Cecil and Olive (Cook) Spiers - December 1919CECIL AND THE TURKEY SHOOT
By Leslie C. Spiers
Cecil Spiers took pride in his markmanship with guns. In fact, much to the chagrin of the local men, he would always win the local marksmanship contests known as "Turkey Shoots". Around 1940 the locals thought of a scheme to beat Cecil. When the champion arrived at the annual contest with his .22 rifle, he discovered that the usual distance to the targets had been greatly increased. He also found out that the other contestants had all brought high powered rifles that were more accurate at this greater distance. Cecil was as mad as a wet hen when he realized that he was the only person not told of the new rules. That was the year that Cecil lost the Shoot.
However, that is not the end of the story. Cecil sent his rifle to England to be rebored for a cartridge called a .22 Hornet which has a casing two or three times the size used for a standard .22 bullet. Unfortunately, because of WW II, Cecil had to wait until 1945 to get his rifle returned to him. He found that his newly fitted .22 had great accuracy even at very long distances and this put Cecil in the winner's circle once more. Revenge was long in coming, but oh!, so sweet !
