RIFLE SHOOTING.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 February 1922, Page 3

RIFLE SHOOTING.

PAPAWAI MEETING OPENS. FIRST DAY’S RESULTS. By Telegraph—Press Association. Greytown, Feb. 23. The championship rifle meeting opened this morning In dull weather. There were. 265 men lined up at the squadding posts, and before proceeding to the firing mounds they were briefly addressed by Colonel Collins, chairman of the Dominion Rifle Association. In welcoming the competitors to Papawai Colonel Collins said they were greatly indebted to the Wairarapa Rifle Association for enabling the championship to be carried on. He stressed the fact that this was not a Dominion Rifle Association meeting, which had been temporarily abandoned by the Government, owing to the necessity for economy, but It would have been disastrous to rifle shooting to have allowed the Ballinger Beit, which represented the blue ribbon of marksmanship in New Zealand, to lapse, as it would have done under the conditions of its presentation to the Dominion Rifle Association. It was therefore very fortunate that the Wairarapa Association had come forward and offered an opportunity to keep the championship and the other important competitions of the Dominion Rifle Association meeting alive. The programme was based on an entry of three hundred, and, in view of the fact that on this occasion every man attending paid all 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 the Wairarapa Association, also addressed the men, explaining the details of how the meeting would be conducted. A start was then made with the shooting, the first match being the Bidwell, ten shots at 300 and 500 yards. The light was dull at 300 yards and the wind steady from the left rear. The first men down got good average scores, one of 49—one off the possible—being quickly registered. The belt holder, E. E. Vennell, is present to defend his title, and the ex-champions competing are H. V. Croxton, R. J. King, W. H. Masefield, F. H. James, D. Roots, W Duncan, G. Hyde, A. Ballinger and W. J. Milroy.

DETAILS OF SHOOTING. TARANAKI MEN SUCCESSFUL. Greytown, Last Night. In the Bidwell match, ten shots each at 300 and 500 yards, the weather was dull with occasionally light mist affecting visibility, which otherwise was good. A left rear breeze at the start grew somewhat in strength and changed direction to straight across the range, but at all times it was steady, and the shooting was described as easy. Seven men got within one of the possible at 300 yards. They were: Guy, Ching, Piper, Hunt, Marenzi, Bryden, Swaysland. After lunch the 500 yards was fired. The wind remained steady, but a light drizzle increased to steady rainfall for some minutes, which put most of the men then down practically out of a chance of scoring well. A fine spell followed, in which several men notched 48’s and 47’s, making their totals, 96, practically unassailable, especially as drizzling rain came on again and made the visibility very bad for the last thirty or forty men to go down. Four 96’s emerged from the two ranges, viz: West, Roots, Hunt and Piper. West and Roots each got 48 at each range. West winning on the count. The Auckland match, ten shots each at 500 and 600 yards, occupied the remaining portion of the time till the cease fire was signalled. Passing showers made things rather uncomfortable and unprofitable for some competitors. Following is the prize list in the Bidwell match: £10: W. H. West (Blenheim), 96. £7 : D. Roots (Hawera), 96. £5: H. R. Hunt (Wellington), 96. £4: P. Piper (Christchurch), 96 £4: G. A. Eyles (Dannevlrke), 95. £3: W. Mclver (Christchurch), 95. £2: P. Palmer (Patea), 95. £2: S. Mayhew (Linton), 95. £2: J. Bryden (Kaiapoi), 95. £2: M. McLeay (Te Kuiti), 94. * £2: H. C. Loveday (Ohura), 94. Thirty-three scores ranging from 94 down to 91 took £1 each, and seven were counted out.