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September 19th, 2012
Congrats to the U.S.A. F-Class Team which triumphed in the 2012 Stars & Stripes Challenge Match held September 16 at Raton, New Mexico. The showcase event in the Stars & Stripes Match is a team competition with 8-man national teams. Team USA finished first with a 3443-107X combined score. In second place was the South Africa Protea Team with 3428-88X. Team Australia came in thirds with 3398-81X, and Team Canada scored 3364-63X to secure fourth place. In the photo below, Team USA members celebrate their victory. Shown (left to right) are: Charles Ballard, Larry Taite, Laura Perry, John Weil, Trudie Fay, Shiraz Balolia (Captain), Bob Mead, Rick Hunt, Jeff Rorer, Darrell Buell, Jim Murphy and Larry Bartholome.
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Along with the signature National Team Event, the Stars & Stripes event featured 4-person team matches for both F-Open and F-TR divisions. Winner of the F-Open 4-person event, with a 1757-65X score, was Team Long Shots, captained by Mark Walker and coached by Michelle Gallagher. Team shooters were: David Baily, David Gosnell, Ken Dickerman, and Mark Walker. Finishing first in the 4-person F-TR team event was Team Misfits, coached and captained by Lige Harris. Lige also shot on the team, along with Leslie Jones, Tom Jones, and John Kills. Team Misfits scored 1710-34X to secure a 16-point victory over F-TR runner-up U.S. Development Team #4.
CLICK HERE for Complete Stars & Stripes Challenge Match Results.
September 16th, 2012
 The Spirit of America Match at Raton, New Mexico has concluded. Bryan Litz provided this quick wrap-up last evening: “Just a short time to report the winners before heading to the awards dinner. Larry Bartholome won F-Open, Trudie Fay won F-TR, and Nancy Tompkins won the sling class. The match came down to the last relay at 1000 yards. The photo at right shows a common result in the switching winds. Lots of target uprights were damaged and shooters grateful for hanging a six by half an inch! Congratulations to all competitors for persevering [in] Raton’s difficult conditions!”
Below are match photos taken by Bryan Litz. You’ll find more Spirit of America Match photos on the Applied Ballistics Facebook Page.
September 15th, 2012
 300m Lapua European Cup Finals are currently underway in Zagreb, Croatia. The prone events have concluded — and Lapua ammo shooters dominated the field, with the little 6mmBR topping all other cartridge types in both the mens’ and womens’ divisions. There have been challengers to the 300m crown, including Norma’s 6XC and Lapua’s own 6.5×47, but it appears that the 6mmBR cartridge is still “King of the Hill” at 300 meters. We know that Lapua’s 6mmBR factory ammo is outstanding. This factory 6mmBR ammo shot well under quarter-MOA in one Eliseo Tubegun we tested (READ 6mmBR Tubegun Story).
The European Cup Finals continue today with mens’ 3×40 and ladies’ 3×20 matches. On Sunday, the last day of the competition, the Mens’ 3×20 Standard Rifle and Super Finals are slated. Here are results from Friday’s 300m Prone matches:
| Mens’ 300m Prone Results
1. Antti Puhakka, FIN 599-34X – 6mm BR
2. Juha Rutonen, FIN 598-42X – 6mm BR
3. Josselin Henry, FRA 597-32X – 6.5×47 Lapua
4. M. Ackermann, SUI 597-32X – 6.5×47 Lapua
5. Mikhael D’Halluin, FRA 596-39X – 6mm BR
All Top 5 male shooters used Lapua
factory-loaded ammunition. |
Women’s 300m Prone Results
1. Catherine Houlmont, FRA 599-39x – 6mm BR
2. Charlotte Jakobsen, DEN 598-38x – 6mm BR
3. Eva Friedel, GER 598-32x – 6mm BR
All Top 3 female shooters used Lapua factory-loaded 6mmBR ammunition.
L to R in photo below:
Jakobsen, Houlmont, Friedel |
CLICK HERE for Complete 300m European Cup Results from Zagreb.
September 14th, 2012
Report by Bryan Litz
Day 3 of the Spirit of America Individual Aggregate (Thursday, 9/13/2012) started out cold and misty. Everyone was pretty much wearing every shred of clothing they had to get thru the morning, but the afternoon warmed up nicely. Short range was typical; constant and relatively calm at 300 and 500, but the wind kicked up about the time we started shooting 600 and some points started falling. After lunch we shot 900 yards and the points really started falling! As expected, the chaos shook up the standings quite a bit.
Controversy in Sling Class
In the sling class, Noma Mayo was the high shooter at 4 points down. Noma shot a miss at 600 yards, challenged it, and lost the challenge. She finished the range, then later went to the stat house and had the miss removed from her score card. A formal protest was filed, but her amended score stood (without a miss). Needless to say, the result is somewhat controversial, especially considering that Noma is in contention to win the tournament. The current standings in the individual sling aggregate are: Nancy Tompkins at 6 points down, Noma Mayo at 8 points down, and Bryan Litz at 9 points down.
Trudie Fay Continues to Lead F-TR
In F-TR, Trudie Fay continues her dominant performance at 13 points down to win the day. Trudie is also leading the F-TR aggregate with one day to go. Tomorrow is the Raton 8-man team match.
Larry Bartholome won the F-Open class at 7 points down for the day (Aggregate standings were not posted as of when we left the range so it’s difficult to calculate those full standings).
Click Links for Day 3 Full Results: F-Class Individual | Sling Individual
September 12th, 2012
Here is Bryan Litz’s latest report from the Spirit of America Match, underway at the Whittington Range in Raton, New Mexico. You can follow Bryan’s posts on the Applied Ballistics Facebook Page.
Report from Raton
Today was the second day of individual Fullbore shooting at the Spirit of America match. Some clouds moved in for part of the day and showered on us for about 15 minutes in the afternoon, but other than that the weather was good. There was wind, but nowhere near bad for Raton.
David Crandall won the sling class with the only clean for the day, followed by Bryan Litz, Bob Steketee, and Rick Hunt who were all down 1 point. For the Aggregate standings, Bryan and Nancy Tompkins are tied at 898, but Bryan has 57 Xs to Nancy’s 55. That’s a narrow margin with two days remaining!
Bill Litz, Bryan Litz, Michelle Gallagher, Nancy Tompkins
F-Class Results
Results in F-Open are interesting in that the top three places for todays shooting are also the same top 3 in the Aggregate. The winners for today, and leaders in the F-Open class are [familiar names]: Jim Murphy, Larry Bartholome, and Danny Biggs. These guys are three of the best F-class shooters in the USA. They’ll be difficult to catch.
Top three in F-TR today were: Trudie Fay, Ray Gross, and Darcy Spenst. Local shooter and U.S. Palma Team member Trudie Fay is also leading the F-TR aggregate by a decent margin. This comes as no suprise, as Raton is Trudie’s home range and she’s won the sling class of this tournament in the past. South African Ivan Lamprecht is second in the aggregate so far (Ivan is shooting ammo provided by Applied Ballistics Munitions!). Ray Gross of Team Sinclair is in 3rd place, despite having a miss on the first day of the tournament! Were it not for that, Ray would be leading by (up to) 7 points. Bill Litz (of Applied Ballistics Munitions) got off to a great start today, only losing 5 points in the morning (300, 500 and 600 yards). Bill’s new rifle built by John Pierce of Pierce Engineering is shooting the 215 grain Berger Hybrids EXTREMELY well. In Bill’s words: “That thing’s a freakin’ laser!”.
Two more days of individual shooting remain (on Thursday and Saturday), so we’re only half way through the tournament. Tomorrow’s 4-man team match will conclude the Team Aggregate.
Here are links to Day 2 full scores: F-TR | F-Open | Sling Class
September 10th, 2012
Bryan Litz of Applied Ballistics LLC, will be providing daily Spirit of America Match updates via the Applied Ballistics Facebook page. The match kicked off yesterday, September 9th, in Raton, New Mexico. Bryan says “Stay tuned this week as the drama unfolds and the best individuals and teams compete for the Championship”. Here is Bryan’s initial report:
 The Spirit Of America Match kicked off [Sunday] at the NRA Whittington center in Raton, NM. Clear skies, good weather and gentle winds greeted shooters from the USA as well four visiting countries: Australia, Canada, South Africa, and Germany. Applied Ballistics produced ammunition for both the South African and Australian teams. Bill might have done his job too well, since two out of the eight people ahead of him in the F/TR class are South African shooters whose ammo he personally loaded!
Bryan is one point behind leader Nancy Tompkins in the sling class (Nancy cleaned the course today!). Bill Wittman is four points ahead of second place in F-Open with a 446-22X!
Click links for Day One results for sling, F-Open, and F-TR shooters: F-Open | F-TR | Sling Division
September 8th, 2012
Story based on report by Kyle Jillson in NRAblog.
Carl Bernosky wasn’t the only shooter to win an award at the 2012 High Power Rifle Championships. The ten-time champ* was joined at the Award Ceremonies by plenty of other talented competitors who received awards for High Woman, High Junior, High Senior and many other classifications.
National Championship
First Place: Carl R. Bernosky, Ashland, PA, 2391-141x
Second Place: SGT Sherri J. Gallagher, Englewood, CO, 2390-131x
Third Place: Staff Sergeant Brandon K. Green, Fort Benning, GA, 2388-135x
Winners of Other Trophies and Awards
Here is a gallery showing many of the award winners at the 2012 National High Power Championships. These photos were taken backstage at the awards ceremony. Below the gallery, winners in both Service and Match Division are listed, along with their awards and relevant scores.
*Carl Bernosky won the Match Rifle Trophy in 1981, putting him at eleven all-time, but D. I. Boyd outshot him with the service rifle by one point, bringing about one of the rare occasions the Service Rifle Champion is also the overall winner.
September 7th, 2012
The Spirit of America Match (SOA) and F-Class National Championship Match are both scheduled this month at the Whittington Center in Raton, NM. The SOA Match starts September 9th (this upcoming Sunday), while the F-Class Nationals kick off September 17th. Over the next couple of weeks, hundreds of shooters will be hauling tons of gear to the Raton firing lines (and back again). Carrying all that hardware by hand quickly gets tiring. Accordingly, you’ll see a variety of range carts, converted strollers, and other two-, three-, and four-wheeled haulers used by competitors to tote their gear.
Folding Wagon Holds 150 Pounds of Gear
If you’re looking for an affordable, light-weight gear hauler, consider the $79.95 Mac Sports Folding Wagon from Creedmoor Sports. With a load capacity of 150 pounds, this cleverly-designed folding wagon is great for transporting all your shooting gear to and from the firing line. The Mac Sports Folding Wagon opens up to 37″ x 21″ x 23″, large enough to hold shooting mats, front pedestal rests, spotting scope stands, ammo boxes and more.
 Folding Wagon Stows Easily in Vehicle
The wagon folds up in seconds for convenient storage in its own carry bag. When collapsed, the Mac Sports Folding Wagon fits easily into a small car trunk. It weighs just 26 pounds (unloaded), but its steel frame allows it to carry nearly six times its own weight in gear (150-lb load capacity). When you’re not shooting, the wagon is also great for small hauling jobs around the yard. CLICK HERE to order from Creedmoor Sports (green, $79.95). Target.com and some Target retail stores also offer the Max Sports Folding Wagon for $79.99 in red or green livery.
Product tip from Boyd Allen. We welcome reader submissions.
September 6th, 2012
 The 2012 IBS 1000-Yard National Championship was held August 31-Sept. 1 in Peeltree, WV at the White Horse Firearms and Outdoor Education Center. The match went well, with over 80 entries in both Light Gun and Heavy Gun classes. Light Gun and Heavy Gun relays were shot both days. Conditions were generally good, though it did get windy on Saturday.
Pennsylvania gunsmith Mark King topped the highly competitive field, placing first in the Two-Gun Grand Overall. Mark shot his trusty 6mm Dashers well in both Light Gun and Heavy Gun divisions to finish with 34 ranking points (lower is better). Mark’s LG had a Broughton barrel, while his HG had a Bartlein barrel. In second place Overall was runner-up Jeff Green with 49 ranking points. Tom Murtiff had a great run with his Light Gun, winning the LG Division after placing first in LG Score and fourth in LG Group. James O’Hara was second in Light Gun, followed by Mark King in third. In Heavy Gun division, the top two positions were separated by a single rank point. Jeffrey Moltern took the HG title after finishing first in HG group and sixth in HG score. Just one rank point behind Moltern in the HG class was Bud Williams, who finished fifth in HG Group and third in HG Score.
CLICK HERE for Complete 2012 IBS 1000-Yard National Championship Match Results
September 5th, 2012
Report based on Story by Steve Cooper, CMP Writer
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has purchased roughly 500 acres of property just south of the Talladega Speedway in Alabama for the purpose of building a new CMP Outdoor Marksmanship Facility. As planned, the new site will include a high power rifle range, 100-yard smallbore range, ten (10) action pistol bays, and a shotgun range. The multi-phase, multi-year project will allow the CMP to offer competitions and marksmanship training at a state-of-the-art facility in the Southeast. “With the support of friends of the Civilian Marksmanship Program, we envision a facility that will provide … a safe, instructive environment where CMP will conduct training, competitions and related events near our Anniston home, less than 30 minutes away,” said CMP Chief Operating Officer, Orest Michaels.
 The facility, projected to be completed in five phases, will be located three miles from the Talladega Superspeedway, and will be accessible from the Eastaboga (#173) or Talladega (#168) Interstate 20 exits. The facility property is situated near Turners Mill Road, south of the speedway and two miles north of downtown Talladega. For now the CMP has cleared land for access roads and constructed a pair of 200-yard highpower rifle firing points for testing and evaluation purposes.
The following is a general description of the multi-year project phases, which will be supported by a CMP capital campaign. As with all projections of its magnitude, the project phases may vary and are subject to unforseen development and funding constraints:
- Phase I – to establish a 50-point rifle range with firing lines at 100 and 200 yards, complete with fully-operational target pits with manually-operated cantilever style target carriers and a state of the art electronic target system.
- Phase II – Expand the range by adding 300- and 600-yard firing lines, utilizing Phase I features and adding permanent restroom facilities.
- Phase III – Construct a 100-yard smallbore range, a 50-yard pistol range, a 50-foot pistol range and a 10-Bay action pistol range.
- Phase IV – Complete classrooms for firearm safety and marksmanship training.
- Phase V – Create a five-stand, 12-station sporting clays range.
 At present the CMP leases outdoor ranges at Camp Perry to conduct the Small Arms Firing Schools, clinics and games events during the annual National Matches in July and August. Additionally the CMP has conducted regional events and clinics at non-CMP facilities in Arizona, California, Georgia, North Carolina and Oklahoma. “Eventually the CMP Outdoor Marksmanship Facility will provide us greater flexibility with outdoor programming and allow us to offer additional opportunities to participate in firearm safety and marksmanship events in the southeastern U.S.,” Michaels added.
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