Despite the surprising April humidity and a welcome but light variable breeze, participants enjoyed almost perfect conditions for a Double 300m Full-bore Target Rifle Shoot on Saturday afternoon.

The competition was intense and as close as has been for a long time, with four of the shooters pulling almost identical scores at one stage or another.

In summary, Ric Mischlewski won the first, 10-shot Match on count-back over Neil Attwood with identical perfect scores of 50 (out of 50) and 3 centre-bulls; Mal McKellar won the second, 11-shot Match on count-back over Neil Attwood with identical scores of 52 points (out of 55) and 6 centre-bulls (to Neil’s 3); while Neil Attwood took the day with a very fine 102 points (out of 105) and 6 centre-bulls, over McKellar 2nd on 100/10 and Mischlewski 3rd on 97/3.

Saturday 4th April was hot and humid with a very welcome light variable breeze, and with deeply shadowed targets from the now northerly Sun.

In the first 300 metre match Ric Mischlewski opened the Full-bore Target Rifle (.308 cal., peep-sight, manually-supported) competition with a 3-point ‘bird’ and a 5-point bullseye, the latter of which he carried into the competition.

He then put on a masterful display of target shooting skill to hold the centre on every following shot, closing with a centre-bull for his last with a perfect score of 50 points (out of 50 this 10-shot match) and 3 centre-bulls, setting a very high standard for following shooters to beat.

Mal McKellar was next down, pulling a 4-point ‘inner’ and a 5-point super-centre bullseye as his two sighters; he carried the latter and followed with seven more 5-pointers, looking in good form, but two 4-point ‘inners’ towards the end saw him fall behind Mischlewski with a 48/4.

Neil Attwood took the mound and struggled to find the centre with two ‘inners’ as sighters; his first-to-count however was a 5-point bullseye, and with a rock-steady ‘hold’ he pulled nine more of the same, including three centre-bulls, to tie with Mischlewski on points and centres at 50/3, but handing the Match win to Ric Mischlewski on countback, 5-point centre-bull over 5-point bullseye on the 10th and last shot (centre-bulls are designed for this exact purpose, to split equal scores on count-back).

In the second 300 metre match Mark Goulston opened for Full-bore Target Rifle; he had finished strongly, including with 1 centre-bull, from an up-and-down start in his first match, and he carried that consistency into his second match, closing with a much-improved, and impressive, 47 points (out of a possible 55 this 11-shot second match) but with no centre-bulls this time around. Mischlewski was next down, opening with a 5-point bullseye for his first sighter and, given his first match performance, sending a shiver down other shooters’ spines; his second sighter was a 4-pointer however, and he confidently cut them both.

Surprisingly, his ftc was another ‘inner’, and though he followed that with two 5-point bullseyes, another 4-point ‘inner’ saw his confidence evaporate, and he closed with a 3-point ‘bird’ just tieing Goulston with a surprising 47/0.

Had conditions changed? The door was now wide open for both match and competition wins, and following shooters were keen to capitalize. McKellar went down and surprisingly pulled two 4-point sighters; a centre-bull first-to-count was followed by another inner, and a super-centre bullseye 3rd by yet another 4-pointer; he steadied however, and though he dropped in one more 4-point ‘inner’ he closed with a leading, but to him frustrating, 52/6.

Attwood was last down and, bent on not wasting the opportunity, immediately put two 5-point bullseye sighters on the board; carrying those, he followed with seven more centres in an outstanding display of shooting skill and nerve, however an ‘inner’ for his 6th and a quite inexplicable 3-point ‘bird’ for his 10th saw him equal McKellar on points (52) but lose the Match to McKellar on centre-bulls (6 to 3).

None-the-less, Attwood’s excellent consistency over both matches gave him a well-deserved win for the day, taking the Competition with a combined total of 102 points (of a possible 105) and 6 centre-bulls, in one of the tightest and more exciting Shoots for some time.

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. We thank Ron Schild for his excellent marking.