Allegheny Sniper Challenge This Weekend
The August running of the Allegheny Sniper Challenge (ASC) will take place this Saturday and Sunday, August 16-17, at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia, right on the Eastern Continental Divide. This is a “practical” field competition requiring shooters to walk through the countryside engaging targets, many at unknown distances and at difficult up or down angles. Every day has a scored, cold bore shot (CBS) so your rifle better have a reliable zero. The terrain is challenging, with lots of hills to climb; elevation at the match site is about 3,500 feet.
Yes, that’s a row of shooters lined up on the hillside.
Match organizers describe the ASC as “Sniper Golf — it involves short walks (50-300 yards) between firing positions as you engage various targets. This approach allows us to take maximum advantage of the terrain and present a very wide variety of shooting challenges. You will be moving throughout the day so plan your load accordingly. Target options 50 to 60 steel targets of various sizes and shapes, perhaps ceramic tile and anything else we might decide to throw into the mix. Stress, in some form, might be an integral part of some shots.”
To give you an idea of the kind of shooting done at ASC, we’ve provided a video. Click the above photo to see a VIDEO showing Asst. Editor Jason Baney hitting multiple metal targets in a timed, rapid-fire sequence at last year’s ASC. Note how Jason has to swing the rifle around and adjust for angle and elevation changes. In this stage, Jason engaged seven targets from 200 to 600 yards, starting at 350, then moving out to 600 and back to 200. Jason says: “There was a 20 mph full-value crosswind running and we weren’t allowed to touch the scope. That’s a serious hold-off.” Jason was one of the few ASC shooters to “clean” this stage, hitting all targets.
For more information about the Allegheny Sniper Challenge, visit http://asc.riflemen.net/. Also check out this ASC BLOG PAGE covering 2005 and 2007 Sniper Challenge events. Click on the small thumbnail photos to see galleries with dozens of ASC photos.
