Shooters News for the Minn Area - July 24, 2012

Minnesota Sm Bore shooters are competing in the National championships at Camp Perry, Ohio this week.  We wish them all success and good shooting.The same goes for those who are heading out that way soon for the Highpower, and the Long Range championships. 

The Week Ahead 

Prone Highpower shooters will again have a chance to test their skills this coming weekend. After the heat and difficulty of the 1000yd matches at GRRC last weekend, they will find the competition just a little easier this weekend. The green grass of the 600 yd line at the Elk River Sportsmen's club, will be gathering point for the State Championship Mid Range matches for both Sling class and F-class shooters.  The competition starts on Saturday morning, July 28th, with a 4 person team match. Each shooter will fire 3 matches of 15 shots for record with 2 sighters allowed.  The team match is an "Any Sight" match, so you may use Iron sights if you want. If your club has not organized a team yet for this match, show up and pickup teams will be organized on site.
     Click Here for Match program and entry info.
From Scott Olson:    "Club vs. Club teams are encouraged, please no “All Star” teams. MRRA teams will be allowed, no shooters will be turned away. A Five Star BBQ Dinner will follow the team match event!"  
The Individual Mid Range Champ matches follow on Sunday, July 29th, at 0900 hrs.  This is a 80 shot match, and shooters will go to the line for 4 twenty shot matches with 2 sighters allowed for each match.  The first two matches are to be shot with Iron sights, and the last two may be shot with "Any" sights. 

Next up for prone shooters is the Sm Bore Metric Regional at the Mpls Rifle Club, on Aug 4-5.  This is a 3200 with 8 targets of 20 shots to be fired each day.  
     Click Here for match bulletin.

Last Weekend   
Pig Roast matches at Eau Claire Rifle Club -- no match report is available, but we know from past experience that they all had a good time.

Minnesota State Long Range Championship  
 Warm weather and humidity plagued the Minn St. Long Range Championships, this past weekend, but 20 Sling shooters and 11 F-class competitors shrugged off the conditions and fired mostly 10s and xs at GRRC's long range shooting facility near Harris MN.  Saturday's competition was all about the 1000 yd line. Shooters would fire from almost 5/8th of a mile onto targets 6 ft square. They would fire from prone, off their elbows, with iron sights!  While a 6ft square target may seem a generous size to shoot at, even from that amazing distance, is really isn't.   The black dot on the target is only 44 inches in diameter, and if you only hit near the edge of it, you only score 8 pts.  In order to score a 10, you have to hit the 10 ring only 22 inch wide or even the 10 in wide X ring.  That's right --- in order to win this 1000 yd State Championship, you must be able to shoot, unsupported, with iron sights almost every shot into a 20 in circle at 5/8th of a mile--all the while knowing that a un-noticed change in the wind of even 1mph, can change the strike of the bullet by 10 inches on the target. In this match skill is worth a lot more than luck.

All Xs !!!   Scope Cam from 1000yds

   The 31 shooters gathered at GRRC were the best in the upper Midwest and they would prove it today.
   On the F-class side of the line it was Adam Shidla that dominated through-out the day by winning each of the three 20 shot contests with scores of 198, 197, and 195 on F-class targets, where the 10 ring shrinks to only 10 inches or 1 moa., and the X ring is only half of that.  That was amazing shooting, and it should be noted that Adam put 27 of the 60 shots in the 5 inch X ring!  E. Johnson, and Rick Sievers took 2nd and 3rd, only 4 pts back with 586 scores.
On the Iron Sight end of the line, it was also a tight battle right from the start.  In the first match Steve McGee, Bill Lair, and Brian Mrnak each dropped only one pt. for 199 scores, and Brian's 14 Xs breaking the tie for the win. In the 2nd match only Steve McGee was able to shoot a clean target for the win.  Shirley McGee gets a 2nd on a creedmore tie breaker over Bill Lair.  Master Class shooter, Erik Rhode is just back one point, after shooting a 197.   Steve M. fired another clean 200 score in the last match, and posted the highest score for the day after dropping only one pt in the 60 shots for record -- 599-35x.  Highest scoring Minnesota resident and 1000 yd Champ is Capt. Bob Peasley - 591-23x.

On Sunday, the shooters switched to their .308 caliber match rifles to contest the State Palma Championship.  Three matches of 15 shots, were on tap today.  The shooters would fire one match at each of the 3 yard lines starting at 800 yds, then moving to the 900 yd line and finally shooting the last match back at the now familiar 1000 yd line.

  I was going to shoot today--give it a try. I haven't shot any long range for about 8 years, but the Palma match starts at the 800yd line and I figured that I could get a good score there at least. I also didn't have the .308 cal rifle required, so I would be shooting "out of competition" (score doesn't count). I had good 600yd zeros, so I just added 8 min of angle to the sights and was pretty sure that I would hit the target. I was 2nd relay, so I studied the wind while Chuck D. shot, and when It was my turn, I added a 1/2 min right on the sight and fired the first sighter.  the target went down and came up a scratch 8 at 7'oclock -- so far so good.  Since I had called a good shot, I put on a full correction for the 2nd sighter and it went out the top. Two more sighters close together in the top of the 10 ring so dropped the sights a 1/2 min and went for record.  The first 3 record shots stayed high in 10 ring and then 2 more clicks down brought 9 Xs and 3 more 10s for a 150 score. Well, well, well, that was fun !  My day was a success already.
 Five other shooters also cleaned their targets that first match, with Brian Mrnak getting the win with 13 tie breaking Xs.  Back at the 900 yd line, I would shoot first before going to the pits to pull targets for a while.  I dropped the front sight one notch to make up the 6 moa I would have to add to the sights a the longer distance.  At my sight radius, of 35 inches, it takes about 5 clicks per moa.  This time we got only two sighters, and my first was a high nine so I came down 4 clicks and got another high nine so I dropped another 4 clicks for the 1st record shot.  Arrrrg, a nine out the top, then one just out at 10.  So two shots and two pts down.  At the end of the 15 shots I had lost another pt. to a slight breeze and had shot a bad shot into the 8 ring.  So 145 was the score and I was glad to get that.  It was hot and I felt roasted.  W. Davis, S. McGee, and Stacey Tamulinas all fired clean 150s at the 900 yd line, with Stacey getting the with with the highest X count.  Back at the 1000 yd line, I decided I was a little too over heated and so I would just watch.  I had had a good day, so why push it.

Minn State Long Range Champs

Stacey T. and Steve M. fought it out for the day's win in this last match but neither was able clinch the victory with a clean target. Steve only shot one nine (all day long)  and finished with the days high score -  449-26x.  Phil Klanderud, who shot clean at the 800 yd line and lost only 2pts at the 900 yd. line is the Minnesota State Palma Champ, after shooting an awesome 444-20x for the day.
The Over all Minnesota Long Range champ is Capt. Bob Peasley whose top score was 1031-36x.
   Note:  From Capt Bob:
Steve Mcgee's 200-14x with irons at 1000 was an Any Rifle,non Res. record -- As was his 449-26x Palma Score. I will be sending him a non resident certificates.

 On the F-class side of the firing line, the competition was just as fierce. E. Johnson won the Palma match with an awesome score of 444- 22x, and that score added to his Saturday 1000 yd score also earned him the over all F-class Long Range Championship.   2nd in the Palma match with the same score of 444, but a few less Xs, was J. Rykhus.  2nd in the Overall championship was A. Shidla, with a combined total score of 1015-37x. 

F-class results

Sling Class Results

 



 






Notes:  
1.  Our shooting friend, Larry Miller, has been recently been hospitalized twice, and I believe, is now recuperating at home.  We all hope there is a speedy recovery.

2.  From Robert Beluzzo: 

"The Minnesota State Outdoor Smallbore 4-p and 3-P matches were held in Hibbing on July 7 and 8.  The 4-P match was shot with a gusty north wind that was potentially troublesome.  Nick Learn, an intermediate junior from South Range Wisconsin displayed focus and poise as he outscored the competition to win the match with a score of 1544-64X.  Amy Belluzzo from Chisholm was the high scoring resident and will receive the State Association plaque.  Matt Bozicevich, a junior from Virginia, was third and will receive the Junior State plaque.  Amy shot a 1528-51X and Matt was close behind with a 1527-53X. 

The 3-P match belonged to Emily Quiner from Brooklyn Park, MN.  Emily out shot the competition with a high score of 1126-33X and will receive the State Championship plaque.  Nick Learn came in second and Matt Bozicevich was the high resident junior.  Shooters are looking forward to the Minnesota State Smallbore Prone Championships that will be held in Hibbing on August 25-26, 2012."

3. At the awards ceremony of the CMP Games last week, Tom Torburg asked me, "how many Rifle Matches I had shot over the years.  I couldn't answer -- there's been a lot of matches and a lot of rds down range ever since that first match.   However, as you all can imagine, I did take some pictures (9) of my first actual Rifle Match -- April 1967, Chappo Flats range, USMC base Camp Pendleton, CA                  Click here for Picts

USMC Rifle Expert badge

  Rifle matches haven't changed much as you can see. 

Two Weeks Out
If you are not going to Camp Perry, I'd be at:

Aug  4-5      Poor Man's Camp Perry OTC and Mid Range at Duluth - Program Click Here
Aug  4-5      Prone Regional Sm Bore Championships at MRC  --  Program Click Here


That's All Folks!
Hawkeye

Hawkeye's first Rifle Match

It was a ways back, but no we didn't use muzzle loaders, we used M-14s and ball ammo. we shot good scores, because we had good eyes.

My first Rifle Match ----- April 1967, US Marine Base, Camp Pendleton, CA

Shooters News for the Minn Area - July 18, 2012

The Week Ahead
 Prone shooters will be in a quandary this weekend with 2 good prone matches going head to head on the same days, due to an accidental scheduling error. We all know the difficulty and hard work it takes to put together area match schedules with 5 different Rifle clubs competing for different dates. So, I think that we are lucky that this doesn't happen more often, and with more and more matches being scheduled, it becomes more difficult.  I also see one of the problems as being that less shooters these days are willing travel very far to competitions, and want the local club to schedule more matches close to home.
  Are you ready? Oink, Oink!   Yes this is the weekend of the Pig Roast Matches at the Eau Claire Rifle Club.  Saturday, July 21st, the competition will center on the 600 yd line, and shooters will fire 4 matches of twenty rds for record, with 2 sighters allowed in each match.  Then after the shootin' is over - the Pig Roast begins!!!  "BBQ MENU: Pig Roast!!! Baked Beans!!! Cole Slaw!!! Potato Salad!!! Rolls!!! (Refreshments will be provided also)."
After a comfortable night's rest in the ERC's nice camp ground-- on Sunday, July 22, there will be an 80 shot OTC match commencing at 0900hrs. Don't be late.  RSVP
       Click Here for Match info and Entry

Long Range shooters will be heading to Gopher Rifle and Revolver Club this weekend for the Minnesota Long Range, and the Minnesota State Palma Championship.   The top notch GRRC long range shooting facility, will host the 1000 yd Championship matches on Saturday, July 21st.  Shooters will go to the line and fire 3 strings of 20 shots for record
 with unlimited sighters allowed for each match in a 30 min time period..  Shooters must have reasonable Zeros to get on paper.

   On Sunday, July 22nd, the action starts on the 800 yd line with the beginning of the Palma Championship.  All competitors again get unlimited sighters before firing their 15 record shots, but must finish in a time limit of 22 minutes.  Next up, the shooters will move back to the 900 yd line, add some elevation to their rifle sights and fire another 15 shot match for record.   The last match of the day is on the 1000yd line and is again 15 shots for record with unlimited sighters.
  If you haven't ever shot a Palma match, this is a great way to get into long range shooting.  With good 600 yd  zeros from Mid Range matches, it's not difficult to get on paper at 800 yd, then 900, and finally 1000 yds.  The 800 yd target is not a difficult target score on because it is the same target you use back at the 1000 yd line and the 10 ring is very generous at the shorter distance.   Click Here for Match program and entry.  

Last Weekend

CMP Games at Gopher         
I just knew it would be a "fun" match - and it was. Last Saturday, I headed up to GRRC bright and early, to participate in the CMP Games, that Tom Torborg, and Kurt Borglaug, were putting on. I had heard that they aimed more at having fun than serious competition.  This match was also billed as a fund raiser for the "M1 for Vets" program and proceeds were donated to that program.  The day started out at the 'Red Shed' with Dave Anderson cooking a hearty breakfast for all, and then a short program and Flag raising by the VFW color guard.
  After open festivities, the shooters moved down to the 200 yd line where most of the matches were shot.  This was a Service Rifle match, mostly for obsolete service rifles, but you could shoot in the 'modern military' class if you brought a AR-15.  Only a couple of us shot 'modern' guns, and most of the guys had brought out the M-1s, Enfields, Springfield '03s, and there was even a Swiss K31 on the line.

Lunch by Dave A. and GRRC

  There was enough Gopher volunteers (thank you, thank you) to man the pits, so the shooters just had to shoot and have fun.  The 'Course of fire' was pretty much the same as a Presidents Match course. We first had time for 5 sighters from the prone position, to get every one on target with the older guns. Then each shooter fired 10 shots Prone slow fire for record, followed that with a 10 string of Prone Rapid fire, and then 10 shots Slow Fire Standing to complete the 30 shots for Record.  There were 2 relays, and both were done after about 2 hours and it was time for lunch.  That's right--- lunch break!  Once again Dave had the barbeque going and there was Hamburgers, and dogs for everyone!  Well, now this is my kind of match.    After lunch Tom T. re-squaded everyone and we did it again --- we shot another 30 shot match in about an hour and a half to finish out that part of the days events.  Next up, for those who needed more trigger time, was a two man team match for vintage sniper rifles. About 6 teams of 2 participated in this match which was shot from the 600 yd line with scoped Springfields and other similar rifles.  Targets were presented for 20 seconds at a time, with spotters calling the wind and the shooter having get the shot off while the target was in the air.  I was amazed at how well some of these older rifles put shots in the middle from that distance.


   While it wasn't serious competition, I did have more fun at this match than I have had in a long time.  I'll be back for the next CMP games at Gopher. Besides having some fun, we did raise some money for the M1 for Vets program.  Double the pleasure.  More pictures of this match to be posted here asap.

Small Bore prone at MRC

Ross Ewert is the Man!  Ross shot only 3 nines in 160 shots in the Mpls. Rifle Club's monthly 1600 match, to finish with an awesome score of 1597 out of a possible 1600 pts.  130 of Ross's shots were Xs !   That's 81% Xs !    

Erhard's 100 yd clean

Only Ross and Stacey Tamulinas cleaned the two targets of the 50 yd Match, and Stacey got the win by holding for 33 Xs to Ross's 31xs. Ross took the days lead in the Dewar match shooting a 399, but didn't win that match because Matt Griffin also fired a 399 and with 31 Xs to break the tie.  Theirs were not the only good scores in the first two matches. Steve Knutson  was holding down 3rd place with only 3 pts lost so far.  Matt Griffin won his 2nd match of the day at the 100 yd line with a next to perfect 399-26x.  Erhardt Bruderer, Steve K., and Ross were just a couple pts. short. In the last match, the 50 meter match, Matt Griffin won his 3rd straight match of the day, by shooting both of those difficult targets clean and with most of them (35) in the X ring- whew!  Ross Ewert also had a clean target but with just a fewer Xs.  It's unfortunate that Matt had a DNF in the first match, but I'm sure that he was happy with his 3 match wins for the day, to add to his well earned State Service Rifle championship he earned just a couple weeks ago.  John Andres showed us all how to fire tiny groups at all 3 distances shooting F-class on those microscopic international targets.


   Ross's 1597 score is top for the day, with Steve K. -1594, 2nd, and Stacey gets the Ex class win with a 1587.
   Adults outnumbered the Juniors this match and a good time was had by all.  
   Next up for Prone SB shooters is the Metric Regional on Aug 4-5 at MRC.      Click here for entry info


Notes:
1.  Good shooting to all those headed to Camp Perry for the Nationals
2.  Correction:  Kevin Bangen won the Sitting Rapid Fire St. Champ not Jim Biles as I erroneously reported last week. I know Jim won something, as he is holding a trophy in the winning photo.   Congrats to both.

Two Weeks Out:
July 28-29     Minn State Mid Range Prone Champ at Elk River -- Program Click Here
Aug  4-5        Poor Man's Camp Perry OTC and Mid Range at Duluth - Program Click Here  

That's All Folks!
Hawkeye

Shooters News for the Minn Area - July 11th, 2012

The Week Ahead
The weather forecast for this coming weekend is for warm temperatures in the low 90s. Fortunately, it's also supposed to be with Low humidity and that will make it tolerable to be outside for weekend activities.  On Sunday, July 15th, shooters will also have a chance to fire a prone match from the cool shade of the Sm Bore house at the Mpls Rifle Club.  George Minerich will be running this month's "conventional prone outdoor" Sm Bore 1600.  Shooters wanting to get in some prone practice will shoot 8 targets of 20 shots, at distances from 50 yds to 100 yds. I think that this is where I will be headed on Sunday -  if it isn't too hot for me to be out at the range.  This will be great practice for next weekends Long Range Championship at GRRC or the Mid Range matches at Eau Claire's Pig Roast weekend. Seniors are allowed to fire with Any Sights. 
           Click here for Match bulletin and entry info
  Note:  Last Saturday the Mpls Star and Trib newspaper featured a nice article on the recent visit to MRC's Sm Bore Range by some members of the US Olympic shooting team for a practice session before leaving for the London Olympics.  Click Here for a short Star and Tribune video of this practice session.

Brittany O

Saturday, July 14, I'll be up a GRRC for the CMP Games (Service Rifle), and a Vintage Sniper rifle match.  I've never been to one of these kind of matches, so this will be a new, and probably fun experience.  This event is also being run in conjunction with an "M-1 for Vets" program/match sponsored by the VFW and GRRC.  I know that this will be a good time and I'm looking forward to it. I must have an 'as issued' AR-15 in the gun safe somewhere          Click Here for match bulletin

Saturday July  14-15, there will be the Iowa State 300 yd Mid Range Championships at the River City Rifle and Pistol Club, just about 5 miles NW of Mason City, Iowa.  Saturday's event starts with a wind clinic for shooters, and then is followed by two 20 shot prone matches at 300 yds.  Sunday is the individual Championsip, and shooters will compete in 4  twenty shot matches.  Two are fired with Iron sights, and two with Any sights.
     Click Here for Match Bulletin, entry info, and Map to range  

Last Weekend 

Results

Erick Rhode came up out the Master Class this past weekend, and showed the High Masters how to win the State NRA Championship.  Erik started out the day by firing a 188 in the Standing Match and taking a 2nd place in that first match.  Dick Van Valkenberg, also a Master class shooter, won that match, and took the lead for the day by firing a rock steady 191-2x.  It was a different story in the Sitting Rapid Fire match, where Kevin Bangen, and Jim Biles both fired clean 200 point targets and the match win had to be decided by X count.  Jim Bile's 8 Xs  topped Kevins 6 Xs and Jim Wins the Sitting Rapid trophy.  Next up was the 300 yd Prone Rapid Fire match, and Kevin Bangen again fired a great score of 198, only to find that he was again beaten out for that trophy, this time by Capt. Bob, who had a convincing 12 tie breaking Xs, while Kevin had only 6.  Mark Rohmen and Erik Rhode were just one point back with 197s, and hanging in there after 3 matches. 

Click full screen and turn up the volume!

  By the time the shooters had moved back to the 600 yd line for the day's last match, the wind had settled down somewhat and the humidity had dropped to "tolerable". It was still "hot" but tolerable.  The 600 yd prone match showed us all that practice makes perfect.  Omer Hamer, who is a Grand Senior, has probably practiced (small bore and highpower) more than any of us over the years.  Omer's patience with the wind, paid off with the top score at mid range of 197-5x. Steve Erickson and Kevin B. were just a pt behind, and yours truly got a 4th with a 195.

Brian T. USN

 In the End, it was the steady high scores of Erik Rhode that topped the days aggregate.  Coming out of the Master class - Erik Rhode is the NRA OTC State Champion for 2012.  Erik's score of 775-24x is just a couple Xs higher than Kevin B's 775-22x, but that's enough for Erik's first State championship.   Jim Biles is 3rd overall with 771---not too shabby for a guy that only shoots one or two OTC matches per year.  Jim Schonke's 754 is good enough for 1st in the master Class.   

2012  Minn NRA OTC Champions

 
300 meter International
No results availiable from last weekends 300m match at MRC, but I'm sure that there was a good crowd shooting that match from the air conditioned comfort of the MRC 300m shooting house.

Notes:
From: Capt. Bob

"Minn. Wis. HP: Our friend Larry Miller from Iron River, Wisc. called this morning to say he was having back surgery next Tues. July 17 in Duluth. Apparently he has a small bone chip floating around causing mucho pain.  The doc says he will have a full recovery. If you feel like sending a card the address is:

Larry Miller,   64630 McCarry  Lake Rd., Iron River, Wis. 54847"

Bob

From: George Minerich - MRRA pres.

"Hi Jim:   Please find attached the links to the stories and videos about members of the US 
Shooting Teams Minnesota visit to the Minneapolis Rifle Club this week to train for the London 
Olympics. The Minneapolis Startribune video is great. It is hard to believe they printed 
this stuff.  Best Wishes,
George"
http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/161635255.html
http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_21023646/home-range?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com
 

From: Morgan Dietrich  

"Jim: Here is the final agg for the Firecracker 4800 (sm bore prone in Raton, NM) that Eric (Hazleton) and I attended.  Great match (YOU SHOULD GO NEXT YEAR), tough shooters and variable winds from both directions.  You had to pay attention! 

I had a poor 50M the first day and lost 5 points, but only 4 the last 3 days.  I actually won the day 3+4 agg with a 2397-?  Not too shabby, added a 1200 the last day, which was good enough for 3rd place!  I needed WAY more x's.  Eric shot well all week, and should have all issues figured out for Perry, he will do great.  All in all, great match, plan on attending in 2013 !   - Morgen"

Morgan--Wow, that's some great scores !  Only dropping 4 pts in 3 days !  I usually lose that many on every target!!

Two Weeks Out  

July 21-22         Minn State Long Range Champ at GRRC -- Match program click here
July 21-22         Pig Roast matches at Eau Claire  -  Match program click here

That's All Folks !  We will see you prone shooters at MRC on Sunday
Hawkeye

Shooters News for the Minn Area - July 4th, 2012

It's 4th of July, Independence Day.  Lets all remember those who are serving to insure our independence today (as always).

The Week Ahead
Highpower

 This coming weekend it's Match Rifle Championship weekend at Northstar Rifle Club.  The NRA championships will be held Saturday July 7-8, and the competition starts Saturday with the Team match.  Teams will be 4 shooters firing an 80 shot OTC match.  The individual competitions are scheduled for Sunday, July 8, and each shooter will fire the 80 shot regional match course of fire (OTC).  The NorthStar range is ready to go.  Members have worked hard, repairing the recent flood damage and I am sure that the matches will be as well run as are all those put on by NorthStar.
     Update on NorthStar from Capt. Bob:    
HP shooters:

"The North Star range is in good useable condition with a couple notes below. 

1.  We have been able to get only 13 each targets refaced (200 & 600) this means a limit of 13 teams.  The state record for teams is about 9 so this will not be an issue. 

It also means a limit of 39 shooters on Sunday.   I'm NOT going to 4 relays for just 2 or 3 shooters.  However, if I get at least 45 replies to this email saying you are coming I'll plan on 4 relays.  Thus far I have 3 paid entries & 1 phone entry. 

2.  I'm going to inspect the campground Tues. afternoon.  I believe there will be room to park 2 or 3 campers along the range road.  There is still a lot of dry mud where campers normally park near the trees.  With a little rain you would be parked in 3" of really slimy mud. The 100 yard line is solid and can hold a few tents. I'll have a campground update about dinner time Tues. 

3.  I understand the parking area in the pit has been cleared pretty well but I may be asking you to check with guys on your relay to carpool to the pits. 

Pits seal at 0845 both days please arrive NLT 0810.   Bob"

                      Click Here for Match Bulletin, map and entry info
      
300 M  International
The next 300 m International match at Mpls Rifle club will be this Sunday, July 8th. It's good to remember that these matches are shot from an air conditioned shooting house on targets 300m away while all shots are recorded on computer screens by each firing position. What better way to spend Sunday than pulling some triggers in air conditioned comfort !
  From Brian Shiffman:     

"The results of the June monthly MRC 300 meter match can be seen at

http://www.edfpages.com/mgfc/results.php?match=6

 Registration is now open for the July monthly 300 meter match to be held this Sunday, July 8^th.  First relay starts at 10AM with a second relay beginning at noon.  Please email me your preference for first or second relay and I will confirm as I receive them.

 Beginning at the August 300 meter match, the match fee will increase to $20.  The current fee of $15 has been in effect since the earth was flat and we just have to keep up with the added costs we have in maintaining the electronic system.  This match will still be at $15."

 Late Note:  The first relay is full.  There are still spots open in the noon (second) relay.
Brian D. Shiffman  shiff004@umn.edu

Small Bore  
 Small bore position shooters are headed to the Hibbing Rifle and Pistol Club for the Minnesota Outdoor 3 and 4 Position State Championships. July 7th shooters will be firing 3 positions matches, and on Sunday, July 8th, they will be contesting the 4P matches.
   Click Here for the match bulletin and entry info.  

Last Weekend
  The State Champion Service Rifle shooter this year is M/Sgt Matt Griffin. The championship matches were fired this past weekend at NorthWestern Gun Club on Hunters Lake near Duluth, MN.  Matt dominated the prone matches, taking wins in the Prone Rapid fire match (198-3x), and the Prone Slow Fire match (199-9x).  James Pennington won the Standing Match with a steady 190-1x, and our North Dakota friend Coby Dalgliesh, took top prize in the Sitting Rapid fire match. Matt's aggregate score of 778-18x was enough to keep Kurt Borlaug (761) in 2nd place.

Results

  As important as a State Champ title is, for most of the non-distinguished service rifle shooters, it is really just a warm up for the Leg Match. This year two legs were were given out, and both winners came from the Expert class.  Ryan Holien won an 8 point leg to add to his 'distinguished points', and Lorne Smith took home a 6 point leg.  Congratulations guys--when you are hot, you are hot.  The Gold Medal was won by already Distinguished shooter, Coby Dalgleish, with a great score of 477-12x, while Ryan Holien (473-7x) added the Silver Medal to his already successful weekend.  Larry Weidell's  collection of leg medals grows larger as he takes home another Bronze Medal (468-9x).

   Seven rifle teams of 2 men each fired for honors in the Team match. Larry Weidell and James Pennington's "Misfit's" team came out on top with a great score of 567-11x and wins the State team Championship.  Good shooting guys.
                 Click Here for complete results incl. Leg Match

Mark Havik sends us and excellent 1 min.video of Kurt B. showing us proper form and timing in the 300 yd Rapid Fire match.  Click Here for Marks video.


Notes:
About the Pig Matches -- From Ron Berg:

"Hi Jim 

Attached is the match program for the piggy match on July 21-22 (Eau Claire rifle Club). Would you add this to your weekly newsletter you send out? The format has been changed.  This year, Saturday the 21st is a 4 gun 600yd match starting at 9am. Sunday the 22nd remains a 80 shot OTC starting at 9am also we need to get entries early  in order to plan on the number of people that will attend the pig feed.

Randy Gregory is the contact person to send entries to.     Program--click here

thanks, Ron"  

Two Weeks Out
July 14              CMP Games, M1's for Vets,  and vintage Sniper rifle match at GRRC
                            --  Program click here
July 15              Small Bore prone 1600 at MRC  -  Match program click here  
July 21-22         Minn State Long Range Champ at GRRC -- Match program click here
July 21-22         Pig Roast matches at Eau Claire  -  Match program click here

That's All Folks !
Hawkeye

Service Rifle Weekend in Minn -- Shooters News for June 26

The Week Ahead
Highpower 
Service Rifle Shooters in the upper Midwest will be heading North this weekend to participate in the State Service Rifle Championship and the all important CMP Leg Match that goes with it.  On Saturday, June 30th, Northwestern Gun Club will hold the individual 80 shot OTC match that decides who is the State Champ Service Rifle shooter. The beautiful Hunter's Lake range suffered minor damage in the Duluth floods last week, but after repairs, the facility is ready to go for this important rifle match. 

 As important as the State Championship is to Service Rifle shooters, for most, this match is really just the tune-up for Sunday's CMP Leg Match.  The all important Leg Match --- The only place where you can earn a few points toward the life time achievement award of a Distinguished Rifleman's Badge.  Earning these 'leg points' can almost become a "vision quest" for many service rifle shooters, who train and practice for years to gain the skill needed to become a "Distinguished Rifleman".   In reality, shooters have a real chance to earn points by the time they can shoot a Master Class score.  Ten percent of the shooters that participate will earn some points --- Someone will have a great day and win some leg points. It might be you !
               Click Here for Match bulletin and entry info
                              Click Here for NWGC Weather rpt.

July 4th -  If you make the short trip to Eau Claire you will find a good reason to reach back into the gun cabinet, and pull out the M-1 and M1A service rifles.    Eau Claire Rifle Club has an M-1 Garand match starting at 0900 and then there will be an M1A match about 1300 hrs.  The M-1 match is CMP course B at 200 yds, and the M1A match will be the same course of fire, but shot at 300 yds.  All competitors will fire ball ammo to be issued at the match (incl. in entry).
     Click Here for M1 match bulletin.     Click Here for M1A match bulletin

Small Bore
Small Bore positions shooters will also have their chance to shine at the  4P Small Bore Regional to be shot at the Mpls. Rifle Club - June 30 and July 1. This is a 3200 point match with all matches on Saturday being shot with Iron sights, and then Any sights allowed on Sunday.  All matches to be fired at 50 yds.
    Click Here for match bulletin and entry info.

Last Weekend
  Many Minn. area prone and long range shooters attended the week long MidWest Palma matches, in Lodi, Wisconsin. I understand that they battled, wind, rain, and generally tough conditions all week. No Match report is available at this time.

MRC OTC matches 

Those of us stay-behinds were still able to exercise our trigger fingers, as Mark Rohmer put on a great weekend of OTC matches at the Mpls Rifle club's highpower range.  I thought I would go and participate at least one day of the two.  It would be my first OTC match since the few really disappointing times it shot last year. I figured that sooner or later I'd give it another try.  Since I always liked shooting on MRC,s Highpower range, back in the '90s when we had lots of great matches there, this would be a good weekend to see how if goes. If I could get through the Standing match, I knew that the rest of the day would be fun.  I would go on Sunday --(best weather forecast).    
 Saturday ended up being a perfect day for shooting a match.  Kevin Bangen took full advantage of the good weather to fire a great 984-33x score in this 1000pt match to take the lead in the weekends shooting competition. Erik Rhode fired what must be a personal record for him, as he dropped only 5 points in the two Rapid Fire, and two Prone Slow Fire matches that followed the Standing match.  Along the way Erik fired a 200-8x in the Prone Rapid match, just shy of the match win by Capt. Bob Peasley who held hard for a 200-10x.  
  Sunday was another beautiful day here in Minn. Temp about 75 deg, and a light NE breeze that added, maybe a click or to the windage knobs at 300 yds. Fifteen shooters showed up have some fun and Omer Hamer (GS) got a pt up on the competition with his steady 189 score in the Standing Match.  I was shooting the AR-15 service rifle as I think it is easier to shoot in Standing and Sitting Rapid fire than the match rifle. It didn't help, I started off good, but the 2nd 10 shots were mostly 8s and nines.  Kevin fired a 100-5x on his first Sitting Rapid string, and then followed that up with an awesome 100-9x on the 2nd string. When it was my turn, I got a good position, but a had a wobbly hold.

The good trigger control I have learned, while Sm Bore shooting, kicked in and I got the all shots off while the front sight blade meandered by the bulls eye within the 60 sec. allowed.  Well !!-- a 100-5x-- that's a good start.  I always liked shooting sitting Rapid fire.  The second string seemed ragged, but the target came up with all the spotters inside the 10 ring again, but only 3 in the Xs.  Kevin would win the match.  That was fun!  Tim Thole also shot a clean 200-4x.
   My front sight faded from view in the 300 yd rapid fire match.(like my score), but Steve Erickson drilled 11 Xs and nine 10s to win that match with a 200-11x. Dale Wickstrom and Kevin posted scores just a couple pts back.  Strangely enough for the great conditions, no one cleaned the Prone Slow fire targets today.  We were shooting from 300 yds on those deceptively hard MR-63 Targets.  Everyone let one or more drift out into the nine ring, but 3 of the High Masters, Steve E, Capt. Bob, and Kevin fired 199s.  Steve's 10 x score takes the win.  Kevin Bangen came out on top of the scores for the day, with Omer H. just behind. Yours truly sneaks in for a class win in the master class
  The weekends tournament win goes to Kevin who posted a 1964-59x.  Denney Bertrand wins the Master Class, and H. Haagersen (sp?) gets the win in the EX and below.

  

  I think I'll come back and shoot a few more of these OTC matches.  Bad scores or not in the Standing match, the rest of the day will be fun, and I think I can get a few class wins in the Master class. I'll definately be back for the Fall matches here at MRC. It's a good place to shoot an OTC match.  

Notes:  
1 .Pictures:   Flood damage at NorthStar Rifle Club --  click here

2. Practice at GRRC:   From Kurt Borlaug  "Boys, Since July 4th lands on a practice day this year and a lot of us have it off, I plan to  be at GRRC range by 9am for a practice session including a NMC and Infantry run-through. I'll need to collect $5 from anyone who has not paid for seasonal practice fees. Please let me know if you can make it.   Kurt Borlaug"

3.  Elk river Sportsman's Club:  From Scott Olson  "Hi Jim,  Here are a couple of match programs that you can pass along.  First, ERSC is having three nights of NRA Approved Mid-Range/F-class for those wishing to get a classification beofre the state championship.  Second, here is the match program for the MRP/F-class state championship." - Scott
      Click Here  for ERSC F-class league bulletin 
       Mid range prone champ match bulletin July 28 -- click here

Two Weeks out
July 7-8             NRA Championship at NorthStar-- Match program Click Here
July 7                4 P Sm bore state champ at Hibbing  - Match program click Here  
July 8                3 P Sm bore state champ at Hibbing  - Match program click Here
July 8                300 meter International at MRC
July 15              Small Bore prone 1600 at MRC  -  Match program click here   

That's all Folks !
Hawkeye

Shooters News for the Minn Area - June 20, 2012

The Week Ahead    
All this week, and next weekend, long range shooters are competing in the Mid West Palma matches, and the Wisconsin Long Range championship at Lodi, Wisconsin. This  This important long range tournament draws the best Palma shooters from all over the nation, and a  good number of Minn. local shooters are there to go head to head with the top dogs in this sport. I am assured that there that there will be a few pictures and a match report coming that will be posted here when available.

 For "Over the Course" shooters, there is a Great weekend coming up at the Mpls Rifle Club.  On both Sat., June 23,and Sunday June 24th, competitors can shoot a standard 80 shot National Match Course with an extra bonus of a 2nd prone slow fire match at the 300 yd line.  I love shooting those tough MR-63, 600yd reduced targets from 300 yds.  They are easy to see, but the little 10 ring means that if your position, trigger control, and all the other basics are not good, that shot will not be a 10. These will be two great matches to practice that prone position.
           MRC two day OTC matches - Click Here for match program
                                                           Get directions -  Click Here

Last Weekend  
Highpower
High Master cards coming!
The annual 3 day Hunters Lake 2400 OTC matches at NorthWestern Gun Club featured great weather, great shooting, and great fun.  All that together meant some really great scores were fired along the way by most all the shooters.  However, two of the up and coming shooters in this area, took full advantage of the good conditions and really put it all together over the whole three days of competition.  Both, Msgt, Matt Griffin, and Dick VanValkenburg, shot personal record scores each day, up in the High Master level, and I am sure that there will be new High Master classification cards coming in the mail for these guys very soon. Congratulations to Matt Griffin and Dick VanValkenburg.

Complete Results

  While most of the top scores in Fridays match came from the Master class, Kevin Bangen, took the tournament lead by 7 pts over Matt G. after firing a close to perfect 790-31x, including a 200-12z in the Sitting Rapid match.  Kevin won 3 of the day's matches, but Dale Wickstrom denied him a clean sweep by out Xing Kevin in the Prone Rapid fire 300 yd match (198-7) and taking that win.
  Saturday's match again saw Kevin take the days honors with a 785-37x, and taking a match win in the Prone Rapid match with a 200-10x.  It was Grand senior, Omer Hamer that that won the Standing match, with a steady 193-4x. Matt G. edged out James Pennington for the Sitting Rapid match with his 200-10x. Larry Miller, shooting a 200-8x to win the 500 yd prone match.
   Sunday dawned bright and clear over the Hunter lake range, and Matt G. started out by winning the standing match from the Master class, again just edging out James P. by one point.  In the 200 Rapid fire match, Erik Rhode shot his best score of the weekend, posting a 200-8x, but it just wasn't enough to hold off Kevin Bangen who also fired a 200 score, but had 14 Xs to break a tie and take the win.  In the Prone Rapid match,  Dick V. and Matt G. fired the highest scores of 198-8x. Dick lost this match to Matt on Creedmore rules for tie-breakers.  Kevin Bangen wins the final 500 yd match of the weekend, but his day's score of 779 is not good enough to beat Matt G. or Dick VanValkenburg, who take first and second.
  Other notable scores -- Larry Weidell, gets a 2nd in Fridays Sitting Rapid match with a 197-9x, and Lorne Smith topped the group of 6 expert class shooters for the weekend.

Gopher Rifle and Revolver Club held a CMP games, and a CMP vintage sniper rifle match on Sat, June 16.  I understand about 15 shooters attended this match.   No match report is available at this time.

High Power Notes: 
 From Larry Weidell
"Hey guys,

   Just spent the weekend up at Northwestern Gun Club. It was fantastic.  The match was well run.  Camped right on the range.  Great socializing after the matches.  Camp fire in the evening.  Some grilling.   Rounds were down range at 0900 and we were completed by 1430.  Leaving lots of time to do other things in the area.  The only down side was there weren't as many competitors there as in the past. That and the mosquitoes were kinda hungry.

   The State Service Rifle Championship is now less than two weeks away.  If you haven't seen the program it is a Regional Course of Fire (80 shot) w/o sighters on Saturday.  Stand up before you sit or lay down to shoot rapids.  On Sunday it is a Hearst Doubles followed immediately by a leg match. I am willing to bet if you brought a match rifle you could shoot it for the bragging rights.

    Make plans to be there.  There are camper hookups for power or you can tent. There are even a couple of building that are there that you can bring a cot and set it up in.

    If you haven't heard the Northstar Range (Redwing) had some serious flooding and may postpone the State Championship that was to be held there in July to September.  Stand by for more information from Capt Bob. 

Hold hard.   Larry"  

Small Bore

The 3rd in the summer series of outdoor, Prone Small bore 1600 matches took place at Mpls. Rifle Club on Sunday, June 17th. While the participation was down a little due to many of the area prone shooters being at the MidWest Palma matches, a few shooters we haven't seen for a while came out to fill up the firing line. 
  Ross and Sam Ewert  finally made it out to a match this year, and though they have not been competing much in this early part of the season, both showed that they haven't lost a bit of skill over the winter.  Distinguished Pistol shooter, Tom O'Donnel, came out for his first SB rifle match and shot well enough to show that basic shooting skills will transfer from pistol to rifle.  Tom says he enjoyed the match and will be coming back for for more in the future.  He will have to come back if he wants to get the sweat shirt he left right where I could mistake it for my own and take it with me.  I always wanted one of those good "Bostrom Sheet Metal" sweatshirts from way back when Tom and I worked together at 3M.

  The first match of the day, shot in perfect conditions, went to Emily Quiner.  Emily's 400-32x, in the 50 yd match, topped my best effort for the day, but I was happy just to shoot a 400, even if it was 10 Xs short of Emily's winning effort. Now let's think about this -- 400-32x.  This is not a score to just note and move on.  This is a score that separates the Master shooters from all us others. Top prone shooter,  Rick Curtis, says that his goal, in prone matches, is to shoot 200 with 14 Xs.  He expects to shoot a 200 (or at least 198-9), but gauges his performance on the X count.  Any time he shoots more than 14xs (20 shots) even with a 9 or two, it means that the majority of the shots are centered up.  So this puts Emily's score of 16 xs per 20 shots up there in the area of being nationally competitive. Ross and Sam Ewert fire 398, and 397 for 3rd and 4th place.   

  Not content to win the first match, Emily fired another two clean targets of 200, and this time 28 Xs total to win the Dewar Match where one target is fired at 50 yds., and one at 100 yds. Ross Ewert dropped a few pts in the first two matches, but with an X count of 28 in each, showed that a little tightening up on the wind calls and the rest of us would have to hold hard to beat him.    The next two targets were fired in the 100 yd match (any sights), and yours truly was a little more patient with the wind shifts than the others and won that match with a 395-21, by a couple pts over Junior Eric Hazleton.  This puts me a few points up for the day, going into the last match, on Jim Biles, my friendly rival from Duluth. Last year, Jim Beat me in every match.

George Minerich - MRRA pres.

Results

   As usual, the last match is the most difficult.  The 50 Meter match has the hardest targets, and success in this match is quite often hard to come by.

  After nipping at the heels of the leaders all day, Ross Ewert, almost cleaned his two "meter" targets, dropping only one pt. for a 399 and 32 Xs.  This awesome score will give Ross a 1585-104x for the day, and 2nd place over all.  Taking a break from a few matches didn't slow down Ross much at all.  A 390-24x earned me a not so brilliant 5th in this match, but was good enough to hang on for 3rd in the day's aggregate with 1578.  Jim Biles almost snatched that 3rd place by firing an amazing 398-23x in this last match, and tieing my 1578 for a 4th overall for the day.
  Congratulations to Emily Quinar who dropped only 11 pts for the 160 shots.  Her 1589-102x earns her a well deserved tournament win.

  It was good to see George Minerich, MRRA pres, finally have the time to shoot one of these matches. 

Small Bore Notes -- this in from My good friend, Haven Williams, who also runs the fantastic Western Wildcat matches in Phoenix each year, March. 
   From: Haven Williams
"I have been asked by Lones Wigger to pass along the word about his Firecracker 4800 at Raton, NM around July 4 and the program is attached. Even though Raton can be a windy range, the first week in July is almost always the calmest part of the year. Lones works all year getting sponsors for the Firecracker 4800 and the Western Wildcat 6400 for a very rich prize table. On most years, the winning score is down less than five points and there is plenty of excellent competitors. Everyone I have talked to about this match has enjoyed it immensely. Aside from the usually low wind, the higher elevations means that it is a very temperate climate. I recommend this well-run match to all. Just call Wig and tell him you are coming. There will be f-class if more than two shooters attend.

Also, a number of you are going to the National Metric matches at Bristol, IN. For the prone shooters who are waiting for the prone matches to start at Camp Perry, I am holding the Third Road to Perry match. I was very busy this year and did not get it published in USA Shooting, but the match will run Thursday and Friday after the prone phase of the National Metric Matches. It will be a two-day 2400 with more that 50% of entry fees being returned as prizes. Juniors will shoot for a greatly reduced entry fee. All who have attended this match regard it as excellent practice for CP and it is always lots of fun. You can contact me to enter, or just show up. There is plenty of camping spots and we have indoor plumbing and showers. My cell # is: 623-640-4157."
                Click Here for Firecracker 4800 program and Entry info

I know that two of our local SB shooters, Morgan Dietrich, and JR. Eric Hazleton, will be attending the Firecracker 4800.  Good Luck to them!

 Two Weeks Out
June 30-July 1  Sm bore 4 postition Championship at MRC - Click Here for match program
June 30-July 1  Minnesota Service Rifle champ at NWGC - Click Here for match program
July 4th             M1 & M1A match at Eau Claire Rifle club  
July 7-8             NRA Championship at NorthStar --  Tenative due to flood damage 
July 7                4 P Sm bore state champ at Hibbing  - Match program click Here  
July 8                3 P Sm bore state champ at Hibbing  - Match program click Here
July 8                300 meter International at MRC

That's All Folks !
Hawkeye

Shooters News for the Minn Area - June 13, 2012

The Week Ahead for Minn area shooters
  Highpower

Marking targets at NWGC

   This coming weekend, Northwestern Gun Club will host the 2nd in their summer series of rifle matches at their top notch shooting range on the shores of Hunter lake. Three days of OTC (over the course) matches are on tap in the Hunter Lake 2400.  This popular tournament has been drawing competitive shooters from all over the Midwest for many years and is one of the highlights of the summer shooting season in Minn.  NWGC matches always feature a "little" socializing after the match, its a great time to catch up with folks you may not have see for a while.  Indoor and outdoor camping facilities are available for those who wish to stay right at the range for the weekend. 
       Click here for Weather forecast for NWGC this weekend.
       Click here for Match Program and entry

Prone shooting
Eight 20 shot prone matches are on the schedule at Mpls. Rifle Club for Sunday, June 17th.  Prone shooters not heading off to the MidWest Palma matches at Lodi,Wisc., should head over the the MRC Small Bore range for a full day of tough Prone competition with the Sm Bore match rifle.  You don't even have to load the ammo or pull targets! These outdoor prone SB matches are the absolute best practice for Mid Range and long range highpower matches. See you there?
         Click Here for MRC SB 1600 match program, map and entry info.

Long Range
Good Luck to all those area Long Range shooters that are heading off to next week's Mid West Palma Matches at Lodi, Wisconsin.  Bring back a couple pictures for those of us who won't make it.
                                                     Click for slide show of this match
Last Weekend    


The Minn. Regional Long Range Championship took place at the Gopher Rifle & Revolver Club's 1000 yd shooting facility June 9-10. . This match, being scheduled each year just before the Midwest Palma matches, is not only the Regional Champ for upper Midwest shooters but also a good tune-up for those upcoming Palma Championships.  35 competitors faced warm and windy conditions while trying to post 10s and X on those targets 5/8s of a mile away.  60 % of the competitors were traditional Sling shooters, while 40% were contesting those minuscule targets on the F-Class side of the firing line.  12 High Masters made up the bulk of the Sling shooters that meant no one was going to have an easy time of winning any of the 5 twenty shot matches. Of the 15 F-class shooters, 8 were unclassified competitors, new to long range competition.  Of these "Unc's", several showed that while they were new to Long Range, they were not "newbie" shooters and would place in more than one match.
 Saturday was Iron sight day for the sling shooters, with three 20 shot matches to be contested.  In the first match of the day, the competitors had just a taste of wind conditions that would test them the rest of the weekend.  The "average" wind was not high, just 8 to 10 from the SSW, but it was not the average wind that plagued the shooters.  It was the gusts that would eventually rise to 24 mph. while fishtailing from SE to SW. This would cause 8s to appear on almost every target, frustrating the shooters who could not find a "shooting window" where the flags would be lined up and the shot might go somewhere close to where it was called.

  Video of Sling Class shooters -  Click Here 
             Special note: Look at the wind (go full screen) across the range at the very end of this video. It took a confident shooter to make an accurate shot at 1000 yds in this wind. Most matches in this wind were won with high 190 scores. Who out there thinks they could fire a 200 in such conditions?


  It was Stacey Tamulinas, who's patience at reading the wind, and X-ring hold, who won the first match and posted a remarkable 197-7x.  Morgan Dietrich, Distinguished Sm Bore shooter, also fired a 197 but lost on X count.  Brian Mrnak rounded out the top three, just one pt back.  In Match two, as conditions worsened, It was Morgan D. who came out on top with a 194. Again the match was decided by X count, as Jay Johnson, also put up a 194 on the board, but was 1 X  short of Morgan.  Steve Erickson fires a 193 for third place.  In the Master Class (and below) Erik Rhode wins the first two matches with very competitive scores of 192,193, and goes into the last match of the day, just 6 pts down from the leader at this point.  It should also be noted that Jr. shooter, Eric Hazelton, fired a 187 in this 2nd match and stayed competitive with the adults all day. 

Results - click To enlarge

  Bill Lair, who had been shut out of the winnings in the first two matches, showed everyone that "it isn't over till it's over', and dominated the last match of the day, putting up an amazing 197-11x, for the really tough conditions.  Matt Griffin, USAF shooter, fired his best score for the day (195-6x), and takes 3rd. 
 The final scores for 'Iron Sight' day, shows Morgan Dietrich in 1st place with Bill Lair, 2nd, 4 pts back, and Brian Mrnak 3rd down only, 6pts.

   In the F-class, it was Bob Mead who won the first two matches, dropping a total of only 8 pts in the 40 shots for record.  His skill as a wind reader and wind coach with the US Palma team is evident here.  In the third match, Bob fell victim to the dreaded cross fire disease, and put himself out of the running. Ben Winget's scores in the top three of each of the day's matches, leaves him 10 pts ahead of the pack and the leader of the F-class.   It was Tyson Brabec, though, who was the talk of the day among the F-ers (and everyone else). Tyson is a 12 year old Jr. shooter, who is as competitive as anyone, on the line.  Tyson's 3 scores for the day (193, 188, 187) did not win any of the matches outright, but they were consistently high and Tyson takes 3rd overall in F-class for the day.

    Video of F-class shooter Bruce B. -- Click Here
 
  If anyone thought that the tough wind conditions were rough on Saturday, they knew they were in for even tougher condition's, when they arrived on Sunday morning and saw the flags standing out straight, and all pointing different directions at the same time.  The wind was now about 14mph average, with peak gusts during the match blowing though at 29 mph, (recorded by the anemometer on my roof, a few miles south).
   The key to winning today would be have patience with the wind, and find that 'shooting window'.  Firing on the wrong side of a wind shift today would easily be a miss on that 6 ft target, 1000 yds away.
   Sunday was 'Any Sight' day, and about half of the sling shooters would use scopes, and half thought that their Iron Sights would work just fine for the two 20 matches to be contested today.  Morgan jumped out to an early lead for the day, dropping only 3 pts in the first match (197-9). As usual, Morgan was the last shooter done firing. This patience, learned from many years of Sm Bore prone shooting, was the key to the wind gusts. Brian Mrnak takes 2nd and 3rd goes to Bill Lair.  The Last match was won by Brian M., tying his best score of the weekend of 196.  Bill Lair again fired a solid score of 193 for 2nd, and Capt. Bob Peasley finally got a handle on the wind and shot his best of the weekend for 3rd place. 
  In the end, It came down to the last shot to decide the winner of the weekend's championship.  Brian Mrnak wins the Minn. Regional Long Range Championship--Gold Medal. Just one point back after a hard weekends competition, and 2nd place is Morgan Dietrich--Silver medal, and just two pts back is Bill Lair--Bronze Medal.
Erik Rhode wins the Master Class just 18 pts back with an excellent score of 938-17x
 Sunday,  F-class
  Bob Mead would look back to Saturday's one bad shot and know that was where he lost the Championship.  Shooting a 192 in the first match for 3rd, and 193 in the 2nd match for the Match win, Bob would end up only 5 points back, over all, from the Championship, and earned the F-class Silver medal.  Pat Scully clawed  back on day two, posting Class firsts in both matches, and earning himself the Bronze Medal.  

Bill L., Brian M., Phil K., Erik R., Morgan D., Ben W., Matt. G

   Ben Winget's 196 in the first match, was the high Fclass score for the day, and Ben's aggregate scores for the weekend give him the Regional F-class Championship.
 Congratulations to our two champions.
    Sling Class Champion -- Brian Mrnak
    F-class champion    --  Ben Winget   





Notes:
The caliber of the competition--
From Kurt Borlaug:
Last weekend's LR Regional was a learning experience for a lot of reasons. Firstly, the conditions were challenging and secondly, big matches and new reloading practices don't mix.  Lastly and most importantly I learned that generosity abounds in our sport. After my first sighter on Sunday my trigger would not reset.....due to above mentioned reloading experiment in softseating bullets resulting in 44.5 grains of Benchmark migrating into my action and trigger. After a failed attempt to clear the issue, with tools borrowed from Phil Klanderud, Jim Soderstrom graciously offered the use of his rifle to me. I missed the first relay I was to fire on and mark Rohmann allowed me to fire both matches in the time allowed during the second. I spoke with my target puller, Dick Van Valkenburg about my plan and if he'd be okay pulling some extra shots for me. He was on board and a plan was in motion. All sighters and 40 record shots were delivered, mostly on my target, some in the middle and all witnessed with good humor by Brian Mrnak as scorekeeper.
  Thanks to all who allowed me to complete the match. Kurt Borlaug


Two Weeks out  
June 23-24 --  OTC, 1800 pt. ea. day at MRC -- Match Program Click Here
June 30, July 1st  --  Sm Bore 4P Regional --  Match program Click Here

That's All Folks
Hawkeye

Minnesota 1000 yd Regional

Just In !  -------

35 shooters fired 3 matches each, from the 1000 yd line today, in the MInn Long Range Regional Championships.  Weather at the Gopher Rifle & Revolver club long range shooting facility, was beautiful with a SSW wind of 10mph average, and gusts up to 20 mph. Quickly shifting winds kept the scores down and everyone fought for every point they could get.

 Todays matches were shot with Iron sights for the Sling shooters, and tomorrow they will fire the Any Sight matches.  More Pictures and match Rpt. coming sooner or later.
Hawkeye