By Malcolm McKellar

In otherwise ideal conditions, a light mirage and a blustery breeze made for a demanding Double 500m Competition at the Mossman Rifle Club on Saturday. 

The Full-bore Target Rifle class was taken by Neil Attwood with 99 points (out of a possible 105) and 7 centre-bulls on count-back over Mal McKellar 2nd also on 99/7, with Ric Mischlewski a close 3rd on 96/4. The F-Class Open Target Rifle class was taken by Luke Graham with an excellent 118 points (out of 126) and 7 super-centre bullseyes, over his father Ron Graham 2nd on 114/3, with Dustin Pickering visiting from Gatton 3rd on 110/3.

Saturday 26th July was another beautiful FNQ Winter’s day – clear and warm, with shadowed targets from the still-northerly Sun and a barely discernible mirage, but with a blustery breeze to add drama for Target Rifle shooters in a Double 500m Competition.

In the first 500 metre match Neil Attwood opened the Full-bore Target Rifle (308 cal., peep-sight, manually-supported) competition and was in the centre with his second sighter, which he carried. 

Amongst several more 5-point centre-bulls and bullseyes he unfortunately dropped in four interspersed 4-point ‘inners’ but posted a reasonable 46 points (out of 50 this first, 10-shot match) with 3 centre-bulls to set the standard. Ric Mischlewski followed, finding centre-bulls for both sighters; his third-to-count was an ‘inner’ followed by a super-centre bullseye, and though he finished strongly with two further centre-bulls, three more inners saw him match Attwood on 46/3 but take the lead on count-back.

Mal McKellar then took the mound, and carried centre-bull and bullseye sighters into the scoring ten; two inners then bracketed six more 5-pointers to have him take the match win with a fine 48/1.

Novice local Luke Graham opened the F-Class Open Target Rifle class (a telescoped and bipod-supported 6mm rifle in this instance, provided by Gatton visitor Jeff Hickmott) with two 4-point ‘inners’ after similar sighters; he then found the centre and dropped just two more points amongst a string of 6-point centres and super-centres to post a creditable 54 points (out of 60 this 10-shot match, for F-Class) with 4 super-centres.

Dustin Pickering, also a novice and visiting from Gatton was next down, and shot an up-and-down but respectable, given his inexperience, 49/1. Ron Graham followed, and pulled a much more consistent match but fell short of his son Luke’s score by just one point with a 53/1, leaving the match win for the class in Luke’s hands.

In the second 500 metre match Neil Attwood again opened for Full-bore Target Rifle and, with the Sun past zenith and the blustery breeze easing, pulled a 5-point centre-bull as his first-to-count.

His 2nd and 4th were 4-pointers, but the rest was cream and he closed with a very challenging 53 points (of a possible 55 this eleven shot second match) and 4 centre-bulls.

Mischlewski again followed, but could not maintain the standard and finished with a 50/1.

McKellar was last down, and as with his first match carried centre-bull and bullseye sighters into the scoring eleven; as with Attwood he dropped two early points with consecutive ‘inners’, but followed those with three centre-bulls; a third ‘inner’ put him behind Attwood for the match, but he then pulled two super-centres and with one shot remaining was still ahead for the “Double”. Under the pressure he pulled another ‘inner’ to close, posting a disappointing 51/6 to hand not only the match to Attwood but also, with identical total scores of 99/7 for the day, the Double Competition on count-back (his 4-point ‘inner’ against Neil’s 5-point bullseye).

Luke Graham was again first down for F-Class Open Target Rifle and he performed like a “pro” pulling four 6-pointers to start and five to finish, dropping just 2 points mid-shoot to close with an impressive 64 points (out of 66 this 11-shot match, for F-Class) with 3 super-centre bullseyes. Pickering followed, and he too lifted his percentage with seven straight 6-pointers followed by four 5-pointers, just falling short of Luke with an excellent 62/2. Ron Graham closed out the competitive shooters with a fine 61/2 to take 3rd for the Match and to confirm Luke as both match and “Double” competition winner for the class.

Visitors Sascha Buss (Perth) and Jeff Hickmott (Gatton) both enjoyed shortened matches and performed well.

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, however the Club will be away next Saturday 2nd August for the Annual Prize Meeting at Herberton, so we’ll see you on the 9th.