ECDRA 2018 Christmas Shoot
The East Central District Rifle Association Inc. Christmas shoot on Saturday 15th December 2018 also attracted shooters from Nagambie and Karramomus Rifle Clubs as well other friends of the ECDRA. The shoot was focused on the 500 yard shooting mound so that the members could shoot full bore in the morning and small bore in the afternoon in the shade of the old gum trees without moving.
A very busy day at the 500yard mound for the ECDRA’s 2018 Christmas Shoot. Range Officer Graeme Kerr in the flare Vest with RO on the back keeps a close eye on the shooters shooting small bore on the left, next to the bench a shooter is zeroing in at 100m while the shooters on the right are trying for the smaller five shot group at 500 yards. Yes Graeme handled it well with everyone enjoying themselves.
The challenge in the morning was for shooters to shoot the best 5 shot group. Two sighters were allowed and then 5 scoring shots this was shot twice. We have often referred to a shooting group and this is an occasion when we can explain why it is important. The group is where the consecutive shots from a rifle fall when the rifle is aimed at the same spot. Sight adjustment is allowed for the wind. The “group" may be anywhere on the target but it has to be the same target. Neal Hambridge found out the hard way when he had a very good group developing only to place a shot on the wrong target. In a perfect world the shots would go down the same hole in the target. If we were shooting at 25m the variation encountered in groups from the members target rifle would almost do that as we strive to have a group of about 35mm in diameter at 500 yards. The smaller the 5 shot group is the easier it is to centre the shots in the maximum scoring zone.
David’s plans for the day almost flooded when the electronic target system started to play up but it was not long before the computer and WiFi nuts had worked out the solution. Using the electronic target it is possible to measure to the nearest 1/10mm the size of any group and it was this feature that David relied on to manage the competition. It was great to see that the best group was shot by Des Coulter the group was 46.9 mm in diameter Graeme Kerr was second with 48.2 and John third with 77.7. Other group sizes were: Kris 78.5, Andrew Braden 85.2, Neal Hambridge 90.8, Geoff James 95.7, Rodger King 106.2, Kevin Epps 113.1, Richard Godden 116.8, Rosco Davis 126.5 Kris 132.2, Brendon 169.3, Glen 173.8, Fred Guyatt 212.4, David Wallace 217.3 and Yowie 342.
Time for lunch and Rosco Davis had been very busy with hamburgers and sausages hot off the BBQ combined with fresh bread rolls and tomato sauce a feast fit for the season. Well done Rosco there was plenty for seconds and that always goes down well. For a change a good cold drink was appreciated as the time in the sun was very dehydrating, a long chat about loads and projectiles combined with catching up on family and friends Lunch was the social highlight of the day.
Rob Chaffe ECDRA president welcomed everyone to the range and then wished a very happy Christmas to all. It was great too see Rob on the range because it has been many months since he has been there during a scheduled shoot due to his battle with cancer and its associated impacts on his life. Rob also announced the fun part of the day shooting with the low recoil and noise small bore rifles. Fist straight out target shooting at 100 m then using Norm Lienhan’s target machine and Olympic style shoot where the target is exposed for a limited time (only seconds) and the contestant is expected to complete the shoot while the target is exposed. Needless to say there were quite a few side bets on the fist stage of the shoot. The Olympic style shooting proved to be a heap of fun and of course many complaints to the range officer about firing too soon or too late. All done in the best of fun.
The day concluded with afternoon tea and the presentation of prizes and best of all it seems that Santa made an early call leaving gifts for the young people present. Can't get much better than that! Shooting will now focus on small bore over the summer plus some working bees to service the electronic targets so shooters should keep an eye of the ECDRA web site calendar for the latest news and shooting schedule . There will be no shooting next week. A Merry Christmas and Happy new year to all.