East Coast Mounted Rifles' Shooting.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 378, 1 April 1902, Page 3

East Coast Mounted Rifles' Shooting.

Tho above corps were favored with a fine morning yesterday for their shooting matches, and the scoring was on the whole good, and in several cases brilliant. Shooting commenced at übout 8.30, with no wind and a nico light, which held good all tho morning, but about ten o’clock a breezo came up from tho Wainui beach, which required a great deal of judging. In tho Handicap Match, seven shots at 200yds and at 700yds, Corporal Hamilton beat tho staudard (50), making 51. Tpr. R. L. Gray, who is a young shot, mado good shooting, and should soon be amongst the best. He only required six out of his handicap of ten to bring him up to tho standard. Lieut. Hutchinson was consistent, and Trooper W. L. Oates was the highest scorer at 400yds. Tho prizes for this match and also tho Easter Trophy were provided out of a kind donation to the Corps by Mr Dewing. Appended are the results: —

Easier Handicaps. Prize. Name. 200 yd 400 yd Hdp Ttl Ist JEI, Corp. Hamilton 26 25 scr 51 2nd 15s, Tr. Gray ... 21 23 6 50 3rd 10s, Lt. Hutchinson 24 25 scr 49 4th 10s, Q.M.-Sgt Evans 23 20 1 49 6th 7s6d, Tr. F. Parker 24 24 1 49 6th ss, Tr. Oates ... 22 26 scr 48 7th os, Corp. Pirio ... 26 22 scr 48 Tr. Ngakete ... 22 17 8 47 Sergt. Fairlio ... 23 22 scr 45 Tr. R. Parker ... 21 23 1 45 Sgt.-Major Beere 20 19 6 45 Corp. Hall ... 16 19 10 45 Tr. Williams ... 17 23 4 44 Tr. D. Parker ... 19 18 4 41 Tr. Skeet ... 19 14 8 41 Easter Trophy.

Tho ten highest nett scorers in the Handicap Match then retired to tho 500 yards, and fired five shots each to decide the winner of the medal. Corporal Pirie did excellent work, making 19 out of a possible.2o, and won the trophy. Lieut. Hutchinson had hard luck, tying with Pirie on the total aggregate, but the latter beat him by one on the longest range. Quartermaster! Sergeant Evans also did well in making 18, and secured third place. Tho following are the scores 200 yd 400 yd 500 yd Ttl Corpl. J. Pirie ... 26 22 19 67 Lieut. Hutchinson 24 25 18 67 Q.M.-Sergt. Evans 23 25 18 66 Corpl. Hamilton ... 26 25 11 62 Tpr. R. Parker ... 21 23 17 61 Sergt. Fairlie ... 23 22 15 60 TprT L. Oates ... 22 26 12 60 Tpr. B. L. Gray ... 21 23 12 56 Tpr. F. Parker ... 24 24 5 53 Tpr. E. Williams ... 17 23 9 49 Rapid Hiring Match.

This was a novel event and produced much excitement. The conditions were 5 shots in 25 seconds at 400yds and 500yds. By using the magazines a minimum of time was lost in loading, and with a few exceptions, all the men got their bullets going within the time. Allowing for the shortness of time for sighting, some of the Cwork must be considered first-class. At the 400 yards Corpl. Hamilton and Tr. R. Parker both made 17 out of a possible 20 ; tho former also made the best shooting in this match at the 500yds. The prizes for this match were allotted out of the Government allowance granted to corps for shooting. The following shows the Prize 3 ' Name. 400yds 600yds Ttj Ist, 17s 6d Cp. Hamilton 17 12 29 2nd, 15s Tr. R. Parker ... 17 9 26 3rd, IOsQ.M.-Segt.Evans 14 9 23 4th, 6s lOd, Ir. C. Ferris 12 8 20 Lieut. Hutchinson 13 7 20 ). Tr. Little H 7 18 Tr. W. L. Oates... 11 6 17 Tr. C. Skeet ... 14 3 17 Sergt.-Major Beere 5 H 16 Corpl. Pirie ... H *> Tr. E. Williams 9 6 15 Tr. Ngakete ... H 2 13 Sergt. Fairlie ... 4 7 11 Tr. D. Parker ... 6 4 10 Tr. F. Parker ... 10 0 10 Tr. R, L. Gray ... 8 0 8 Corpl. Hall ... 5 2 7

GISBORNE RIFLES.

The Gisborne Bifles also held a shoot insz competition fct the Wainui range, the m |tch being started at half-past twelve. It was for Mr W. A. O’Meara’s gold medal, the handicaps being adjusted by Lieut. Lewis. The rangeo were 300, 500, and 700 yards, seven shots at each range, with two optional sighters. The shooting was remarkably good and tho match keenly , ontestod, as the scores indicate. The /iiandicap was a sealed one. The following are the scores : 300 ya 500 yd 700 yd Tl.

Sergt. Wakelin, ser... 26 26 20 .72 Corp. Masted,- Bpts... 18 26 20 <2 Private Kemp, spts... 25 24 17 71 L-Cpl. McGrath, 12pts 23 21 12 68 Private Doyle, 12pts 23 23 8 66 Private Bbling, 18pts 17 20 11 66 Corp. Franklin, 3pts 21 22 20 66 Private Stewart, Bpts 2S 26 10 62 Sergt. Williams, 12pts 18 19 12 61 Private Sampoy.lSpts 15 19 8 60 "Corp. Warner, 18pts 11 19 9 57 Pte. Georgeson,2opts 14 16 5 55 Private GreeD, 20pts 6 11 11 4° Pte. Mcßeath, 20pts 12 16 Private West, 12pts 20 15 12 4i Corp. Taylor, 6pts... 21 17 Pte. Banger, 18pts... 12 13 Sergeant Wakelin and Corporal Maxted havin' 7 tied, it was decided to fire three shots each at 700 yards, to decide as to who wa3 the winner. Sergeant Wakelin led off with an outer (2), and Maxted followed with an inner (3). Wakelin s second shot went to the right of the bull, and secured him 3, and Maxted s second shot being an outer (2) the competitors were once more oven. The last shot by Sergeant Wakelin struck the target at the toprand registered 2, making bis total t. Maxted, with his final shot, was successful in scoring an inner (3), making his total 8, and securing him the victory by competitors, and the greatest interest was ’ t a hen in the proceedings, cheers being given at the close for the contestants. Three cheers were also given for the handicapper, Lieutenant Lewis, whose two last handicaps have resulted m dead heats, with the placed men within a point or two. A match was fired by last year s rev emits for a handsome medal given by the hon-commissioned officers, and a medal for second donated by Lieutenant Lewis. Sergeant Eblmg was first, and Private Mcßeath second. A silver medal, given by the officers foi this year’s recruits, was also competed for and was won by Private Faulkner, whe made a good score, including 2o out of i possible 28 at 200 yards.