Cold, wet conditions only enhance shooters' ability at Monarto

Murray Bridge Rifle Club members had some stand-out performances at their latest meeting.

Peri Strathearn

Aug 10, 2020 — 2 min read

This post was contributed by Murray Bridge Rifle Club.

What a difference a week can make.

On Saturday, conditions were the polar opposite of the faux spring experienced a week earlier, with “polar” being the key word as 11 members of Murray Bridge Rifle Club turned out to shoot at 700 metres but faced a delayed start because of rain.

Those members who braved the cold and the wet, however, were generally well rewarded with some impressive scores, including three perfect scores, or “double possibles”, by Robert Paech and Andrew Heard in target rifle; and John Cranwell, pictured below right, in F-class open.

This was even more rewarding as it was Cranwell’s first time achieving this milestone at the club.

Paech took out overall honours for the day in target rifle by four centres off-rifle, as well as the handicap award by 0.1 from Heard, who was himself only 0.1 ahead of third-placed Gordon Harrison.

Harrison also won the sniper’s prize for best sighters of the day; he was too mean to miss, scoring a perfect 20.04.

Cranwell’s double possible wasn’t quite enough to secure him the handicap award in F-class, as he finished second to Frank Marshall by the narrow margin of 0.9.

Further stand-outs on the day included possibles from Harrison and Greg Traeger and a pair of 59s from Frank Marshall.

Veteran club member David McDonald, pictured at top in his first trial in F-class ahead of a planned change of discipline, also had a highlight.

He scored an impressive 119.09, including a possible of 60.07 in his second round, only a point behind the rifle’s owner, Cranwell, who was happy about McDonald’s success.

Those who missed out will have another chance as 700 metres will be shot again next week.

Club members hope they will experience better weather for shooting.