Shooters News for the MN area -- Apr 25, 2012

The Week Ahead
With temperatures forecast to be in the Mid 50s, mostly sunny sky's, and just a moderate breeze from the East, traveling shooters will be heading to the Eau Claire rifle club for a weekend of historically great matches.  On Saturday, Apr. 28, the shooting contest will be a Mid Range 4X20 prone match to be shot all at 600 yds.  On Sunday, Apr 29, the competition will change to an "Over the Course" style match, with shooting from the Standing, sitting, and prone position, at 200 yds to 600 yds.  With the Eau Claire rifle club, being only a 2 hr drive (in the Corvette) from Mpls., this has always been a popular and well attended match.
   Match Program--- click here         Weather forecast for Eau Claire --  click here

Last Weekend   
Traditionally, in the past, the full-on shooting season in the Minn area has started with a weekend of matches at the Eau Claire Rifle Club on the 4th weekend of April.  This year a couple rifle clubs of winter deprived shooters pushed the season a little and scheduled matches last weekend. Elk River Sportsman's Club held a wind clinic, and Mid Range prone match.  I understand this match was well attended, but no results were forwarded to me for posting. GRRC held their ever popular annual Service Rifle Clinic and "Fun" match.   
    From Kurt Borlaug:  "Gentlemen, We (GRRC)  completed our clinic yesterday with 21 shooters, the last relay getting a bit damp. The Vintage Match had to be canceled due to weather. Our next event will be May 5th and will consist of two 30 shot Games matches, followed by GRRC's first Vintage Sniper Match."
    Maybe the weather will be better next year.

Rear Sight Diopters --  Testing and selection 
 Capt. Bob Peasley has recently finished doing some testing of Rear Sight Diopters and written up two reports for this blog. I have added these two excellent articles to my "Old Eyes and Iron Sights"  series. All 7 articles on this subject are available to be read or downloaded on the blog (right hand column).          
Scroll down here to see both of Capt. Bob's articles on Rear Diopter testing.         

Two Weeks Out
    Make your plans now.

   May 5th --  CMP Military rifle match at GRRC --- Match program:  Click Here 
   May 5th --  Vintage Sniper Rifle Team match at GRRC  --- Match program: Click Here
   May 5th & 6th -- 2 day OTC NorthStar Rifle Club --- Match program: Click Here

That's all Folks !
Hawkeye

Old Eyes and iron sights -- Part #7

Rear sight diopters --Testing and selection

BY CAP-N-BOB 

April 24 promised to have blue skies, light winds, 70 degrees and low Mosquito count.  So I headed off the North Star Rifle Club for part 2 of lens testing and a few more pictures. Today’s test was under clear blue skies vs. cloudy but good light on test 1.

As you will recall from part 1, I was checking various lenses for a rear sight on a Palma rifle with a .3 front lens. Photo #1 shows Old Glory set up in my deluxe sandbag rest …. This testing was done with the Neergaard lens kit by holding the various power lenses between thumb and forefinger, then moving the lens up and down between the rear of the sight and my eye.

Click to enlarge Picture

          

Since that first test my good friend and high power team mate Kevin Bangen has developed a new, revised and improved version of the holder shown in part 1.  See photo #3.   Photo #5 shows the actual lens that drops into a slot at the top of the holder.

Some sources have indicated that the Neegaard lens might work better with a longer sight radius. So today’s testing started with my # 2 Mid Range Prone rifle chambered in 240NMC.  It has a 5” bloop tube on a 29.5” bbl. with a 22MM front sight and a .3 lens.  So the only thing different between this test and the first was the 4 ½” longer sight radius. 

Starting with the +1.5 lens every lens down thru – 1.5 was inserted in the holder clamped on the rear iris.  All the lenses made the front sight just barely sharper. To the best of my ability I could see no difference in the clarity of the target between any of the lenses. It was certain that none of the lenses made the target look worse but if there was an improvement it was very small. I would insert each lens into the holder and take a quick look then pull it out of view and try & compare how the sight picture compared with and without the lens.  After doing this with 10 lenses I think for me at least, I can see just as well with no rear lens and the .3 front with a bloop tube. The Micro Sight was then inserted and all lenses checked as described above.  The Micro Sight did not help with any lens and in fact was probably just slightly worse. I tried the Gehman rear sight with the 1.5 magnification and it too was worse than no lens at all in the rear.  And finally I removed the .3 front lens and looked thru the Gehman 1.5.  The target looked sharp and the front sight was sharp.  But the target looked about like a 200 yard center. It would have been VERY difficult for me to call any shots with the pin head looking target inside the great big aperture. I believe the old adage about there being no free lunch applies here.

Today’s next test was the same as described above but with Palma rifle # 2 on a Stolle action.  This rifle wears a 30MM Right Sight with a .37 rose tint lens from our favorite Snake Oil Salesman, Bob Jones. The results with this front sight were similar to the results with the bloop tube rifle.  In fact if anything I think the sight picture was just slightly better with no rear lens at all.

The instructions with the test lenses indicated it might be better to remove the rear sight and look through the big hole as there will be greater sensitivity to focus changes by looking thru the largest aperture available.  So I tried this and everything was a complete blur until I got to the + 1.50 and + 1.75 lens. I doubt I would have hit the target had the sight picture been that poor with the rear sight in.

At this point about the only thing I want to try is the above with a .5 front in my # 1 MRP rifle. I hope to have that report next week.

So many rifles, so many lenses, so much testing, so little time.

Capt. Bob Peasley 
                                 Download this article -- click here

Old Eyes and Iron Sights -- Part #6

Rear sight diopters --Testing and selection  

By CAP-N-BOB

The long lonely bitter winter of 2011/12 is nearly over in Minnesota so I headed to the range to test rear sight lenses today.  I used my Elisio stocked Palma rifle with Phoenix Precision sights.   The front sight is a 22MM with .3 Anschutz lens. But first here is a web site to see a neat lens test kit.  http://www.shootingsight.com/ Click products and scroll down to see the kit. Pictured below is a single lens. 

There was no shooting was involved, just looking thru lenses.  I set the rifle up in sandbags pointed at a 600 yard target.  The first test was without the Micro Sight from Creedmore or Sinclair.  The quality on my sight picture was about an 8 to 8.5 out of 10 with just a Gehman iris in the rear sight and the .3 lens in the front sight. I then started with the +. 100 lens between my glasses and the rear sight. I went all the way down to -.100 in .25 increments. Nothing improved or changed much that I could see. The front iris around the target was very sharp but the target was a little fuzzy on all 8 lenses.

I then installed the Micro sight and repeated as described above. At +.100 down thru +.25 everything was still fuzzy and unacceptable.  At -.25 thru -.75 the front iris and target were better, back to the 8.5 out of 10 area. At -.100 and below the picture deteriorated rapidly.  Keep in mind I’m NOT an eye doctor and do not play one on TV and thus can’t explain the below phenomenon. I looked thru the sights with the Micro Sight lens taking a few quick looks as if taking a quick shot  then looking away trying to memorize the sight picture.  When putting the negative power lens between glasses and rear sight there was a slight but noticeable improvement. Upon removing the test lens from the sight picture there was a very noticeable reduction in the quality of what I saw. There was much more of a reduction than the improvement seen with the lens in place.  It went down to about a 5 or 6 out of 10.  When again moving the lens into the sight picture there was a slight improvement and a major reduction when removing it. In other words, the original sight picture was not as good as I remembered it to have been prior to looking thru the test lens. This phenomenon was apparent with -.25 thru -.75.  Perhaps it is a focus issue. Maybe it takes a few seconds for the eye to adjust to the change going one way but not the other.  Or not!

A shooting friend/tool designer has designed a neat little device for holding the test lenses in place on the rear iris. It clips on to the rear iris thus eliminating any movement when being held between 2 fingers. See below picture of the prototype. If it works out we may market them at $79.95 at Camp Perry

After this testing I removed the Micro Sight and installed a Gehman 9530 rear iris. This is the model with the adjustable iris and focus built in. The target immediately looked about 3 times bigger but still very slightly fuzzy around the edges.  It was clearly easier to hold on this big target and see very small movements.  With the other lenses I could not see the small movements and I have no idea if this is a good thing or not. 

The maker of these test lenses recommends that the testing be done at the intended shooting distance. I would assume the results seen at 300, 500 and 600 yards or 800, 900 and 1000 would be very similar. If not it will be totally impractical if one needs a different lens for each yard line.  As you might imagine, the zeros change SUBSTANTIALLY when changing lenses in the front or rear. 

After this fun filled day of testing I decided to try more or less the same tests at 100 yards.  The improvements or reductions seen at 100 yards were not nearly as apparent as they were at 600 yards. My conclusion is that the Gehman 9530 is best for me on my Palma rifle. Your mileage may vary. However I may order a -.50 to use in conjunction with the Micro Sight on one of my MRP rifles.

And finally, keep in mind your results and zeros will be different if you use a .37 or .50 front lens.

 So many rifles, so many lenses, so much testing, so little time.

   Capt. Bob Peasley 
            Download this article --  Click Here

Shooters News for the MN area -  Apr 12, 2012

The Week Ahead  
  Here we go-  I hope you are all loading up ammo for the summer shooting season as fast as you can, because the a full season of rifle matches is about to begin.
  This weekend we finish up the winter Sm Bore season with the "Indoor 4 position Gallery Championships" up at the Fergus Falls Rifle Club.  click here for Match program    

Highpower  
  The outdoor Highpower season  starts on Saturday, Apr 21st, with a Rifle Clinic and CMP Games to be hosted by the crew at GRRC.  The  3 hr clinic will cover the fundamentals of Service Rifle marksmanship, and have live firing demonstrations to show prospective shooters how a Highpower match works.  This clinic will be followed by a 50 shot OTC match (all at 200 yds), open to all shooters. 
     Click Here for Clinic program
     Click Here for CMP match program

That same Saturday (4/21), will also feature a "Wind clinic and Fun shoot" at the Elk River Sportsman's Club.
     Click Here for Program  

  "The event will consist of a wind reading/shooting clinic followed by a delicious lunch. After the lunch, (2) 20 shot matches will be fired at the 600 yard line of the club’s KD Range. These matches will be 2 shooter/team events with the intent of practicing your wind reading skills by coaching your teammate. The instructors will be Steve Knutson and  Rick Hunt, both coaches for the US National F-Class Team. This is a rare chance to learn from the best coaches in the country!"
 Sunday Apr 22, Elk River follows up with an 80 shot Mid Range match to be shot at 600 yds.     

GRRC Highpower practice schedule 2012 --  Click Here  

Eau Claire Rifle Club
From Randy Gregory:
"Shooters,  Sorry for the late start this year. The (Eau Claire) club has had some changes in people running matches this year. Please send your entries to my me by mail, email or call at my shop.

Regards,  Randy"  

 Eau Claire's first matches  Apr 28 Mid range, 29th OTC--   

                 Click here for Program  

Small Bore
 Western WildCats 2012 Final Results grand agg. Click Here  


300 Meter Int,. 

From George Minerich, MRRA Pres.:300 Meter Prone State Championship Results March31, 2012, St. Francis, MN
Competition was hot with 17 shooters vying for the Minnesota 300 Meter State Champion Title! Saturday’s prone match shooting conditions were good with some wind. Competitors shot on the 300 M International Electronic C 1 Target. The first match is unlimited sighters followed by 60 shots for record in 75 minutes using iron sights. The second match is any sight, unlimited sighters and 60 shots for record in 75 minutes. There was enough wind to keep the match interesting!           

Keeping with International Rules the State Champion is determined by the Iron Sight Match (1) Match 1 (Iron sight):
Lance Peters is the MN 2012 300M Prone State Champion shooting a 587
Matt Griffin was First with a 584, Phillip Klanderud 578 – Second and Chuck Diehl Third shooting a 575.
Match 2 (Any sight): Phillip Klanderud 591 – First Place
Matt Griffin was 2nd. with a 585 and Erik Rhode Third shooting a 575.
Match 3 (Match 1 & 2 aggregate):
Matt Griffin is match winner with a great score of 1169
Phillip Klanderud with a score of 1169 – second place (based on last 20 shot series)
Erik Rhode Third with a score of 1143"
left to right:
Chuck Diehl (3nd. ) Phillip Klanderud (2nd) and Matt Griffin (1st), Lance Peters, State Champion
    300M   3 Pos. State Champ Results:   Click Here 
    300M   Prone Champ results:  Click Here 

 

That's all folks!

Hawkeye

April 300 m match rescheduled

From Brian Shiffman:

  "The April 300 Meter match at MRC range originally scheduled for April 8 has been moved to the following weekend, April 15 due to the fact that April 8 is also Easter Sunday and not a good day to have a match.

    The calendar of events at the MGFC and MRRA web sites are being changed to reflect the new date.

All else remains the same and I will be calling for preregistration sometime the the first week of April so keep an eye out for email at that time."

Brian D. Shiffman     shiff004@umn.edu

MN 300 m State Championship

   The Minn 300 meter St. Championship is almost upon us. On Mar 31, Mpls. Rifle Club will be hosting the 300m Prone championships on their sophisticated  range that features international Elecrtonic targets-- no pit pulling.  Click Here for Match Program

 Then next day on Sunday, Apr 1 there will be 3 position matches to decide the 300m 3 Pos. St Champion.  Click Here for Match Program

Western WildCats Matches - 2012.

Click to see slide show

Western WildCats Matches -- Day 4

The 2012 gathering of the WildCats did not just fade quietly in to the night.  The  Storm finally came on Day 4 of the Western WildCats matches.  
   Heading out at 0600 Sunday for the range, the wife said: "You'll be home before I'm back from church".  She could have been right, as it was pouring rain, cold and windy when Rob Nabower and I headed north on the 101 to Ben Avery.   The Front from the long anticipated storm was just moving through, and putting an end to the first 3 days competition's perfect weather. We did see some clearing to the west and by the time we arrived at the range it was just cold, overcast and windy.  The Match would go on.

Jim Gaines shoots during the brief hail storm.

  In the Dewar match, I was cold and did not get comfortable, and even though it was an Any Sight match I dropped 3 on ea target and was already 6 down at the end.  The top half of the Ex class all fired 398, or 399 not letting the cold bother them. 
    The 100 yd match went about the same. All weekend I have lost most of my pts at the 100 yds line.  On the second 100 yd target I had just finished after shooting fairly fast, and it started hailing (pea size) for a couple minutes.  It was about 48 deg, with the wind now blowing about 13 mph an rising.  Still the really good shooters were shooting clean scores with high X counts. 
   During the Meter match (50m) the wind was high but steady and I noticed that my hold was better -- the scope's target dot was easily staying in the X ring, and after losing 2 pts to a gusts on the first bull, I was able to keep the rest well centered with 28 Xs.  
  The last match was the 50 yd match, and again, the wind was blowing 15mph or more with some gusts above that, but it was steady, not wavering around and if you shot with the flags blowing to the NE it was the same for every shot.  I was breaking the shots when the dot was just off the X line at 8 o'clock and they started landing in the center.  I also noticed that my hold was again very steady-- very steady.  For whatever reason, I was having the best hold I have had ever had.  The target dot was almost not moving --- I mean it was dead still.  I could actually hold the dot on the X ring without straying into the black.  Don't believe me?-- ck the result:  

Best hold ever -- 200 18x

  So, the last two matches of the day went well and that almost made up for the chilly weather.  My 50yd score was 400-34x and I still got beat in the EX class by Ken Nelson, who came in 2nd for the day in that class behind my neighbor John Giles whose 1596 was a great (Ex)score for the somewhat difficult conditions.  
  Ken Nelson's steady high scores over the 4 day tournament totaled 6375 pts, -- only dropping 25 pts in 640 shots.  Ken gets the EX win,  followed in a tight group by Barney Higgins, Allen Elliot, and John Giles. 
  Among the HMs, while there were many 1598's and 1599's for the day  Christopher Abalo (Army) was the only one to beat the conditions all day, and fire a clean 1600 (amazing).  Chris dropped only 2pts in the 640 record shots and is the 2012 Western WildCat Champion.  Congratulations to Christopher Abalo!  

Lones Wigger presides over the prize table

This was a fantastic tournament.Without a doubt, the Western WildCats matches are the best matches I participate in - period!  I can't wait till next year to do it again. Now, if I can just apply what I've learned here to next week's, St. Champ. 3200.  
Hawkeye

Final Results 2012 WildCats matches --  Click Here 
Pictures (slide show) to be posted -- asap

Western WildCat Matches -- Day 3

The 2012 WildCats say hello to one and all. (click to expand)

Where was the wind they promised?
    It was supposed to blow like crazy today. The forecast was for 20 mph wind starting in the SE and then veering around to the NW by afternoon. We all put all the clips we had on our target frames, but the big wind never blew in.  It was windy enough so you had to hang on to the targets when putting them up, but I don't think it got more than 8-10mph in the morning and maybe 12-14 in the afternoon.  Even though it was somewhat windy, it seemed the wind was really not much of a factor for the 2nd Iron Sight match of the 4 days of the WildCats.  The wind was steady, it blew from 5 o'clock and there were few reversals. 
   It was also slightly overcast for the 1st match -- the Dewar.  This meant I could see the target better and more easily get a decent sight picture. Bright sun on the targets is not good for my old eyes.  Sure enough I could see pretty good and my hold seemed way better than yesterday. Got a 200 on the 1st 50yd target and then lost 2 to a let off on the 100 yd target. Well this is going well.  I almost cleaned the Dewar ! 

   The two 100yd targets didn't go as well, I got a pair of 196s. I could not get my right eye to focus very well -- no sight picture, no points.  We moved the targets in for the Meter match and took the  Group shot posted above. The light was down and my eye cleared up for the first target and I lost one pt there, but a whopping 5 on the next target.
   I welcomed the  50 yd match and the larger 10 ring, and by this time the wind had veered to S and SW and also diminished somewhat.  I shot quickly to take advantage of the lull, and lost  2 to elevation, but cleaned 2nd target. Two High Masters shot 400-40x scores -- Joseph Hein and Eric Uptagrafft with Joseph getting the match win on tie breakers. In the Ex class, Ken Nelson continued his domination with 400 -28x. My total for the day ended up at 1582 -- a good solid Ex score from my point of view. However It  was only good enough for 9th in the Ex class
 .  Ken Nelson dueled it out with my neighbor to the right, Barney Higgins, and Intermediate shooter Luke Harper all day, but neither one could keep up with Ken at the end or beat his 1593 to take the Ex class win. 
   Among the HMs, 4 hardholders shot clean 1600 scores -- Erick Uptagrafft, Rea Kemply, Christopher Abalo, and Mathew Wallace. This was Erick's 2nd 1600 in two days, and today he gets the Match Win.
--Hawkeye

Day 3

Allen Elliot shooting Xs

Western WildCat Matches -- Day Two

It was another grand and glorious day to shoot.  Almost perfect conditions again.  There was no more than 3mph wind from 4  o'clock for the first two matches -- the Dewar and the 100 yd match.  It was a pure holding and trigger break contest today.  400 scores were a dime a dozen.  Unfortunately, my hold was back and forth in the 10 ring and I was losing pts trying to break a clean shot.  Not my day.  I settled down a little by the  Meter match and after dropping 5 on the first card, I was finally able to shoot clean 200s on the last 3 targets of the day.  In the last match -- the easier 50yd match, I got 400-32x clean, and mistakenly thought that should be up there high on the score board.  Oh, no, not in this competition.  I was only 2nd EX and would have only been 14th in the HM class --- and was actually only 24th over-all in that match.   
  Still only two 1600s were shot today, and those by Jamie Gray, and Erick Uptagrafft. There were some gusty reversals out of the west in  the last two matches.   Erick and Jamie both shot an astounding 140 Xs with Jamie getting the win on tie breakers.  Wow-- you shoot a 1600-140x and don't get a win.    Life is not fair.
  I had the pleasure of shooting next to, Jim Gaines, and John Giles all day. Both these gentlemen are over from Calif. for the matches, and regularly  shoot at the LA R&R The way they tell it that range is right in the city-- in a city park and is a pretty nice place. Two positions away on each side were my old friend from Wisc.- Frank Fisher,  and to the right was Canadian friend Ken Nelson. Who, by the way is the only other person I know that likes the sport of Curling.
  After Two days, Ken leads the EX class,  but even firing a 1597 today,  he could not beat fellow expert,  Allen Elliot, who was determined to take the class win today after a difficult day with a rifle yesterday.  Allen is a past Nat. Palma Champ, and Ken won a first place medal in the Berger Long Range matches just last month. This is a tough Expert class.  When are these guys going to move up to at least the Master class. 
 Ok, now it's time to reorganize for Day 3 of the WildCats.  I cant wait. --- Hawkeye

Western WildCat Matches -- Day 1

Almost a full line at the WildCats !
The conditions were almost perfect for Day 1 of the WildCats. It was the chance you dream of for an Iron Sight 1600.-- bright sun, 77deg,, no humidity, 4 mph breeze from 5 o'clock. There would be no excuses today.
  The Army and Air Force shooting teams were here as well as other top shooters from all over.  Nancy Tompkins, Rea and Tarl Kempley were on the line and the Service teams would have plenty of competition.
   My recent success last week with a 1587 irons score did not get backed up today.  I dribbled away points here and there and was happy just not be last Expert.  Ken Nelson, our Canadian winter visitor, shot a solid 1592 and now leads us Experts.
   Justin Tracy fired a clean 1600 to squeak by 7 other High Masters who dropped only 1 pt for 1599 scores.
  Tomorrow is the first Any Sight match, where I usually do pretty well.  I better shoot a good score because a storm is coming by Sunday and I may not have a chance to move up in the class and have a crack at the prize table. 

Shooters News for the Mn Area -- March 15, 2012

The Week Ahead 
Traveling shooters are gathering in Phoenix for the Western WildCat prone SB matches, which start today with the team match and the "Made in America" match.  Tomorrow, the real competition begins on Day 1 (Iron sights) of this 4 day match. This looks to be one of the best attended WildCat matches in a decade.  Haven Williams, Match Director. told me last Saturday that he already had 87 paid entrys, and thought he would fill all 100 firing positions by Monday.  Over 20 marksman are entered, and that is a great prediction of things to come. 
  This is the 4th weekend of Championship matches in the "March Madness" Phoenix Sm Bore series, which started with the Tarantula 4800 Metric, then the Road Runner 3200, and last weekend with the Diamond Back 3200 Regional. 
   I'm ready to go, and ready to contest the Ex class against what I know will be a tough tough competition. 
Last year you had to shoot high 1580s to win any match in the EX class, and 1600 to win in the Master class, as the conditions were perfect.
   I was not pleased with my scores in the Tarantula 4800 metric (who was?).  While I could blame a lot of it on the windy conditions, I really did not shoot well-- period.  Same thing in the Road Runner matches -- poor shooting with a lot of vertical spread in the Iron sight match.  I was shooting the new Shilen Rachet Groove barrel that I won at last years WildCat matches, and a new lot of SK rifle match ammo.  I started to think that the combination was bad, and that I might have to go back to last years barrel and ammo for the WildCat match, but in the Scope match of the Road Runner, I scored a 1593/1600 and decided to stick with that barrel/ ammo combination for one more try at the DiamondBack matches. It would be a last test before the Wildcats.
   We started the Diamond Backs Iron sight day with the Dewar match,  then the 100 yd match and my results were poor--bad shooting, hard to get good sight alignment -- old eyes.  Before the Meter match, I changed the .5 diopter out of the Stallings front sight and put in a .3 diopter. I could see a much clearer sight picture, and after adjusting the apertures, I came up with pretty good scores in the last two matches.  I had been able to see the target better with the .3 diopter and my vertical dispersion was minimal. The Sunday match of this tournament was an Any Sight match, but I thought I should shoot Irons again to confirm that using the smaller diopter was the key to good scores with irons. 
  The conditions were perfect with just a little wind from 5 o'clock to keep the flags from hanging limp.  While the others were shooting scopes, I was able to hang in there dropping only 5pts in the Dewar match, and then 4 in the 100 yd match.  A pair of 198s in the Meter match, and a  clean 400 in the 50 yd match put me down only 13 pts for the day, posting a 1587 on the board for my 2nd highest Iron sight score ever.  Peter Church fired a 1599 for the match win, Nancy Tompkins and Virginia McLemore 1 only a pt behind. 
  The Barrel was working, and the ammo was working (as good as $6 ammo can be expected to work). I'll start the WildCars tomorrow with confidence in the equipment, and knowing If I don't screw up, I just might win one of those WildCat sweatshirts, and have a good chance at the other great prizes that Lones Wigger comes up with for the prize tables.  Let the games begin.  With a full line of 100 shooters, it will be a great match.
Note:   Pictures, and Results of the WildCat matches to be posted on the blog each day (if I'm not too worn out)

Note: The next MN Sm Bore Winter league match is March 18th -- Program:  Click Here

300 meter news
From Brian Shiffman:
  Results of MRC March 11th 300 meter match

  "It was great weather for the match, in general, but the light to medium variable winds created havoc for many shooters.  It was difficult to figure out the wind direction and speed most of the day.  Both relays experienced challenging conditions.  The wind was only strong enough to move a shot one ring for the unwary but that was enough. 

   The top two F-Class shooters were Jon Hample who beat out Wade Brown by only one point.  These guys had it figured out.  Third place, 8 points behind second, was Gary LaValley.  The next 10 places were separated by 1 to 3 points. 

   A reminder for those that are interested.  When viewing the results page, if you click on a name a new window will be brought up showing that shooters average score for the position chosen.  If a person shoots more than one position during the year, you will have to click on the different positions of that shooter by locating one of those position shot at some specific month.  It makes it easy to see how your shooting is coming along and to compare your average with those of others.

     The full results of the March match are located at this web page;  http://www.edfpages.com/mgfc/results.php?match=3  

    The next monthly match will be Sunday, April 8, 2012.  I will call for pre-registration before April 1^st so watch your email at that time. 

Brian         shiff004@umn.edu

Note: The 300 m Prone State Championship will be March 31 at MRC  -- Match program Click Here

          The 300 m  3 position state Championship will be April 1st at MRC  --  Match program  Click Here 

High Power  
The last match of the Winter Highpower League will be on Mar 17th  -- Match program   Click here
Spring work is on-going at each rifle club, with the first Highpower matches scheduled on April 21 with the CMP games being held at Gopher, and a Wind Clinic and a Mid Range match to be held at Elk River Sportsman's Club that weekend -- Match program Click Here

Service Rifle team -- No News

That's all Folks!
Hawkeye

Shooter's News for the Minn Area - Feb 22, 2012

The month ahead for Mn area shooters
Now that Winter is waning, and will be officially over in a few weeks, it's time to get ready for the spring competitions that include both Sm Bore and 300 meter championships. 
But first a report on the State  Junior Olympic Rifle Championships

Small Bore news  
From Chad Danielson:

                 "2012 State Junior Olympic Rifle Championships were held in Mendota Heights MN January 21st, and 22nd saw 46 competitors shoot the Air Rifle Championship, and 26 competitors shoot the Smallbore Rifle Championship.

                In the Air Rifle Competition Men shoot 6 targets in the standing position and the women shoot 4 targets. Giving men a possible 600, and women a possible 400, although the overall standings are tabulated using a percentage value.  The Air Rifle Championship saw Allie Taschuk place 1st overall with 388 / 400 with 97.00% also giving her the Women’s Gold.  The Women’s Silver was taken by Samantha Peterson with 367 points for 91.75%, placing her 4th overall.  Women’s Bronze went to Carmen Fry also with 367 points and 91.75%, but had one less center shot than Peterson which separated the two.   The Men’s Gold went to Patrick Sunderman shooting a 576 / 600 for 96.00% and placing him 2nd overall. Men’s Silver was won by Scott Chester with 569 points for 94.83%. Men’s Bronze went to Curtis Haglin shooting 547 points for 91.17%.

                The 3 Position Smallbore Competition all competitors shoot 20 record shots in Prone , Standing , and Kneeling.  The day of smallbore shooting saw Patrick Sunderman post a score of 563 out of 600 for the top spot, and Men’s Gold.  Men’s Silver went to Scott Chester posting a 536 for a 5th overall, with Bronze going to Sam Ewert who put up a 529 and a 6th overall finish.  Allie Taschuk was the top women’s shooter in smallbore putting up a 550 for second overall, followed by Carmen Fry with a 539 for the Women’s Silver and 4th overall.  Taking the Women’s Bronze saw Samantha Peterson with a 513 finishing her 9th overall.

                Congratulations need to go out to Minnesota Junior Shooters Allie Taschuk, Patrick Sunderman, Scott Chester, Samantha Peterson, and Elizabeth Ewert who all received 1st round invites in Air Rifle to the 2012 Nationals Junior Olympic Rifle Championships held in April at the United States       Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs , CO.  Invites are determined by shooting at or above a certain cutoff score determined by USA Shooting. 

                 Additional congratulations to Allie Taschuk and Patrick Sunderman who also received 1st round invites to the Nationals in the Smallbore discipline. 

                 A second round of invites are usually released after a certain cutoff date for 1st round shooters to accept or turn down their 1st round invite. After 1st round invites it appears Minnesota could be well represented in April at this years 2012 National Junior Olympic Rifle Championships."

Small Bore Winter League 

The Small Bore Winter league held at Mpls. Rifle Club is on-going with the next match to be held on March 4th at MRC's  Sm Bore range. No results from past matches are available.  

Match program -- click here  

Sm bore March Madness in Phoenix -- for traveling shooters.

Yes, it's almost time for the Western WildCat matches again. This match is a big draw for Small bore shooters from all over, that want to get in some top notch competition and get a jump on the summer season in Minn. With 5 days of sm bore prone shooting, this is the biggest Sm bore match west of the Mississippi, and usually draws a great number of shooters. Come on out, and be part of this historic match.  March Madness in Phoenix also includes 4 other weekends of Sb championship matches:

   February 24-27th  --  Tarantula 4800 metric prone -- Program: click here
   March  3-4th         --  Road Runner 3200 prone   --    Program: click here
   March  10-11th     --  Diamond Back 3200 Prone  --  Program: click here
   March  14-18th     -- Western Wildcat Matches  6400 Prone -- Program  Click Here
   March  24-25th     --  AZ Sb State Prone Champ  3200 Prone -- Program: Click Here

300 meter news 

The next 300 meter match will be held on Mar 11th at MRC.   E-mail Brian Shifftman at: Shiff004@umn.edu for entry and squading info.    
Feb 12th 300 m report from Brian:  
   "What a gorgeous day for a mid winter shoot.  Not a cloud in the sky, light and variable winds (variable is the operative word) and a chill in the air.  Yes it was a little crispy but very nice nonetheless.  We had nearly a full house for two relays: 14 (which is the limit) in the first relay and 11 in the second.  When the last shot had been fired, the top 5 shooters were separated by only 6 points; however, there were 3 points between the top and second place shooters.         There were a number of first time competitors for our monthly matches; and, a couple of husband, wife competitors.  All in all, a very interesting and competitive match.  
    First place in F-Class went to Jessica Hendrickson with a 594.  A few notable comments about her shooting:  She was using a custom tube gun in 6BR built by her husband, John, who has shot with us in the past; this was only the second time she had shot the rifle (the previous day they were at the range to sight it in); it was only the third time she had shot a rifle!!  And, she was 3 points ahead of the field.    
   Also in F-Class, Robert Smith and Gary LaValley tied for second at 591 with Johann Boden and Brenda LaValley tied for 4^th at 590.

    In 3-Position, Erhard Bruderer was ahead of the pack, followed by Garold Jones and Tom O’Donnell.

    Our MRC President’s two children, Kamilla and Konrad, shot bolt action .223’s for the first time with us.  For some reason, Kamilla’s target only provided a final score and not scores for the individual shot series.  That target did not have that problem when we went to the second relay.  However, because of that, and the way our scoring program works, I had to feed it scores by 20 shot series, so I divided here total by 3 to arrive at the correct result but not necessarily the way it actually achieved.

    The next 300 Meter club match will be on March 11, 2012.  Sometime in early March I will send out email for pre-registration for that match so stay tuned.

    The full results of the February match can be seen by following this link: http://www.edfpages.com/mgfc/results.php?match=2

 See you at the range".----Brian  

George Minerich has announced the dates for the 300m St. Championships

From George Minerich

"Hi All: Please find attached the match bulletins for the 300M State Championship 3-Position and Prone matches at the Minneapolis Rifle Club. These matches are run under the International Rules which does not allow F-Class -- Sorry. By popular request the Prone Match is Saturday March 31, 2012 and the 3-Position Match is Sunday April 1, 2012. Both matches start promptly at 10:00AM so arrive by 9:30AM. Thanks!" -- George Minerich

    Match Program - 300 m Prone champ (3/31) - Click Here 

    Match Program - 300 m 3 Pos. champ (4/1) - Click Here  

Service Rifle Team 

No news to report

Notes: 

Team Coach, Larry Sawyer has written 3 really good articles for the MRRA on Offhand, and Prone shooting.  Well worth reading, these articles, "Successful Standing, Successful Standing Pt 2, and Top 3 Prone Mistakes":  are only available at the MRRA web site:  Click Here 

The Berger Bullets Long Range SW Nationals in Phoenix were a great success this year with over 200 shooters participating - including 10 of our own local shooters that made the trip to enjoy some trigger pulling in 70 deg weather, sunshine, and just enough wind to help separate the top shooters from the rest of the pack. 

  Video from the Berger Matches:

       Matt Griffin --  Click Here 

       Phil Klanderude -- Click Here

       "A View from the Pits" --  Click Here   

       Awards given out by Mid Thompkins -- Click Here

 Report:  "A view from the Line" By Capt. Bob Peasley

                    Click Here 

That's all folks !
Hawkeye

Berger Bullet Matches -- a View from the Line

From: Capt Bob Peasley 

Feb. 14, 2012 VD

Hi Jim:

  It was great to see you and the other local shooters at the Berger Bullets SW Nationals last week. I had a great time & really enjoyed the match.  It was an excellent break from winter in Minnesota despite not really having much winter this year.

  With all the equipment needed I decided to shoot just Palma rifle all the way even though any rifle was allowed on Saturday & Sunday. I had made a few minor changes in my Palma rifle & load since last summer but the only testing I could do was at 100 yards on my range on the farm.  And believe it or not we had 4 or 5 days in December and January when one could actually be outside and do some shooting.

  Upon advice from Bob Jones last summer I purchased a .37 power front to replace the .50 I have used for several years. I had also shot the last of my Lapua Palma bullets last fall and switched to the “green box” brand. After moly coating bullets since “time zero” I decided to shoot plain bullets in the Palma rifle.  And finally I have switched to N140 vs. Varget for my powder. We all know one has to be nuts to make this many changes in ammo and equipment and go to a big match without some serious testing. But I was able to shoot a few groups and chronograph a few loads from bench rest at 100 yards. The .37 lens seemed to give a very slightly better sight picture than the .50. The load shot 10 shots into about 9/16” so I sent in my entry, made reservations at the Miller Motel and got on the Delta web site.          

Phil, Matt, Brian, Jay, ... at the Berger Matches

  The load shot as well or better than any other I have tried in a Palma rifle.  I’m not sure if it was the clear desert SW air or the .37 lens or a little of each but I could clearly see the target more clearly than in the last few years shooting in the Midwest summer humidity. I even got bold enough to try shooting favors on a few shots and it worked!  My X count with the Palma rifle has never been good but it was improved by something and I think it’s mostly being able to see and call shots.  DUH!!

  The range was in great shape after the upgrades although the trailers used for transportation to the pits could have used bigger tires for more rock clearance.  A couple times I thought I would need a chiropractor when I got to the pits! OK………it wasn’t that bad and it did beat walking.

Berger ran a fine match and a good course of fire with variety.  Mid and all the club guys also did a great job with targets and range duties. I could and will recommend this match to those interested in long range competition.  I wish I could come back for the Berger OTC match but duty calls in Minnesota.

  A couple of the Minnesota guys expressed an interest in seeing the Pima aviation museum in Tucson on the Tuesday prior to the match. For whatever reason it didn’t work out this year but I’m going to make it work out next year.  I have been there twice and always see something new.  They now have the last B36 bomber built totally restored and on display and I need to see it!

I'm looking forward to seeing you on the line in Minnesota again this spring.

Bob

Video -- Berger matches-    "A View from the Pits"   Click Here

  
   Thanks, Bob for the report. I think that this "Winter Nationals" match is going to become a bigger and bigger match  as time goes on, and more shooters want to get in 5 days of  prone long range shooting during the winter months. 

  And let's not forget that the Berger Long Range Nationals in February is just the beginning of the prone shooting opportunities during the Phoenix spring shooting season.  In just about a week from now starts "March Madness"  -- 5 weekends of Outdoor Prone Small Bore matches, that include 3 two day championships (3200s), and 2 four day Championships (6400s).  Yes! That's about 14 prone outdoor 1600 matches to shoot starting Feb 24 with the Tarantula 4800 Metric matches, and includes the huge Western WildCat matches starting Mar 18 with a team match.  I can't wait.  That's about 2000 rds, for record in a month!  

   February 24-27th  --  Tarantula 4800 metric prone -- Program: click here
   March  3-4th         --  Road Runner 3200 prone   --    Program: click here
   March  10-11th     --  Diamond Back 3200 Prone  --
   March  14-18th     -- Western Wildcat Matches  6400 Prone -- Program  Click Here
   March  24-25th     --  AZ Sb State Prone Champ  3200 Prone -- Program: Click Here

2012 Berger Bullets Long Range Nationals

Just In !
Mid Tompkins awards Berger winners! -- Video


Video:  "A view from the pits"   Click Here

Phil Klanderud -- video

Berger Bullets Long Range Nationals -- Friday

Friday at the Berger Long Range matches was the competition for Individual Palma honors.  Shooters fired at 800yds, 900 yds, and 1000 yds.
  Phil Hayes was the Match Winner with a score of 448-29x

Interim Results -- Friday Palma


Junior shooters pulling Targets (Palma Match)  and earning money for the AZ Junior team.


I spent the whole day in the pits, not pulling Targets like I signed up for, but on a radio as a Pit block officer.  If you are working a big match like this, you just do what you are told.  Running 70 targets today, it was necessary to have 4 block officers to keep things going smoothly. It was important for all to run well today because the NRA was out "observing" the match as Ben Avery range is in consideration to hold the World Championships in 2013.  Other than a few Radio problems, we did have a smoothly run match.

Berger Bullets Long Range Champs --Just in!

   Wednesday morning dawned slightly overcast and 57 deg for the opening match of the Berger Bullets Long Range Championships  in Phoenix, AZ.  Almost 200 shooters would be on the line today, firing 3 strings of 15 shots and unlimited sighters, at 600yds in this warmup Mid-Range match.  Thursday they would move back to 800 yds for the Palma matches, and then Saturday, back to 1000 yds for the last two days of shooting both individual and Team matches.
  Mid Tompkins welcomed every one, by saying that this was the biggest participation for Ben Avery match in recent memory.  Indeed, more and more shooters are discovering  that 5 days of Top Notch shooting competition in the warm southwest is a great way to spend the 2nd week in February.

Capt. Bob Peasley at Berger Bullets

  This year many top prone shooters from the Mid West are attending this match-- Bob Peasley, Jay Johnson, Brian Myrnak, Phil Klanderud, SSgt Matt Griffin, Frank Fisher, John Andres, Jim Evenson,   Larry Miller, Bob Mead. and Bill Lair were all enjoying a chance to pull some triggers in the warm sunshine, and shoot some Long Range at one of America's premier Rifle Ranges -- Ben Avery, Phoenix, AZ.
  Bill Luth and I arrived at 0745 and saw that the Squading line was already stretching across the parking lot.  This was going to be a fun match.  Both of us had brought "Space Guns"--.223 AR match rifles, even though we would be competing aginst national class prone specialists firing everyting from 6BRXs to 6.5x.284s.  We both felt that the .223 loaded with good bunch of Varget behind an 80 gn match bullet, could hold its own against those wildcats at 600 yds. 
  Michelle Galegher, and Mid got this record number of shooters squaded in pretty good order, and after some additional targets were made up, first shots were going down range by 0930.  I was up first and saw that the prevailing condition was a 3 o'clock wind blowing a good ten mph with the flag sticking straight out more often than not.  I quessed 3 moa Right windage would do it, and fired a first sighter into the 8 ring down wind.  Going for Record at 4 moa right, I got the first shot into the Xring, and then broke one left that held for a 9. By working the windage Knob for every shot, I got off the line with a 148, down 2 pts  after losing one more pt to a gust.  In this crowd, my 148/150 was good for 20th place.  Maybe a 6 BR would have held that one  9 in the 10 ring, so my choice of calibers, might have cost me one pt already.   I spent the next 3 strings of fire in the pits, pulling targets, and listening to Sea Stories from Mike Sinclair, fellow Marine, who served a couple tours in Viet Nam as a Recon team leader.
 Match Two went good for me, as I was seeing the mirage well and had the confidence to make large changes as the wind varied from 1- 1/2 moa right  to 3.5 moa right, shot to shot.  I was able to take all 150 pts on my score card -- my first Clean in a good while, and good for 2nd over all behind Brian Lizt.  The mighty mouse gun was definatly holding it's own against all comers. 

Results  for 600 yd Berger match

   Going into Match Three, I knew I had a good chance for a high finish if I didn't blow it by doing something stupid.  By this time, the wind had veered to the SSE and was fishtailing to SSW catching people on  the wrong side for 7's and 8's if they were not constantly on the scope watching the mirage.  I saw a shooting window with the wind from the left now  - about 1 moa, and by paitently waiting each time the wind was from the right, I was able do score a 149, losing only one pt to my own bad shot low in the 9 ring. 
  It certainly was my best day on the range in a while. Having a good day once in a while is what keeps us coming back week after week.  We endure losing often, knowing that sooner or later we will have a good day and that makes ait all worthwhile.
  My 447-17x  for the day was good for 4th over all (3rd Palma rifle), behind Leo Ahern  448-25x,  Emil Kovan -447, Doug Frerichs 447-24.   Better than I expected, and it just shows that the mighty .223 can compete with the big boys and show off a little.
 It was a great day!

SSgt Matt Griffin at the Berger Bullets Long Range matches.

Washington's B-Day Match

What a fantastic day it was for the 120th consecutive Washington's Birthday Rifle match.  It was cool and crisp in the Phoenix desert for the opening of this longest running rifle match in America, but by late morning it was  sunny 75 deg with just a nice SE breeze to keep it interesting.

  50 Rifle Teams competed for honors, and that means 200 shooters were enjoying the day trying to shoot 10s and Xs on tough targets.  Each shooter fired the standard 50 shot National Match Course for Service Rifles, all at 200 yds, and using those challenging reduced targets to simulate longer ranges.  There were teams of Springfield '03s, Teams of M-1s, and of course lots of AR-15s, even a few M-4s with optics were on the line to try and shoot them in the 10 ring.  
  This was my 13th year at the B-day match, but I was watching from the center of the line and not shooting on the Accuracy Speaks team this year.  The Accuracy Speaks team is now history, but the 14 winning team and individual plaques residing on my walls represent a lot of great memories,-- memories of great team matches shooting with top service rifle shooters-- Derrick Martin, Phil Hayes, and Tom Albinito.  Some one else would win today, but who knows, maybe next year we could get the old team together for one more try.

Washington's Birthday Match -- 2012

Prone Rapid Fire -- 10 shots in 70 sec with a magazine change
Video

300 m Match at Mpls. Rifle Club -- Feb 12th

From Brian Shiffman:

Hi all,

Pre-Registration for the Feb 12 MRC 300 meter match is now open.  We plan on two relays; the first one starts firing at 10am and the second starts at noon.  Email me with your preference and I will put you on the list in the order received and confirm with you next week.  I will also look for a confirmation from you a day or two prior to the match.

 Contact me if you have any questions.

 Brian D. Shiffman     shiff004@umn.edu

Hey Brian-- how bout some pictures ?