Shooters News for the Minn Area - May 25, 2015 
 
Next weekend
   The Action moves to NorthWestern Gun Club this next weekend
Highpower  
That's right folks -You all will finally get a chance to shoot some matches up north this weekend,

Shooters will be heading to North Western Gun Club for 3 days of Over the Course matches starting Friday, May 20. That's right, there is a whole day of shooting Friday -- and Sat and Sunday.  This is your chance to shoot Three 80 shot OTC matches in a row. You also get to do it at one of the upper Midwest's premier rifle ranges. Right on the shore of beautiful Hunter lake, NWGC is one of the nicest places I have ever spent the day shooting a match.   NWGC is about 2 hrs from the Cities, has good motel choices in Cloquet, and camping facilities at the range.

  Click here for match program and entry info  Click here for a little video from a previous match at NWGC

    Shooters in the southern part of the state will have choices to make. LaCrosse Rifle club is offering up an 80 shot OTC match to shoot on Saturday May 30 -- click here for match program. It will be a supercharged atmosphere at Lacrosse Sunday May 31st, as the action switches to the high pressure competition of a Leg Match. Service Rifle shooters will be hoping that this is 'their' day and that they'll be the one to earn some of those most elusive "Leg Points" and a Leg Up on the ladder to earning a "Distinguished Rifleman's Badge".  Good Luck Leg Match shooters!
click here for Match bulletin
   Just across the border in Clear Lake Iowa, there are also matches to shoot. The River City Rifle and Pistol Club is hosting the Iowa 300 m Highpower Championships. Again there will be a full weekend of shooting with competitors firing a 60 shot OTC two man team match on Saturday and then firing the 80 shot individual championship match on Sunday, May 31. Click Here for match program and entry info
  As you can see there are plenty of chances to shoot some Highpower this weekend with matches both at the north end and the south end of the state. It's supposed to be better weather this weekend so get to loading some ammo and find your way to a match.

Last Weekend

Service Rifle Clinic at NorthStar
 
  From: Mark Havlik  

Subject: Saturday's clinic

Hi Jim, 
 Below is a brief report on the New Shooter Clinic hosted at North Star Rifle club Saturday May 23rd. Saturday saw 15 new shooters (5 sling and 10 F-Class) gather for Captn’ Bob Peasley’s introductory shooter clinic hosted by North Star Rifle Club in Red Wing. The purpose of the clinic was to introduce new shooters to the procedures of a Highpower Rifle match in a fun, low pressure atmosphere. The morning started with a briefing about safety, scoring and pitt procedures.   With the briefing complete, the 5 sling shooters, all shooting Service Rifles, took their places on the firing line with the F-Classers manning the targets. The sling shooters shot a Offhand string and Rapid Fire Sitting string at 200 yards, and despite a threatening rain shower, moved back for a Rapid Fire Prone string at 300 yards. At about 11:30 we took a break for a lunch of pulled pork BBQ sandwiches graciously provided by NSRC member Kyle Knutson from the Smokin’ Oak Rotisserie & Grill in Red Wing. The afternoon saw two relays of F-Class shooters firing from the 300 yard line while the sling shooters manned the targets. Our clinic ended around mid-afternoon with a few participants and coaches electing to shoot some practice at 600 yards. I hope all is well with you and yours, Mark Havlik

80 shot OTC at NorthStar Gun Club
   No Results available at this time.  Results will be posted on the blog when available

Notes and News

 From: Capt Bob  
Subject: LARRY MILLER

Hello Minn and Wis shooters:

   I just talked to Larry at 845 Tue and he goes in for heart valve surgery Thurs morning.  They are not doing a bypass.  He says he will be in the hospital about 5 days before going home.  And he will have cell phone & call me with update as soon as he feels up to it.  And Kathy will also update me.

   Larry is a LOT older than me having been born in Aug to my Sept! Feel free to send a get well or birthday card to him at 64630 McCary Lake Rd  Iron River, Wi. 54847.
Bob
    Larry from all of us:  Get well soon! 
 

     From: Kurt Borlaug - St. Service Rifle Team Coach and Capt.
     Boys, well it's time to start counting who's in and who's out for Perry/CMP Week this year. If you're planning to attend you better get registered right away as the line is filling up. The dates are July 17th-22nd. Add a day for travel in front and after for your scheduling.
  The head count is a bit low right now but there may be some folks who shake loose soon. Those people may not be known to me, so please forward this to anyone who maybe interested in participating. Please reply to me with your travel dates and arrival times so we can have an idea on numbers for the two team matches. Also, please reply if you're NOT going so I know that too.
  Tom has a few hats and t-shirts left from past years and he needs to know who's interested in replacing some worn out attire. He has handled this effort himself over the years and a quick reply is appreciated so he can order the right amount for everyone if needed.
  Thanks, Kurt Borlaug

New shooters take note:  The State Team always needs a 'first time shooter to the Nationals" for the 6 man Team match.  It's in the rules.  If you are a newer service rifle shooter, you might be able to make the team as the "new shooter".  contact Kurt  kubeborlaug@msn.com

    
 On the Fireing line Report:   National Palma Team Practice at Camp Perry last week
From: Stacey Tamulinas
   "Hi Jim:

    In the best tradition of Camp Perry,  things did not go as planned.  Last minute. Changes in the range assignments caused some delays.  It got squared away. In the end and we had a good practice.  Weather was also unpredictable; hot and Humid on Monday then a cold front came through and morning lows in the 40's. Packing warm clothes and gloves was a very good idea.  We never got wet but It was very cold in the morning.
    I had Peter Church, Jerry DeCosta, Noma Mayo & Norm Crawford on my squad. Leo Cebula was our coach.  All excellent shooters!  All of our shots were recorded on a plot sheet to be used to make a final decision on firing members of the team. We never changed squads or coaches so I can't tell you much about what happened with the other squads.  The Veteran's head coach, Tom Whitaker was pleased and seemed confident theteam would do well.
     I have competed with many of  the 30 shooters who were present but never all at the same time. This was a gathering of the most elite shooters and coaches in the nation.  To be on the same firing line with them was really one of the coolest things I've done. 

Stacey"

Thanks Stacey for that Report.  I'm sure that you enjoyed shooting with the other top dogs in our sport. Good folks all of them.  I've had the pleasure of shooting with Pete Church many times.  Besides being the competition in any long range match, Pete also works hard for our sport. Pete makes and repairs all the Mid range and Long range targets at Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix where they have 90 working targets. Pete also runs Small bore matches and repairs the 100 targets for the small bore Western WildCat Championships.
    Keep us informed with the news of this National team when you can.   

  From: Tom Torberg         
"Hi Jim,   
I have a special request for your newsletter.  Could you mention that anyone that would like to shoot their service rifle in the CMP Games matches on Saturday (June 6 at GRRC) to get ready for the Leg match on Sunday can do so at a reduced cost of $10 per match?  I appreciate your help! 
Thanks,"   Tom    CMP match bulletin click here  Leg match bulletin Click here
 
Two Weeks Out
June 6,7 - Sm Bore Outdoor Conventional Prone Championship 3200 - Click here for match program

June 6,7 -  F-class only Regional at Elk River Sportsmen's Club - Click here for match program
June 6    - CMP military rifle matches at GRRC - Match program Click here
June 7    - Service Rifle "Leg Match" at GRRC - Match program Click here

That's All Folks
Hawkeye

Shooters News for the Minn Area - May 20, 2015 

 
Next weekend  
Over the Course matches are scheduled for this weekend!

Highpower  
There will be another chance for the "OTC" shooter this weekend to practice their skills at rapid fire matches, and off hand matches. Saturday May 23 there is a "possible" "new shooter" club match at NorthStar Rifle Club, but there is no program published, so I would ck with a NorthStar member before driving to this 'possible' match.  On Sunday, May 24, there will definately be an 80 shot Over the Course match at NorthStar.  First shots go down range at 0900hrs. Sign-up and squading starts at about 0800.  Click Here for match bulletin

Last Weekend 
CMP games at Oak Dale

It looks like Tom O'Mara is having quite some success at the OakDale gun Club. Their CMP games service rifle match drew 9 shooters and some pretty good scores were posted.  The match started out with 20 shots prone for record and Al Galindez posted a 196 with his AR-15 for a 1st place, with Shawn Roskop only two pts back. In the prone Rapid fire match, Tom Schwartz fired a solid 94-1x but that was only good enough for 2nd place as Al Galindez shot a great 99-5x for the win.  Even though he had a commanding lead half way through this match, Galindez did not let up on the competition, and shot his way to wins in the Sitting Rapid match, and then in the final Standing match, posting a 92-2x. Al Galindez takes the over-all win with a well shot 480-16x score.

 

100 shot Over the Course at MRC    From Mark Rohman:

Saturday's forecast looked pretty poor, but it turned out to be a just about perfect day for an OTC match.

Dave "Tattoo You" Holtegaard owned the 200 yard line, winning the Offhand (189) and Sitting Rapids (198-9x). 300 Prone Rapids went to the "Austin Flash", Jim Soderstrom (196-8X). I upheld the honor of MRC on the 1st Prone Slowfire (200-15X). The Flash took the 2nd Prone Slowfire  (200-13X) and the overall (969-34X). Master Class winners went to Kurt Borlaug (Offhand 186-2X, 300 Rapid 196-4X, 300 Slowfire 198-6X and overall 965-21X), Craig Bennis (Sitting 195-3X) and Jim Soderstrom (300 Slowfire 198-12x).  

 

The SS/EX class was dominated by Aaron "better burn that EX card" Guliuzza. He made the trek from Aberdeen SD and took 5 of the 6 matches. Wisconsin's own Rich Boyarski deprived Aaron of a clean sweep by taking the first slowfire prone match.

All shooters successfully completed the Match 7-- the Bratwurst Dinner.

Thanks to Kevin Bangen & Kevin "The Grillmeister" Kuehl for their help.

Sunday, the weatherman delivered on his promise of rain. Thanks to MRC's covered 200 yardline & pits, we shot the CMP matches anyway. Aaron Guliuzza turned in 2 "Gold" scores with his AR-15. Tom Torborg & Russ Johnson collected a little hardware too.

Thanks to Erik "The Pit Boss" Rhode.

See you on the Firing Line,

Mark Rohmann

Notes:
Joe Vig is recovering from major surgeries on his leg resulting in an amputation of his lower leg. Please keep Joe in your thoughts and Prayers.

Two Weeks Out 
 May 29, 30, 31 - Three day OTC matches at NorthWestern Gun Club - click here for match bulletin
May 30  - OTC matches at LaCrosse -  Click here for match bulletin
May 30, 31 - Iowa St. 300 yd High Power Championship at Clear Lake Iowa -  click here for match program
May 31 -  Service Rifle Leg Match at LaCrosse -  Click here for match bulletin 

That's All folks!
Hawkeye

Shooters News for the Minn Area - May 6, 2015       

Next weekend  

It's OTC and BBQ time

Highpower

Last weekend we had mostly prone matches for you to shoot, but this weekend there are Over the Course matches for those of you that want to exercise the Match rifle and/or your Service rifle.
   May 16th, you'll all want to be heading to the Mpls. Rifle Club for an 80 shot OTC match that will be put on by Mark Rohmann and the boys.  You'll be starting out at the covered 200 yd line for the 20 shot Offhand match and for the two strings of Sitting rapid fire. Then it's back to the 300 yd line for the rest of the match that includes the Prone rapid fire and Prone slow fire matches of 20 shots each. After the shooting is done for the day you'll be treated to one of those great BBQs that the boys at MRC have become famous for.  So it will be day of trigger pulling, and then a little socializing around a great BBQ--what more could your ask for??   Click here for a match program and entry info
  On Sunday May 17th you'll have two choices for some more OTC shooting. On the East side of town, the Oak Dale Gun Club is hosting a CMP military rifle match that consists of 50 shots (CMP course B) to be shot all from Oak Dale's 200 yd line.  This would be a great match for any beginning shooter to try out the sport and have some fun.  Tom O'Mara at tomara@enclos.com is running this match, so I know it will be a good one. Give Tom a call at  612-810-8701 for more info and Click Here for match program
   On the West side of town MRC is also holding a CMP match day. There will actually be both a morning match and an afternoon match. The morning's match is a 50 shot CMP match and then after a lunch break, you can do it all again in a 30 shot CMP match.  This sounds like a great day to me! Click Here for the match program and entry info.

Last weekend  
Mid range match at Lacrosse 

 From: Capt Bob 

Jim:

Attached are 2 pics of the bulletin boards for Sat & Sun.  And Sun has the 2 day totals on the right..   And here is a brief report.

"Mothers day weekend Saturday brought cloudy, cool & near calm conditions for the Mid Range Prone match at Lacrosse. They had 3 targets for F class shooters and 9 for sling shooters. As you can see from the Sat bulletin I didn't quite get all the sheet in the shot so a couple F class guys got cut out. But they show up on the Sunday final & 2 day. As always Sandy, Bill and the entire staff at Lacrosse ran a dandy tournament.

Saturday saw Morgen Dietrich in the lead with a 798X52 followed by Ricky Hunt with a 797X36. And there were 3-4 others still in the hunt with scores in the mid 790's. The early forecast for Sunday was calling for 80-90% chance of rain from 0800 till 1500.  By Sat evening that changed to 30-40% chance and at sunrise Sun the forecast was 0% chance till noon then becoming 10%. The latest forecast turned out to be correct! Sunday was again cloudy and cool with a little more switchy wind.  Morgen had a squib load for a miss on about his 5th or 6th record shot Sunday so color him gone. Meantime Ricky Hunt hung on with a 795X41 & 2 day of 1592X77 for the win. First HM was Wayne Anderson from Burlington, Wi. with 1589X91.  As you can see from this X's are nice but 10's win a lot matches. And for those who may care, I also participated in this tournament.

As I don't know most of the F class guys nor do I shoot F class I'll let the results bulleting tell that story.

Bob

 Small Bore matches at MRC  May 9-10  

From: George Minerich
Smallbore Outdoor Rifle at Minneapolis Rifle Club
May 9 & 10, 2015 brought smallbore rifle shooters to the Minneapolis Rifle Club (MRC) Smallbore Range. If you have never been to the MRC range, the range was built and a combination International and NRA Match range. The range has 20 enclosed firing points with target butts at 50 yards, 50 meters and 100 yards. There not many facilities in the Midwest as nice as this range.
Saturday is International day with the shooters competing in USA Shooting Sanctioned matches. In the morning a 3 X 20 match is fired. For those of you that do not know what a 3 X 20 match is 20 Shots kneeling, 20 shots prone and 20 shots standing. All shots are fired at 50 meters on the A50 International Target. Starting at noon, the shooters participate in an English Match. This match is an all prone match -60 shots, fired at 50 meters on the A 50 international target.
High Honors for the 3X20 and English Match went to Eric Hazelton with Abigail Buessler second!
May 9, 2015 USA Shooting 3-Position (3-P) Match

    Sunday is NRA Prone Match Day at MRC. Shooters compete in a 1600 Conventional Prone Match. A 1600 prone match is 160 shots for record, with sighters it’s easy to shoot 200 plus rounds. The match starts out shooting 40 shots at 50 yards using metallic sights, then switches to the Dewar match 20 shots at 50 yards, 20 shots at 100 yards using metallic sights, the third stage is 40 shots any sight ant 100 yards finally stage 4 is 40 shots at 50 meters. Two targets are shot (20 shots) at each distance. In Addition, each shooter gets unlimited sighters for each target. By the time you get to the final 50 meter stage, the match has taken a pretty big bite out of the shooters endurance!
James Biles (a Senior) was match winner, High Junior was Eric Hazelton and special mention goes out to Elmer Miller high Grand Senior.
May 10, 2015 NRA Conventional Prone (1600) Match
     The next match at MRC is the NRA 3200 Prone Conventional Regional Championship scheduled for June 6 and 7 at Minneapolis Rifle Club range. The following weekend, June 13 and 14 is International Saturday and NRA Prone Sunday at MRC. I hope to see at the upcoming matches!
Regards, George Minerich  (Click here for complete results)

Long Range Matches at GRRC    

  From Erik Rhode  

Hi Jim,

On Saturday 5/9/15, I had the pleasure of shooting the first Long Range match of 2015 at Gopher Rifle and Revolver Club in Harris, MN.  The range was in great shape, and GRRC members Mark Schoess, Tom Torborg, and Bob Eckstein were on hand to make sure everything ran smoothly. 

   It was a crisp morning, with temps in the mid 40’s and light winds coming mostly out of the north as shooters were starting to arrive at the range.  Turnout was pretty good for an early-season match with 22 F-class shooters and 7 slingers present to test their equipment, skill, and luck against Gopher’s notorious fishtailing wind.  A scheduling conflict with the annual Mother’s Day weekend 600-yard match drew a fair number of shooters away that would normally have been on the line with us.  Also notably absent were a couple of regulars from the Duluth area, Dale “Weatherman” Wickstrom and Lil’ Dickie VanValkenburg were nowhere to be found…

   Match Director Mark Schoess called relay 1 to the firing line just after 9 AM, and the early shooters were treated to what would prove to be the most favorable condition of the day.  The wind had already started blowing, but the changes were not yet coming too fast.  If a good shooter was paying attention, serious trouble could be avoided.

Down on the little end, it looked like it could turn out to be a battle of hard-holding North Star Rifle Club members in the F-Open class as Scotty “The Barber” Brabec and Pat “Square Head” Scully both put up solid 195’s to get things going.  Pat was trying to wash the taste of silver out of his mouth from last weekend’s regional in Lodi, and was determined to finish on top today.  His 4 X’s just squeaked past Scott’s 3.   As is usually the case in LR matches, the FTR class had a little more of a challenge with the conditions firing their .308 and .223 rifles.   Chuck “E. Cheese” Laitinen fired a 184-1x to take a commanding 5-point lead over Edward Marciniak.  

    I managed to win match #1 on the sling side with my 198-10x just edging out 2013 Palma National Champion Brian “Short Pants” Mrnak and his 197-9x.  The rest of the field was not far behind with 3 more scores in the 190’s, and 2 188’s to round out the leader board.

In match #2, Square Head Scully kept the bar set high by firing another 195 for his second match win of the day.  John “Machine Rest” Rykhus was just a point back for 2nd place in the F-Open contest.  Andrew Jewison put up a 186-1x to lead the FTR gang, with Drew Rutherford in 2^nd with a 182-4x.   Chuck E Cheese was right behind him, and his 182-3x was enough to keep him in first place for the FTR agg with one match left to go.

    Mr. Mrnak kept right on truckin’ in the sling match, and his 195-5x was tops in our class.   Craig “The Menace” Bennis was next, matching Brian for X’s, but dropping 4 more points for a 191-5x.  I was given a cold, hard reminder of the importance of good reloading practices in this match.  I don’t know what I was doing when I loaded this box of ammo, but I had 2 with no powder at all, and 1 with not enough powder in 20 shots.   The 2 primer-only rounds didn’t cost me anything but time as I had to get out of position twice to tap bullets out of the chamber, but the short-charged round cost me plenty as it struck the berm well before reaching the target.   The resulting dirt shower for Surly Serbian Elliot Zunich in the pits may have made it worth the miss, but probably not.  

In the last match of the day, the conditions were much more challenging than in the earlier matches.  Wind had picked up, and was switching faster as each relay came to the line.  High Master Pat Scully finally showed some signs of being mortal at the end of the day.  His strategy in this match was to shoot fast when the condition was good, and this time he ended up getting burned.  His 186-4x was only good enough for 4th place honors among the F-Open crowd.  Scotty Brabec reappeared to win #3 with his 188-2x, and John Rykhus and Rick Sievers were close behind with 187’s.  Scully’s dominance in the first 2 matches left too wide of a gap to be bridged though, and his 576-13x was enough for the win over 2^nd place over John Rykhus at 571-14x. 

    In FTR, it was Andrew Jewison at the top again, matching points with the top Open gun by shooting his own 188.  Magic Mike Lehmeier’s 177-1x was next up on the scoreboard.  After Jewison’s early stumble in match #1, he managed to gut out wins in the next two matches for the top FTR agg of the day with a 552-3x.  Chuck E Cheese also shot well all day, and finished 2^nd with a 542-7x in the agg.  Good shooting boys, I expect to see your names a lot more in future FTR contests. 

   Short Pants Mrnak didn’t let up on the sling gang in Match #3, and his 194-6x again set the pace.   I w as close with my 194-4x, but still in Brian’s dust.   His 2 first place and 1 2^nd place finishes for the day let him easily cruise to victory with his 586-20x agg score.  I limped into 2^nd place with my 577-19x.  Good shooting Brian!  

  

Congrats to all of the winners, and thanks to Mark, Tom and Bob for running a great match.   I look forward to coming back on June 13-14 for the annual Long Range Regional Championship.  I think I am going to weigh all of my loaded rounds before putting them in the ammo box for that match!  

Best regards, Erik

 

Thanks to Erik, Capt. Bob, and George for sending in those match reports.  Those of us who couldn't be a the matches really do appreciate reading about them.  When we do read them, we wish we were at the matches  --  so next week........  

 
Two Weeks Out 
May 23 -  Possible "New shooter" club match at North Star -- no program available
May 24 - 80 shot OTC at NorthStar -  Click Here for match program   

That's all Folks

Hawkeye  

Shooters News for the Minn Area - May 6, 2015 

 Next weekend  
It's Long Range Time at GRRC !   
Highpower
Well folks, over the last few weeks you've had the chance to shoot short range and mid-range matches in the MN area.  Now it's Long Range time, so put a few more clicks of Elevation on your highpower rifle sights, add a little more powder in your cartridges and go for the gusto!  Saturday, May 9th, you will have the opportunity to launch some bullets down range 1000 yds at the Gopher Rifle and Revolver Club's premier shooting facility - just north of the Twin Cities off Hwy 35 at the Harris, Mn exit.  This match will draw both F-class and traditional sling shooters to test their shooting skills at the 1K distance. Each shooter will fire three 20 shot matches with sighters for a 60 shot aggregate score. While F-class shooters fire with "any" sights, sling shooters will be able to shoot Iron sights in all matches.  Click Here for match program and entry info. 
    Remember folks: the wind never blows, the sun always shines, and the temperature is a constant 72 deg at GRRC, so come out and have some fun.
  For those of you in the south end of our state and surrounding area, there is a Mid Range match on both Saturday, May 9th and Sunday, May 10th at the LaCrosse rifle club . Each day's shooting will done from the 600 yd line. Two matches are to be fired with Iron sights and two will be fired with "any" sights on both days.  Click Here for match program and entry info

Small Bore
  You don't have to have a highpower rifle to shoot competitively this coming weekend. There are also two great matches for Sm Bore shooters on tap at the Mpls Rifle Club. George Minerich is putting on one of his Sm Bore extravaganzas Sat and Sunday.  George is offering a chance Saturday to shoot a 3 position match 50 meter match in the morning and then after a lunch break, there will be a prone 60 shot match on the 50 meter targets in the afternoon.  Click here for match program  
  Sunday, its all prone shooting - a 1600 Conventional Outdoor prone match will start at 0900 hrs. If you need some prone practice, these matches are the best there is.  It's 8 targets of 20 shots ea with unlimited sighters on tough targets from 50 yds to 100 yds.  Click Here for match program

300 meter  
From: Brian Shiffman  
The May MRC 300 meter match occurs early this month……like, this Sunday!! 
The May 2015 Minneapolis Rifle Club 300 meter match will be held Sunday, May 8, 2015.  There will be two relays scheduled; the first starts at 10 AM and the second at noon.   Shooters for the MRC monthly matches do not have to be members of MRC; the matches are open to all who adhere to the rules.  Registration is now open. 
Register yourself at http://edfpages.com/mgfc/match.php.  Read the instructions.  Pay attention as you fill in the boxes and make selections from the drop down lists.  There is room for only 14 shooters per relay so advance registration is important.  The box at the top of the list shows the number of shooters for each relay.   
Brian D. Shiffman shiff004@umn.edu   

Last Weekend    
Mid range Champ match at NorthStar  

 From: Capt Bob  
Jim: 
Due to poor scheduling of the 2015 Minnesota MRP championship, essentially the 2 ^nd week of outdoor shooting in the upper Midwest, and a conflict with a LR regional, only 9 competitors entered this tournament. And 30% of them were Grand Seniors.   And one of them won it and another was 2 ^nd. Saturday, Omer Hamer started off with the only clean of any sight day Saturday at 300 yards with 10X. I was close on his heels with a 198X11 with the Palma rifle but kept losing 2 more than Omer at each yard line. Omer posted a 589X23 to my 583X23.   But Bruce Rawlings in the master class posted a 588X21 for 2 ^nd overall after day 1.   Bluebird conditions were with us throughout the day with slightly switchy winds at 5 & 600 yards.

Sunday was another bluebird day and I thought I had a fighting chance now that Omer had to use iron sights.   And that’s how it shaped up.   I posted a 199X10 at 300 to Omer’s 192X6. So I got him by 1 point and 4 X’s. Well then the crafty old fox went and changed glasses so he could see his iron sights better. Worked like a charm! He shot a 195X8 to my 194X8. So now we are tied and I have him be 4 X’s going into the last stage at 600. Well darn the luck if he didn’t shoot a 197X4 to my 194X7. So Omer gets the win with a score of 1173X45 to my 1170X48.   Meantime you may recall Bruce Rawlings posted a 588X21 Saturday and was clearly in the running but could not return on Sunday to close it out.   Lane Halley posted the only clean Sunday with a 200X8 at 300 and he was in the hunt with a 585X20 from Saturday.   But he ran into trouble at 5 & 600 and finished with a1164X40. Then we have another hard holder in Craig Bennis.   He was close all the way and gets the consistency award with a 584X23 both days.
Submitted by Bob Peasley--North Star Rifle Club    

       Omer Hamer  -- Mid Range St. Champ   

Thanks Bob for that report.  Maybe next year the scheduling for this match will work out better.  I hope so, as I would like to shoot it.

Palma Regional Matches at Lodi 
  From: Morgan Dietrich  
Jim:  
Sling results from the Lodi Palma Regional.  The Lodi weather was excellent, and the range showed us her normal temperamental self.  Day one started out with Erik “Taco” Rhode pressing hard on the gas pedal.  He wanted the first yard line win and could not be stopped.  He ran a string of 13 X’s in a row and had a blistering 150-13.  I myself did pretty well, but sprinkled a few 10’s along the way and also had a 150-13, but was creedmoored.  There were 6 other shooters who also got all the points.  Back to 900 we go.  No 150’s were fired, but three people were able to steer their rifle’s into the 10 and X ring 14 times for 149’s.  Myself, Waylon “Kid” Burbach and Mark Liebetrau.  Things were going to get interesting back at 1000.  Erik Rhode steered his Barnard action and aluminum stock to the yard line lead again besting all competitors with a 147-3, second again was I wishing my last shot 8 had been fired only seconds before a big puff pushed me out and finishing with a 146-3.  Jay Johnson fired the only 145 to finish strong.  The first palma agg was complete, but we were not done yet.  A bonus 20 shot string at 1000 yards was yet to be fired.  Dietrich gets the day one Palma win with a 445-24, 444-23 Rhode, and 443-16 for third goes to Waylon Burbach.  Bob Churchill won the master class, Frank Evica the Expert class and Jeffery Davies the SS class.
   So, who would dominate the 1000 yard line.  NOT ME, I got crushed.  Ouch, it still hurts.....6,  yes, a 6..... Bill Lair showed us what a wily veteran to Lodi can do and shot an excellent 195-4, Erik Rhode stayed out of trouble and shot a 193-8, Randy Gregory  (the newly minted Senior) shot a very fast 192-7.  Dave Simonson a 189-4 for the Master class win, Frank Evica won the Expert class and Jeff Davies also held on to the SS lead.  Day one was complete.  Eric Rhode was in a commanding lead, 4 points above Waylon and 5 points ahead of me.
   I apologize for no F class scores, but I do know that after day one Bob Sebold was in the lead with Pat Scully just a few points back ready to make his move to the top. 
    Day two starts much the same as day one, 2.5-3.5 minutes of wind, the mirage is running and you hope not to get unlucky in a gust or let off.  The Liebetrau boys want to make sure that all the MN people don’t forget who knows the most about the Lodi range.  Mark gets off to a great start with a 150-11, three 150-10’s were fired.  Erik Rhode had one as did Scotty Liebetrau and the person in second place- Waylon.  5 other 150’s were shot, but I would not have one of them.  I thought a 9 at 1 o’clock would be a much more entertaining way to start the day.  Back to 900 we go, Lodi is getting tricky, more subtle changes are coming the shooters way, yet another MN shooter Jay Johnson dominated the wind and gave away NO points.  150-7, he is clean going back to 1000.  Three 149’s are fired, Randy Gregory with 4 X, Rhode with 5 X and Waylon not showing any sign of slowing down with a 6 X.  Back to the 1K yard line for the weekend aggregate.  The wind is speeding up and letting off, tension was high.  Here we go.  WI legend Randy Gregory gets off the line quickly, firing the most deep 10’s to finish with a 148-8.  Who will be next off the mat?  I muster a 146-8, the Juggernauts hold my meager wind reading ability in the 10 ring as best they could, but right next to me Waylon also has a 146-8.  What is going on down on target 11?  Where is the Taco wearing hat man, the tension is too much to bear.  Rhode avoids catastrophe and finishes with a 142-4....... .  
    It is, Erik Rhode holds on for the win by X’s over Waylon Burbach.  I limp along into third place for the bronze.  For the daily agg Waylon Burbach fires a 445-24, Randy 445-20, and I take third with a 443-24.  Dave Simonson wins the Master class, and due to shooter attrition the Ex and SS class are combined for day two.  Brady Westling shoots an excellent 433-13 to show some great improvement.  He works for Kreiger making barrels and is doing an excellent job shooting the same barrels on the weekend, congrats to Brady.

   The individuals are complete.  Bob Sebold holds on for the F open win over Pat Scully.  Pat’s barrel is getting tired, so next time he shows up I am sure he will be sporting a new one.  The 4 man team match was then fired, 4 sling teams and 3 F class teams competed.  I did not take pictures of the end result, the amazing thing was that 3 of the sling teams all had the same exact score.....Yes, 3 teams of 4 all had the same score.  Coach Bob Mead however guided his shooters to just a few more X’s over the others to take the win for National Team Mead- Bill Lair, Randy Gregory, Morgen Dietrich, and new Gold Medal shooter Erik Rhode the final of the 4 person squad.  A side note, John Dunbar brought 4 junior shooters to fire the F class team match as he coached them.  They did not win, but it is great to see the smiles and see some young blood on the line.  Great job John!
     Lodi always does a great job running their matches, and the weather was excellent.  Congrats to all the winners and hope to see you in Lacrosse this coming weekend.-- Morgan Dietrich

Results:
Sat,                                                                  Sunday
   
Wow, Morgan, it sure sounds like you guys had a great match!    

 Notes:
1. From: Capt. Bob 
​Hello OTC shooters: 
May 24 is not going to be needed as a back up for the MRP match at North Star so we are doing a 1 day OTC for your pleasure. 
 I'll be there Sat. the 23rd doing a club training event so the gate will be open all day for camping.  Click here for match program and entry info

HOLDHARD,

Bob 
2. Day 2 video from the Berger Bullets SW Nationals. Click Here  featuring an interview with Mike Barlow of the Scottish Shooting Team (Video by Accurate shooter.com) 

 Sling shooter at the Berger SW Nats 

Two Weeks Out 
May 16 - OTC 80 shot match and BBQ at MRC -  Click here for match program
May 17 - CMP course B&C service rifle match at MRC - Click Here for match program
May 17 - CMP course B service rifle match at Oak Dale Gun club - Click Here for match program

That's all Folks  
Hawkeye