In typical conditions for this time of year, a light mirage and a variable breeze barely compromised the perfect setting for a Double 600m Competition on Saturday afternoon.

The Full-bore Target Rifle class was taken by Mal McKellar with 102 points (out of a possible 105) and 10 centre-bulls over Neil Attwood 2nd on 94/2, with daylight to 3rd and lower.

Saturday 9th August was another perfect FNQ Winter’s day – clear and warm, with shadowed targets from the still-northerly Sun, a barely discernible mirage, and a light but variable breeze into the faces of 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 and was in the centre with his very first sighter; unfortunately a case of the ‘yips’ saw him post a 4-pointer as his second sighter forcing him to cut them both. His first-to-count was another 5-point bullseye, but then he was up-and-down despite the favorable conditions, perhaps reflecting the difficulty of the small target centre at 600 metres, and five 4-point ‘inners’ dotted through the match saw him close with a disappointing 45 points (out of 50 this first, 10-shot match) with just 1 centre-bull. After several false starts and some technical issues by others, Mal McKellar took the mound, and coming off an 800 metre shoot at Herberton and Cairns the prior weekend (where he collected a second, a third, and two fourth places over the course of the weekend) he found it difficult to adjust to the centre, pulling a 2-point ‘outer’ and a 4-point ‘inner’ as his sighters. His first-to-count however was a 5-point bullseye and, with the exception of a wayward 4-pointer for his 5th, he stayed in the centre for a fine 49/5 to take the match in confident style.

In the second 600 metre match Neil Attwood again opened for Full-bore Target Rifle but opened badly with a 3-point ‘bird’ following a similar second sighter. With two points already ‘lost’ he struggled with the increasing patchy cloud cover that makes sighting consistency so difficult, and again shot an up-and-down round to close with a frustrating 49 points (of a possible 55 this eleven shot second match) and again just 1 centre-bull, leaving the door wide open for following shooters. Complications amongst the competitors ensued again however and McKellar was last down. Two 4-point sighters showed the complexity of the cloud shadowing, but five bullseyes including two centre-bulls and a super-centre followed; a heavy cloud shadow saw his 6th fall below the centre, but adjusting up brought him back to the centre for four more 5-pointers with a ‘yippy’ inner as his second last pull, giving him a respectable 53/5 to take this second match and the competition for the day.

The Club meets every Saturday at 1:00pm at the Mossman & District Rifle Club Range mid-way between Port and Mossman, and visitors are always welcome.