September 8th, 2011

15-Year-Old Gal Wins Her First-Ever F-Class Match

Here’s a positive success story about a family that shoots together. Shooters’ Forum member Troy (aka ‘TTFreestyle’) is a competitive shooter whose 15-year-old daughter Michele is following in his footsteps. It looks like Michele is a born shooter, with exceptional natural talent — she won her first-ever F-Open match, shooting a 450-22x without dropping a point. Marksmanship definitely runs in the family. (Interestingly, Michele has a twin sister who also shoots, but according to Troy, “Michele’s twin doesn’t crave shooting the way Michele does.”)

Youth F-class

Troy reports: “My daughter Michele shot her first F-Open match today at Chattanooga rifle club. It was a three-relay, mid-range match with 15 shots at 300 yards and two more 15-shot relays at 500 yards. Michele shot 450-22x out of 450 with her Savage 6BR.” Troy revealed: “I was worried that I had not done enough load development for her, but I but guess it was good enough!” Troy added: “I helped Michele get set up with the rest and rear bag. I told her to have fun and follow-through. She did the rest. We were fortunate that the conditions were favorable for her relays — not too breezy and with little mirage. The wind really kicked up later while we were in the pits.”

Michele’s Rifle Specs — a Hot-Rodded Savage 110
Michele’s winning rifle, which Troy just completed two weeks ago, has some key upgrades. The barrel is a 28″ 6mmBR pre-fit Criterion from Northland Shooters Supply. Troy noted: “My wife’s gun also has a Criterion pre-fit barrel. Both Criterions shoot great — 2.5″ at 600 yards with minimal load development.” The Savage 110 action on Michele’s rifle now sits in a a href=”http://www.sharpshootersupply.com/LRBR_Stock.html” target=”new”>Sharpshooter Supply Long Range Benchrest stock, pillar- and skim-bedded by Troy. One of the new Sightron tactical 8-32x56mm scopes rides on top on an EGW +20 MOA rail. The gun has the old three-screw Savage trigger with some tweaks done by Troy, who says “I prefer the old trigger (with some mods) to the new Accutrigger.”

Troy tells us: “Michele and I are both just starting in the mid/long range game. We have so much to learn and have met some very helpful friends. At Oakridge, I met Danny Biggs who gave us some advice I’ll never forget: ‘Matches are won in the reloading room’.” The load Troy developed for Michele was 30.2 grains Varget and 107 SMK into the lands running about 2850 fps.

Youth F-class

Father, Mother, and Daughter All Love to Shoot
Troy is quick to credit Michele’s trigger-pulling skills: “Michele is solid — 45 shots in a row and she kept going. I don’t think I can out-shoot her.” Troy added, “My wife Tammy also shoots. In fact, at Chattanooga, Tammy also cleaned the 300-yard match with 150-9X but dropped a few points at 500. After seeing how well Michele and Tammy did, maybe I just need to put the guns together and watch.”

Congrats to Michele, Tammy, and Troy! A family that shoots together is a great inspiration.