.-Major Bell, and Sergt.-Majors Harrison and Hill, and they put up a score of 68.