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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 7. 1966.

[introduction]

The Victoria University .303 rifle club was founded with the object of encouraging and fostering interest in outdoor rifle-shooting.

What then is rifle-shooting? It is a science, the study of a lifetime in which you may exhaust yourself but never your subject. It is a contest, a duel, or a melee, calling for skill, strategy, and self-control. It is a test of temper and a trial of honour requiring a pride of craftsmanship and demanding both mental and physical ability.

Shooting is over five different ranges—300, 400, 600, 800 and 900 yards, during a season which extends from October to May, using No. 4 and SMLE rifles, with aperture sights as issued by the army.

Target dimensions are increased as the ranges become greater, but are not proportionate. The 300 yards target is 4 feet square with a 37-inch radius bullseye. At 500 and 600 yards it is 6 feet square with 7 1/2-inch radius bullseve, and at 800. 900 and also 1000 yards it is 10 feet wide and 6 feet high, with a 15-inch radius bullseye.

It calls for considerable precision to constantly hit the bullseye at these ranges under wind conditions which may move the bullet many feet during its journey. Over long ranges it is usual for wind allowances of ten or twelve feet to be required.

The estimation of the necessary allowance is made by means of flags some 30ft up, spaced at 200 yards interval, between the butts and the firing point, and on calmer days by certain natural indicators, such as mirage.

When every flag shows a different wind direction and remains steady for only seconds at a time, there is a constant conflict between snapping your shot away while the wind is still holding at the expense of accuracy, or firing a good steady shot only to find the wind has altered while you were aiming, again with a disastrous effect on the score.