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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-09-11 Daily Xml
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CYCLISTS SMALLBORE RIFLE CLUB INC.

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (15:26): I wish to speak today about the Cyclists Smallbore Rifle Club that I recently visited within the electorate of Taylor to present a $2,000 active club grant to, from round 34, for sports equipment. As a person who is interested in pistols and rifles, I was particularly interested to meet the small group, not far from my electorate, at Paralowie recently.

The Cyclists Smallbore Rifle Club was an offshoot of the Cyclists Big Bore Club, which began at the beginning of the 20th century. This club was formed by members of the Ariel Cycle Club whose members were interested in target rifle shooting. One can imagine the gentlemen of the era riding their bicycles to the Glen Osmond range, carrying their rifle slung over their shoulder. Times were very different then.

The big-bore club continued shooting regularly at the Glen Osmond range until the start of the Second World War, when all big-bore rifles were commandeered for the war effort. The enthusiasts wished to continue their pastime and converted to using small-bore rifles.

After having decided to purchase two .22 calibre rifles at a committee meeting in September 1940, the following November, they appointed a subcommittee of three men to look at the formation of a miniature rifle club, to be named the Cyclists Miniature Club and to remain affiliated with the parent club of the cyclists rifle club. At a committee meeting in December 1940, it was also decided that their first shoot would be at the Keswick range at Keswick Barracks and to advertise this event in the newspaper.

In January, it was reported at a committee meeting that a BSA (British Small Arms) small-bore rifle had been given to the club at Keswick, presumably from the Army, and that the club had also purchased a Savage single-shot rifle for the princely sum of £2/13/6. The fee for each shoot was about threepence. Nowadays, financial members only pay a small annual fee and there is no fee for any programmed shoot, except when visitors participate. The new club was set up and running and, interestingly, there were several other miniature rifle clubs formed around the same time for the same reason: big bores being taken away from civilian owners for the war effort.

The Cyclists Miniature Club continued its activities at Glen Osmond for another 40 years, during which time it changed its name to the Cyclists Smallbore Rifle Club Inc., before moving to the Adelaide Pistol Club's new range at Virginia in the early 1980s where it is currently located within my electorate. The move was presumably made because some of the members of Cyclists were also members of the Adelaide club. The range is now owned by the state government and is known as the State Shooting Park. I have had the pleasure of visiting this facility, presenting cheques there and shooting with different clubs that participate there.

Since moving to the new venue, the club has conducted several international shoots and has offered training courses for locals which have been run by international coaches from Germany, the United States of America and England. The club's interests have been expanded to include other shooting disciplines and interclub visits, including the historic Hahndorf Rifle Club, are always enjoyed.

The club was first gazetted in 1980, and later in 1992, when additional disciplines were recognised. Whilst the club's membership has always been relatively small, currently counted amongst its members are two Olympians—Mike Papps and Yvonne Hill—and, for a short time, renowned Paralympian Libby Kosmala was a member. It is a very friendly and enthusiastic group of people who made me very welcome on the evening I visited and I look forward to going out and shooting with them shortly.

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