Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 9. 1966.

Spotlight On Sports Clubs — Miniature Rifle Club

Spotlight On Sports Clubs
Miniature Rifle Club

The smallbore rifle club is one which, to the majority of students, appears not to have made a very great impact on the sporting scene.

Yet in its field it has been one of the most successful university clubs. Last year in the Wellington inter-club shoots it won the B grade and C grade competitions and also won the Wellington top club award.

Individually, team members gained places in the Wellington closed championships against some of the best marksmen in the country. Great was Wellington's surprise when lady members of our club scooped the championships.

It was something of a surprise for the club to do so well in the high grades as the main strength, up to the present time, has been in the lower grades.

Boer War

Other clubs quite often comprise crackshot veterans of the Boer war and later conflicts, all who have over the years fossilised in the master grades. The lack of young members in these clubs means that they field small teams or requisition a fossil of lesser talents.

The VUW club often takes part in open championships around the country, competing in many cases for prize money. For example, one Saturday a party of eight or nine interested students braved snow and snowballs on the Rhnutakas to shoot in the Wairarapa open champs at Carterton, shooting across the floor of a disused cinema at targets under the stage.

Booty

The booty collected consisted of six large beer mugs and a bottle of whisky (in a raffle run at the same time). All were much appreciated by the student team. The members travel to a large number of meetings, mainly limited to the Wellington province, and it is natural that the club is attractive to those who like to get around.

The main concern of the club is Winter Tournament and the team selection shoots are well under way. The club has won a pre-tournament postal shoot between the four universities, an ingenious device for testing each other's strength.

Well equipped

The club is well equipped, with a selection of rifles that must rank as one of the finest collections in the country. Impecunious students can use rifles similar to those used by New Zealand's top shooters. The average rifle weighs about 14½lb, but often the old men of the sport jealously use 28-pounders. Targets are standard smallbore 25-yard targets. Ammunition is available in several brands and prices. New shooters are given one free shoot when they first join.

One of the big attractions of the sport is that any person who concentrates can do well at it as long as he has one good eye and can see the required 25 yards.

Equality

The sport also affords competition between men and women on equal terms. This is shown by the number of men and women who got places in the Wellington championships. Of course, women have the added advantage of being able to keep calm and collected when their male counterparts are the worse for their presence.

This is one of the few sports where the win is solely the result of individual effort. If you can win, it is by good shooting alone.

This is also a sport in which all can compete. The strength of the VUW club can be largely attributed to the youth of its members. New student members are welcome to come and use the facilities supplied. Good rifles are available and compe ent coaching is assured. Club nights are on Mondays from 7pm at the range in the Winter Show Buildings.