The Week Ahead -- Shooters News for MN -- July13

Shooters news for the Minn Area  --  July 14th

The Week Ahead

Prone shooters will be heading off to the Mpls. Rifle Club this Sunday to test their skills in the July Outdoor Prone 1600 small bore match. Targets will be shot at 50yds, 50 m, and 100 yds.  This is a combined Iron sight and Any sight match with the Dewar, and the 50yd match being shot with irons, and the 100yd, and 50m match being shot with Any sights (scope). After such a great turn out for the Regional in May, I expect that there will be as many shooters for this match.  Highpower shooters are again discovering that Small Bore is the best practice upcoming Mid Range and Long Range matches, and the big Mid range prone match is coming up next week.  Match entry and program:  Click here

Over the course (OTC) and Service Rifle shooters, will also be busy with the Pig Roast Matches going on in Eau Claire all weekend, and The State Service Rifle Team will be practicing Saturday at GRRC, under watchfull eye of Team Capt. Kurt Borlaug.  I know that Capt Kurt is looking for a few volunteers to pull targets for the team on Sat.

Service Rifle shooters who are not participating in either of the above can shoot a 50 shot CMP match at Bald Eaqle Sportsman's club on Saturday the 17th. BESA is just a few miles North of White Bear Lake.  See match program:  Click here
  

Last Weekend 

300 meter Match at Mpls Rifle Club

From:   Brian Shiffman

"The weather for this match was almost perfect.

  Just some light and variable breezes from West to Northwest to break up the calm.  Just enough breeze to catch the unwary off guard, particularly those shooting lighter caliber bullets. We had a couple of new shooters, too. The big news from the event was the firing of a perfect 600 by Adam Shidla.  He is now only the second person to accomplish that feat.  The last time that was done was about 5 or 6 years ago.  He was using a Savage benchrest rifle with a Krieger barrel in 6.5 x 47, shooting 130 Gr. Bergers.  The way he was throwing those 10's I suspect that he will have more of those scores.  Congratulations Adam.

   Erhard had a nice score in 3-P, too.  He probably started slow in prone with a 190 but he had a great kneeling of 189.  All of the F-Class and prone shooters had scores that were consistent from series to series.  Somewhere along the line I need to pick up about 70 points!  At my stage I would probably be happy with a pickup of 5 points.  I'm about run out of excuses for my poor showing.

    Steve Morehead was shooting his hunting rifle, a 30-06 but after 40 rounds it was too hot for him to continue so he withdrew/  His first two series, F-Class, were172 and 160 with the obvious sign of bullet placement walking up the target as the barrel heated from each shot.

  You can see the results of the July match at   http://www.edfpages.com/mgfc/results.php?match=7   While you are at the sight, you can click on any month to see the results of Club matches held that month.  We did not have a club match in February or March due to other matches being held.

 I believe we all had a fine time.

 The next club match will be on August 8^th.  It is early in the month of August, but it is the 2^nd Sunday of the month.

 Regards to all."    Brian D. Shiffman      shiff004@umn.edu  
   

NRA Regional Championship at Northwestern Gun Club -- Duluth

 The promise was for a good weather day --- just a 20% chance of rain and storms. With a pleasant day in the offing, the shooters came out in the largest number seen at a Regional in quite a few years.  It would be a full line and no targets to spare. There were a few traveling shooters from Wisc., and Iowa. There was also two teams of military shooters from the MN Nat. Guard.  One under the leadership of CWO Roger Sorbin, and the other under Sgt. Al Schneider.  It's good to see the Guard coming back to our matches.

As the shooters kept pouring in to sign up, the NWGC guys started scrambling to get more targets in operation. This was quickly done and the match was started on time at 0900hrs.

    Standing match-- Wind or other conditions were not a factor in the 20 shot standing match.The calm conditions and the good light was were good for all shooters.  Kevin Bangen shot a few pts down from his average and came off the line with only a 187,-- not a good start for the State OTC Champ.  Omer Hamer and Phil Carlson, did a little better, finishing with 188s each, and Jim Biles came the closest with his 190-5x, but State Offhand Champ Dave Dexter  showed them all how it is done and won offhand match with a 191-4x.

    Sitting Rapid fire  A clean string of 100 and then a back-up string of 99 gave Kevin Bangen the 200 yd sitting rapid fire match trophy.  He didn't even need all 9 Xs to beat the similar great score of Kurt Borlaug, who could muster only 5 Xs this time.  Elliot Zunich shot the next best score with a 197-7x. Normally 197 can be a  top score, but here with this crowd, it was only 2nd loser.

Now after 2 matches, Kevin Bangen was leading in total score with 386 pts, Kurt Borlaug was lying 2nd with 385 and Jim Biles was 3rd, one pt back from Kurt. 

   The Prone Rapid fire match at the 300 yds line is always my favorite match. A high group that included 4 nines left me with little chance to win this match, but never give up and a clean 100 followed on the 2nd string -- good only for about 5th place.  Larry Miller shot one clean string and dropped only one pt on the other, taking the win in this match with 199 and half of those were Xs.  Dave Dexter was hanging in there and shot for a 2nd place with his 198.  Kevin, Kurt Borlaug and Dave Salo following with 197s,.   With good scores in matches 2 and 3, Kurt Borlaug had pulled up to be just one pt behind in the aggregate with Kevin Bangen, whose agg. of 583-20 led the pack and  Jim Biles was just behind with a 580-14x

  So, the 500 yd line would be where the match was to be won or lost by the leaders --  as it should be. 

The 500 went good for me -- except for the 3rd shot sailing off into the 8 ring for no apparent reason. One more nine,  8 tens and Iwas down 3 on the first string and the pressure was off.  I only dropped one pt in the next 10 shots, so I came off with a 196 and little hope to have won the match.  Usually someone or more than just one shooter fires a 200 in these matches, but not today.   I thought that the conditions were about as good as it gets, and was surprised that Kevin's hard holding 197 won the match.  Did my 196 hold for 2nd place in this match----Nope.  Iowa's own Steve Hays also fired 196 and one X more than I did so I was happy with the 3rd in this match as the high point of my day.  Yes, my prone shooting continues to be improved. Since April and the coaching from German Salazar, and Mike Toliver, my prone shooting has gone from 190s to 195s. 

  Kevin's Bangen's solid shooting at the 500yd line sealed the deal (780-28)  and he is the 2010 Regional Champion. Dave Dexter finishes 2nd with 772-14x, and Jim Biles is 3rd over all with a 770-20, and  yours truly snuck in there for a 5th and was happy to get even that.   See Slideshow of this match -- click here 

Kevin Bangen - 1st place

Dave Dexter  --  2nd place
Jim Biles   --3rd place  

Complete Results:   #1 click here     #2 click here

Service Rifle Team

From: KURT BORLAUG kubeborlaug@msn.com

 Boys, We are getting closer to Perry and our practice is this Saturday at GRRC in Harris (and Sunday if rained out). Bob Peasley will be there on Saturday to help us get squared away and I spoke with him about his concerns and requests as to how he wants to proceed. I am grateful for his contribution to our team efforts this year.
   First of all bring enough ammo!!   30 rounds for 200 (may shoot two strings sitting)
20 rounds for 300 (will shoot two strings rapid prone).  20 rounds at 600 slow-fire. We are confirming zeroes and will get everyone synced on the same page here. We will sync for Infantry also.  80 rounds of Infantry ammo. If you paid Tom for ammo I will have it at practice for you. If you are making your own, we are using 23.7 Varget w/ Sierra MKs.

    We will be zeroing at 600 and 500 and shooting full 50 second strings at 600 and 500 with a briefer version at 300. The usual come-up from your typical 80 grain load is 2 minutes for the 77/75gr. bullet. Yes I said come-up. It's a less efficient bullet and drops a might quicker.  Be there NO LATER THAN 8:30 for briefing and instructions. There will be a need for some of us to take turns in the pits as I have only a few volunteers. We will push hard to get completed Saturday so those of you wanting to shoot Eau Claire can do that on Sunday. Bring a lunch, recording book, and all the above along w/ usual shooting stuff.
 Looking forward to seeing all of you at GOPHER RRC Not Red Wing!!!! There was some confusion about this but it is at GRRC in HARRIS!!!! Got it? Later, Kurt     
 

Forward Thinking 

From Kurt Borlaug

"Gentlemen, Being it is now mid-season I start planning for next season. Which brings me to a question to all receiving this (a few possible new members too);
 Where do we want GRRC to be in two to five years? Many Service rifle shooters have expressed great interest in expanding our LR opportunities. Yes we do want to shoot the long line. It appears that we have a HUGE hole in our calendar that should be filled with this activity. If you owned a Corvette would you only keep it covered and never drive it? Why is our long line being used so infrequently? How many of you out there are interested in a LR League of some kind next year? Give us some of your best ideas; team format? Individual? Mentor? 300, 600 and 1K? The choices are limited only by our time and people's will to get involved.
 Secondly and related, GRRC has undergone some calendar improvements and there are open weekends. I certainly don't wish ill to a certain club in Mn. but it appears there may be a vacuum to fill. To this end we would need help running matches as well as prepping the range. Some of you know all about this, some are bystanders. We need EVERYONE to pick up a loose end somewhere.
 What I believe we need is a MEETING!! Yes a meeting where we can hash out these ideas and get input from all who care about High Power and LR shooting at GRRC. I propose Sept 26th, Sunday after the CMP games events are done in the Red Shed at GRRC.
 Who's in? Sincerely" , Kurt Borlaug
    

Up coming Mid Range Prone matches --July 24 & 25

I have been alerted by Capt. Bob that advanced entries are coming in fast for this match.  He already has upwards of 29 paid advanced entries. Look below for a link to the program and entry to this match and send it in. This will be a great match, so don't miss out.  If you can't send in an advanced entry -- be there early to sign up as a post entry.
       

The week ahead -- matches

Saturday            July 17      Service rifle match at BESA (White Bear Lake)  Match entry and program:  Click here

Sat and Sunday July 17-18    Pig roast Matches in Eau Claire    Match program Click here

Sat and Sunday July 17-18    Service Rifle Team practice at GRRC  See Schedule -- Click here

Sunday            July 18  --   Sm Bore 1600 prone at MRC   match program:  click here
      

Two weeks out

 Saturday and Sunday  --  July 24-25  Mid Range Prone at Redwing    Entry and Program-- Click here
      

 Looking forward to seeing you all up at  Mpls Rifle club this weekend for the Sm Bore matches 

Hawkeye

Flash ! Just in -- Pictures from Minn's Regional Championship at NWGC

    

Congratulations to Kevin Bangen --  2010 Regional NRA Champion

Complete Match report will be in this weeks   Shooter's News

Team T-shirts

Note:  The Minnesota St. Service Rifle Team t-shirts are sold out.  Thanks for your team support. If you missed getting one of the team shirts this year --  order earlier next year.

NRA St. Championships -- Elk River

The Week Ahead -- Shooters News MN area -- July 7

The Week Ahead --   Shooters News  for Mn. --  July 6th

This coming weekend, rifle shooters looking for a good competition to participate in,  have three good choices.  

Highpower OTC shooters can head North to Northwestern Gun Club near Duluth on the shores of Hunter Lake and shoot NRA Regional.  Saturdays match is an 80 shot OTC individual match with all the good fun of shooting Standing, Sitting Rapid fire, Prone Rapid fire, and prone 500 yd Slow fire. A second String of 500 yd slow fire will be fired Sat, as part of Sundays 4 man Team match.  Sunday, after concluding the short range part of the Team match, the match most important to Service Rifle shooters starts about 1100am---- The Leg Match.  This 50 rd OTC match will be contested by those hard holding service rifle shooters looking to add Leg pts to their total and advance towards that Distinguished Rifleman's Badge. 

        Match Program:  Click here 

Small Bore

July 10th and 11th The State Small Bore 3P and 4P Championships will be held at Hibbing MN. To See Match program: Click here

Next 1600 Prone match will be July 18 at MRC  

300 meter

From:    Brian Shiffman

I just looked at the calendar, which I do on occasion, and see that the July MRC 300 Meter Match is scheduled for this Sunday, the 11^th.  I am going to guess that having air conditioning may just be in our favor this weekend, too.   You do not have to be a member of MRC to shoot the match; it is open to all competitors, so bring a friend who has an itch for 300 meter competition. We will shoot four classes: 3 position, prone, F-class and offhand.  Match or full metal jacket bullets, only.  No hunting, expanding or plastic tip bullets. Match fee is $15 and includes all applicable taxes. See you at the range.

 Brian  

NRA State Championships --  Elk River-- Last Week

Looking Back a couple weeks to the State Champ Match at Elk River. 

    This years match was a combined Match Rifle and Service Rifle championship.  Nine shooters fired in the match rifle category. This was a much lower number than had shot that match in years passed and some discussion about this was had at the end of the day.  I personally, think that the good efforts of Service Rifle Team Capt. Kurt Borlaug, has just led to a renewed interest in Service Rifle shooting, and that was apparent in this match, where more competitors chose to shoot the army gun.  It also  didn't hurt the service rifle contingent that it was known  the US Marine Corp Reserve rifle team was going to be there to show us all some good shooting.  

  The match started on a beautiful June Minnesota day. The Range was in perfect condition for the shooters first relay on line at 0900hrs. The first match went to the Service Rifle folks with Evans of the Marine Corp, shooting a 191-2 offhand, beating the best of the Bolt gunners, Steve Erickson's and Kevin Bangen's scores of 190. 

In the Sitting Rapid fire match, it was the Air Force team shooter, Matt Griffin who shot a clean 200-9x with his service rifle and took that Trophy over two other shooters, Justin Skarret (USMC), and bolt gunner Kevin' Bangen -- both with 200--8xs.  Close but no cigar.  The 300 yd prone Rapid fire match was close but Army Nat Guard shooter,  Al Schneider, again shooting a Service Rifle to score a 199-8x was highest, followed by Jeremy Harrison's 197-9x, and Kevin Bangen's 197-8x.

So---the first three matches went to Service Rifle.  You got to love those AR-15s.  

The 600 yd prone match went, as you would expect, to the bolt gunners. Steve Erickson won the 600yd trophy, shooting a well deserved 198-12x in tricky winds. 2nd place went to Dale Wickstrom of Duluth--198-7x, followed by J. Johnson--198-5x.  The best Service Rifle shooter at the 600 was USMC's Justin Scarret 195-7x, -----just one X ahead of USAF's Matt Griffin 195-6x.

 The overall Winner and high Scorer of the day was Kevin Bangen with a 785-23x.  Congratulations to Kevin Bangen -- Minn State Champion. 2nd place goes to Steve Erickson  779-32, and Omer Hamer is Senior Champ again.

The top 4 Service Rifle scores all were shot by the USMC shooters, Justin Scarret 777-22,  Bell 771-16x, Schearwgen 774-26, and Evans 771-16, but were not residents nor eligible for State Championship honors so that title went to Minn resident Jerremy Harrison 765-19x .   The Serior trophy went to yours truly,  --maybe my last year of shooting service rifle, we'll see.

Congratulations to Jerremy Harrison -- 2010 Minn. State Service Rifle Champion.

So, all in all the State matches at Elk River Sport's mens Club were a great success.----great weather!, great Range to shoot on!, Great Barbeque on Sat night!, Great organization and conduct of the matches!  Great shooters!                                

Left to right standing: Matt Griffin,  Steve Erickson, Al Schneider, Dale Wickstrom, J. Evenson.  Bottom row:    Kevin Bangen (State Champ),  Omer Hamer, Jerremy Harrison (Service Rifle champ)

 Match pictures --  Click here

 

Wind Coaching

Two weeks ago, Capt. Bob Peasley was invited to participate in a long range training Session for the US Veterans Shooting Team. He was kind enough to send us this report. 

 From Capt Bob"   "June 25, 2010

You asked for a brief report on my coaching tryout with the Veteran's Palma team at Lodi last week. This was my first chance to coach the way they want it done so I'm not yet an expert by any means. With that in mind here is the way we did our training.

There were 6 targets with 5 shooters per target. One shooter went to the pit and pulled about ¾ of the shots each day. There was a coach on each target and each bank of 3 was all on one circuit with communication headsets so they could talk among them selves. In other words coaches on 6, 7 & 8 and 9, 10 & 11 could talk to each other via headset and to their shooter via normal commands. The shooters were not on the network. Each coach would have the shooter, as he came to the line, verify his sight settings or zeros for the line being fired. The shooters took turns acting as a coach's assistant or plotter marking down the zeros, the wind setting for each shot, the call and the actual location of each shot. The plotter sat more or less behind the center coach. 

   Read the Rest of this report  --    Click Here 

 Thanks for sharing that, Capt Bob.   
 

 Notes: 

Mid Range Prone matches July 24 & 25th--  Entries  NorthStar Rifle club

From Capt Bob: 

I failed to mention 1 more VERY important item regarding your entry.  We have only 9 targets for 300 & 500 yards. Thus we are now limited to 27 shooters. HOWEVER we have another 8 or 9 frames and can have them ready in time if needed.  To ensure than we have enough targets ready I'm asking you to reply with your intent to shoot.  If I don't get more than 27 names I won't make more targets.  If you show up without having let me know and we are full with 27 shooters there will not be time to make more targets and you are out of luck.  Same applies to F class. Please advise of your intent to shoot so I can have enough targets ready.

 Thank you!  Bob      MRP match program :   Click here   
  

Service Rifle Team Practice Scheduled for July 17-18

  Team Capt. Kurt Borlaug --

 "Friends, July 17 and 18 will be the practice dates for the Mn. Rifle Team at GRRC. If you can help out in the pits please let me know. We need at least 6 in the pits so we can run this under match conditions.
 You will pull targets for the team shooters in slow-fire standing, rapids at 200 and 300 and then slow-fire at 600. We will then practice an Infantry course of fire at 600, 500 and 300.
You will get a work day credit for this if you are a GRRC member.
 Later," Kurt       See Schedule -- Click here
 

Saturday July 10  -- NRA Regional Champ (Individual OTC) --  NWGC Duluth --  Program click here

Sunday   July 11  -- NRA Regional Champ (Team and Leg match) --  NWGC Duluth --  Program click here

Sunday   July 11  --  300 m match at MRC

Sat and Sun --July 10-11 The State Small Bore 3P and 4P Championships - Hibbing MN.    
  

 Two Weeks out

Sat and Sunday July 17-18    Pig roast Matches in Eau Claire    Match program Click here

Sat and Sunday July 17-18    Service Rifle Team practice at GRRC  See Schedule -- Click here 
Sunday               July 17         Service Rifle match- 100yds --  BESA    Program:  Click here

Sunday            July 18  --   Sm Bore 1600 prone at MRC   match program:  click here
 
Looking forward to seeing you all up at NWGC this weekend

Hawkeye

The Week Ahead -- Shooters News 7/2/10

On location from the Public Library  while computer is in intensive care at the Geek Squad.


The Week Ahead
Highpower: This weekend M1 Garand shooters can head to Eau Clair rifle club to shoot the M1 Garand match on July 4.
   See Program :  Click Here 


300 Meter
   July 11th ---  300 meter Prone and Position match at MRC. (This is the corrected date for this match)****
Small Bore
July 10th and 11th The State Small Bore 3P and 4P Championships will be held at Hibbing MN. To See Match program: Click here
Next 1600 Prone match will be July 18 at MRC


Small Bore Thoughts passed on From  Mike Marzitelle
"Gentlemen. Below is a proposal to expand the smallbore programming at MRC.
I propose that at 1:00 pm the third Saturday of each month at the smallbore range we host offhand and kneeling matches. They would be semi-formal in that they would run under ISU rules but would not be registered as such. The course of fire would be either 60 rounds offhand, 60 rounds Kneeling, or 40 rounds in both Offhand and Kneeling positions for a composite score of the sum of the two.
The courses of fire would be on the 50 meter smallbore rifle target A 50 with either 10 or 15 shots per bull.
The fee would be $10 per shooter.
The purpose of the program would be to develop on the smallbore range a parallel program to that which exists on the 300 meter range thereby providing an affordable training arena for that program as well as providing an economical training venue for those shooters in this area who would like to keep their positions skills alive by semi-formal matches. Juniors would also be welcome. The club should determine as to whether there should be a differential entrance fee for junior shooters. As it stands, the only additional cost to the club would be the targets which cost about $.20 apiece with no more than 3 targets being used per shooter. This would increase the usage of the range and provide an additional source of income to the club.  The fee, $10, once paid, would cover target fees for either rifle, pistol, or both.  Results would be posted in the MRRA site and possible the Minnesota Rifleman blog published by Jim Evenson.
These matches would be held monthly year around on the first Saturday of each month.
I would appreciate your consideration and feedback on this matter."    mmarzitelli@hotmail.com


The following weekend-- July 10 and 11th get ready for the NRA Regional Championship to be held at NWGC on Hunter Lake near Duluth.  Saturdays Match will be the 80 shot Individual OTC match and then on Sunday club team honors will be contested in a 50 shot 4 man Team match. 
This weekend of shooting is only a 2 drive north of St Paul.
   See Match Program: Click here 


Last Weekend:
Last Weekend's State Champ NRA matches Held at Elk River SportsMan's club were well attended with some 39 or 40 shooters participating in the two days of matches. I'll have a Rpt of these matches when my computer is up and running again.  One thing that I do want to mention now though is the top notch way these matches were run by the folks at ERSC.  They deserve a gold star for all the improvements made to this range over the last few years and should now realize that they have a premier facility.  There was good shooting, good socializing after the match Sat. at the superb barbecue. Great Weekend !
 For Results:   Click here           For Match pictures----- click here


Kevin Bangen, who won this State OTC Rifle Championship also this year won the State Indoor Pistol Championship.  That is quite an accomplishment.  Congratulations To Kevin !   I wonder if it has ever happened before that single person won both the Indoor Pistol Champ and the State Rifle Championship in the same year?   We'll be rooting for Kevin at the Nationals.


Notes:
Following the Palma and Long Range week of shooting at Lodi, my friend Doug Frerich, a rising competitor in the long range fraternity, stopped off to visit this week for a few days on route back to Phoenix. He had a lot of  good things to say about his first trip to the Mid West and shooting the matches at Lodi.
   I was able to take him up to GRRC for Tues. morning Sm Bore, (where he shot a 199-12 on the 100 yd target with a borrowed gun), and then thanks to Stacey Tamulinas, who hosted us at the MRC, Doug was able to try the Electronic Targets of their sophisticated 300 m range.  I can tell you that he was very impressed with our ranges and our shooting facilities.  After competing in and around the west coast for years, he said our ranges are like shooting over a golf course.  I guess we all should thank the folks who maintain our ranges in such good order.  We are blessed in this area.


From Capt. Bob on the July 24th and 25 Mid Range matches at NorthStar Rifle Club
"MRP shooters:
I failed to mention 1 more VERY important item regarding your entry. We have only 9 targets for 300 & 500 yards. Thus we are now limited to 27 shooters. HOWEVER we have another 8 or 9 frames and can have them ready in time if needed.
To ensure than we have enough targets ready I'm asking you to reply with your intent to shoot. If I don't get more than 27 names I won't make more targets. If you show up without having let me know and we are full with 27 shooters there will not be time to make more targets and you are out of luck.
Same applies to F class. Please advise of your intent to shoot so I can have enough targets ready.
Thank you! " Capt. Bob    dilligas@means.net,


Remember --- Sm bore Champ at Hibbing this weekend, and Eau Claire this July 4, then a Big weekend at NWGC next weekend  -July 10 and 11
Keep em in the middle
Hawkeye

Arrrgh!!!!!

I am having computer problems.  Blog will be updated ASAP
Hawkeye

Flash ! Pictures from this weekends NRA Champ matches at Elk River

This weekends NRA championship Matches at Elk River Sportsman's club were a great success! About 39 shooters participated in both the individual and Team Matches.  There was great weather, a great Barbeque Sat night, and all around good shooting.

See Pictures at :     Click Here    (unedited yet)

Match report to follow: asap

State Champion ---  Kevin Bangen

Service Rifle results

This weeks news letter posted below -but

I took a weekend off and got back to the Basics last weekend.  What are the basics (?) -- same as always----hot cars, pretty girls, good beer and brats.  Around here, you can get it all at Road America--   GT-1 Corvettes, 700 hp Nascar stockers, warm summer day with beautful scenery of the 4 mi road course,  and the best beer and Brats Wisc has to offer.    

Sorry I missed the match.

The Week Ahead -- June 23

The Week Ahead - Shooters news June 23, 2010
The State Highpower Championships are this weekend. Two days of Over the Course Highpower matches to be held at Elk River Sportsman's Club. Saturday is the 4 man Team match - 80 shots per shooter. Then on Sunday it will be the individual Matches for State Champion. This is a combined Match rifle and Service rifle State Championship. I'm leaning toward shooting Service Rifle in the individual matches Sunday. I might have a chance to win Senior Service Rifle Champ. if I can get a point more than Capt Bob, and besides I have to defend last years title, that Bob and I have traded off a couple times.
This from Capt. Bob
"The NRA championship is this coming weekend at Elk River with an 80 shot team match Saturday. The Marine Corps Reserves will have a team here for what ever that's worth to you. There are at least 4 other team entries in already. If you would like to shoot on a team but do not have 3 others let me know. I'll try to get you together with 3 other guys for a pick up team.
Also be advised there will be a Bar B Q Sat. after the team match. Shooting should be done by 4 to 415 with 4 relays.
Also be advised the line officers will be requiring & reminding you to have known zeros for each distance. ..."
Capt Bob                   State Championship Program -- Click here


Long range shooters continue at Lodi with the Midwest Palma Matches all this week. I'll try to get some news on that as soon as possible. I do know that my good friend from Phoenix, Doug Frerich got the win in today's (Tuesdays) match -- good shooting Doug! Other local shooters participating in these matches, and expected to do well, are John Andres, Morgan Dietrich, Bill Lair, Bob Meade, Steve Knutson, Stacey Tamulinas. Good Luck, Guys!
Following the Palma matches conclusion on Friday, Long Range shooters that haven't gotten had quite enough fun yet can stay at Lodi for Saturday's and Sunday's Wisconsin Long Range State champ matches. match program -- click here


Small Bore
Chad Danielson
"The June 20th Mpls Rifle Club 1600 Smallbore match

The 2nd 1600 in M.R.C.’s summer series of one day prone matches, saw 10 shooters fire the match, with Junior Shooters out numbering the adults 6 to 4 on this particular day. The days conditions were not bad for shooting good scores, winds were for the most part manageable, although occasionally could sneak up and get shooters if ones attention to the stronger breezes slipped. In the end Ross Ewert came out Match Winner posting an impressive 1591-108X, with
two 200’s along the way, one 200-15X in the 50 yard match, and one 200-15X in the 100 yard match. Following Ross in the standings were Junior Shooter Alex
Giesar posting a 1574-78X winning the Junior Category , followed by Jim Biles
just a point behind him at  1573-73X for 3rd overall.
Up and coming Sub-Junior shooters with bright futures Eric Hazelton
and Samuel Ewert battled it out all day through all the matches just a point or
two between them in each match with Eric narrowly edging out Samuel in the end
by only six points 1539 to 1533. It was encouraging to see the strong junior turnout for the match,
and are looking for an increasing adult turnout for the next 1600 Course coming
up on Sunday July 18th. Adult shooters have several Junior class shooters
closing the talent gap quickly in the smallbore prone game."
Chad
         Results: Click Here               Pictures Click Here


July 18th Prone Small Bore 1600          Match program -- Click Here


Ross Ewert's 1591 with 108 Xs is an outstanding score for an Expert Class shooter. If he keeps that up, I hope he is going to the Nationals this summer. It's good to see Jim Biles out at a match. I am looking forward to getting to that July 18th match.


Highpower
Want to shoot Long Range ?
From Kurt Borlaug:
" I have been approached by a several sling shooters about the potential for a 1k/Palma League for next year. The interest is growing in LR and many of the SR guys are willing to give it a run and many have purchased appropriate iron for the game. I believe this from the natural urge to try something new, while still competing in OTC.
It would be for STRICTLY SLING SHOOTERS ONLY!! I'm envisioning a bi-monthly type thing with hopefully a mix of Palma and 1k.....or mostly 1k.
It's a shame that our range is so under-utilized past 600 yards. Any thoughts for this please let me know, maybe it will be more successful than my attempt at the HP Prone league. Having said all that, up front I have my hands full and would need someone to belly up to take care of the paperwork/ $ collecting/etc. ...."
Kurt


Upcoming
June 26-27 NRA and Service Rifle State champ --- Elk River Sportsman's club Click Here
July 4th -- M-1 Garand Match -- Eau Claire Rifle Club Match Program -- Click Here
July 10 -11 NRA Regional OTC matches -- NWGC Duluth Match program -- Click Here
July 17-18 Pig Roast Matches -- Eau Claire Match program -- click here
July 18 Small Bore Prone 1600 -- MRC
Tuesday mornings -- Small Bore continues at GRRC. We may be gaining a 4th regular next week.


Hope to see you all at this weekends NRA matches.
Don't miss the Team Match on Saturday. Even if you aren't yet on a team come to the match, There are always pickup teams formed at sign in.


Note: There will probably not be a timely news letter next week as I have out of town guests, but pictures of this weekends matches will be post on the blog asap. after Wed.
Hawkeye

Spectacular !!!

Blue Angels performing at Eau Claire yesterday.
I had the opportunity to fly over to Eau Claire  airport yesterday with Capt. Bob in his Super Decathlon and watch the Blue Angels perform their astounding air show.  Tight formations, amazing acrobatics, high speed passes -- wow what a day !
More picts -- click here

The Week Ahead -- Shooters news for MN Area June 15th 2010

The Week Ahead -- Shooters News  6/15/10

This week Capt. Bob Peasley will be heading off early to Wisconsin's Lodi long range shooting facility. He has been invited to shoot and wind coach at a US Veteran's Team training session to be held prior to the regular Long Range matches. Bob has told me that he will try to write a rpt on that training session for next week's newsletter.

This coming weekend there will be Small Bore matches for all prone shooters to participate in. Mpls Rifle Club is hosting the 2nd in their summer series of Outdoor prone 1600s on Sunday the 20th. Last month's Regional (1600) had the best turnout for a long time and its good to see these great shooting matches well attended. I think that there are more highpower shooters attending as it is well known that Small bore is great practice for highpower. If you are a highpower shooter and you are losing too many pts at the 600yd line, these 1600s are the best way to practice that prone position, sight alignment, and trigger squeeze. click here for program

Highpower shooters can travel down the beautiful Mississippi River to the Lacrosse Rifle Club and shoot mid-range prone matches both Saturday and Sunday June 19th and 20th--and get tuned up for the marathon of the Lodi Palma matches and Long Range Champ that start on the Monday just after the smoke clears from the Lacrosse matches.

Long Range Prone shooters are gathering to migrate to Lodi Wisc starting on June 21 for 7 days Palma and 1000yd shooting matches that make up the very popular Midwest Palma and Wisc. Long Range Championship week. These matches have become a magnet for LR shooters all over the country as the shooting is well attended by top rank shooters, and therefore very competitive. The matches are well run and give the shooter a chance to fire an entire match daily for 7 consecutive days---which is more Long Range shooting than you get at the Nationals. Midwest Palma   match program - click here

Last Weekend
last weekend was my annual June weekend up at NWGC shooting their 3 day, 240 shot OTC matches Fri, through Sunday. This year I could shoot only Sat and Sunday so I missed being rained out Friday and headed up Saturday at 0530hrs. It was already light as I passed Forest Lake and looking like one of those all day rains, but I had a room at the Inn and if the match was again rained out, I knew that a good time sitting around the Barbeque would take its place, and make it worth the trip. The weather was forecast for no rain on Sunday.

Saturday, when I pulled into the parking area behind the 200 yd line I saw there were a lot of cars, so good, it would be a good match. The conditions were good and bad. Bad was the light--heavy overcast--The day was sorta dark. Good was the lack of wind. I mean not a ripple on the lake and not a Trembling Aspen leaf trembling. I was 1st Relay, so good, no wind for offhand, but this was first match with space gun for a few months and no practice off hand. Well some days things just go well and I had a 98 on first string of standing before getting back to reality for the 2nd ten shots. Kevin Bangen won that match with 191 and Bob Woods just back with a 190. In the 200 rapid match Sam Gottlieb fired a 199-8x and Matt Griffin a 197-9x, great scores, but not good enough as Kevin posted a 199-10x. Moving back to the 300 yd line for that rapid fire match, the wind was still not a factor. Now it was David Salo's turn to challange Kevin and he fired a solid 199-8x, Good enough for only 2nd place as Kevin fired clean 200-10x---yes half x's again ! The 500 yd match started good for me-- 2 sighters and first 10 shots were all 10s and Xs. Too good to continue--shot 11 was a 9 and then the killer---a crossfire 10 for shot 18---arrrg! Dale Wickstrom overcame the low light conditions and fired a 198-8 on that difficult minute-of-angle target, winning that match over Mark Rohrman's 197-7 and Dave Salo, Kevin, Sam Gottlieb, and Omer Hamers all with 196s.

Kevin Bangen wins the Days agg score with a 786-33, but not far behind was Dave Salo with a 777 and Sam Gottlieb with 776.

After the match, the Group repaired to the camp ground and SB Range Bldg for some cold refreshments, and a barbeque, courtesey of NWGC. The brats and the GrainBelt were fantastic. For some, the gathering lasted well into the night.

Sunday was forecast for a better day, but it looked about the same rainy, misty, dark day was in store for us as yesterday. It wasn't raining, so Steve Billmeir got the match started on time at 0900, and Kevin Bangen started winning on the first shot. Kevin shot an awsome 195 in the standing match. Only Omer Hamer came close with his 190 standing score. It was in this match that Larry Weidell won the "Death Sprial" award for his 2nd string of off-hand. Kevin led the day by 5 pts going into the Sitting Rapid fire match. Yours truley was able to give Kevin a run for his money in that match, shooting a 199-7x, and Matt Griffing shooting an even better 199-12 x put some pressure on Kevin, but when you shoot a clean 200 you don't have to worry about a little pressure from behind.

Sam Gottlieb wins the 300yd Rapid fire match. While Kevin fired a good 199-12x, Sam shot a clean 200 -8x. Points are worth more than Xs.   

At the 500 yd line I was really dialed in and shot 10, X for sighters and then 7 Xs in a row on the way to another clean first string at that yard line. Then nines and worse put me out of the running, and Omer Hamer showed us what he could do and put a hard fought 199-11x on the board to win that Match.

Kevin Bangen didn't win every match of the day, but he did put an awesome score of 792-36x on the board and win the day. I think that is the highest score that I can ever remember being shot at a Highpower OTC match around here. Awesome shooting !

Two Day Aggreate

Match Winner -- - Kevin Bangen --1578-69
1st High Master -- Omer Hamer -- 1555-45
1st Master -- Sam Gottleib -- 1548-43x
1st Expert -- Mark Rohrman -- 1479-26

Results : click Pic to enlarge

Well--- it was a great weekend. Lots of good shooting up North, where you can smell the pine trees. Hats off to Elliot, Wick, and the Guys for all the Range improvements constantly being made to NWGC and the tip-top shape the range was in for the matches. I'm impressed with your new indoor Small Bore range facility
.
Pictures of Matches -- Click Here 


 The 300m Match at MRC
From Brian Shiffman
"What a nice day for shooting. Some overcast which eventually gave way to sunshine but only a hint of wind. The wind was enough to bite you if you were not paying attention. The correction was not much but enough if you were going for a top score. You still had to keep your guard up.

   We had 5 people shooting 3 position. Erhard won the class in spite of penalties assessed for two cross fires He closed out with a higher score for standing than for prone. Jeramy Harrison with an AR15 came in second only 6 points behind Erhard. Of course, without the crossfires it would not be so close.
   There were three of us shooting prone class. Chuck Diehl easily won the class even though there were some choice words coming from him at times. You would have thought he was trailing us all. He must have had a bad day all around. Russ Siakel, with an AR15 and battle sights shot a respectable 494, but being consistent through the match series. He has some things to take care of and he’ll be a lot better. I did my prone thing; brilliant at times and shotgun patterns at others. At one point I had a string of five consecutive 9.9’s. Oh I did have a few 10’s and x’s but too many 6, 7 and 8’s. I thought my sight alignment and sight picture was really good and I was stable with good trigger release and follow-through. I called a lot of 10’s that turned out to be anything but. I thought my sights were loose and checked all the screws. I had a group of shots right below the 10 ring, so I adjusted one click up and promptly put a shot at 12 O’clock in the 7 ring. One click down and I’m back just below the 10 ring. I might have to go back to my reloading analysis and work up another load. Oh, woe is me, woe is me J
    The two F-Class shooters were Robert Smith and Garold Jones. Robert had a scope suitable for star gazing. Conditions were good in that there was little mirage. But, Robert was really on his game. He dropped only 1 point from a perfect 600. Garold shot a respectable 588. As he said to me, “trigger time.”
The results can be seen at the MRC 300 meter score page for June. click here for complete Results
The July match is July 11.
Keep them straight. "              Brian D. Shiffman

Service Rifle Match held at Bald Eagle -- no news

Next Matches
June 20 Sunday --Small Bore 1600      match program - click here
June 19-20 Sat and Sunday -- Mid Range -- Lacrosse Rifle Club
June 21-25 -- Midwest Palma -- Lodi, Wisc      match program - click here
June 26-27 -- Wisc Long Range Champ -- Lodi          Match program -- click here
June 26-27 -- MN St. Service Rifle and NRA weekend   Match program -- click here

I'll not be shooting this next weekend as I will be watching NASCAR stockers rub fenders at Road America, Wisc.  Home of the best Brats, sudzy drinks, and racing. If you participate in a match next weekend--- please send us a rpt, and some pictures. 

Hawkeye

The Week Ahead for Shooters -- June 8

The Week Ahead for Shooters -- June 8th
Over the Course (OTC) shooters will be heading north to NorthWestern Gun Club this coming weekend to participate in the Triple Header of OTC matches happening there June 11, 12, and 13th. That's right--Three days of 80 shot OTC matches just 2 1/2 hrs north on the shore of Hunter Lake at one of MN's nicest rifle ranges. Getting on the road by 0530 in White bear Lake gets me there in plenty of time to sign in. Nice camping facilities are availiable and there are usually post match get together's to wet one's whistle and discuss the days shooting. I find that the Americ Inn in Cloquet is the best place for me to get a comfortable nights rest. One day or Three days- come up and shoot. Slide show of last years match -- click here  --
Match Program -- click here

June 12th  Saturday--Closer to home    There is also a 50 shot OTC Service Rifle match at Bald Eagle Sportwmen's club in Hugo, east of #61 on 125th st.   Match Program - click here

300 meter Shooting
June 13 Sunday -- Mpls Rifle Club has a 300m prone match scheduled -- electronic targets (fun)
  From Brian Shiffman: "Yeseree gang, the June 300 Meter MRC match is coming up this Sunday, June 13th at the Minneapolis Rifle Club range in St. Francis. You do not have to be a member to shoot this match, but you do have to use match or full metal jacket bullets; no expanding bullets, no A-Max bullets.
The match starts at 10AM except for PK; Hey, PK, the match starts at 9AM.
We welcome 3 position, prone, F-class and offhand shooters. Match fee is still $15 including the fee to the State of Minnesota for the privilege of…"

Last Weekend
GRRC's long range facility hosted the 1000 yd Regional matches -- No Results forwarded to me.

Leg Match
The CMP has posted official Results of the May GRRC Leg match   Click Here

Small Bore
The next Outdoor conventional prone match is scheduled for June 20th at MRC -- keep practicing!

Two weeks out.
June 26 & 27th NRA and Service Rifle State Championships at Elk River Sportsmen's club.
Match program -- Click Here

Hope to see you all up at Duluth this weekend.
Hawkeye

The Week Ahead -- June 2nd

The Week Ahead --

Long range shooters again get to try their skill at GRRC's long range shooting facility. The 1000 yd regional takes place this coming Sat and Sunday.    See Below for match program.

Service Rifle shooters can travel South to Iowa for River City's, and Iowa's State Service Rifle Championship--matches both Sat and Sunday. Steve Hays is match director.   Program see Below.
 Closer to home is the Service rifle Clinic and match at Post 435 in Elco on Sat June 12. Contact Mark Havlik and See Program below.

Don't dispare, match rifle shooters, your turn is coming in 2 weeks at Northwestern Gun Club.

GRRC's Monday night Sm Bore League continues with attendance being down somewhat this year. Let's see you SB shooters out there. There are 3 ea 1600's left to shoot and make up days are availiable. Three shooters are shooting this league on Tuesday mornings at 0900 hrs--join us if you can. We will be shooting 50 yd and 50m matches this week till I can get a key for the lawn mower, and clear the weeds and grass obscuring the 100yd targets.

Upcoming --This weekend
June 5       Saturday -Post 435 Service Rifle Clinic and match   Program click here
June 5-6    Sat and Sunday -- 1000 yd Regional at GRRC -- Program click here
June 5-6    Sat and Sunday -- Iowa State Service Rifle championship -- River City. Program click here

Two weeks out
In two weeks I'll be making my annual trip to Duluth to shoot in the 3 days of Over the Course matches put on by the Northwestern Gun Club on Hunter Lake. I have always said that these matches were the highlight of my summer shooting season. I just like shooting at the NWGC range and with that group of folks up there. It's an easy 2 1/2 hr drive and you can shoot one day or all three days like I try to do. Motels are near by, and excellent camping facilities are available at the range-- indoor space, shower, kitchen, etc. Don't miss the best matches of the year --
  June 11-13 --  Fri, Sat, and Sunday --  OTC matches at NWGC all three days. Program: Click here
  June 12      --  Saturday --  50 shot OTC at Bald Eagle Sportman's Club     Program Click here
Keep em in the Middle
Hawkeye

Service Rifle Team Coaching Plan for Camp Perry Nationals.

Team Plan for coaching at Camp Perry  Click Here  or Here

The Rest of the Story

You all have read that Robert "Sandy" Sandager -- our shooting companion and friend, has passed away. 
Now read "The rest of the story"

Sandy Sandger

Click here for the Rest of the Story