Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Shooters News for the Minn Area - July 8, 2014

Next Weekend  
 Highpower 
This weekend, it's time to put away that trusty Service Rifle and dig out your Long Range prone guns.  You will also need about 150 rds of well crafted ammo -- ammo good enough to reach out and touch the target almost a Kilometer away.  It's "Long Range Weekend" at Gopher Rifle and Revolver Club's 1000 yd shooting facility just North of the Twin Cities at Harris, MN.  The folks at GRRC will be hosting the 2014 Minn Long Range/Long Range F Class State Championships  July 12-13th. Shooters are expected to come in from around the five state area to contest this championship, as GRRC has the long established reputation of putting on a great match weekend at their top notch 20 position 1000yd rifle range.  We all know that when you shoot Long Range at GRRC, the sky is always blue, the wind fair, and the grass is green on the firing line. What more could you ask??
Saturday, July 12 shooters will be firing 3 twenty shot matches with unlimited sighters all at the 1000 yd line.  These 3 matches will determine the Individual 1000yd champion in both the traditional Sling Class and in F-class. The 4th match of the day will be Team Match championship.  Teams of 4 shooters will be made up, and take to the line with each shooter firing twenty shots toward the team aggregate score with coaching from the team captain and wind coach. 
Sunday, July 13 will again see the competitors at the long lines firing a "Palma" match in the Palma State Championship.  The course of fire this day will start with 15 shots for record from 800 yds, after which shooters will move back to the 900 yd line for another 15 shot match, and then it's all the way back to the 1000yd line again, for the final 15 shot match of the day.  The top score of the day will determine the State Palma champ, and the top aggregate score from both days will determine the 2014 Minn State Long Range Championship.  The forecast (click here) is for probably good weather with a light breeze from the SW, so we hope to see you all there. It will be top competition and fun shooting all weekend.      Click Here for Match program and entry info

For the Service Rifle shooter who wants a "fun" match to shoot -- head on over to the East side of the Cities on Saturday, July 12th to Oakdale Gun Club for a CMP Military Rile Match. The course of fire for this match is CMP course A  --30 shots for record from the 100yd line, starting with 5 sighters from the prone position, and then followed by 10 shots prone for record, then 10 shots prone rapid fire, and finishes with 10 shots from the Offhand position. Contact match director Tom O'mara at  tomara@enclos.com for info.
             Click Here for Match program and entry info

300 Meter International  

From: Brian Shiffman
The July Minneapolis Rifle Club 300 meter match will be held this Sunday, July 13th.  There will be two relays scheduled; the first starts at 10 AM and the second at noon.   Registration begins Sunday June 1.

Register yourself at http://edfpages.com/mgfc/match.php.  Read the instructions.  Pay attention as you fill in the boxes and make selections from the drop down lists.  There is room for only 14 shooters per relay.  The box at the top of the list shows the number of shooters for each relay. 

Last Weekend  
It was 2 great days for a Service Rifle matches at GRRC last weekend.  Tom Torberg and the other GRRC guys offered up a CMP games match on Saturday July 7th and drew about 20 shooters to this fun event. I finally got to get out the AR and shoot one of these matches after having missed the first 3 CMP matches that Rifle Club. These matches are all shot at the 200 yd line and are only 30 rds for record, so it was great for me get in some service rifle shooting after not having shot a SR match (or any OTC match) since last June. I found that I could still see the service rifle sight well enough to get a 99 on the easy SR1 target for the prone slow fire stage.  Then a rifle jam cost me two saved rds. on the rapid fire stage and my quest for a match winning score was over. The last 10 shots are fired from the standing position and with fortunately good trigger breaks, I scored a 90 and was amazed that I could still hit the ten ring once in a while.
  After the morning match was over, the shooters split up into 2 man teams for the afternoon, sniper type match.  Out came the old Springfields, Enfields, M1Ds, and even a Swiss K-31 Schmidt Ruben carbine. They were topped off with the old Redfield, Unertl, and other old scopes and  the shooter teams each fired  at 300 and 600 yd for score.
   It was good to see some new shooters on the line and I hope that some of them might become full time competitors.  These CMP games matches are important in bringing in new shooters to our sport and should be supported by all of us.

 a few picts from the sniper match

Sunday, July 8th  
It was a "fun match" on Saturday, but on Sunday morning the mood was changed. The fun was over - This days match was a Leg Match, and coveted Leg Points were on the line.  If you ever win enough Leg points (30) in your shooting career, the CMP will award you a Distinguished Rifleman's Badge. This is the most sought after award in Shooting and non-distinguished shooters will travel almost anywhere for the chance to pick up those last few points. This quest for a DR Badge will occupy many shooters for years as they try to get their scores up high enough to win some of these elusive award points. Many shooters are overwhelmed with emotion when they finally 'Leg Out' --- It's a Big deal !

From:  Kurt Borlaug
  GRRC hosted an EIC "Leg" Match on Sunday July 6th. The morning broke with rain and cloudy conditions but by the first prep period the match was underway and we had hot and humid conditionsfor the duration of the day. This was for many a first match of the season, as well as for others their first match EVER!! There were several new shooters experiencing the challenges of Highpower Rifle competition for the first time and it was a welcome sight.
  Off hand started the match and there were several shooters who broke the 90 mark with Kurt Borlaug at 92-2x, followed closely by SSGT Al Schneider (MN ARNG) with a 91-1x and Greg McCarty at 91-0x.
  The two rapid-fire stages began to sort out the standings. Mark "Monard" Schoess had the high sitting score with a 98-1x followed by Borlaug at 98-0x......donuts anyone? Right behind was Scneider at 95-1 and Larry Weidell at 94-0x. The wind was beginning to pick up and the classic GRRC fishtailing winds had many shooters questioning what to use for wind at 300 yards. A few figured the best call and held hard. Borlaug at 98-3x, Schoess at 97-2x and McCarty at 96-1x. Still shooting consistantly was Scneider at 95-3 and Weidell at 95-2.


 Select "full Screen" and 1080 HD -- turn up the volume! 

  The 600 yard line beckoned next and after a walk in the increasing heat the shooters gathered to where the final standings would emerge. The conditions were not as extreme as they appeared and most shooters had a few lost points due to over-doping the wind out the left side. Making quick recoveries and carefully watching the flags as the mirage was hard to pick up through the spotting scopes, the competitors waited out conditions and counted on quick pit service to shoot when their condition returned. 
  At the end of 600 yards, Mark schoess had the high score of 189-3x followed by Weidell at 187-5x. Tim Thole showed his wind doping skills with a 186-5 and McCarty carded 185-2. Still in the hunt was Schneider at 184-5x.
The big winners (and very happy shooters) for the day are--
Mark Schoess who earned an 8 point Leg, and
SSgt Al Schneider Who earned a 6 pt leg.
Neither of these shooters "Legged Out", but both are well on their way to earning the greatest prize in shooting.
Kurt
     Thanks, Kurt for that report.
  Click Here for a 'You Tube' video of the GRRC Leg Match

Two Weeks Out
July 19     - Mid range prone at Eau Claire Rifle Club -- Click Here for match program  
July 20     - OTC matches at Eau Claire Rifle Club  --  Click Here for match program
July 26,27 - Minn Mid Range F-class Championship - Click Here for match program  

That's All Folks!
Hawkeye

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