Hunter always wears proper ear protection. Here he got behind an empty rifle on closed range.
Here is a great “feel-good” family story from Forum Member Jonathan T. (aka “sniperjwt”). Father Jonathan explains how he introduced his son Hunter to precision shooting, at the ripe young age of six. Hunter took to shooting like a fish to water. Now seven years old, Hunter is shooting half-MOA (or better) and hitting steel at 800 yards with ease. What’s more he even finished second in a St. Thomas, Pennsylvania Ground-Hog match — beating nearly all the ground-ups (including his Dad) in the process.
You’ve got to watch this video — It’s priceless. This kid has talent.
Like Father, Like Son — Teaching My Boy How to Shoot
by Jonathan T.
“Focus on your trigger… squeeze it easy”. If I’ve said it once I’ve said it 1000 times. Not because he isn’t listening, but just so he knows how important it is.
Last year, at the age of six, Hunter started showing a lot of interest in going with me to the local shooting range. Of course I was happy to let him tag along and see what it was all about. Most fathers hope that their son will pick up the same interest so they can share something that they both enjoy. Teaching a kid to shoot can be very difficult, but also very rewarding.
The first couple of times I just let him watch and I would go over the safety aspects of shooting and things to watch out for. After several range sessions he was no longer content with just watching and wanted to get in on the action. My first concern was recoil. He was not a big 6-year-old and I did not want to get him flinching because we all know how hard that is to overcome. I started him with a .223 Rem with reduced loads. I haven’t been concerned with where he hits on the target. In fact I often wait until he is done shooting to even look at the target. My focus is on making sure his mechanics are right and his trigger control is what it should be. But as you can see, he learned fast…
Hunter’s first really good group, shot at age 6. This is six shots at 100 yards with a Savage .223 Rem.
After a couple range sessions, he wanted to shoot in one of the local groundhog matches I attend. I told him we would practice some more and if I thought he was ready we would go to the last match of the year in 2016. I ended up letting him shoot in that match, but he struggled a bit as it is a timed event. Overall he was happy with how he did and I was happy he enjoyed himself. Over the winter we continued to practice and he continued to improve each time we went out. In March he turned seven years old, but he is still a little guy weighing only 42 pounds. When this year’s 2017 matches started, he was very excited that I had told him he could go to all of them when he didn’t have baseball games. The first several matches he still struggled a little but he was getting better each time.
Seeing how well Hunter shoots, one Forum member joked: “I’m gonna try Hunters under-the-armpit position. If it works for him….”
Half way through the summer when we were at a match at Shippensburg Fish & Game, Hunter had an “AH-HA” moment. He was shooting at 320 yards and his first two sighters were good so I had him move over to the score side of the target. The first two shots were in the 9 Ring, but he jerked his third shot and it went over into the sighter side of the target. He did not know where it went and I just told him to get another one and shoot again. After he got his target back he looked at me and said “someone shot my target”. I asked him why he said that and he pointed to a bullet hole and said someone shot it right here. I explained to him that on his third shot where he jerked the trigger that is where it ended up. He looked at me and then the target and it was as if a light-bulb went off. Bingo — he finally understood why I kept telling him to focus on the trigger and squeeze it easy.
After the match I let him shoot at 540 yards with the gun we mostly use in matches — a Savage Model 12 F-Class .223 Rem with a Sightron 10-50x60mm scope. Our “go to” load is Varget in Lapua brass with Berger 73gr bullet. He hit the plate just high of middle on the first shot and then commenced to put 12 shots within about a 4″ circle on the plate. After about shot 8 or 9 he asked if he could shoot at something else because he couldn’t even tell where he was hitting as the plate was splattered with hits.
Hunter Hammers Steel at 800 Yards
About a month later we were at the same range after a match and he wanted to shoot some more so I let him try his hand at 800 yards. At that distance there is a large 4’x4’ plate and he thought he was going to shoot at it but I told him I wanted him to shoot at a smaller 8″x11″ plate instead. I dialed in the elevation and told Hunter to get comfortable and “send it when he was ready”. He thought his first shot missed because he did not hear it immediately (as he would at shorter ranges). I told him that he did hit the target and to load another one. The next three were all hits.
On his fifth shot I had him hold just off the left edge because a wind flag suggested it would be blown to the right. But that was not the case, so shot five was a miss. We corrected the hold and he put the last four rounds on the plate. Hunter made 8 hits out of 9 shots on a 8″x11″ target at 800 yards! Not bad for a 7-year-old with a .223 Rem. Oh, and yes, the one miss was my bad wind call.
Hunter Beats the Big Boys at St. Thomas Ground Hog Shoot
The Groundhog match at St. Thomas is one of our favorite matches. Well, at this September match, Hunter would turn some heads for sure. At 100 yards he shot a perfect 100 with three Xs. I told him after he shot the 100-yard relay that his trigger control was not real good and if he wanted to do good at 200 and 300 that he would have to do better. At 200 yards there was a night-and-day difference in his trigger control. It was as close to perfect as I have seen him do. He ended up with a 48-1X at 200. At this time we both had 98 scores but he had 4X and I had 5X. I was joking around with him before the 300-yard relay and he even had me text my wife and tell her we were tied.
After I scored 44 in my 300-yard relay I told him, “Buddy, if you get a 45 or better you will beat me” his response was, “OK Dad, I’ll do that”. After some sighters, his first shot was a 10. I again told him that the trigger control was perfect and to do four more just like that. Hunter’s second shot was a 10. Now I got excited. His third shot was low and right in the 9 ring. Fourth shot was high and left in the 9 ring. Now I am shaking in excitement. Last shot was an 8 low and right cutting the hole of the third shot. I quickly did the math in my head and when he looked up at me I was grinning from ear to ear. I asked him if he knew what score he shot and he replied that he did not. I said a 46, and now he had a huge smile on his face. I let him come over to the spotting scope and look through it and when he got done I gave him a big hug and told him how proud of him I was.
Hunter’s final score was a 144-4X. Only one other competitor (of any age) had a higher class score — 146-3X. So, at seven years of age, Hunter earned a second place finish! But it turned out his superb shooting created a problem…
After the match was over I was called into the club office. Apparently a Junior Shooter had never finished this high and they were unsure how to handle awards since Juniors aren’t charged an entrance fee. I told them that I didn’t care how they handled it. I was just happy that he did as well as he did and he sure was happy that he beat Daddy. In fact Hunter’s score of 144-4X is the 4th highest score of the year in that class. To top things off this was the first time I had let him load his own cartridges from start to finish (under my supervision of course).
Father and Son Spending Quality Time Together
As much as I enjoy Hunter’s interest in shooting, I love the fact that we have something we can spend quality time doing together. At the table after the match, Hunter was sitting next to a well-respected shooter everyone calls “Cowboy”. This gentleman leans over and says “Son, you don’t know how lucky you are, the only thing I did with my dad was work in the garden”. My hope is that one day he will know how lucky he is… Right now I know how lucky I am to be able to spend time with my son doing something we both enjoy.
“A big congratulations to Bob Mead (1582-68X), who utterly destroyed the competition in tricky wind conditions to take the Gold.” — Jay Christopherson, F-Open Second Place.
The 2017 F-Class National Championships in Lodi, Wisconsin are now history. Hail the new Champions: Robert Mead, F-Open (1582-68X) and Ian Klemm, F-TR (1557-56X). Hosted by the Winnequah Gun Club, the Nationals drew about 75 F-Open shooters and 45 F-TR competitors, down from last year. In F-Open, Robert Mead shot brilliantly in tough conditions to finish 14 points ahead of his closest competitor, AccurateShooter.com’s System Administrator Jay Christopherson. Erik Cortina was just one point behind Jay, but Erik had the high X-Count for the match at 71X.
Photos of Robert Mead and Ian Klemm courtesy Erik Cortina.
In F-TR, Ian Klemm also won by a margin of 14 points. This was an impressive win by Ian, given the challenging winds and weather. F-TR runner-up Todd Sanders also shot remarkably well, considering he is a relative newcomer to F-Class. Forum member KyBountyHunter observed: “Outstanding shooting this week gentlemen, in some of the most challenging conditions that I’ve seen. Congrats to all the winners. Ian — fantastic job taking First Place (well deserved) [and] special congrats to Todd. For this only being his second year in F-TR, he’s going to be force to be reckoned with for a long time!”.
Final Results for F-Open (TOP 10):
1. Robert Mead: 1582-68X HM
2. Jay Christopherson: 1568-59X HM
3. Erik Cortina: 1567-71X HM
4. John Myers: 1558-64X HM
5. Pat Scully: 1558-50X HM
6. Larry Bartholome: 1554-55X HM
7. Robert Sebold: 1554-41X HM
8. Steve Harp: 1553-58X HM
9. Jeff Hopkins: 1551-49X MA
10. Lou Murdica: 1550-46X MA
Final Results for F-T/R (TOP 10):
1. Ian Klemm: 1557-56X HM
2. Todd Sanders: 1543-43X MA
3. Brad Sauve: 1542-44X MA
4. Laura Perry: 1539-46X EX
5. Daniel Pohlabel: 1534-49X MA
6. Josh Moore: 1529-37X EX
7. Ken Klemm: 1528-38X MA
8. Bob Lorenz: 1525-47X EX
9. Raymond Weaver: 1522-36X HM
10. Alan Barnhart: 1521-31X HM
Strong Performances by Members of Team Lapua-Borden-Brux
Jay Christopherson posted: “A big congratulations to Bob Mead (1582-68X), who utterly destroyed the competition in tricky wind conditions to take the Gold. This was a great end to the 2017 competition season for me as I managed to hang on by the skin of my fingertips to win Silver at the 2017 F-Class US National Championships (F-Open).” For the record, Team Lapua-Borden-Brux ended up with all five present members of the team in the Top 8 of the Grand Aggregate.
Jay Christopherson (2nd, 1568-59X, Silver)
Erik Cortina (3rd, 1567-71X, Bronze)
Pat Scully (5th, 1558-50X)
Bob Sebold (7th, 1554-41X)
Steve Harp (8th, 1553-58X)
In team competition, Team Lapua-Borden Brux won the F-0pen Long Range Championship as well as the Mid-Range Championship. Jay told us: “That was some outstanding shooting by great team members. I’m really looking forward to the 2018 season.” Erik Cortina added: “So proud of our team. We conquered the 2017 LR National Championship as well as the Mid-Range National Championship. We could not have done it without our sponsors: Lapua, Borden Actions, and Brux Barrels.”
In the F-TR Team Competition, mighty Team Sinclair triumphed yet again, winning its 10th Long Range National Championship. Team member Paul Phillips offered this interesting factoid: “This year we won with the original four members we had in 2004 plus Dan Pohlabel. It’s pretty awesome to be shooting with the same guys for 13 years! What a great run since 2004.” And those same four also all hail from Midland, Michigan (Midland County Sportsman’s Club). Team Sinclair still holds the 4-man Team 1000-yard National Record. Shown below, L to R, are team members: Daniel J. Pohlabel, Paul Phillips, Raymond Gross (Coach), Brad Sauve, and John Droelle.
All Team Sinclair members use identical hardware: McMillan XiT stock, Kelbly Panda action, Bartlein barrel, Nightforce scope, and Phoenix Precision bipod. All shoot Berger 200-20X bullets in Lapua brass.
The One that Got Away — Almost Matching F-Open 20-Shot Record
Erik Cortina shot a superb 200-16X during the competition (see electronic target scoring screen below). That was just one X shy of the current 200-17X National Record. Erik observed: “So close, yet so far. Almost matched the National Record of 200-17X but shot a ten on my very last shot. Everything felt good but luck was not on my side.”
Here Todd Jarrett nails three steel targets and a pop-up orange clay bird. Watch full video below.
If you are a fan of 3-Gun competition, tune in to Shooting USA this week. The latest episode, which airs Tuesday October 3 and Wednesday October 4, features the 2017 USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals in Boulder City, Nevada. You can see many of the nation’s top 3-Gun shooters attacking some very challenging stages with pistols, rifles, and shotguns. CLICK HERE for TV Schedule.
Multi-gun competition has evolved considerably since it started 30 years ago. The firearms are more sophisticated, the optics are better, and the stage times are much faster. Still, the challenge remains the same: How fast can you shoot multiple targets, with the score determined by speed and accuracy? For the best in the sport, the answer is very fast indeed, but Match Director Pete Rinsing has a few tricks up his sleeve to challenge competitors on never-before-seen courses of fire at the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals held in April 2017.
Todd Jarrett highlights from 2017 USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals. Check out 300-yard prone rifle at 00:30, and blazing rifle-pistol-shotgun transitions at 00:50:
Most people compete in the Tactical Division, including 8-time Champion, SFC Daniel Horner of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. Competitors in that division are not allowed a bipod, so many competitors utilize structures on the stage to stabilize their long gun. Regardless of division, the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals is a true test of manipulating three different weapons, under pressure, on run-and-gun courses of fire. And the pressure is definitely on when a National Championship is on the line.
Deep Creek is a beautiful range, lined with tall timber on both sides.
Report by Jamey Williams
The second phase of the Northern Rockies Long Range Tournament was held at the Deep Creek Range outside Missoula, Montana last weekend. The F-Class portion was held two weekends before, under very different but also favorable conditions. The F-Class event was at the tail end of a very bad fire year, and the conditions were hot, dry, and at times, smoky. Nonetheless, great scores were fired, including a pending National Team Record by the Washington F-Open Team.
This past weekend was very different, with low temps, rain, and fog — a very dramatic shift in a very short time. The 1000-yard team matches on Friday took place under a light rain, and several cleans were fired — a prelude of thing to come. Saturday brought cold conditions and fresh snow on the surrounding mountains. While it was cold and cloudy, several shooters fired high scores with some only dropping only a handful of points or less over the Palma match and the 1000-yard match. This brought us into Sunday morning with a fog starting to settle over the range during the 800 yard stage of the last Palma match. As the day went on, the conditions gradually improved and with some outstanding shooting, a couple of pending NRA National Records were set.
This past weekend was time for the sling-shooters, the “hard-holders” who shoot prone with sling, coat, and glove. There were some very impressive performances — including two pending records, one by an All National Guard marksman SSG John Coggshall, and the other by Kerry Spurgin, who shot incredibly well, to break a long-standing Open Record.
Note: The upper left image shows SSG Coggshall at Deep Creek in 2010.
SSG John Coggshall of the Connecticut Army National Guard and member of the All National Guard Rifle Team fired an outstanding 1093-61X (out of a possible 1100 points), earning him the NRA Silver medallion. This score should earn him the Service Category National Record for the Long Range Regional Aggregate by one point and a bunch of Xs over the previous record set by SGT Eric Smith, USAR. SSG Coggshall previously held this record, which was set several years ago at the Deep Creek Range in Montana. Along with Palma rifle, Coggshall has a lot of experience shooting smallbore as well as service rifle. His Team Coach described him as a hard-holder who can hold half the X-Ring with his iron-sighted Palma rifle.
L to R: Todd Branin, Kerry Spurgin, SSG John Coggshall
Also having a fantastic weekend was U.S. Palma Team member, Kerry Spurgin of Hillsboro, Oregon. Spurgin (above center) was an All-American Rifle Team shooter for Murray State University in Kentucky, and brother to Patricia Spurgin, 1984 Olympic air rifle Gold medalist. Spurgin started out day three of the tournament with an strong score fired in mildly foggy conditions at the 800-yard line, a 149-14X. He continued to fire very well, and ended the individual matches with the Gold Medallion and a pending Open and Civilian record score of 1097-75X. With less than perfect conditions, Spurgin managed to only drop three (3) points all weekend, breaking a National Record that had stood for 17 years.
Deep Creek Range
The Deep Creek Range in Missoula, MT is one of the nicest places to shoot in the Intermountain West region. The range is located in the mountains within a few minutes drive of Missoula, and there is camping on-site. When conditions are good at Deep Creek, records get broken. To learn more about shooting at Deep Creek, contact Jamey Williams at jameydan[at]gmail.com.
Here is an aerial view of the Deep Creek Range (Drone video by David Gosnell):
What is the most family-friendly shooting discipline? It just might be the NSSF Rimfire Challenge. NSSF took over the Rimfire Challenge in 2014, replacing Ruger as the sponsoring organization. Now more than 400 Rimfire Challenge events are held across the country each year. The matches are designed to encourage family participation in a friendly atmosphere. Entire families, both oldsters and youngsters, can have fun shooting together in a supervised setting. You don’t need expensive ammo or hardware, and the primary focus is on having fun and enjoying the comraderie.
The NSSF Rimfire Challenge World Championship will be held October 13-15 at the Cavern Cove Range in Woodville, Alabama (near Huntsville). There will be five “tune-up” fun matches on Friday, October 13, followed by the main matches on Saturday and Sunday. This year there will be 14 total stages (7 handgun and 7 rifle).
Demonstration Sessions with Guns and Ammo Provided
During the Championship weekend there will be free demo programs. That gives visitors some trigger time even if they are not an official competitor. At last year’s NSSF Rimfire Challenge Championship in Alabama, Smith & Wesson was on hand with demo rifles and pistols. See the action in the S&W-produced video above. At the October event, attendees were able to try out the Smith & Wesson® SW22 Victory pistol and the M&P 15-22 rifle.
Competitors will be challenged with rimfire pistol and rifle stages at the Cavern Cove Competition Range in Woodville, Alabama (near Huntsville). Like all NSSF Rimfire Challenge events, the sponsors encourage both novice and experienced shooters to participate. In fact, for many shooters the Rimfire Challenge Championship may be their first-ever major competition.
Guns of Choice: S&W M&P 15-22 and Browning Buck Mark
If you want to shoot both Limited and Open class, a very good rifle choice rifle is the Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22. The feel, weight, and controls will be familiar to any AR owner. These 15-22s have been refined over the years and now are very reliable. Shoot it in Limited Class with the standard iron sights. Then fold down the sights and attach a 1-4X optic to shoot Open Class.
Smith & Wesson’s M&P 15-22 Sport MOE SL model (Magpul Original Equipment Slim Line) has been upgraded with a more comfortable handguard, an improved grip, and an adjustable Magpul buttstock. It is offered with Flat Dark Earth (tan) furniture (shown above) or dressed in matte black.
For pistol competition, we recommend the Browning Buck Mark Hunter. This has a nice set of iron sights, and you can fit a red-dot or pistol scope on the integral Picatinny Rail. The Hunter model, shown above, has a long, 9 3/4″ sight radius with bright fiber-optic sights. It’s also handsome with matte black finish and real Cocobolo grips. Another good choice is the Buck Mark Contour URX stainless with a 7 1/4″ slab-sided heavy barrel.
The Rimfire Challenge is all about shooting fast, so rapid-fire reliability is critical. The Buckmark is one of the most reliable semi-auto pistols ever made, and the ergonomics are great. You can find Buckmarks starting at $249.99 with the current Browning Bucks Rebate.
Rimfire Challenge Rules and Course of Fire
The NSSF Rimfire Challenge offers Open and Limited (iron sights) Divisions, plus Special Recognition sub-classes (Lady, Senior, Junior, Youth and Cowboy/Cowgirl). To learn more about rules, courses of fire, and the upcoming Rimfire World Championship, visit NSSF.org/Rimfire.
NSSF Rimfire Challenge Basics
The Rimfire Challenge is a two-gun event so you need a rifle and a handgun (which can be either a semi-auto pistol, or revolver).
There are two divisions: 1) Open — Any firearm (pistol or revolver in handgun class) with scopes, optical sights, light gathering scopes, battery powered optics or lasers; and 2) Limited — Pistols and rifles with iron sights, adjustable metallic sights, and/or fiber optic.
Bolt-action rifles and lever-action rifles are allowed, but self-loading (semi-auto) rifles are most popular because they can shoot quickly.
It is suggested that your firearms hold at least ten rounds each, as there is no reloading allowed during the actually stages.
It is a good idea to have five (5) magazines per gun (5 each for rifle and pistol). That way you don’t have to reload between stages. If you have a 10-shot revolver, you can reload manually, or use speed loaders.
At Rimfire Challenge Matches, each competitor gets five (5) runs through each target stage.
Eye and ear protection is required on the range at all times. This is true for spectators as well as competitors.
Many different stage designs can be employed at Rimfire Challenge matches. Here are two examples from the NSSF Rimfire Challenge Suggested Courses of Fire:
WA Team members, left to right: Tod Hendricks, Jay Christopherson, Monte Milanuk, David Oakes.
F-Class competition continues to evolve, as guns and shooters get better every season. That means records get broken. Yet another record was smashed this month as the “Washington F-Open” team scored 1794-121X, a new pending National Record. That stunning combined team score beats the previous best by five points and more than 20 Xs. We believe the current record is 1789-100X, set at the 2017 Berger Southwest Nationals.
The new 1794-21X team record was set at the 2017 Northern Rockies LR F-Class Regional Match, held September 6-8 at the Deep Creek Range outside Missoula, Montana. This is a three-day, long range regional F-Class match consisting of two individual days and one team day.
Team Member Jay Christopherson, who won the F-Open Division, was proud of his Team’s accomplishment: “We were very excited when our shooting held up at 1000 yards to break the record.” Forum member Pat F., who also shot the match in Montana, said this was a really impressive performance: “I think that record will stand for a while.”
World’s Most Accurate IT Guy Wins F-Open with Brilliant Performance
Our AccurateShooter.com Systems Administrator, Jay Christopherson, won the F-Open Division with a superb 1047-62X individual performance. Remarkably, when you combine that 1047-62X with his 449-33X score in the team match, Jay dropped only four (4) points the entire weekend over 150 shots (105 shots in individual competition and another 45 in the team match). That is a combined percentage 99.73% in the Ten-Ring. Amazing! Jay is definitely “The World’s Most Accurate IT Guy”. Congrats Jay.
Jay was shooting a new F-0pen rifle built with his favorite hardware: a smooth-cycling Borden BRMXD action riding in a hardwood X-Ring stock. The barrel was a 32″-long, 1:9″-twist Bartlein chambered for the .284 Winchester cartridge. All team members were shooting straight .284 Wins with Berger 180gr Hybrid bullets. Jay was using a new scope, a fixed-power 48x52mm March High Master. Jay was impressed with the sharpness, clarity, and reliability of this scope. He said that during the match he never felt the need to dial-down power, so the 48X fixed magnification worked fine.
Jay reports: “Conditions were generally pretty good. Not perfect, but almost… There was enough change to push you out of the 10-Ring if you were not careful, but overall, the conditions were about as consistently good as you can expect. There was also some smoke haze, particularly on Friday and Saturday, that made seeing the target a challenge and looking at mirage was basically impossible. But, for all that, the wind was mostly very, very kind.”
“This is the fourth year I have traveled to shoot this match and as always, it was an excellent match. Jamey Williams does an outstanding job of herding cats and ensuring that the match runs smoothly. Bob Evans ran the line and really did an excellent job of keeping everyone safe and the match moving.”
Here is an aerial view of the Deep Creek Range (Drone video by David Gosnell):
Northern Rockies LR F-Class Regional Match Results
Individual Top Three Shooters (1050-105X Possible)
F-Open Division:
Jay Christopherson, 1047-62X, MW
Tod Hendricks, 1043-61X, 2nd MW
Jim Williams, 1041-51X, 3rd MW
F-TR Division:
Justin Covey, 1030-48X, MW
Tom Hubbard, 1030-41X, 2nd MW
John Van Santford, 1027-36X, 3rd MW
Jay Christopherson, 449-33X
Tod Hendricks, 448-28X
David Oakes, 448-30X
Monte Milanuk, 449-30X
F-TR Winning Team: “Misfits”, 1751-50X
John Van Santford, 436-14X
Beverly Van Santford, 441-13X
Phil Brackenbury, 436-12X
Larry Bandaccari, 438-11X
Course of Fire: The individual days are a 105-shot aggregate, consisting of a 45-shot Palma (800/900/1000) followed by a 20-shot x 1000 (Day 1) and a 40-shot x 1000 match (Day 2). The team match is a 45-shot per team member Palma match (800/900/1000).
Need targets — not just any old targets, but the correctly-sized targets for specific shooting disciplines (such as NRA Smallbore, F-Class, and 1K Benchrest)? Well you won’t find them at your neighborhood Wally World store. Precise, dimensionally-correct competition targets are producted by a half-dozen specialty printers. In this article we provide links to the leading target sellers, with a chart showing “who’s got what”. Look for your particular discipline and the vendors will be specified.
Sources for Official Shooting Competition Targets:
AccurateShooter.com offers dozens of FREE, printable targets for target practice, load development, and fun shooting. We also offer a few of the most popular NRA Bullseye targets. One or more of these printable targets should work for most training purposes. However, some readers have asked: “Where can we get the real targets… exactly like the ones used in NRA, IBS, and NBRSA shooting matches?”
All these vendors carry nearly all the NRA High Power and Smallbore targets, including the new, smaller F-Class targets. National Target has the F-Class and High Power targets, including 100-yard reductions of the 200, 300, and 600-yard military targets. Germany’s Kruger Targets sells all the important NRA targets, and international (ISSF) air rifle and smallbore targets too.
Orrville Printing currently sells IBS targets for rimfire (50 yard) benchrest, short-range centerfire Benchrest (100, 200, 300 yards), Hunter BR Rifle (100, 200, 300 yards), plus the official 600-yard and 1000-yard IBS targets. National Target Company also has most of the IBS targets. NBRSA short-range, 600-yard, and 1000-yard benchrest targets are available directly from the NBRSA Business Office. Call (307) 655-7415 to order for the season.
Report based on story in theNRA Blog
The 2017 NRA World Shooting Championship was a big success. Attendance was strong — nearly 300 competitors shot the three-day event at the Peacemaker Nat’l Training Center in Glengary, West Virginia. Both pros and amateurs competed in 12 challenging stages with a broad spectrum of firearms — rifles, shotguns, and handguns. This is the richest multi-discipline shooting event in the world. With $250,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs, competition was tough. Rankings were based on a “blend” of time plus points — you had to shoot fast AND accurately. Congrats to Pro Greg Jordan who took home the $25,000 first prize as overall winner. John Chambers finished first in the Amateur Division, Lena Miculek was High Lady, and Michael Davis was High Junior.
Greg Jordan – 2017 NRA World Shooting Champion
John Chambers – NRA World Shooting Championship – High Amateur
Lena Miculek – NRA World Shooting Championship – High Lady
Michael Davis – NRA World Shooting Championship – High Junior
(Overall winner Greg Jordan seconed from left. Photo courtesy Jim Powell)
Big Turn-Out in Amateur Division
Unlike typical matches, the NRA World Shooting Championship allows those interested in the shooting sports to compete among some of the best shooters in the world all while using the same firearms and equipment. This year, 232 competitors participated in the Amateur Division — some who had never competed in a shooting competition before!
Here are the final scores for the top 10 shooters from each division:
We want to add a special congrats to Sean Murphy of Nightforce. Sean finished 9th overall in the Pro Division, an impressive showing for an industry executive with limited time to attend matches. Sean says: “I had a great time at the NRA World Shooting Championship this weekend. It’s a 12-stage match featuring 12 different disciplines, with all equipment provided. You have to adapt to each set of rules and equipment and then shoot and be competitive. This is a fun format for both new and experienced shooters, and gives some insight [into] other disciplines. I finished at 9th place in Pro, hitting my goal of a Top 10 finish. Congratulations to Greg Jordan on the overall win, don’t spend that $25k all at once!”
WSC Highlight Video with Competitor Interviews (Past Event):
Seen at the WSC: VuDoo Gunworks Tactical .22 LR Rimfire Rifles
The WSC included a side-match featuring Vudoo Gunworks .22 LR rimfire tactical rigs. Shooters were impressed with the V-22 rifle, which looks and feels like a centerfire rig, but with a rimfire repeater action running full-size mags.
Vudoo states: “Our V-22 also runs a full-size short action bottom metal (DBM) and our V-2210 magazine has a [full-size] AICS form factor. The V-22 is the only controlled-round-feed .22 LR receiver out there. The bolt has full capture control of the cartridge from the time it leaves the magazine until it ejects the spent round out the ejection port.” That means the round never touches anything during feed travel so the bullets won’t be nicked/dented during rapid cycling. Sean Murphy of Nightforce enjoyed shooting the Vudoo Gun Works .22s: “I’ll probably end up with one of their rimfires as it is a sweet setup.”
The 2017 Fort Benning Multi-Gun Challenge will be held November 16-19, 2017. This year there will be at least 12 stages, plus more than 40 guns on the prize table!
Rifle, pistol, shotgun. More guns = more fun. If you are curious about multi-gun matches, check out this video from Shooting USA. This episode covers the 3-Gun Match at Fort Benning, Georgia. This one-of-a-kind match is the only multi-gun competition where civilians can run-and-gun on an active U.S. Army installation. What’s more, at this match competitors get to ride in a Stryker armored vehicle and shoot Army weapons such as the M249 SAW and M203 Grenade launcher. The lure of playing with military hardware, along with the quality of the stages, makes this a hugely popular 3-Gun event which quickly sells out every year.
Interested in 3-Gun Shooting? Here’s an in-depth report on the Fort Benning Multi-Gun Challenge:
Getting Started in 3-Gun Competition
Thinking of getting started in 3-Gun competition? In this NSSF video, Top Shot Finalist Chris Cerino reviews the hardware you’ll need for multi-gun matches. Chris talks about carbine configurations — including barrel, handguard, and optics options. In reviewing shotguns, Chris discusses shotshell caddies and the high-capacity extended tubular magazines now available. Cerino also demonstrates pistol techniques and explains the key features of a belt/holster rig for 3-Gun competition.
SSG Dan Horner of the USAMU, a past winner of the 3-Gun Nation Championship, is one of the country’s best multi-gun competitors. Here Horner offers some tips on 3-Gun hardware, and safety procedures:
Adapting to New Equipment
There’s a lot of hardware in 3-Gun Competition. To succeed you need mastery of ALL the tools: “New competitors should know how to operate all their equipment. They should spend time getting familiar with their equipment. I spend exponentially more time ensuring the gear is right than I do shooting.”
Safety in 3-Gun Competition
Everyone practicing with shotguns, rifles and pistols must keep safety as top priority. “Obviously, safety is the No. 1 priority, but after that, the focus should be on developing specific skills,” noted Horner. A good three-gunner must not only be fast, but he or she must also be accurate and be able to adapt to a wide variety of shooting positions. And strategy is involved too. Successful 3-gunners develop a ‘plan of attack’ for each stage.
The Visalia Sportsman’s Association Dale Wimp Shooting Range — a great place to shoot.
Report by Boyd Allen | Photos and video by Pete Kitrinos
The IBS is in the West! The first International Benchrest Shooters (IBS) match at the Visalia, CA range was held over the recent Labor Day Weekend. Despite scorching 106° heat, many of the West’s top short-range benchrest shooters assembled for the first IBS-sanctioned match (after a 30-year history with the NBRSA) at the Visalia range. The mix of shooters included at least one Benchrest Hall of Fame member, as well as NBRSA record holders. Competitors were happy to return to Visalia, which had been closed for seven months while range improvements were made (some parts of the East berm were still under construction). With only two ranges in the entire state holding short range group matches, the temporary loss of Visalia had a significant impact. It was time to get back to business — the business of shooting tiny groups.
This video includes Aerial Drone footage of the range — worth watching!
Surrounded by fields, the Visalia Range is located in California’s Central Valley, a rich agricultural area.
For about thirty years the California 3-Gun Benchrest Championship match has been held at the Visalia Sportsman’s Association Dale Wimp Range over Labor Day weekend. For all those years, the matches have been put on by local shooter and current club president Dennis Thornbury. During a good part of that time, he has also managed to keep his name in the NBRSA record book, and pick up four Benchrest Hall of Fame points, as well as having recently done a tour as NBRSA president. This year’s match is sanctioned by the IBS, a first at Visalia.
Don “The Pumpkin” Nielson used an action he fabricated, a “fat bolt” aluminum 3-lug with steel insert.
Dennis Thornbury has been putting on registered matches at the Visalia range for 30 years. He holds an NBRSA record, and has 4 Hall of Fame points.
The format: On Saturday competitors shot 100 yards all day, Sporter in the morning, Light Varmint in the afternoon. The following day the morning competition was Heavy Varmint at 100 and at lunch the targets were moved to 200 yards with Heavy Varmint being shot that afternoon. On Monday, Labor Day, at 200 yards, Light Varmint was shot in the morning and Sporter in the afternoon. All three days consisted of five, 5-shot matches in the morning and five more in the afternoon.
Morning, Day 1 — Very few “daisy wheels”. This has been the trend for many years at this range.
Getting down to business. Shown, from right to left: Henry Pinkney, Joe Stanovich, Steve Epstein, Keith Cottrell (face obscured), Jim Nicolas (standing).
Sunday Top Shots: Jack Childers, Keith Cottrell, John Pierce, Lester Bruno, Dennis Thornbury, and Don Nielson. (Yes that’s a corn field in the background):
With the big temp changes between morning and afternoon, competitors were chasing powder loads all weekend. Small groups were hard to find, so only three “screamers” were recorded all weekend, and no teen Aggs. With the oppressive heat, attrition was also a factor: “We started with 30 shooters, and ended with just 21 competitors”.
Temperatures were in the triple digits for Saturday and Sunday, backing off to the high 90s on Monday. High humidity made it feel even hotter — heat stress was a definite issue. Even the rifles seemed to be at less than their best, causing very light wind conditions to produce Aggregates that were larger than the observed wind conditions would lead one to expect. Wind was generally light and switchy. Lighter mornings with wind increasing slightly through the days. Sunday saw more wind than the other two days after ten o’clock or so.
Loading benches with the usual clutter. Note the LabRadar chronograph on a bench at the firing line. Lawrence Weisdorn tracked his velocities during the match to know when a powder charge adjustment was needed.
Top Shooters: The Top Five in the 3-Gun (HV, LV, and Sporter) Championship were: Keith Cottrell (.2534), John Pierce (.2695), Dennis Thornbury (.2714), Art Kawai (.2885), and Rich Shaw (.3016). Winners of the Class Grand Aggs were Dennis Thornbury (HV .2424), Lester Bruno (LV .2400), and Keith Cottrell (Sporter .2395). CLICK HERE for full Match Results.
Equipment List for Top Five Shooters
You can use a LabRadar during competition. This was Lawrence Weisdorn’s set-up at Visalia.
Benchrest Technique — How to Shoot at Visalia
This range is built a bit like a large bathtub, dug into a flat field with the excavated earth thrown up in steep berms on three sides. This configuration and the usual lack of strong winds creates a lot of thermal-generated switchiness with flags changing direction often and very little agreement within any shooter’s set. This places a high premium on visual memory and the ability to judge equivalent conditions, because duplicates are almost never seen. Although the opportunity to run groups can happen, this is mostly a “pickers” range, which places a high premium on visual memory.
Facilities at Visalia Sportsman’s Association Range
There are 28 monolithic, steel-reinforced, concrete benches (poured in place, base and top all one pour). The reloading area is behind the benches with most of it on the same level as the benches. There are permanent (fixed position) tables that have laminate tops, except for where the range house sits, mid-range, with a “wailing wall” along its east and north sides. The direction of fire is north. The benches are under a slightly pitched metal roof that has recently been extended so that it has a good amount of overhang in front of the benches. Electricity is available in the reloading area and there are a few electrical outlets in the parking lot for RVs. There are both steps and a wheelchair ramp connecting parking lot to the reloading level and the shooting level.
Field of (Benchrest) Dreams — Precision Shooting Among the California Corn Fields.
