A troubling mirage moved the target around considerably for Target Rifle shooters in a Double 600m Competition.

In the first 600 metre match Neil Attwood opened the Full-bore Target Rifle (308 cal., peep-sight, manually-supported) competition with a confident 5-point centre-bullseye.

He pulled two 5-point bullseyes and two more centre-bulls, including one for his last pull (centre-bulls carry the same 5 points as bullseyes, but are used to separate identical scores on a count-back), in his next nine shots, but the up-and-down and side-to-side movement of the target caused by the variable but persistent mirage saw too many missed points mid-match.

He fell away for a disappointing 42 points (out of 50, this 10-shot match), though with three good centre-bulls, to set the challenge for following shooters.

Infrequent shooter Ric Mischlewski, back in town between work commitments, was next down and struggled initially to find the centre, however once he did he never let it go, and finished strongly with five straight 5-pointers, including one centre-bull, to move into the lead by just one point over Attwood with a promising 43/1.

Mal McKellar was last down and bravely, or foolishly given the conditions and depending upon one’s perspective, cut his two sighting shots, a 5-point bullseye and 4-point ‘inner’, but then found his confidence with a string of ten straight 5-pointers, including four centre-bulls, to shoot a perfect 50 points, with 4 centres, to stamp his authority on the match and take the match win.

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In the second 600 metre match Attwood again opened for Full-bore Target Rifle, once more with a 5-point bullseye, and, lifting his percentage from his first match performance, pulled six 5-pointers including two centre-bulls in the balance of this eleven-shot match, with a bullseye/centre-bull/bullseye for his closing shots.

Three interspersed 3-point ‘birds’, however, took the real shine off an otherwise excellent shoot, and he finished with a none-the-less competitive and challenging 48 points (out of 55, this 11-shot match) with 2 centre-bulls.

Mischlewski again followed, and confirming the promise of his strong first match finish, opened with a bullseye and a centre-bull, and then followed with two more of each before pulling a 4-point ‘inner’ to open the door slightly for following shooters.

He recovered to pull two more 5-point bullseyes, but then calamity struck as he was forced to change ammunition from his ‘hand-loads’ to factory ammo, causing his final two pulls to fall well below the aiming-mark at 6 o’clock, for just two points each.

The two shots were excellently grouped, confirming both his competitive ‘hold’ and the under-performance of the factory ammunition compared to his ‘hand-loads’, but the damage was done, and what could have been a clear match-winning effort saw him only just slide into the lead over Attwood on count-back with a 48/3.

McKellar was again last down and he rose to Mischlewski’s challenge, opening with four centre-bulls and two bulls-eyes, and finishing with two more of each.

But, as with Mischlewski and Attwood, his seventh pull was a wayward 4-point ‘inner’, undoing a perfect second-match shoot but none-the-less giving him a dominant 54 points with 6 centres for this second match win.

The Club meets every Saturday at 1pm at the Mossman & District Rifle Club Range mid-way between Port and Mossman; visitors are always welcome.