While on the fields of Camp Perry during the Smallbore 3-Position Rifle Championships, NRABlog editor Lars Dalseide had the opportunity to interview Reya Kempley, a very talented young lady. A past Woman’s Champion, Reya finished fourth overall in this year’s 3-Position Championships. Reya is also a trained pilot, and she has written a book on flight safety procedures.
Report Based on Story by Lars Dalseide forNRAblog.
Shooting along side her brother Tarl, Reya has enjoyed a high level of success at the National Smallbore Rifle Championships. Not only did she manage to capture the Woman’s and Civilian’s Smallbore Prone titles, she also finished 2nd overall in the Prone Championships. It was the 3-Position that proved to be more of a challenge. “For standing and prone I was a little bit nervous because this is Camp Perry, but it was under control and I felt good. For kneeling I’m hoping to still be in the hunt.”
“For me I’ve been struggling with the kneeling for a while,” explained Kempley “It’s something with my pulse, the sights move around a bit more. In standing I’m usually stiller and have a few more pauses to break the shot. That’s not how it’s suppose to be so. If I’m calm in kneeling I can shoot decent but when the nerves and the pulse gets going. That’s my challenge in 3-position right now.”
Part of the challenge could be that her time shooting 3-Position Rifle is reserved for Metrics, Perry and practice. Despite her numerous Prone victories, the it can be difficult to translate that to the 3-P field. “I wasn’t nervous during the standing portion of Metrics but it was still good practice,” said Kempley. “I try to make myself nervous, recreate the conditions, but it doesn’t always work.”
Kempley Has Written Book on Aviation Safety
Getting away from the office, recharging the batteries, is a necessity for everyone. The same could be said for getting away from the range. In addition to working with her brother on BeeSafe, an online store for smallbore barrels, gun safes and more, Reya found solace in the writing and publication of her new book Flight Emergency: Take the Left Seat in Eight Role-Playing Emergency Scenarios.
“I’m definitely into aviation, learned to fly and had an idea for an interactive adventure book about flight training with a focus on emergencies,” explained Kempley. “Thought I’d just go for it. I didn’t want to be an 80-year-old woman and regret never trying.” Her book was published last fall. Sales were encouraging enough to proceed with an eBook version. “People are more willing to give it a try electronically than with paperback,” said Kempley. “That’s just how the market is.” With 4.4 stars out of 5 on GoodReads.com and 4 out of 5 on Amazon.com, there could be a second book on the horizon. More on flying? Learning the barrel roll? Shooting Smallbore in the Camp Perry sun?
Story based on report by Lars Dalseide forNRAblog The 8th Annual NRA World Action Pistol Championship (WAPC) takes place September 12-16 in Phillipsburg, Germany. The event will be held at Schießanlage Philippsburg (Shooting Philippsburg), Germany’s largest indoor/outdoor Shooting Range. Located roughly 23 miles from Heidelberg in the Bavarian countryside, the Phillippsburg Range has previously hosted German and European shooting Championships.
The 8th Annual WAPC is a Bianchi Cup-style event with individual and team World Championships up for grabs with four firearms classes: Open Class, Open Modified Class, Metallic Sights Class, Production Class. There are also separate titles awarded for Aggregate World Champion, Revolver World Champion, Ladies World Champion, Senior World Champion, and Junior World Champion. Competitors will include ace American shooters Doug Koenig, Bruce Piatt, Jessie Duff, Julie Golob and Louis Surgi.
Representing the NRA in Germany will be Competitive Shooting Director Dennis Willing, NRA National Pistol Manager Tom Hughes, and other NRA personnel. Dennis and his crew will spend five days in Phillippsburg covering the event. Hughes is happy to make the trip. They are going to hold a Bavarian style barbeque,” said Hughes. “When I was stationed in Germany, I never had the opportunity to attend one of those so I’m looking forward to it.” To learn more about the 8th Annual NRA World Action Pistol Championship, visit the WAPC website at www.8wapc.com.
More than 500 competitors from 43 states and three foreign countries made their way to Rockcastle Shooting Center (Park City, KY) this past weekend to participate in the AR15.com/Rockcastle Pro-Am 3-Gun Championship. These attendance numbers are huge for a shooting match. The 2012 Rockcastle Pro-Am set a new record as the single largest gathering of competitors and sponsors ever for the emerging sport of 3-Gun. At this year’s Rockcastle event, the nation’s top 3-Gun pros competed on eight tough stages designed by past/present 3-Gun champions. Amateurs shot seven similar stages on a separate course, tailored especially for the amateur/celebrity competitors. CLICK HERE for complete match results.
16-year-old Noveske Shooting Team member Katie Harris at Pro Stage 7, Day 1 of the Rockcastle Pro-Am 3-Gun Championship. Photo by Magpul Industries.
Here’s the official Rockcastle Pro-Am promo video produced at the 2011 Championship:
Here’s a POV (Helmet Cam) Video Taken by Competitor Rick Birdsall in the 2012 Rockcastle Pro-Am:
Story based on report by Kyle Jillson inNRAblog.
In 1874, the first Creedmoor match was shot at the Creedmoor range on Long Island, New York. Competitors lined up at 800, 900 and 1,000 yards in a match between the United States’ best shooters and a team from Ireland. The NRA has preserved that match throughout the years and the exact course of fire is shot today in the Creedmoor Championship, held most recently at Raton, New Mexico.
After a two days of tough shooting conditions at the NRA Whittington Center, Dave Gullo received his fifth Castle Trophy after winning the Creedmoor Championship (for black powder cartridge rifles) with a score of 533-10X out of a possible 600. Gullo finished the first day of the championship in second, trailing Rick Moritz by just one point. But Gullo passed Moritz at the 800-yard relay. From that point on, Gullo didn’t look back.
Gullo’s spotting partner John Venhous finished second overall a 519-4X. For his role in Gullo’s Creedmoor victory, Venhouse also was recognized with the High Spotter award. Last year’s Creedmoor champion, Keith “Doc” Lay, finished third after a hard-fought defense of his title, shooting a 510-5X.
Gullo also took the Iron Man title this year. The Iron Man Medal is awarded to the competitor with the highest overall score in all the NRA Black Powder Target Rifle matches: Position, Prone, and Creedmoor. Gullo, posting a 526-3X in Positon, 574-17X in Prone and his 533-10X in Creedmoor became the 2012 Iron Man with a total of 1633-30X, which was 15 points ahead of runner-up Doc Lay. An Iron Woman award is also given to the highest female shooter across all matches and this year’s winner was Kelly McNitt, who shot a 1438-11x.
Creedmoor Championship
1. Dave Gullo: 533-10x
2. John Venhous: 519-4x
3. Keith Lay: 510-5x
4. Bryan Youngberg: 498-5x
5. Rick Moritz: 491-11x
Iron Man Competition
1. Dave Gullo: 1633-30x
2. Keith Lay : 1618-21x
3. Rick Moritz: 1609-35x
4. John Venhous: 1563-26x
5. Jack Odor: 1554-24x
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has developed a handy iPhone App to be used for scoring CMP Matches. The CMP’s program for Apple smart phones and iPads is called, appropriately, iPhone App – CMP. This new App’s easy to use interface allows quick recording of a shooter’s score after each string. The CMP App also calculates your shooting percentages automatically throughout the event. In addition, the shooter can enter notes or record wind, temp and other conditions in a notes field.
This application is sponsored and endorsed by the Civilian Marksmanship Program and is now the official mobile App for keeping score at CMP-sponsored shooting events. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the iPhone App – CMP are donated to the CMP. This application is sponsored and endorsed by the Civilian Marksmanship Program and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this software are donated to the CMP.
Sebastian (“Seb”) Lambang of SEB Coaxial is donating the first-of-its-kind production MAX rest as a prize for the IBS 1000-yard Nationals. This is a very generous donation, as the standard MAX front rest will retail for over $1000, and this special prize edition features a special “high-bling” fully polished base. The match directors will determine whether the rest will be awarded to the overall Two-Gun champion or whether, instead, the rest is offered as a door prize, giving all match attendees a chance at winnning.
The SEB MAX rest employs a counter-balancer design with tuned weights on a forward facing shaft. This allows the MAX to work smoothly with guns up to 110 pounds overall. Seb notes: “I will send the rest with a set of counterweights (with various slip-on ‘rings’, to accept gun weights ranging from 40 to 110 pounds). I will also include an ammo-holder set and clock-holder as well.” The complete MAX rest weighs about 44 pounds.
Seb hopes to get feedback on the MAX rest from shooters attending the IBS 1000-yard Nationals: “Any shooters [at the 1K IBS Nationals] can try the rest and I would love to hear how it works and what you think. Or just put your gun on the rest top/front bag, ‘play’ the joystick, adjust the slip-on rings back & forth, use the appropriate ring(s). You will easily determine the correct weight/ring positions once you try the rest. With the correct ‘tuned’ counterweight, the force required to push the joystick upward is the same as the force needed to push downward. And no matter how heavy your gun, with the correct counter-balance weight, the force needed to move the joystick should be the same …effortless.”
The highly-polished prize-model MAX rest in the top photos is a one-of-a-kind, the first to be delivered to North America. Regular production starts soon. Seb tells us: “I will start to build the production MAX rests on first week of September, to be finished around late November-mid Dec 2012. I’m preparing 75 units on this run. About 40 units will be going to the USA, about 20 or more will be going to Australia.” Contact your SEB dealer for pricing and information.
The 2012 Paralympic Games run August 29 – September 9, 2012. The 277 American athletes named to the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team will compete in 19 sports contested throughout the 11 days of competition. Among the events will be target shooting. Profiles of Team USA’s Paralympic atheletes, including pistol shooter Eric Hollen and rifle shooter SFC Josh Olson, are provided in the official 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team Media Guide. This handy guide to the Paralympics can be downloaded for free.
Eric Hollen — Paralympic Pistol Shooter
Hollen, a former U.S. Army Ranger in the 2/75 Ranger Regiment, suffered a life-altering injury on his horse farm in Tennessee. Getting involved in competitive pistol shooting has helped Hollen adjust to life after his injury. Showing great determination, Hollen is now one of the top paralympic pistol shooters in the world. At the IPC World Cup Sydney, he won a Silver Medal in Air Pistol and a Bronze Medal in Free Pistol. Hollen is looking forward to the challenge in London: “This has been 10 years in the making and it’s an awesome opportunity to represent my country. I shoot with the best able-bodied athletes in the world here at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and I have the opportunity to now go and win my matches and that’s what I’m setting out to do.” Hollen will compete in the Men’s P1 10-meter Air Pistol event on August 30th. On September 6th, he’ll compete in the 50-meter free Pistol event.
USAMU Rifle Marksman SFC Josh Olson
While on patrol with his unit (101st Airborne Div., 3rd Brigade 1/187) in Iraq in 2003, SFC Josh Olson was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade resulting in the loss of his right leg from the hip down. After spending 18 months at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Olson was assigned to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit in Fort Benning, Georgia. Olson has been a member of the Paralympic National Team for five years, but this will be the first time Olson competes at the international Paralympic Games. Olson will begin competition on Saturday, September 1 in the 10-meter Air Rifle Prone event followed by the Smallbore (.22 caliber) 50-meter Rifle Prone on Tuesday, September 4. In the video below, you can learn more about Olson’s background and courageous process of rehabilitation.
This week the NRA Black Powder Target Rifle Championship is being held at the Whittington Center in Raton, NM. Top Black Powder Cartridge Rifle (BPCR) shooters from around the country have come to Raton to test their skills during a week-long event with targets set from 200 to 1000 yards. Today through Thursday, mid-range matches continue at 200 to 600 yards. On the firing line you’ll see many handsome, custom-built BPCRs (Sharps, Ballards, Browning High Walls, Rolling Blocks) with exquisite wood, hand-checkering, and color-case-hardened receivers.
The 800-1000 yard Creedmoor matches will be held Friday and Saturday, August 24-25. Interestingly, for safety reasons, there are minimum bullet weight and muzzle velocity requirements for the Creedmoor matches. These BPCR shooters launch some seriously heavy projectiles downrange:
Not content with their great performances at the NRA Long-Range Championships and America Match held at Camp Perry, shooting teams from Australia and Great Britain have crossed our northern border in search of new worlds to conquer. Brit and Aussie shooters are now in Ottawa, Ontario, competing at the 130th Canadian Fullbore Rifle Championships. Held at Ottawa’s famed Connaught Ranges, the Fullbore Championships attract many of the world’s top marksmen, including David Calvert of the Great Britain Rifle team. After completing the initial Ottawa Regiment match, Calvert leads the way in the target rifle division. Calvert posted a 75-12V, narrowing edging Justin Hearn (75-11V)
Along with the sling-shooters, F-Class competitors test their skills this weekend in Ottawa. Alexander Tklitch shot a 75-7V to lead the F-Open Division, while Kevin Chou posted a 74-10V to top the F/F field by two Vs. Why are we referring to “Vs” rather than “Xs”? In international competition, the “V” area is the center-zone equivalent to our X-Ring in the USA. However, the Scoring Ring values are different. On International fullbore and F-Class targets, the highest scoring ring has a value of 5, not 10 as in the USA. So, a 75 score represents the max points possible for 15 shots. If all those shots land in the V zone, the total, for 15 shots, would be 75-15V.
The Varmint Hunters Association (VHA) has a very cool feature on its VHA website — a virtual tour of the VHA 600-Yard Range and Clubhouse in Pierre, South Dakota. Special panorama software stiches together dozens of images, allowing you to “walk through” the range, from the Clubhouse lawn down to the 300-yard line. You can “pan” and “zoom” from any location, or you can use the quick-navigation menu to visit the Lobby, Gift Shop, Clubhouse lawn, 100-yard mark, or 300-yard mark. This fun virtual tour is truly the next best thing to being there. It would be great if similar virtual tours were available for other popular ranges such as Camp Perry (OH), Raton (NM), Deep Creek (MT), Sacramento Valley (CA), and Williamsport (PA).
After a few seconds, the virtual tour will start rotating (it can make you a bit dizzy). To stop movement, left-click with your mouse anywhere in the view-frame, or hit the “auto-rotate” control in the lower left (globe icon). Use the right/left arrows to move horizontally. Use the up/down arrows to tilt your view vertically — but be careful — hold the up-arrow a bit too long and you’ll be seeing nothing but blue sky. There are also plus/minus zoom controls. When the orange navigation box disappears, you’ll find the directional controls in the lower RIGHT hand corner. You can also restore the orange control box by clicking the left-most “Navigation Info” icon in the lower LEFT.
Note: If you want to visit the VHA range in person, during summer months it is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 am through 5:00 pm, and by appointment on weekends.
FREE Digital Editions of Varmint Hunter Magazine
While you’re visiting the VHA website, you can also read the FREE Spring 2012 and Summer 2012 digital Editions of Varmint Hunter Magazine. Both the Spring 2012 and Summer 2012 issues contain dozens of informative articles about precision shooting and hunting. Even if you’re not a varmint hunter, you’ll learn something new about shooting in these magazines. CLICK HERE to read FREE Varmint Hunter Magazine Digital Editions.
Story Tip by EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
“I’m definitely into aviation, learned to fly and had an idea for an interactive adventure book about flight training with a focus on emergencies,” explained Kempley. “Thought I’d just go for it. I didn’t want to be an 80-year-old woman and regret never trying.” Her book was published last fall. Sales were encouraging enough to proceed with an eBook version. “People are more willing to give it a try electronically than with paperback,” said Kempley. “That’s just how the market is.” With 4.4 stars out of 5 on GoodReads.com and 4 out of 5 on Amazon.com, there could be a second book on the horizon. More on flying? Learning the barrel roll? Shooting Smallbore in the Camp Perry sun?
The 8th Annual NRA World Action Pistol Championship (WAPC) takes place September 12-16 in Phillipsburg, Germany. The event will be held at 
More than 500 competitors from 43 states and three foreign countries made their way to 
The 
Eric Hollen — Paralympic Pistol Shooter
