RIFLE SHOOTING

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 226, 13 December 1927, Page 11

RIFLE SHOOTING

THE AKARANA CLUB r Members of tlie above club competed ! over the ranges of (300 yards and 700 ' yards for trophies presented by Messrs, j F. Kearsley, G. Devore and F. J. At- : j kinson at Penrose Rifle Range on Satj urday afternoon. A light wind gave ■ j the marksmen a lot of trouble. The ! I three top men take 3,2, 1 respectively I for trophy points. Silver spoons were | won by \V. Colquhoun, T. Elliott and P. Pye. W. Colquhoun won F. Kearsi ley’s trophy. Trophy points, W. Colquhoun (winner), 6: S. Elliott, 5; G. G. Ashley. 3; A. C. Crossan. 3; A. W. j Powell, 3; C. Ashley, 2; F. Wakefield, 1; and D. Calder, 1. f Details:— r A Section (F. Kearsley’s trophy).—W. i Colquhoun, 43 at 600 yards, 44 at 700 yards; total, 87; S. Elliott, 42. 43-S5; P. Calder, 43, 41-84; J. R. Draffin, 44. 39-83; I A. H. Dixon. 43, 39-82; F. Wakefield, 33. 41-SO; F. Atkinson, 41, 39-80; C. Ashley, 43, 37-80; G. C. Ashley, 41, 37-78; G. Devore, 41, 36-77; H. Dickey. 40, 36-76; A. C. Crossan. 42, 32-72; C. Munro, 41, 3273. B Section (G. Devore), T. Elliott (jun.). 42 at 600 yards, 40 at 700 yards; total, 82; F. Ellett, 39, 34-73; T. Bevan, 31, 33-64; Stan Elliott, 31, 29-60. C Section (F. Atkinson’s trophy).—R. Pye, 39 at 600 yards, 38 at 700 yards; total, 77; A. C. Smith, 36, 36-72; H. J. Willoughby, 32, 32-64; I. Hammond, 28, Notes and Comments (By “CORDITE”) A remarkable performance was registered by president J. Benton, of the Featherston Rifle Club, at the Grevtown meeting held in October last in scoring the “possible” at 600 yards, beating among others W. Masefield (fresh from his sterling performances in Australia), R. J. King and B. Holmes. Although the Papawai range usually provides ideal shooting conditions, this marksman is now 71 years of age, and his club claims his shoot as a world’s record. His feat reminds the writer of the late “Jimmy” Parslow, who even when an old man was always capable of commanding the greatest respect on the range. He always said that a boy could never start too young, nor was a man ever too old, provided his sight did not fail, lie re Peatedly proved it. The Featherston Club is stated to be' stronger than ever this year, and will again be represented at Wanganui by the same team which won the North island champion teams' match in 1926 namely C. J. Nise, L. G. Benton, F. C.’ Hood R Donald and R. McKenzie, a torimdabie quintet. The club is also defending the McLeod Shield this year, a trophy it has held for four successive seasons, and will challenge the Opaki Rifle Club for the Wairarapa InterClub Shield, which was wrested from it last year after being held for six successive seasons, a fine record. Club members are certain to make their presence felt both at Wanganui and Trentham. It is possible that a few Aucklanders may attend the former meeting, but the majority will wait for their own shoot on January 2. NEW AMMUNITION The new tubular cordite high-vel-ocity cartridge has this year been issued to rifle clubs throughout the Dominion, and from information to hand is proving a great success. The improvement over 1 the nitro-celulose loading is very marked over the shorter ranges, though curiously enough the latter gave excellent results at 800 yards and 900 yards, as witness the phenomenal shoot put up by H. J. Verrall (City) at the latter end of last season with 99 out of a possible 100 at these ranges. Another decided improvement is in the quality of the nickel used in the bullet casing. The nitro-loaded cartridge proved a perfect nightmare to riflemen as far as metallic fouling was concerned. It is yet too early to predict the effects of hot weather, but s6me of the clubmen at least would not return to the old mark VI. ammunition even if it was available, as the higher velocity (2,380 feet per second as against 2,000) makes wind variations much easier to cope with. Penrose turned on a very trying wind for the Aucklanders last Saturday, and the old stagers battled through for the top places. Flags on the range are still conspicuous for their absence, and without their help it is small wonder that the scores are low on a tricky day. If the association cannot bear the cost of erecting a few poles surely the clubmen can do something in the matter. An energetic organiser and a working bee of a dozen or so could put the range in order in no time during the holidays. It is little wonder that Aucklanders fail to do well at Trentham. The material is here, but “pot-luck” seems to be the order of the day, and range faeilites are a disgrace to a centre such as this. The game is so clean and the riflemen so democratic and sporting that representation made in the right quarters would surely secure the necessary material at a nominal figure which, when erected, would give our budding champions a chance of learning the game.