Winter Training --"Dry firing to distraction"

If you suffer from WSW syndrome (winter shooting withdrawal). Try this. http://proneinthewilderness.blogspot.com/ (and click the diary entry) from our Canadian friend. Training is important. Don't just while the winter away watching TV waiting for spring. Remember also that in Proneshooting ---NPA is everything!

Arizona Nat. Guard --- 2010 Combat Arms Challenge

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of volunteering to help work a stage at the AZ Nat. Guard Combat Arms Challenge. This was a biathlon style event stressing physical fitness, and military combat skills. Teams of 2 Guard members were required to complete 10 stage events such as the M-16 event, claymore mine deployment, shotgun stage, obstacle course, long range rifle (squad designated marksman), M-67 Grenade throwing, M-9 pistol shooting, Close quarters Battle match, all the while being on the clock from start to finish, and having to run, walk, between stages a total of 3 to 5 miles depending on how many penalty laps (100 yds) at each stage were earned by missing a target. The stage I worked was the M-16/A4 rifle shoot, and teams had to assume the position and each would fire at 5 orange steel plates 12" square at 100 to 200 yds. These were tough targets (see pics), and most teams ended up runing a few penalty laps.
I was impressed by the skill, fitness and attitude of these young Guardsmen, and Women. Our country is in good hands! Ooh rah!

Out of town Match -- Jan 10th, 2010

Rio Salado -- Curio and Relics match -- Mesa, AZ
54 deg and windy for the 1st Relay. Gradually warmed up to about 70 deg and breezy by end of the match. 24 happy shooters.

Out of town Match -- Ben Avery - Jan 9th, 2010

Small Bore 1600 match -- Ben Avery, Phoenix AZ - 68 deg, light west breeze -- Great Day to welcome John Andres back for the winter season.

600 yd Match -- Ben Avery, Phoenix -- Jan 02, 2010

Desert Sharpshooters Rifle Club

"I don't even know where to begin with this report - it was the biggest club match in many years (53 shooters), we had perfect conditions and everything ran smoothly. Thanks to a great deal of help from all the competitors who volunteered to raise flags, run the line, build targets, put up additional number boards and more we had a timely and professional match. I can't list everyone who worked because so many pitched in, but you have our sincere appreciation.

Steve Cunico has acclimated to Phoenix quite quickly and shot a perfect 600-34X, making no mistakes to win what was a close and tough match. Steve is one of the top prone shooters in the country and we're all very happy to have him in Phoenix now; hopefully he'll make it full-time here soon. Mike Dal Santo was close behind at 598-44X and you really have to notice that 200-18X that Mike shot on his third string. Mike says his 6BR has over 6000 rounds through the barrel and is still shooting as good as ever. Tom Albanito was the high service rifle shooter, Ken Nelson first Master, Jack Arnold first Expert, Jack Greenleaf first Sharpshooter and Doug Popadince first Marksman (and that card won't last too long now). Johm Lowther just got an Expert classification and shot his personal best score to break it in.

Greg Swanson fired his first F-Class match with a beautifully stocked Barnard by Doan Trevor and took home the top spot. Charles Gooding, in just his second match took second place, Rick Curtis and Steve Lockwood were close behind for thrid and fourth. Michelle Gallagher won the F-TR with a very strong score and Chuck May shooting his .223 Savage just rebarelled by Norm Darnell was second with Bill Berta third."----German Salazar

Complete Results: http://www.scribd.com/doc/24708783/Desert-Sharpshooters-Rifle-Club

The Month Ahead -- Dec 26, 2009

The Month Ahead
Note: all links to programs and Schedules in this news letter are permanately posted at the Minnesota Rifle Shooting blog: http://minnesotarifleshooting.blogspot.com/

Jan 2nd, 2010 -- Start off the new year with participation in the 2nd match of the new "Winter Highpower League"
to be shot at Mpls. Rifle Club (Elect. targets) and put on by George Minerich, match director and MRRA President. Match is in the OTC format, 50 shots plus sighters with first shots down range at 1000 hrs. There is no need to be cold shooting here as the target house is heated and very comfortable and no target pulling is necessary. Match program: http://mrra.org/downloads/mrc/MRC_Winter_League.pdf
If you can't shoot because your trigger finger is broken (or some other lame excuse), come by and shoot the breeze about the up-coming big dollar ($$$) prize standing match in Feb
Results of Dec. match were not received by me.
Jan 10th 2010 -- Will be the first 300 meter match of 2010 again at Mpls Rifle Club -- Prone, Offhand, or 3P Take your pick.

300 Meter match report from Brian shiffman-- Dec

Mpls Rifle Club shooting house and shot monitor

"It was a pretty good day to have a match. Conditions required a bit of wind doping. We had 14 shooters with one abstaining. Several shooters that were new to me joined to shoot. We encourage all centerfire rifle competitors to participate in our monthly club matches; they are open to all. Just remember, no hunting or expanding bullets and no muzzle breaks.

The scores for the match are posted at http://www.edfpages.com/mgfc/results.php?match=12 As you look through the scores you will notice that ta number of shooters post consistent scores in F-Class and Prone. Philip Klanderud’s scores were very consistent; his first string only 2 points down from his next two strings of 20 shots each. Phillip was bested by one point by Matt Griffin. Their first and third strings were identical (187 and 189) but Matt shot a 190 to Phillip’s 189 in the second string. I shot F-Class with optical sight for my first string and got brave to shoot the last two strings with iron sights. Even using a rest, my scores are not good or consistent which means I still need work on my sight picture and alignment. I want to move to Prone but I’ll have to do better with iron sights before I tackle the other variables of position dynamics.

NOTE: With the upcoming Robert Sandager offhand match scheduled for February 13 and 14 we added an Offhand Class to the December and January matches for those wishing to get some practice under match conditions. We had two shooters at the December match that shoot Offhand Class, Erhard Bruderer and Mark Havlik. Erhard was shooting a full on match rifle while Mark shot his AR15. Our web scoring page does not have an Offhand Class so here are the results for Erhard and Mark:

Erhard 160 167 167 504

Mark 119 119 131 369

The January club 300 meter match will be on January 10^th and as usual we will start at 10AM and a match fee of $15, all up. This match will again include the Offhand Class.

As I write this we are under a blanket of snow and the satellite dish is not getting a signal. It is a good time to sit by the fireplace and think about the many blessings we have had this year.

Happy holiday season."

Brian D. Shiffman shiff004@umn.edu

2010 Highpower Sched from Bob Peasley

http://www.scribd.com/doc/23879501/2010-High-Power-Shcedule-Dec-5th-Version

Highpower
Kurt Borlaug has announced the schedule for the summer 2010 Thursday evening HighPower league matches at Gopher Rifle and Revolver club. Program (Schedule):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24410947/2010-GRRC-Thursday-Evening-High-Power-Prone-League-Schedule

Kurt has also organized a Tuesday evening M1 Garand league for summer of 2010 (again at GRRC), and these matches will be shot as a "President's" match format -- 10 shots prone slow fire, 10 shots rapid fire Prone, and 10 shots Standing.
Program (schedule) is found at http://www.scribd.com/doc/24412448/2010-GRRC-M1-League-Schedule

High Power clinic
When --Jan 23 rd
Where -- Gander Mt.-- Lakeville, MN
What -- Everything you wanted to know about High Power rifle competition (rules, sight settings, how to zero, wind reading, basic sight alignment, trigger control, sling attachment, getting into position, scope placement, etc.)
Who -- Bob Peasley (High master shooter in Long Range, OTC, Mid range, etc)

Program: http://www.scribd.com/doc/24413996/High-Power-Rifle-Clinic-Bob-Peasley

Long Range:
Berger Bullets SouthWest Long Range Nationals -- Feb 4th--7th 2010
Get away from the Cold!
Shoot long range at the Berger Bullets Southwest Long Range Nationals-- Feb 4th thru Feb 7th. This is a good opportunity to shoot head to head with the top prone shooters in the nation and thaw out a little in the process. This will be 4 days of Palma and 1000 yd matches at Ben Avery Range in Phoenix, AZ. You can test your skill against the big boys and the Ladies, such as Trudy Fay, Michelle and Nancy Galagher. You know that you need a shooting vacation this winter----this is your chance!
See you there
Match program: http://www.desertsharpshooters.com/champ/2010/2010%20Berger%20SW%20Nationals/Berger_SW_Nationals.pdf

Small Bore:
Our friend from North of the Border-- NWOshooter-- has posted a couple of good articles on his blog (Prone in the Wilderness) about his own training regimen, and the one I think that bears reading is about keeping a shooting diary. Keeping such a diary forces you to confront and list your mistakes and thereby reinforcing your memory to what you did wrong. Reviewing your shooting diary before a match and during your training helps you concentrate on the things that have caused problems in the past and hopefully you can apply corrections to your methods. We do hope to see NWOshooter at one of our next MN Small bore matches this coming summer. here is an example of one of his methods : http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6GgWSR_71MKMTgxNDMyYTktMjBhNC00MWM1LTk3MjUtZGZhMGZkYWFlZGUw&hl=en

Article at: http://proneinthewilderness.blogspot.com/

Personal Notes:
Never get too Discouraged
OK, so you had the worst day of your shooting career today -- There is always tomorrow, and there is no place to go but up. Following is a letter I sent to my shooting Buddy who has vowed to Quit shooting due to lack of reward for all the effort he has put in trying to be a better shooter. ---

"(B.....)
Taking a break from an activity for a while can be a good Idea. However, one must be careful about over-reacting if one has had a bad day or a bad weekend. Recognizing "burn-out" for what it is helps one cope with the stress of relative failure in competition.
Remember, we don't shoot, at our skill level, in order to win, but to compete--to "play the game" as it were. I haven't won a rifle match in the last 5 years. It's doubtful weather I'll ever win another rifle match, so for me the competition is just to shoot at least above my average. If you think about it, this actually becomes easier and easier, as if we don't shoot well, our average goes down and then it's easier to shoot our average. So, eventually we win (shoot our average), and all is well.

I think there is no doubt that you shoot too much. I come to practice on Tuesday, and Thurs, and you are there before me, shooting away, and then when I leave, you are still there banging away. I shoot about 40 rds at practice and you shoot about 140. Now, you have added long range to your goal, and shoot a Palma match. I couldn't handle that much shooting, besides the fact that long range is very hard to score at. Too much shooting and too much loading ! Too much time spent on the sport for it to be fun. I becomes a chore, ---work. Work with no pay off.
So, think about what it is about the matches that is fun--- being at the match with the guys, -- having the opportunity to stretch your limits a little, --- Try new things out, -- a little friendly competition --- A person needs these things to stay young.
So, instead of quitting, just ease off a little, shoot less, enjoy it more. You will actually shoot better because of it. Go back to what you found to be fun when you started --- over the course, service rifle---well maybe not that far back. You now see why I don't shoot as much Long range prone. Prone shooters are so serious. The sport is boiled down too far to perfection. You have to shoot almost perfect scores or you are a failure. Like, Why did I drop those two pts yesterday---Why?
It's lots easier to have some fun in OTC matches-- No one shoots perfect scores there, and rapid fire is always fun --- and sometimes you get lucky.
So, take a little break from practice and loading, mix up your matches -- a little Prone, a few OTC matches, shoot scope in SB, set reasonable goals! Look at how far you have come in the last two years and be satisfied. Remember you shot a good score just last Sat in SB. Get back to the fun part of shooting.
I'll be at the OTC Sat with the service rifle, then a week so off.
Hawkeye"-

I also had to send this msg to myself last Sat night. I had just shot my personal record LOW score at a 500yd mid range match. I couldn't see the target, (old eyes) the new expensive sight I had bought didn't help, I couldn't read the wind (nothing new here), My trigger control was bad, and 2 x-fires didn't help much at all. Difficult wind (gusting to 25mph) and bad visibility didn't seem to hurt the better shooters (German Salazar shot a 598/600), so any excuses were I made were worthless. I was just not competitive --- period! Oh poor me. What a loser!
Well, Sunday morn.the sun still came up as expected, the weather was a little warmer, the wind was down, and I could shoot scope in a gentlemanly 160 shot SB prone match. I didn't have to worry about sight-alignment, and the scope substituted for old eyes. What a difference a day makes! Shooting was fun again. I shot the first 20x clean of my whole career, dropped only 2 pts for the day, and settled with a personal record high score of 1598/105x. What a difference a day makes. Two days of shooting, two personal records. I am rejuvenated. I can shoot well sometimes, and that makes it all worthwhile --- all the work, all the expense, all the mental anguish is worth it, for just one brief, shining moment when it all comes together (there is a Camelot).
Did I win that match ?--- nope. I was just 2nd loser. Rick Curtis shot 1599/136x and Allen Elliot shot 1598/112x. Oh, Well, I had fun and that's all that really counts. Think about it after a bad shooting day. The sun will come up tomorrow.
Hawkeye

Matches coming up:
Saturday Jan 2nd -- Mpls Rifle club -- Winter HP league
Sunday Jan 10th -- Mpls Rifle club --- 300m match
Saturday Jan 23 -- Highpower Clinic -- Gander Mt, Lakeville, MN
Sat & Sun -- Feb 13th &14th-- Mpls Rifle club -- Bob Sandager Offand Matches (Big prizes)

Minnesota Rifle Shooting Blog: http://minnesotarifleshooting.blogspot.com/

"If you are unwilling to defend your right to your own lives, then you are merely like mice trying to argue with owls. You think their ways are wrong. They think you are dinner." -- Terry Goodkind

Southwest Long Range Nationals --Feb 4 thru Feb 7th

Get away from the Cold!
Shoot long range at the Berger Bullets Southwest Long Range Nationals-- Feb 4th thru Feb 7th. This is a good opportunity to shoot head to head with the top prone shooters in the nation and thaw out a little in the process. This will be 4 days of Palma and 1000 yd matches at Ben Avery Range in Phoenix, AZ. You can test your skill against the big boys and the Ladies, such as Trudy Fay, Michelle and Nancy Galagher. You know that you need a shooting vacation this winter----this is your chance!
See you there

Match program:
http://www.desertsharpshooters.com/champ/2010/2010%20Berger%20SW%20Nationals/Berger_SW_Nationals.pdf

Out of Town match -- Dec 20, o9

500 yd prone -- Rio Salado, Mesa AZ,

High Power Rifle Clinic

When --Jan 23 rd
Where -- Gander Mt.-- Lakeville, MN
What -- Everything you wanted to know about High Power rifle competition (rules, sight settings, how to zero, wind reading, basic sight alignment, trigger control, sling attachment, getting into position, scope placement, etc.)
Who -- Bob Peasley (High master shooter in Long Range, OTC, Mid range, etc)

Program: http://www.scribd.com/doc/24413996/High-Power-Rifle-Clinic-Bob-Peasley

GRRC Thursday evening High Power prone league

From Kurt Borlaug
Here is the Program & schedule for next summer's (2010) Thursday evening HP prone league matches at Gopher.

Program (schedule):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24410947/2010-GRRC-Thursday-Evening-High-Power-Prone-League-Schedule

Out of Town Match -- Small Bore 3200, Ben Avery 12/12/09

...Winner: Peter Church

The Week Ahead Dec 9th, 2009

The Week Ahead
This coming Sunday be at Mpls Rifle Club and shoot from a heated shooting house. The match-- 300 meters, position and prone, take your pick. Bring 60 rds + and have some fun shooting on the electric targets. F-class shooters encouraged to come.

2010 Highpower Sched from Bob Peasley
http://www.scribd.com/doc/23879501/2010-High-Power-Shcedule-Dec-5th-Version

Winter fun with Rifles and win "Big" money!
" Hi All
Please find attached a match bulletin for a little winter fun. Feb 13th and 14th, Minneapolis Rifle Club is holding a 60 round offhand match with $1400.00 in total prize money. Pre registration is $15.00 or $20.00 walk on registration. Please see the attached bulletin. Please spread the word. Thanks!"
George Minerich -- MRRA President
Match bulletin: http://www.scribd.com/doc/23878798/REVISED-60-Shot-Offhand-Match

Mpls Rifle Club 300m Match -- Nov 8th
See Brian Shiffman's report on this match and pictures below:
Next match is Dec 13th--This Sunday Mpls Rifle Club 0900hrs

Long Range Shooters:
AZ Palma championships Dec. 4th -6th 2009
I had the pleasure of attending (pulling targets $$, not shooting) at the 2009 Arizona Palma State Championship matches this past weekend. This is a Long Range Match contested over 3 days at 800, 900, and 1000 yds with .308 caliber rifles, Iron sights, and little 155gn bullets, so as to really test the skill of the shooters. They were tested. Friday's start at the 800 yd line saw cold and strong gusty winds already separating out the top shooters from the also rans. At the 900 the wind calmed and the temp rose to a comfortable 60's deg day. Friday was great weather in the high 60s with light winds except at the 1000 yd line, and Sunday repeated Saturdays conditions, again with tricky winds at the 1000 to ensure that the top shooters earned their wins. They did.
See Links below for results:

From: German Salazar -- ASRPA Highpower Director
"We had a very good turnout and the weather was very good, presenting a range of conditions without becoming unmanageable. We hope to see you all back for the Berger Bullets Long Range Championship in February, the program and entry forms are at www.desertsharpshooters.com ."

AZ Palma champ results (agg)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/23875596/2009-AZ-PALMA-AGG

AZ Palma champ results (Team)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/23876443/2009-Az-Palma-Team

Prepare for 2010 Highpower-- from GRRC December newsletter (Dave Newell -Pub)

"GRRC will be experiencing some new and exciting changes to the High Power practice format in 2010. First of all, we will have an M1 Garand League. These will be 30 shot matches fired at 200 yards in the prone slow-fire, prone rapid-fire and standing slow-fire stages. Each shooter will take a turn in the pits and then shoot, and vice-versa. These will be fired on meeting nights beginning in June, running through September. The final match will be a CMP sanctioned event where scores will be sent to CMP for national rankings. Shooters achieving "cut" scores will receive medals of bronze, silver or gold relating to performance.

The usual Thursday practices will have an added twist. First of all, we are moving to Wednesdays. Explanation to follow. The Wednesdays will be in a league format. Each session will be either 10 shots standing at 200 yards followed by ten shots sitting rapid-fire at 200. Shooters will then go back to 300 for a prone rapid string. Pits will rotate after the first relay finishes, and those who started in pits will fire. The next session will be 600 yards slow-fire prone at 600 yards, with an infantry match stage thrown in for MN Team shooters as well as anybody who wants to try this game.

Thursdays will witness the beginning of a High Power Prone League. This will be open to F-Class shooters as well as sling shooters. This will be a mix of 300, 500, 600 and 1,000 yard events. The schedule for this league is based around the LR matches that GRRC will host.

All leagues will be open to members and non-members alike. If you have wanted to try HP in some form and never had the chance, this will be a low-impact introduction to the sport. I will need HELP! Please contact me if you are interested in competing/assisting. Start prepping brass as it will be a long season!!"
Kurt Borlaug

1st Annual GRRC Smallbore Prone League Final Results
Larry Sawyer 6354-403X League Champion (MNCenter shots Head Coach, Distinguished Smallbore position and prone shooter)
Jim Evenson 6299-326X First GRRC Member
Jonell Sawyer 6281-263X First Woman (Larry’s partner in love and crime)
Kurt Borlaug 6251-271X (GRRC, Mn Rifle Team)
Carmen Fry 6169-195X First Junior and GRRC Jr.
Joel Peabody 6164-187X (GRRC)
Scott Chester 6138-210X (GRRC JR)
Shelby Sandstrom 6128-175X (GRRC JR)
Danielle Groeshens 6113-180X (GRRC JR)
Mark Schoess 6064—134X (??) (GRRC, MN Rifle Team)
Randy Allee 6033- 160X (GRRC MN Rifle Team)
Bill Lahti 5999-143X (GRRC)
Willy Elliot 5929-123X (GRRC, Anoka Cty. 4H Coach
Tom Torborg 5928-111X (GRRC, Mn Rifle Team, NewFather)
Gordon Kordosky 5847-106X (GRRC)
Allie Taschuk 5667-82X (Mn. Centershots JR)
Gabe Starr 5585-71X (GRRC JR)
Sarah Kostick 5559-76X (Anoka County 4H Coach)
Rik Rarick 5545-65X (GRRC BPCR)
Cliff Secord 5533-47X (GRRC wearer of many hats)

The total possible points for this league was 6400-640X. Small-bore prone is fired at 50 yards, 50 meters and 100 yards. The
blackpowder range is where we fired this league and many thanks are due to GRRC members for help setting up this range, as well as the cooperation involved among other disciplines. The turnout was far better than I expected and a special thanks is due to Jim Evenson for helping to run the “Day Shift” shooters. These were a group of retired gents who fired in the mornings and
helped to take pressure off the evening shift when firing points were at a premium. All scores will be sent to the NRA and you will receive a classification card representing the classification you earned while participating in this league. Thanks to all participants and we hope to see you next year
-Kurt Borlaug

Next Match
Dec 13th 2009 -- Mpls Rifle club -- 300m prone and position

Keep em in the middle
Hawkeye

"If you are unwilling to defend your right to your own lives, then you are merely like mice trying to argue with owls. You think their ways are wrong. They think you are dinner." -- Terry Goodkind

Mpls Rifle Club - 300 m Match - Nov 8th

If the temperature was in the 70’s is might have been a better day than what we had on Nov. 8. Calm to begin with and a little breeze from now and then by 11AM or so. Basically, a really nice day to shoot .Lance was on his game, particularly in kneeling. Look at his score (and all the rest) at http://www.edfpages.com/mgfc/results.php?match=11

We had a couple of new shooters at this match, Robert Smith and Steve Morehead. Steve’s a lefty, like me, but shooting a right handed hunting rifle. I’ve included pictures as attachments so you can see who the shooters are and what they were shooting.

This was Robert’s first time out and with a custom AR15. The rifle was set up with iron sights and he was intending to shoot Prone class but with the combination of rear riser and high front sight there was not sufficient adjustment up; with the riser removed there was not adjustment down! That issue will be solved with new parts. As a result, Robert shot in F-Class, and for his first time out did remarkably well. Robert is an air and free pistol shooter and so has picked up some good habits along the way.

If you look at the scores of the F-Class shooters you will see very good consistency for each as the match progressed.

Ed Facundo brought his twin sons for their first trip to watch the match. They are not identical but I still could not remember which name went with which boy. They were remarkably well behaved and quite interested for being almost 9 years old. After the match they had a chance to fire a few shots from his rifle and then some through my Anschutz air rifle. 300 meters is a stretch for a pellet but he wanted them to get a chance to get up close and personal with an air rifle. Ed has plans to get one for the boys.

The December match will be this Sunday, December 13^th. As usual, shooting will start at 10AM so get there in time to set up, go through the administrative process (really easy, just pay $15) and a review of the electronic target operation. Oh, get there really early if you want to set up and go through the admin stuff before the BS sessions begin. I expect to have several new shooters at this match and there should be time to get to know each other.

I missed summer; it looks like winter decided to show up after all.

Brian D. Shiffman
shiff004@umn.edu

Minn Rifle & Revolver Assoc. winter meeting Dec 5th -- Agendas

The MRRA will hold it's winter Board and Membership meeting at Gander Mountain located at 14640 W. Freeway Dr., Forest Lake, MN, 55025 on Dec. 5th.
10 Am Board meeting
12 pm General membership meeting
Note: State service rifle team meeting follows membership meeting

Please attend: This is your chance to discuss and bring ideas to the Assoc. to help improve our sport.
See agendas at link below--
http://www.scribd.com/doc/23372557/2009-Winter-Meet-Agenda-2

High Power winter league -- at Mpls. Rifle Club

"Hi Guys please find below the schedule for the MRC Saturday NRA National Match / F-Class League. We will shoot the NRA National Match Course, 10 offhand, 10 Rapid Sitting, 10 Rapid Prone and 20 Slow Fire Prone with sighters at each position. If you want EIC practice you get no sighters. All targets scoring is modified for the electronic targets at 300 meters and the target on the computer monitor will look like the SR, SR-3 or MR. For F-Class shooters we will let you shoot the International target - 50 rounds plus sighters (challenge wise, it’s very similar to the F-Class target).
The league fee is a flat fee of $80.00. $7.00 is the NRA League fee and the balance is for heat and electronic target maintenance. The $80.00 fee is due at the first match and is nonrefundable. Please note The fee is set up this way to reserve the range and to be sure there is participation since I am donating 8 Saturdays. You can pre-register by contacting me -- see below.
Matches start at 10:00am, but be there by 9:30am for preparation. We should be done by noon.
Please contact George Minerich if you have any questions at (320) 968-6898 or minerich@clearwire.net

MRC SATURDAY HIGH POWER LEAGUE
50 Rounds plus sighters
Dec. 19, 2009
Jan. 02, 2010
Jan. 16, 2010
Jan. 30, 2010
Feb.06, 2010
Feb. 20, 2010
Mar. 06, 2010
Mar. 20, 2010

Out of town High Power Match -- Rio Salado OTC Nov 21, 2009

It was a beautiful day for a match -- 75 deg and no wind! Had fun with the Service rifle and shot the smallest group I ever shot in 300 rapid. Too bad it was all in the 9 ring at 12 o'clock.

Hawkeye

Out of Town Small Bore Match -- Phoenix Rod and Gun Club Nov 14th '09

Shooters,

I seem to have misplaced my results table so my feeble attemt at a summary will have to do.We had a great day at the range today, 14 shooters on the line for the Anysight 1600 with four juniors to boot. Speaking of juniors Richard Layton made his prescence known by winning the Dewar Match with a very impressive 400-34 and winning the 50 yrd match with an almost perfect 400-39X. Richard finished the day with a very respectable 1595-129X for second overall, just out X-ing our Match Director Allen Elliot who finished third with a 1595-105X. Great shooting Richard! In the slightly older division Jack Arnold and Pete Church battled it out for fourth place with Jacks 1594-102X just besting Pete's 1593-109X.

Back to the younger folks who choose to shoot iron sights today, we had a battle to the end with Matt Roessel claiming victory and the Silver Mug with a great 1526-46X just edging out Jay James' 1521-38 and Scott Siggs who put up a solid 1497-45X. Full results below.

Rick Curtis 1597-117X
Richard Layton 1595-129X Jr.
Allen Elliot 1595-104X
Jack Arnold 1594-102X
Peter Church 1593-109X
Jim Cobb 1585-082X --- Irons
Jim Evenson 1582-076X ---Irons
Mick Walker 1573-076X
Bill Luth 1533-037X
Matt Roessel 1526-046X Jr. ---Irons
Jay James 1521-038X Jr. ---Irons
Scott Siggs 1497-045X Jr. ---Irons
Jack Greenleaf 1469-014X ---Irons

On behalf of the Desert Sharpshooters I want to thank everyone who came out and we look forward to seeing you all again. Remember, if you want our sport to grow bring a junior.
Rick Curtis

Minnesota 2009 Rifle Match Pictures

Picture albums of last summer's Minnesota rifle Matches are posted at : http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/gg7/Hawkeye772/

click any album in left column

International Air Rifle match -- Nov 09

Cold weather does not stop dedicated shooters !

Bills Gun Shop -- Robinsdale, MN
Pictures by Mike Marzitelli

Air Pistol match -- Nov 09

Air Pistol shooting Nov. 09 Pics by Mike Marzitelli

Mple Rifle Club -- Electronic targets -- 300 meters

300 meter match Sunday, Nov 8th

300 m Rifle match

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Rifle shooters, this Sunday Nov 8th, the Mpls Rifle Club will be hosting their monthly 300 meter rifle match. This is another good chance to try out those really neat Electronic targets while shooting from a comfortable heated shooting house. So, there's no excuses to stay home because of cold weather. Come on out -- have some fun -- be social - pull some triggers.

Map to MRC -- http://mrra.org/images/maps/mrc_map.gif

Air Rifle and Air pistol League starting up

"The Air Pistol and Air Rifles Leagues are off and running at Bill's in Robbinsdale. The pistol shooters convene on Tuesday evening and the offhand rifle shooters on Wednesday. There are about a dozen pistol shooters, some performing at an elite level. We have just started the offhand rifle league hence we have about 8 regular competitors. It is gratifying to see the improvement in offhand scores that many are experiencing thus far. This should be fair warning for some of the other smallbore and highpower competitors next season. There is room for more shooters on both evenings. The price is absolutely right, being 5 bucks for range fees and a one time contribution of between $5 or $7 to cover target costs. If anyone is interested, they should come at least to be a spectator, free, and see the action. Feel free to contact Mike Marzitelli at mmarzitelli@hotmail.com for any questions or details. "
Mike marzitelli

Mpls. Rifle Club -- 300m 3P State Champ

"The day was overcast but not dark and the wind was very light; an almost perfect day for a match.

It was a jacket and hat type of day but we were all in our shirtsleeves in heated comfort in the shooting house.

We had a grand total of two, yes, two competitors. But let’s think in terms of quality not quantity. These were two of the top shooters in the state, Lance Peters and Erhard Bruderer (who, in spite of a stellar history of rifle competition, now says he is a pistol shooter). The fact is that Lance also shoots pistol and is more than holding his own in that discipline. These two are real competitors on the range and it is entertaining to see them compete. Note, small children and sensitive adults should not be close by. As you look at the photos of the guys shooting, notice the concentration. The pictures were taken without the aid of flash and, thus, the shutter speed was around half a second or so. Not only did the camera operator have hold steady (handheld, no tripod; what was I thinking???) but the competitors did not know that pictures were being taken at the time.

Back to the State 3 position championship. It was a full match of 120 rounds for score, 40 in each of prone, standing and kneeling. It is as much a test of stamina and conditioning as it is impeccable rifle shooting. The multiple computer system was in operation and the gallery was able to amuse themselves in the club room watching each shot on a master scoreboard. In the end, Lance Peters was crowned State Champion with a total score of 1115 and Erhard Bruderer was second with a score of 1093. After 120 rounds the difference is not that much. In fact, the gallery was really engrossed watching each shot by each of them throughout the match. Only towards the end of the last position was it possible to wager on the outcome. Due to the low turnout, the payout for the top shooters was meager, indeed. Lance got a $5 bill and Erhard received $1 which he proudly displays in one of the photos of the match.

A good time was had by all. This match was originally scheduled for earlier in the season and had to be moved. In 2010 it will be put on the schedule early enough that if it has to be moved, there would still be time to hold it before shooters scatter for matches and vacations unknown.

We will be shooting throughout the winter in heated comfort; come join us for practice each week and a monthly club match. "

Brian Shiffman

Blue Goop -- Copper removal

The post on Blue Goop - Copper removal has been downloaded by 96 folks so far. I'd like to hear some comments on how it worked from those who have tried it. I have used it a few times , with not so obvious results. Now that is not to say it didn't do it's job as advertised, but I'm not so sure that my barrels get much in the way of copper fowling in the first place.
I have been using Kreiger barrels, with moderate loads, in .223 and 6m BR. I have tried quite a few bore cleaners that usually help remove copper, such as Sweets 7.62, Bore Tec Eliminator, Shooters Choice, Hoppies, etc. and the Blue Goop -- none of which seem to dissolve much in the way of copper fowling in my barrels --ie, patches turn blue. I suspect that since the results are pretty much the same with all the products, there just is not much copper fowling in my barrels to remove, and my barrels are just not a good test for the Blue Goop.
So, let's hear some comments from you folks who have tried it on some barrels that do have copper fowling problems.
Blue Goop-- http://www.scribd.com/doc/19887175/Blue-Goop
Please add a comment ---

50 m Free Pistol - MN State Championship Results

The results of the State Championship Match held on September 26th at Oakdale Gun Club in Lake Elmo, Minnesota were as follows:
State Champion Lance Peters 591
First Expert - Erhard Bruderer 578
First Sharpshooter - Thomas O'Donnell 564
First Marksman - James A. Reedstrom 546
High Senior - Joel Peabody 524
Mark Peabody 544
Alex Gybin 538
Karl A. Studt 480
Arne Olsen 467
Brian P. Shiffman 430
The scores are for a total of 70 shots. There were two stages, the normal 60 round stage with a 10 shot, one shot in 75 seconds, final. The match was shot under good conditions with little wind and benign temperature. Additionally we have some newer younger shooters who are making impressive gains.
Mike Marzitelli

The Week Ahead -- Oct 6th 2009

Shooters

The Week Ahead
This coming Sunday, Sunday (not Saturday), Oct 11, you will want to be heading to Mpls Rifle Club for the 300m 3P State Championship. Map to MRC-- http://www.mrra.org/images/maps/mrc_map.gif Try out that neat Electronic target system where you fire a shot and the hit location is shown on the computer monitor at your firing position. Rain, snow-- doesn't matter as you will be firing from a heated shooting house at the targets 300m away. This is one of only two electronic 300m target ranges in the U.S., and it's pretty cool. Match Program: http://www.mrra.org/downloads/mrc/300m11-11.pdf
MRC also hosts open 300m practice on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. Remember it's warm and comfortable shooting from the MRC shooting house all winter. There will also be a 300m match (prone and 3p) on Nov 8th, and Dec 13th and they will be the best thing going to cure SWS (shooting withdrawal syndrome) while keeping in practice.

Last Week
This past Sunday Gopher Rifle Club hosted the last Service Rifle Leg Match of the season. Fall weather threatened rain all day, but conditions remained good enough - cool, light wind, and a few sprinkles. Enough participants guaranteed 2 legs available to be won by non-distinguished shooters, and medals were up for grabs by all shooters. Leg matches are particularly good matches as they are Army style matches where no sighters are allowed -- first shot counts, all shots count. Leg matches teach you to know (and have confidence in) your zeros and force you to make a well thought out wind call for that first shot. Leg matches are true rifleman's matches. Course of fire-- 10 shots standing at 200, 10 shot string of sitting rapid at 200, 10 shot string of rapid prone at 300yds, and finishing with 20 shots prone at 600yds (no sighters). As I said it is a true test of a rifleman's skill.
Finishing on top and winning the Gold medal was Kurt Borlaug (Dist. shooter). In 2nd place taking the Silver and 8 leg pts. was Ben Brunk. The Bronze Medal goes to Larry Weidell, (Dist. shooter). The second non-distinguished shooter was Mark Havlik who earned 6 leg points towards his Distinguished Rifleman's badge. Congratulations to these these 4 top riflemen. GRRC was in great shape for this well run match thanks to hard work by Don Mastro, Kurt Borlaug and others.
Leg Match Pictures posted Below

MRRA Board meeting Oct 17 -- Cabela's in Rogers, MN 10am in the snack bar. Agenda: http://www.mrra.org/downloads/agenda9-17.pdf 2nd board meeting, and membership meeting on Dec 5th at Gander Mt store, Forest Lake MN.

Ammo for sale
Don Burke, U.S. Marine, and former Highpower shooter, has 500rds of .223 Black Hills (re-mfg) match ammo, loaded with 75 gn Hornady bullets, for sale at $350. Don Suffered a Stroke last year and now resides at the VA hospital while undergoing therapy. Don would like to hear from any shooters to chit chat, or to sell the ammo and Sights (Anchutz, Zelnak) for a flat top AR. Call Don at - 612-722-3391 Best time to call M-F is 8-10p.m. or anytime on sat/sun. When able, Don still plans to shoot some bullseye pistol. Get Well Soon, Don. We are thinking about you.

Adios
With the shooting season winding down, and due to low apparent readership in the late season, this news letter will now become a monthly occurance. The survey I posted in last week's "The Week Ahead" newsletter, asking those who read it if they wanted to stay on the mailing list drew 38 positive responses. Tks to all for their support. The continuation and purpose of the Blog is being re-assessed to better serve the promotion of rifle shooting sports in MN. Any and all comments are welcome


Hawkeye -- signing off
Semper Fi and keep em in the middle

"If you are unwilling to defend your right to your own lives, then you are merely like mice trying to argue with owls. You think their ways are wrong. They think you are dinner." -- Terry Goodkind

MRRA Board Meeting agenda for 10/17/09 meeting

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20566219/Mrra-Board-Agenda-17-Oct-091

Gopher Rifle and Revolver Club Leg Match - Oct 4

Partial Results
Gold Medal to Kurt Borlaug
Leg points to Ben Brunk, and Mark Havlik
Bronze medal to Larry Weidell