By Malcolm McKellar

Saturday afternoon presented shooters with what seemed like perfect conditions – warm, calm, a very slight mirage, and a light variable breeze – for a Double 400m Target Rifle Shoot, however conditions were deceptive and scores surprisingly low across the board.

In summary, for Full-bore Target Rifle (.308 cal., peep-sight, manually-supported) Ric Mischlewski took the honours for the day with a steady 98 points (out of a ‘possible’ 105) and only 2 centre-bulls, over Mal McKellar 2nd on a disappointing 95/6 and Neil Attwood 3rd with a shocking 93/4. Norbert Schmidt enjoyed a creditable ‘pull’ in the F-Class Standard Target Rifle (.308 cal., telescoped and bipod-supported) category, bedding-in his new barrel and finishing with a string of centres in the second session.

The competition was again intense, but with conditions hard to read and the combination of subtle mirage and increasing shadowing making the small and challenging 400m target centre difficult to attain consistently, both matches saw lower than normal scores and brought some surprises in the results.

Illustrating the fluky conditions, Ric Mischlewski took the 1st Match by just one point with a surprisingly low and very up-and-down 45 points (of a ‘possible’ 50) and no centre-bulls, over a three-way count-off for 2nd place between Goulston, Attwood and McKellar all on 44 points, with Mark Goulston prevailing for 2nd with a 44/3 (final shot a bullseye) over Mal McKellar 3rd with 44/3 (final shot an inner). It doesn’t get much closer than that!

In the 2nd Match Ric Mischlewski again took the win, shooting a more consistent 53 points (of a ‘possible’ 55 this second match) and 2 centre-bulls, over McKellar 2nd with another disappointing 51/3, and Neil Attwood hanging on for 3rd on 49/2.

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