Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Shooters News for the Minn Area - June 16, 2015 
  
 Next weekend  
   Local prone shooters can take a weekend off!
 
Highpower

While last weekend prone shooters were stretched between 3 different scheduled prone matches
in the same area, this week dedicated prone shooters will be resting up and loading ammo for the Midwest Palma matches that start at Lodi, WI, June 22. 
  There is what should be a fun match for the service rifle shooter right on the East side of town at the Oak Dale Gun Club. Clean the cobwebs out of your service rifle and head on over the ODGC for a late afternoon 50 shot 200 yd CMP match that starts at 1600 hrs.  Last match there had good participation so Tom O'Mara must run a good match.  Contact:Tom O’Mara at tomara@enclos.comor 612-810-8701   Click here for match Bulletin
   If all your ammo is loaded and you just can't wait to head for the Midwest Palma matches, you could get in just a little more practice by going a couple days early and shoot a Mid Range and F-Cass match on the way down there at LaCrosse Rifle Club both Saturday, June 20 and Sunday, June 21st.   Click here for match bulletin and entry info.

Last Weekend 
Highpower - Long Range Regional
It was a glorious day last Saturday at Gopher Rifle and Revolver club where 36 competitors were shooting in 3 divisions to try to win the Minn long Range Regional. Equally divided between F-class and the Sling shooters, competitors were on the firing line for two beautiful Minnesota summer days, firing their rifles at targets 1000yds down range. It was cool temps, with a gentle breeze -- a great day to be hanging at the range and pulling some triggers with your friends. Competitors fired three 20 shot matches per day. The ones that paid the most attention to the mirage got the best scores. Unnoticed gentle shifts guaranteed a nine on the target when you didn't expect it.  200 point "clean" score were earned by only the most patient shooter. Some folks came long distances to shoot this match.
Gene Nowaczyk, Brad Smith, Jeremy Newell and Ryan Cokerham all came up from Kansas City area to compete with our local shooters. 

 
*On the Firing Line Report*  -- Regional Long Range Championship
  From: Erik Rhode

Hi Jim, 6/15/15

The 2015 MN Long Range Regional Championship match is in the history books.  A near-perfect weather forecast drew an even mix of 36 prone and F-Class specialists to the Gopher Rifle and Revolver Club’s annual showdown.  Gopher Match Director Mark Schoess had a full staff of club volunteers on hand to make sure this important match went off without a hitch.  The aforementioned forecast called for mid-70’s and light winds both days, so shooters had high hopes for high scores.

  The weatherman delivered as promised for Saturday’s matches.  65º and overcast, with the flags just twitching, this was going to be a day to shoot 200’s.   Saturday was the Any Sight part of the match for the sling guys, so many put on their best optics for the day.  I stuck with the good old irons, and threw down the gauntlet with an opening score of 200-12x in Match 1 to get things started.  Match 2 had 3 brave men responding in kind, as Matt “Ice” Griffin, Morgen “Meat Loaf”  Dietrich, and Phil “Klandyman” Klanderud all shot their own 200’s with 10, 9, and 8 x’s respectively.  That would prove to be the end of the clean sling targets for the weekend though, as conditions got a little more interesting for match 3.  Morgen and the “Doc” Tamulinas both managed to hold onto all but one of their points there, with Morgen’s 13 X’s topping Doc Stacy’s 9.  At the end of Day 1, Morgen was on top by just 2 X’s over Ice Girffin.  The Doctor was in - in 3rd place that is, as Doc Stacey was just 3 points off the lead.  In this game every point or X counts, and Morgen’s extra 2 X’s earned him another spot on the traveling “Any Rifle, Any Sight” trophy.  

  Meanwhile, the F-Class gang was having similar luck on their little targets down on the little end of the range.  Mike Jones and John Rykhus traded 10’s and X’s in Match 1 to both finish with clean 200’s.  This was familiar Territory for Mike, having set some records at this club during last year’s LR State Championship.  His experience paid off, and his 4 extra X’s put him in the early lead.  In case any were left doubting, Mike proved his mettle in Match 2 with another 200, this time with 13 x’s.  This earned Mike a comfortable 4-point cushion over 2nd place John Rykhus going into Match #3.  Mike hit the Cruise Control in the last match, and only lost 4 to the increasingly befuddling wind changes.  Having only dropped 4 points all day, his 596-31x score put him in a commanding 5-point lead over Rick Sievers.  The FTR contest was shaping up to be a closer race, as Gene Nowaczyk led Ryan Corkerham by a single point at 572-13x to 571-14x. 
  Mark Schoess photo



  When I got in bed on Saturday night, the weather forecast for Sunday showed 78º, with 2 mph winds slowing to 0 mph by 10am.  Holy cow, that seemed too good to be true!  I don’t know about everyone else, but I know I slept with visions of national records dancing in my head that night…  Would it pan out?   

     No.  When I got to the range at 7:15 on Sunday, the range was covered in a dense fog.  From the 1000-yard firing line, I couldn’t even see the flags on the 800-yard line.  The sun was threatening though, and it looked like things might be ok by 9am.  By the time Mr. Schoess called relay 1 to the line, the fog was gone and the sun was blazing.  Targets were partially shaded, causing fits for the sling shooters, as today was “Iron Sight” day.  Those 0mph winds must have decided to bring friends, as the flags were moving more than the day before, and in both directions this time.  Mirage was running today, and switching fast.  Now this is what GRRC is known for. 

   ...... Stacey says "The wind on Sunday was deceptively calm. Even though is seemed slow when the mirage changed direction you needed to pay attention.  My scores show I was not paying attention
as much as I should."......

    I managed to kick things off again in the first match of the day with a score of 198-7x to take the early lead.  3 slingers were hot on my heels though, as yesterday’s heroes Morgen D. and  Ice Griffin shot 197’s along with Craig “The Menace” Bennis.  I held on by my fingernails and scraped out another match win in the 2nd match with a 195-7x.   Dr. Stacy Tamulinas and Cap’n Bob Peasley were close behind with matching 194-6x’s.  I had to settle for 3rd in the 3rd match, as Morgen returned fire with a 196-7x for the win.  DocTamulinas edged me out by 1 x for 2nd place with his 195-8x.  Competition was fierce today, and when the dust settled, my Sunday Agg score of 588-21x was tops for the day, and good enough for the Iron Sight trophy.  Morgen gave me little room to breathe with his 2nd place 587-16x, and always cool Ice Griffin held onto 3rd at 583-17x.  There was no stopping Morgen for the Grand Agg though, and his impressive Saturday score carried him to a comfortable 4-point win over 2nd place, the cool Ice Griffin.  More hardware to decorate Morgen’s new crib in Des Moines, Iowa.  I’m sure Amy will be thrilled. 
     Things were getting interesting on the F-Class targets as well, as Pat “Agent” Scully made up for his mediocre (for Scully) Saturday performance by winning the first 2 matches of the day by a healthy margin.  These scores, coupled with Mike Jones’ Day 2 slide, put Scully in the lead down just 17 points in the Grand Agg going into the last match of the weekend.  Jones dropped 16 points in those first 2 matches to put him into 2nd place down 20.  Also surging was Pat’s fellow NSRC alumni Scott Brabec earning 2nd place slots in each of the first 2 matches to put him at 22 down for the weekend.  The championship was up for grabs, and would come down to the very last match.   In the FTR bunch, Jeremy Newell was making a home-stretch push with a match win and a 2nd in those same matches. 
      In the last match, the sleeping giant of Mike Jones finally awoke, and put the best score of the day on the board during the worst condition of the weekend while Pat Scully watched the fickle mirage scatter his 3-point lead to the 4 winds.  Mike’s gutty 199-10x put him on top of Scully by 1 point for the weekend match win, with late bloomer Scott Brabec locking up 3rd.  Saturday’s FTR leaders faded fast on Sunday, and were nowhere to be found at the end of the day.  Jeremy Newell’s Sunday performance was 3 points better than Andrew Jewison’s score, and enough for the weekend FTR win. 
    Since this was an official NRA Regional Championship, medals were awarded to the top 3 in each division.  Medal winners were:
   

                
Sling:
GOLD - Morgen Dietrich 1184-46x
SILVER – Matt Griffin 1180-45x
BRONZE – Erik Rhode 1179-55x             
  
F-Class Open:
GOLD – Mike Jones 1179-48x
SILVER – Pat Scully 1178-49x
BRONZE – Scott Brabec 1170-35  
 
F-Class TR
GOLD – Jeremy Newell 1140-24x
SILVER – Ryan Cokerham 1140-23x
BRONZE – Andrew Jewison 1133-21x
  Morgan Dietrich - Gold medal winner
Mark Schoess photo
 
Congratulations to all of the winners, and a big thanks to Mark Schoess and the rest of the GRRC staff for another great match.  See you all at the same place next month for the 3-day MN State Long Range Championships!
                                  
Best regards, Erik                
 PS, I have attached photos of the scoreboards, and one of Morgen Dietrich’s collection of NRA Regional Medals for inclusion in the newsletter. 

        Thanks for that match report, Erik.   I was at the match on Saturday and Thanks to Mark Schoess and the eager pit crew, the match was very well run.  I forgot to put the camera in my car when I left for the match so I didn't get any pictures to share in the newsletter.





300 Meter Int. at MRC - no match report or results available

Small Bore - 3P and 1600 prone at MRC   
 With 3 prone matches scheduled on the same day, It was not surprising that there was a very light turnout for the Sm Bore prone matches that were shot at Mpls. Rifle Club this past weekend. A beautiful day and the chance to shoot Long Range Highpower drew most of the Highpower prone shooters to GRRC, and many of the junior shooters were resting up for the big National matches coming up this week. (see below) 
  In Saturdays 3P, and the prone match, Elizbeth Ewert was the top shooter with Ross Ewert, and Kurt Kisch taking 2nd place honors.


  I went over to MRC to shoot Sunday's prone match and while there were only 4 of us competitors, I had a good time and shot some good targets. The real fun of the day though, was watching Ross Ewert and daughter Elizebeth compare their targets to see who was winning, father or daughter.  In the first match it was a tie as both shot clean targets and posted 400 scores with Ross a couple Xs ahead. In the 100 yd match neither shooter would give an in, but while Ross cleaned this 2nd match, Elizbeth dropped a couple pts.  So, it would come down to the 50 m match to see if Elizebeth could out shoot her dad today.  It wasn't to be as she lost a couple pts in this last match and Ross didn't. So Ross won the days competition and along the way shot a great match, cleaning all the targets and posting his first 1200/1200 score and 97 of those shots were Xs. Good shooting Ross!  

Notes:
1.  Minnesota Junior Shooters in action!
   submitted by George Minerich  
Congratulations shooters on this outstanding accomplishment!
      Minnesota Juniors to Compete in National 3-Position Championships in Anniston Alabama and at Fort Benning Georgia
Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and USA Shooting are sponsoring an invitational National Three Position Air Rifle Championships June 21 to June 26, 2015. The championship is a three day event for sporter and precision air rifle shooting. Each competition day is a new opportunity for athletes. The first competition is the National 3-Position Air Rifle Junior Olympic Championships followed by the CMP National Championship. All shooters are welcome to fire in both competitions, regardless of how the team or individual qualified.
    The Minnesota Junior Rifle team of Carmen Fry, Eric Hazelton, Kamilla Kisch, and Samantha Peterson won a place at the invitational National Three Position Air Rifle Championship (Precision Air Team). The team is from the Minnesota Centershots junior club. Elizabeth Ewert and Grace Taschuk of Post 435 Xmen junior club will compete as individuals (Precision Air) at the Nationals. The National 3-P Air rifle Junior Olympic Championship is this Saturday, June 22, 2015 and the CMP National 3-P Air Rifle Championship is Sunday June 23, 2015. The events will be shot at the CMP indoor range on electronic targets in Anniston Alabama. The Juniors will be traveling to Anniston with the Centershots Coach, Liz Powell. Liz is a former member of the USA Shooting team with many International matches to her record.
      The action continues after the National Three Position Air Rifle Championship. Samantha Peterson and Elizabeth Ewert will compete in Women's 3P Smallbore, Women's Smallbore Prone and Women's Air Rifle at the USA Shooting National Championships and Fort Benning, Georgia from June 24 to July 1, 2015. These matches will be shot at the home of the US Army Marksmanship Unit with International and Olympic level shooters. These matches will be shot at 50 meters using the international target on electronic scoring systems.
Note: If you would like to watch, streaming of live shots of the 3-P National Air Rifle Championships they can be seen at:
http://thecmp.org/air/national-three-position-air-rifle-championships/

 
Two Weeks Out 
June 27, 28 - NRA Highpower Championship at Northwestern Gun Club Duluth - click here for match bulleitn
July 4 -  M1, M1A match at Eau Claire  -      
click here for match bulletin
July 5
-  Possible match at NorthStar GC, Redwing    


That's All Folks
Hawkeye

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