The great scores from the Minn Long Range Championships are in the book. Wow, what a weekend it was!
This coming weekend it's off to the Eau Claire Rifle Club for another great weekend of shooting in the beautiful upper Midwest. There will be both an OTC match and a Mid Range Prone match to tempt area shooters. I'll be heading over on Saturday (July 19) for the Mid Range match. I am really looking forward to it as I haven't been at Eau Claire for at least 15 years. Saturday's match will all be shot from the 600 yd line, and each shooter will fire four 20 shot matches for record. Shooters may use Iron sights for all 4 matches or may use "Any" sights for two of their trips to the firing line.
"Over the Course" aficionados will have their turn on Sunday, July 20. The normal OTC format will be used, with each shooter firing a 20 shot offhand match from 200 yds, and then a Rapid Fire matches from 200 and 300 yds, finishing with a 20 shot prone competition at the 600 yd line.
So, as you can see there is a little something for everyone. See you there?
Click Here for Match bulletin Click Here for weather forecast
For those of you trigger pullers out there that are in the Southern end of our state, you might want to head to the River City Rifle and Pistol Club near Mason City, Iowa. That rifle club will be hosting the Iowa 300yd prone Mid Range Championship this weekend, July 19, 20. Saturday shooters will form up teams of two for a 2x20 shot prone match starting at 1200 hrs. On Sunday the 300 yd MR prone champ will be crowned after the 4x20 shot championship matches.
Click Here for match bulletin
Last Weekend
*** On the Firing Line Report** -- Minn Long Range State Championship
From: Erik Rhode 7/15/14
The 2014
MN State Long Range and Palma Championships were held on July 12th
and 13th at the Gopher Rifle and Revolver Club in Harris, MN. The
schedule for the weekend promised 3x1000 yard matches on Saturday, followed by
a 20-shot, 2-man team match. Sunday was the Palma match, with shooters
shooting 15 shots for record on the NRA LR target from the 800, 900, and 1000-yard
lines.
The
conditions on Saturday were about the best I have ever seen for a long range
match. The mirage was hard to see, but the flags spoke the truth to those
who watched them. We shot under a light overcast sky for most of the day,
with winds maxing out around 3-4 mph. These were not gusty winds either,
so sight adjustments were few and far between.
Once you figured out what the condition was worth, you could proceed to
shoot as many 10's and X's as your skill level would allow.
In match
#1, my skill level allowed for twelve 10's and 8 X's, and a match winning score of
200-8x. Not to be outdone, Stacy
"The Surgeon" Tamulinas put up a blistering 200-14x in Match #2,
which tops the MN state 1000-yard record set just last year by “Mighty” Morgen Dietrich. Congrats Stacy, that’s going to be a tough
one to beat! In Match #3, wily vet Bill Lair led the pack and missed tying
Stacy’s new record by a single point with his 199-14x to win that match.
Speaking of
Mr. Dietrich, He didn’t win a single
match all day, but he was 1st High Master in all 3, and his consistent
scores gave him the day’s top aggregate score of 596-30x to make him the MN
1000-yard champion for the 2nd year running. Great shooting as usual, Morgen! I finished 3 points
back with a 593-25x for 2nd place, and Bill Lair’s 591-26x locked up
the #3 spot.
 |
| Capt. Bob Peasley |
Up on the
big end of the range, the F-Class gang wasn’t letting the great conditions go
to waste either, with some very impressive scores being turned in. In F-TR, “Magic”
Mike Lehmeier maintained the high standard he’s been setting this year by
winning the day from the Sharpshooter class with a fine score of 581-15x.
I’m not
sure how John “Machine Rest” Rykus
is still in the Expert class, but he left his Expert classmates in the dust to
finish the day with a 595-25x including 200-11x in Match #3. That put John
in 2nd place for the day, behind only the unclassified Mike Jones and his enchanted 6
Dasher. Mike’s score of 598-35x included 2 clean 200’s, most notably a
200-15x in match #2. This is a pending
National Record for 1000-yard F-Class.
Congrats Mike, it doesn’t get much better than that.
The 2-man
team match got done quickly and smoothly, thanks to volunteer target
pullers. Our esteemed Match Director Mark “Rottweiller” Rohmann took one for
the teams, and did yeoman’s duty keeping 2 different targets in the air for a
total of 88 shots. 4 F-Class and 3 sling
teams competed in their classes for the team title. In F-TR, the Laitinen/Olson connection carded a 379-3x to top the class. They had no direct competition in F-TR, but
their score being only 3 points behind the winning F-open team tells me that
they would have fared just fine against any challengers. In F-Open, the team of Loepffe and Bauer put up
the top score of 382-11x for the match win.
On the
sling side, the juggernaut of Team
RhoNak was unstoppable.
Masterful wind calls and rock-solid holds put Brian “Short Pants” Mrnak and myself at the top of the heap with a
team score of 397-11x.
Picts and Video from Minn Long Range Champs - Complete Results at end of video
Picts and Video from Minn Long Range Champs - Complete Results at end of video
Watch at U-tube --Select full screen, 1080HD and turn up the volume!
Sunday’s Palma match offered a little more challenging condition, but still manageable. Competition was tight in the sling division, with 3 shooters still clean going back to the 1000-yard line. Morgen Dietrich and Bill Lair only dropped 4 points each back there, but Morgen’s 446-28x for the day topped Bill’s 446-23x for the match win. That makes Morgen Dietrich the 2014 MN Palma Champion, and combined with his win on Saturday, makes it a clean sweep for the 2014 MN Long Range Championship. That’s 3 trophies returning to Morgen’s house – hopefully his wife has the feather duster warmed up! Since Bill Lair was shooting 155 class bullets, his score in the Palma match earned him the Wadekamper Palma trophy for his mantle. Great shooting guys!
Familiar
names topped the F-Class boards again on Sunday, with Magic Mike Lehmeier topping the F-TR field with a score of
430-14x. Winning both days aggs makes
Mike the 2014 F-TR LR Champion! I have
to think that this will be Mike’s last match as a Sharpshooter.
In F-open,
It was no surprise to see John Rykus
again on top of the Expert class with his 441-14x. North Star Rifle Club’s Big Bad Ben Winget won the day with a tough score of 446-14x to win
the match, and the 2014 F-Class Palma trophy.
Mike Jones was right behind
him with a 444-24, and this score allowed him to hold onto his Saturday lead to
win the weekend aggregate, and the 2014 MN Long Range Championship Trophy. Great shooting boys!
Looking
over the scores for the weekend, I can’t help but notice that the top scores in
F-class and sling are almost identical.
While many of us enjoy some good-natured ribbing between the
disciplines, it’s pretty clear that these are both extremely competitive and
challenging games. If you want to win
matches in either one, you’re going to need to get up early and pack a
lunch. It’s great to see the influx of
F-Class shooters making these matches such a great success.
 |
| Champions--Morgan Dietrich, Bill Lair, Mike Lehmeier and Mike Jones |
All in all,
this was a great weekend of shooting, one of the best in recent memory. A good time was had by all, fistfights were
averted (narrowly), and the weather was perfect. Thanks to Mark Rohmann and the GRRC volunteers for putting on a top-notch
match. Looking forward to returning to
GRRC this fall for Fullbore matches on September 14th, and again on
October 4th and 5th.
Anyone planning on shooting the Fullbore World Championship at Camp
Perry in 2015 would be unwise to miss these matches.
Best
Regards, Erik Rhode
Erik, Thanks for taking the time to write us that report. We know time is short when getting ready for Camp Perry. Good Luck to you and all the rest of our local guys and gals heading out to the National Championships! Also - working with match director Mark Rohmann at this match was a real pleasure. Mark's hard work in preparations made this great championship event. GRRC'c top notch shooting facility was a showcase for these type of events.
Note: from Erik Rhode
One of my roommates for Camp Perry just called to let me know that due to a staffing emergency caused by an injury at his work, he is not going to be able to go.
Two Weeks out Note: from Erik Rhode
One of my roommates for Camp Perry just called to let me know that due to a staffing emergency caused by an injury at his work, he is not going to be able to go.
As such, I have a
space in a very nice condo in Port Clinton right on the shore of Lake
Erie that I am looking to fill. The condo is a 2-story, with a master
bedroom and bath upstairs(mine) and a bedroom on the main floor with 2
beds - one of these 2 is available. There is another bathroom with
shower on this floor, as well as full kitchen/dining room, clothes
washer and dryer, air conditioning, cable TV, wifi - pretty much all of
the comforts of home. You can walk out the back door onto the sand and
jump right into the lake if you so desire, or cook dinner on the BBQ
grill.
I have the unit reserved from
Thursday, July 31 through Monday, August 11th. I will be shooting the 2
Palma days at the end of Long Range on 8/2 and 8/3, and then the
Fullbore national championship matches from 8/4-8/10. I'd like to get
$600, which is just under $55/night. Luxury accommodations at flea-bag
rates. Anyone interested can contact me via e-mail at: erhode_1@charter.net
It's
a long shot, but maybe someone is still on the fence about going out
for full bore week.
Thanks,
Erik
July 26,27 - Mid West F-Class Championship at Elk River Sportsman's Club - Click here for match program
Aug 10 - Small Bore ourdoor prone 1600 at Mpls, Rifle Club - Click here for match program
That's All Folks
Hawkeye
No comments:
Post a Comment