Rifle Shooting (Cape Town and Bristol)
Michael was seriously involved in rifle shooting from his time as a cadet during World War II in 1945 up until he left Bristol for the United States in the fall of 1956. (See introduction on the Hobbies and interests page.)
The clubs of which he was part were under the aegis of the National Small-Bore Rifle Association (NSRA), both in South Africa and in Bristol.
He never joined a rifle club in St. Louis because he could not find one that suited him.
When cleaning out the house in the fall of 2022, as Jessica prepared to downsize, I (David) came across a 9.5x14.5" scrapbook of newspaper clippings. Earlier ones were taped into the pages; later ones were simply grouped together and tucked into the scrapbook. Sometimes these were the equivalent of box scores of shooting matches, less commonly there were articles. However, he tracked the progress of his clubs and his colleagues, as shown by the fact that the clippings are not solely about him. In South Africa, the clippings come from local newspapers in Cape Town and elsewhere in the country. In England, they often come from The Rifleman, the NSRA journal (sample cover shown at right).
page from 9.5x14.5" "shooting" scrapbook
clippings from Cape Argus and Cape Times
Cape Town, March/April 1948
"Past achievements surpass all" (Afrikaans)
listed as J. Friedlander (Kaapstad) (Cape Town)
Die Volksblad (Bloemfontein), April 1952
Michael is standing third from right.
"A South African doing post-graduate work"
Bristol Evening Post (Dec 1952) and
Nonesuch News (Bristol alumni publication) (Jan 1953)
East Bristol Rifle Club
1953 NSRA check to Michael
small amount, large paper check
NSRA target at 50 yards
Two 5-inch targets (innermost dotted circle
is 1/2" diameter)
East Bristol Rifle Club, July 1954
NSRA target at 100 yards
12-inch target (innermost dotted circle
is 1" diameter)
East Bristol Rifle Club, July 1954
East Bristol's Record Score
in Rifle Shooting League
Bristol Evening Post, Mar 2, 1954.