Shooting.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 February 1922, Page 3

Shooting.

RIFLE MEETING. G MEYTOWN. Feb. 23. The championship rifle meeting open- I ed this morning in dull weather. 265 men lined up at the squadding posts and before proceeding to the firing mounds were briefly addressed by Colonel Collins, (Chairman of Dominion Rifle Association). In welcoming the | competition to Papawai, Collins said they were greatly indebted to the Wai- I rarapn Rifle Association for enabling the championship to be carried on. Tie stressed the fact that this was not a i D.R.A. meeting, which had been abnn- J doned temporarily by the Government, j owing to the necessity of economy, lint 1 it would have been disastrous to rifle shooting to have allowed the Ballinger Belt which represented the Blue Riband of markmansliip in New Zealand to lapse, as it would have done, under the conditions of its presentation to the j D.R.A. It was therefore very fortunate that the Wairarapa Association had come forward and offered the opportunity to keep the championship and other important competitions of tlm D.R.A. meeting alive. The programme was based oij an entry of three hundred and in view' of the fact that on this occasion every man attending paid alt his expenses, it said much for the enthusiasm of riflemen for their sport that so many were present.

Mr R. J. King (Deputy President of Wairarapa Association) also addressed the meeting, explaining the details how the meeting would be conducted. A start was then made with the shooting, the .first match being the’Bidwell ten shots at three and five hundred yards. Th 0 light was dull at three hundred. wind steady at left rear, the first men down getting good average scores ,one of forty-nine, one off the possible, being quickly registered. The Belt holder, E. E. Venell, is present to defend the title, and ex-champions competing are H. V. Croxton, R. J. King, W. HI. Mncefiekl, W. IT. James. D. Roots, \V. Duncan, -G. Hyde, A. Ballinger, and W. J. Milroy. • The Bidwell match is still in progress. The best scores at eleven o’clock were Ching (KarorJ), Piper (Christchurch), Hunt (Wellington suburbs), Marenzi (Tararua), Grey (Kaponga) all 49; Mayhew (Linton), West, (Blenheim) 48. Scores of forty-seven and forty-six were fairly frequent. The shooting was described as easy, hut a drizzling rain is petting in.