Here is late-breaking news from the Firearms Industry Super Shoot at the Kelbly’s Range in North Lawrence, Ohio. Canadian George Carter has won the 2010 overall two-gun Super Shoot Championship. Together with his lovely wife Vera, the Carters also won the husband and wife event, and Vera placed first in the woman’s 13.5-lb (Heavy Varmint) competition. We are told that Gene Bukys placed second overall by a very narrow margin, and it has been reported that Bart Sauter (of Bart’s Bullets), finished third. According to Bill Gammon, who took the photos below, the match was well-attended, with shooters from many different countries including: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Indonesia, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, UK, and the USA.
Kudos to the Carters, and congratulations to all who participated in this year’s Super Shoot. View more photos on the Benchrest in Canada Forum.
COMPLETE RESULTS of 2010 Super Shoot
Attached below are the complete results of the 2010 Super Shoot in various file formats. The summaries provide event by event rankings for the top shooters. The comprehensive files list all match results (and aggs), shooter by shooter, in alphabetical order. Sorry, no equipment lists are available yet.
1. GEORGE CARTER 0.2233
2. GENE BUKYS 0.2243
3. BART SAUTER 0.2295
4. BOB SCARBROUGH, JR. 0.2296
5. TIM HUMPHREYS 0.2328
6. JEFF SUMMERS 0.2348
7. DALE BOOP 0.2377
8. DAVE BRUNO 0.2413
9. STEVE THEYE 0.2439
10. DAVID KERR 0.2443
11. LEE HACHIGIAN 0.2452
12. BILL SYMON 0.2468
13. DWIGHT SCOTT 0.2521
14. KEN HOTTENSTEIN 0.2525
15. PAT HURLEY 0.2526
16. TONY BOYER 0.2540
17. HARLEY BAKER 0.2593
18. JACK NEARY 0.2601
19. LARRY COSTA 0.2616
20. JEFF GAIDOS 0.2621
In the 10.5-lb (LV) class the Grand Agg Top Five were: 1. Steve Theye 0.2161; 2. Gene Bukys 0.2225; 3. Bob Scarbrough, JR. 0.2267; 4. Andy Shifflet 0.2283; 5. Larry Costa 0.2289. Bart Sauter had the low 100-yard LV Agg at 0.1874, while Steve Theye had the best 200-yard LV Agg at 0.1964. Small Group was shot by Eddie Harris, an 0.077 at 100 yards.
For the 13.5-lb (HV) class, the Grand Agg Top Five were: 1. George Carter 0.2176; 2. Bart Sauter 0.2242; 3. Gene Bukys 0.2261; 4. Dave Bruno 0.2315; 5. Tim Humphreys 0.2322 Smiley Hensley won the 100-yard HV Agg, with an 0.1774, while Jim Carmichael had the best HV 200-yard Agg, an 0.2161. Small Group was an 0.087 shot by Bob Hammack at 100 yards.
The First Eastern Armed Forces Memorial Match is being hosted by the Quantico Shooting Club this Memorial Day weekend. Each year, 14 military service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country will be honored at this match. The trophies will bear the names of the service members and the winner of each match. All match entry fees are donated to the Remembering the Brave Foundation, which was founded by Stephen Beck. Steve was a Casualty Assistance Officer in the Marine Corps and is a high power shooter. This match was his idea as a way to remember our fallen heroes.
De Oppresso Liber (“to Liberate the Oppressed”) is the motto of the United States Army Special Forces.
The 1000-yard individual match is named in honor of PO1 Joseph Adam McSween. Adam’s mother Florence was present and spoke to the group of shooters after the match about her son. Adam was killed by enemy action while conducting combat operations in Kirkuk in 2007. he presented the trophy named for her son to the winners. Victor Armenta was first with a score of 199-12x. Jon Howell was one “x” behind for second place and Dave Kerin was third with 198-12x.
The 1000-yard team match is named in honor PO2 Marc A. Lee, the first SEAL to be killed in Iraq in 2006. He was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart posthumously. The winning team was the Virginia Shooting Sports Association. The individual aggregate match is named for SSG Marc J. Small, a Special Forces Medic, who was killed in Afghanistan last year. His father, Murray, was at the match and spoke about his son’s decision to join the Army. Murray presented the awards to the top three shooters in the aggregate. Jon Howell was the high individual shooter, dropping only three points on the day. Victor Armenta was second and Ken Roxburgh was third.
Story and photo courtesy the NRA Blog and Jan Raab, Nat’l Mgr. of NRA’s High Power Rifle Program.
In some nations which have imposed draconian regulations on firearms, a match rifle is the last thing you’d expect to see on a postal stamp. That’s not the case with the Swiss. Switzerland is a “nation of marksmen”. When young, all Swiss men receive military training, and then, after active duty, male citizens remain “on call” in a reserve status — retaining their rifles. Not surprisingly, target shooting is a hugely popular activity throughout Switzerland.
Though it has a population of just 7,000,000, Switzerland boasts over 2,000 rifle ranges. Each year, close to 200,000 Swiss participate in the Eidgenössisches Feldschiessen (annual shooting skills exercise). A several hundred-year-old tradition, the Feldschiessen (aka Tiro Federale in Campagna) is the largest shooting event in the world. The Swiss government actually provides free ammunition for Feldschiessen competitors.
To mark the importance (and popularity) of target shooting, Switzerland recently introduced a new stamp. Remarkably, on the right side of each stamp, in the middle of the bullseye, a small hole is actually punched through the paper! That’s Swiss attention to detail. A sheet of these stamps can be purchased from Swiss Post for 20 Swiss Francs (about $17). Shipping worldwide is free.
The NRA Blog has complete coverage of the 2010 Bianchi Cup, held this week at the Green Valley Rifle & Pistol Club in Columbia, MO. The Bianchi Cup is one of the most prestigious handgun competitions on the planet. This year, the 32nd Annual MidwayUSA/NRA Bianchi Cup features over 200 of the best pistol and revolver shooters in the world, from the USA and six other countries.
The match continues through Saturday, May 29th, but results from the first two days of competition are available on the NRA Blog. NRA Media Relations has also posted a collection of 2010 Bianchi Cup photos online. CLICK HERE to view Bianchi Cup Photo Gallery.
Among female action shooters, Jessie Abbate, 2009 USPSA Ladies Back-to-Back National Champion, may be the most marketable talent in America right now. Jessie has been featured on several TV shows, including Shooting USA, Cowboys, Shooting Gallery, and American Hunter. After Abbate left Team Glock in a contract dispute, the shooting world has been wondering which sponsor would secure Jessie’s services for its team. Well, now we have an answer — Jessie Abbate will shoot for Team Smith & Wesson. Jim Shepherd’s Shooting Wire reports that “Abbate has signed with Team Smith & Wesson”, as confirmed by Abbate’s agent Russell Stott.
This now gives Team S&W a powerful threesome of female shooters as Abbate joins Womens’ Team Captain Julie Goloski Golob and Kay Clark Miculek. While 9-time USPSA Champion Golob is primarily a pistol shooter, both Kay Miculek and Jessie Abbate are top-flight multi-gun shooters as well. Abbate developed her rifle and shotgun skills in Cowboy Action shooting, and Kay is a 13-Time USPSA Multi-Gun Open Champion. Having Kay AND Jessie under contract is a big coup for Smith & Wesson, as multi-gun matches afford Smith & Wesson a chance to showcase its handguns AND its rifle products.
The Rise of Multi-Gun Competition
Multi-Gun and 3-Gun matches become more popular every season. One top 3-gun shooter who originally came up through the pistol ranks told us: “Multi-Gun is the future — it’s what TV viewers want and what sponsors want”. The major multi-gun matches are drawing 30% more competitors each year. And now 3-Gun Nation has brought multi-gun shooting to prime-time television with a compelling nationwide series with a huge cash payout in the end. That’s smart, NASCAR-style marketing. We predict that, within a few years, multi-gun events will eclipse the handgun-only events in popularity, prize money, and sponsorship interest. With Abbate added to the S&W team, along with long-time multi-gun ace Kay Miculek, S&W is positioned to dominate womens’ multi-gun competition for years to come.
This July, Trinidad State Jr. College (TSJC) in Colorado will offer a unique 5-day instructional course on F-Class equipment and shooting skills. Slated for July 5-9, 2010, the F-Class Seminar will be taught by F-Class guru Larry Bartholome, Captain of Team Berger/Norma and current member (and past Captain) of the U.S. F-Class Open Team. Spots are still open for the course, but you should register right away.
Trinidad’s course will cover every aspect of F-Class shooting: selecting the best equipment and caliber, load development and ammo testing, reloading for long range, how to shoot a match, doping the wind at long-range, team shooting, mental conditioning, and match-winning strategies. While most of the course will consist of class work on the Trinidad campus, there will be range sessions July 8 and 9 at the NRA Whittington Center Range (Raton, NM), located just 20 miles south of Trinidad, CO. During these sessions there will be demonstrations and students will practice their long-range shooting skills at distances out to 1000 yards.
Larry told us: “This is not a gunsmith class, but rather a class that will cover all aspects of F-Class shooting. I think this will be a good opportunity for a person who wants to learn F-Class from the ground up, to do so in a short period of time. I feel a person could come into the class knowing next to nothing about F-Class and long-range shooting and leave [the seminar] knowledgeable enough to be very competitive at even a world level.”
The Rocky Mountain Palma Championships and Long-Range Regional will be held at the NRA Whittington Center July 10-15, 2010 and students may want to compete in all or part of those matches after the class concludes. Whittington charges $15/day range fee for any non-members who use the range.
Openings Still Available for July F-Class Course
There are still some places available for the F-Class seminar. If you’re interested, sign up soon by contacting Trinidad State Jr. College at 1-800-621-8752, ext. 5541, or log on to NRA.Trinidadstate.edu. No tools are required for the seminar. However, while a couple of F-Class rifles will be available for limited range use, students may want to bring their own rifles and ammo. All students should contact Larry Bartholome to confirm the students’ rifles are appropriate for use at 1,000 yards as F-Class rifles. Email Larry at: Lbart [at] elp.rr.com.
Trinidad State Jr. College summer courses cost $325.00 for continuing education and $393.90 for out-of-state Credit. On-Campus Housing is offered for a reasonable $100.00 per week. CLICK HERE for the TSJC/NRA Summer Course Registration Form (PDF).
Polish up your PPCs boys, the Super Shoot starts this coming Wednesday. The Firearm Industry Super Shoot (FISS), the largest short-range benchrest match in North America, runs for four days, May 26-29, 2009 at the Kelbly range in North Lawrence, Ohio. This is a LV/HV match only. Here’s the shooting schedule: May 26 10.5-lb 100 yards; May 27 13.5-lb 100 yards; May 28 13.5-lb 200 yards; May 29 10.5-lb 200 yards.
Some Slots Still Available
The Super Shoot attracts 320 or more shooters every year. For more information, go to Super Shoot Info Page, or click the links below. The competition is limited to 420 shooters. But it’s not too late to register. The Kelblys tell us “there are still places available if you get your registration in soon.” Note: Registration fees are currently $120.00 per gun (this is the price after May 10). No exceptions.
The 2010 Eastern CMP Games were held at Camp Butner, NC on 8-11 May. Now in its 4th year, the Eastern CMP Games is more popular than ever — entries were up 32% from 2009. Participation in the Eastern Games rifle events has grown from 265 event entries in 2007 to 764 entries this year. In fact, if the 83 entries in the two service pistol events and 72 entries in this year’s new Vintage Sniper Test Match are also counted, the 2010 event entry count was a whopping 919. As a result, the capacity of the three Camp Butner ranges was stretched to the limit. For the 30-shot As-Issued Military Rifle Match on Saturday, an absolute maximum of 200 shooters were squadded in four relays on a 50-point range. The 32-point Rimfire Sporter range was also filled to capacity for its two scheduled relays on Sunday afternoon.
The Creedmoor Cup segment of the event was dominated by military shooters, most of whom are with the USAMU. SPC Sherri Gallagher won the Creedmoor Cup Overall and the Match Rifle Aggregate. Sgt. Tyrell Cooper won the Creedmoor Cup for Service Rifle and the Service Rifle Aggregate. In Service Rifle Team competition, the USAMU Praslick team finished first with 1957-80X, while the Virginia Shooting Sports Assn. Team took the Match Rifle title with a 1929-58X collective score.
There were many outstanding performances at the Eastern CMP Games, highlighted by David Thompson’s double win in the Carbine Match AND the As-Issued Military Rifle 3-Gun Aggregate. This was David’s second-straight 3-Gun Aggregate win. His 2010 score, 858-19X, was two points higher than his winning Agg. for 2009.
Of the three Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle matches, the Garand Match was the most popular with 213 shooters. The match winner was Randy Ent, with an excellent 291-8X total. Sean Leighton posted a 290-5X to win the Springfield Match. Robert Pestridge, shooting a 6.5×55 Swede, won the Vintage Military Rifle Match. In the As-Issued M1 Garand Special EIC Match, Phillip Randall shot a 379-7X to top a field of 121 competitors. Among the 10 “introductory” 4-point leg EIC winners were TV personality GySgt R. Lee Ermey (USMC retired), and Hornady Ballistician Dave Emary, lead developer of Hornady’s .30-06 match ammo currently issued to CMP Garand and Springfield competitors in Regional and National Matches.
The Rimfire Sporter Match was also popular, attracting 58 shooters. Using a CZ 452 rifle, Ron Villanueva won the scoped-rifle class, posting a 595-41X T-Class score. This is the highest score ever recorded in a CMP-sanctioned Rimfire Sporter event. Congrats to Ron on his superb marksmanship. In the O-Class for open-sighted rifles, Richard Sauer had the other winning score in the Rimfire Sporter Match with a 562-14X total. Other top shooters are listed by event in the table below. You’ll find a detailed report on the CMP Eastern Games in the latest First Shot CMP Online Magazine. Complete scores for the 2010 Eastern CMP Games rifle events are posted on the CMP Website.
Lapua developed the 6.5×47 Lapua cartridge for International 300m competition. Lapua wanted a cartridge that could match the “pure accuracy” of the 6mmBR, but with even better ballistics and good barrel life. The 6.5x47L is now really coming into its own. In the hands of NBRSA long-range Hall of Famer Don Nielson, the 6.5x47L has won two NBRSA 600-yard Nationals convincingly. The cartridge is winning Varmint Silhouette matches, and Tactical competitors are finding the cartridge delivers great accuracy with much less recoil than a .308 — plus it feeds well from magazines. With advanced powders such as Alliant’s Reloder 17, the 6.5x47L can deliver surprising velocities, even with the heavy 139-142 grain bullets, though we still think the 130-grainers may be optimal for the cartridge. Don Nielson used Berger 130gr bullets “right out of the box” to win the NBRSA 600-yard Nationals, setting records in the process. In addition to its paper-punching abilities, the 6.5×47 Lapua is a capable hunting cartridge, delivering velocities that approach a .260 Remington with 120-130 grain projectiles. Considering all this — is the 6.5×47 Lapua the next, great do-it-all cartridge — a chambering that can win a benchrest match one weekend and harvest a whitetail the next?
6.5×47 Lapua Is a Hot Topic on Our Forum
In our AccurateShooter Forum, there has been a thread discussing whether the 6.5x47L or 6mmBR is better for the 600-yard game. Forum member Lloyd (aka “1Shot”) wrote:
How many years have the 6BR and its variants been in existence as opposed to the 6.5x47L? I pose this question to you because we all know that with time and experience, comes knowledge. In a short period of time, (relatively speaking) the 6.5x47L has made great strides. I’ll make a bet that the 6.5x47L will outshoot the 6BR within the same time frame of its existence. It will just take time and shooters like Sam Hall to bring this cartridge to its full potential.”
Responding to Lloyd’s post, British gun writer Laurie Holland analyzed the present and possible future of the 6.5x47L cartridge. Laurie makes some very interesting points, considering the role the 6.5x47L may play in F-class competition, and in 300 to 600-yard benchrest. Laurie’s post is worth a read….
Laurie Holland Talks About the 6.5×47 Lapua
“Lloyd, you may well be right on this. There is that intangible something issue though that sees one cartridge become ‘great’ in a shooting field, while others that should theoretically compete somehow never quite get there. The example that comes to mind is the PPC in short range BR of course[.] The PPC outshoots similar rivals, and we don’t know why. At the moment, the 6BR and BRX/Dasher variants look like they may be getting to the same point in 300 to 600-yard BR type competition. That’s not to say they won’t be pushed out of the top spot by something better, or even matched by a rival, but it looks like it won’t happen quickly or soon.
One thing people often forget is that BR can see 5 shots rattled off in under 30 seconds while the wind conditions hold. F-Class or any other form of deliberate, marked-target shooting is different because of the enforced gap between shots. This is particularly so on our side of the Atlantic (or north of the 49th Parallel). Unlike your F-Class, Fullbore, Palma, CLRP etc. shooting, we British Commonwealth types are squadded two to a target (sometimes up to four in local shoots) and there is therefore a minimum three or so minutes between taking each shot by an individual shooter. Fairly typically, I shot in a club 600-yard F-Class comp last Sunday and found myself with two others on ‘my’ target. Throw in one of them missing with both sighters and the resulting delays while the RO had to be asked for the target to be pulled and checked and people looking for his subsequent fall of shot and it took around 70-75 minutes to get through 2 sighters and 20 score shots. So each shot is virtually a new start so far as the wind-call goes.
The 6.5X47L likely gives a significant benefit even at 600 yards over the 6mmBR thanks to the external ballistics improvements in such a scenario. What has to be seen is how it stands up in national level competition against the big sevens since that’s the competition in F-Open. Until this year, all national GB F-Class Association rounds were shot over a mixture of 800, 900, 1000-yard matches with the emphasis on the 1000. The 6.5X47L can’t hack it against 180gr 7mm Berger VLDs at 3,200 fps in these conditions (nor could the US F-Class Team’s 6.5-284 Norma in last summer’s F-Class World Championship at Bisley). Club / regional level may turn out different with a bigger mix of ranges (distances) in a season’s programme. And (here’s the killer) — the 7mmWSM brigade can’t afford to shoot say 15 such matches in a season given the barrel life issue. 15 matches is 300-330 shots, or 50% of barrel life. So they enter one or two matches only for practice, checking sight-settings etc. Unless you do your own gunsmithing, barrel replacement by a top gunsmith with a Bartlein or Krieger tube is an expensive job here — a bit over £700 all in which is $1,000 + in translation[.]
So, accurate and ballistically-efficient smaller cartridges that give long barrel life have a bright future in European and British Commonwealth shooting, and I think the 6.5X47L is going to be a key player in this role. Also, as in the USA, many people want a multi-purpose longarm, and this cartridge is an excellent long-range fox/crow round and ideal for most of our deer species too.
To go back to the very original question in this thread, if I were having a multi-discipline target shooting single-shot rifle built for club / regional competition shooting, I’d stick to 6BR or variants if it were primarily for 600-yard or shorter range competitions, but I’d go for 6.5X47L if there were 800 to 1,000-yard matches in the mix. If it were for F-Class at national level, I’d have neither, but stick to .308W in the F/TR division which I shoot now. — Laurie, York, England”
Many of the world’s best wheelgunners will be in California the first week in June. The 19th Annual Smith & Wesson Int’l Revolver Championship (IRC) takes place June 4-6 at the Hogue Action Pistol Range in San Luis Obispo, CA. This is the 11th consecutive season that San Luis Obispo Sportsmen’s Assn. hosts the IRC, the highlight of the ICORE revolver shooting season. Nearly 200 ace revolver shooters, from the USA as well as 6 foreign countries, are expected to compete. According to Ron Joslin, IRC match director: “This is the highlight of our competition season. It’s where everybody in ICORE comes together to determine who is the best. This is our Superbowl, and it’s been that way for the last 18 years.”
The man to beat in Open Class will be legendary pistolero Jerry Miculek of Team Smith & Wesson. Jerry has won every IRC in which he has competed. When it comes to wheelguns, Miculek is the fastest man on the planet. Also competing will be past Ladies Open Division winner Julie Golob, and last year’s Limited Division Champion John Bagakis.
Along with the adult classifications, the IRC features divisions for Junior shooters. The junior events are always crowd-pleasers. Some of these youngsters are definitely future champions in the making. The video below shows the 2009 IRC Junior Shoot-Off for the overall Junior Title.
Man vs. Machine-Gun — Miculek Duels Uzi on Shooting USA TV
In related news, on tonight’s ‘Impossible Shots’ segment of the Shooting USA TV broadcast, Jerry Miculek will attempt to keep pace with a full-auto Uzi machine-gun. Shooting his tuned 1911 pistol, Miculek will engage a set of targets and try to match the RPM (rounds per minute) rate of the Uzi. This should be an interesting challenge to watch. Who will win? Well, I would never bet against Miculek when it comes to speed shooting….
Shooting USA’s Impossible Shots airs Wednesday at these times:
Eastern Time: 2:30 PM, 10:30 PM | 2:30 AM (Thursday)
Central Time: 1:30 PM, 9:30 PM | 1:30 AM (Thursday)
Mountain Time: 12:30 PM, 8:30 PM | 12:30 AM (Thursday)
Pacific Time: 11:30 AM, 7:30 PM, 11:30 PM
The First Eastern Armed Forces Memorial Match is being hosted by the Quantico Shooting Club this Memorial Day weekend. Each year, 14 military service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country will be honored at this match. The trophies will bear the names of the service members and the winner of each match. All match entry fees are donated to the 
In some nations which have imposed draconian regulations on firearms, a match rifle is the last thing you’d expect to see on a postal stamp. That’s not the case with the Swiss. Switzerland is a “nation of marksmen”. When young, all Swiss men receive military training, and then, after active duty, male citizens remain “on call” in a reserve status — retaining their rifles. Not surprisingly, target shooting is a hugely popular activity throughout Switzerland.
The 
This July, 
Openings Still Available for July F-Class Course
Polish up your PPCs boys, the Super Shoot starts this coming Wednesday. The Firearm Industry Super Shoot (FISS), the largest short-range benchrest match in North America, runs for four days, May 26-29, 2009 at the Kelbly range in North Lawrence, Ohio. This is a LV/HV match only. Here’s the shooting schedule: May 26 10.5-lb 100 yards; May 27 13.5-lb 100 yards; May 28 13.5-lb 200 yards; May 29 10.5-lb 200 yards.
The 2010 Eastern CMP Games were held at Camp Butner, NC on 8-11 May. Now in its 4th year, the Eastern CMP Games is more popular than ever — entries were up 32% from 2009. Participation in the Eastern Games rifle events has grown from 265 event entries in 2007 to 764 entries this year. In fact, if the 83 entries in the two service pistol events and 72 entries in this year’s new Vintage Sniper Test Match are also counted, the 2010 event entry count was a whopping 919. As a result, the capacity of the three Camp Butner ranges was stretched to the limit. For the 30-shot As-Issued Military Rifle Match on Saturday, an absolute maximum of 200 shooters were squadded in four relays on a 50-point range. The 32-point Rimfire Sporter range was also filled to capacity for its two scheduled relays on Sunday afternoon.
Lapua developed the 6.5×47 Lapua cartridge for International 300m competition. Lapua wanted a cartridge that could match the “pure accuracy” of the 6mmBR, but with even better ballistics and good barrel life. The 6.5x47L is now really coming into its own. In the hands of NBRSA long-range Hall of Famer Don Nielson, the 6.5x47L has won two NBRSA 600-yard Nationals convincingly. The cartridge is winning Varmint Silhouette matches, and Tactical competitors are finding the cartridge delivers great accuracy with much less recoil than a .308 — plus it feeds well from magazines. With advanced powders such as Alliant’s Reloder 17, the 6.5x47L can deliver surprising velocities, even with the heavy 139-142 grain bullets, though we still think the 130-grainers may be optimal for the cartridge. Don Nielson used Berger 130gr bullets “right out of the box” to win the NBRSA 600-yard Nationals, setting records in the process. In addition to its paper-punching abilities, the 6.5×47 Lapua is a capable hunting cartridge, delivering velocities that approach a .260 Remington with 120-130 grain projectiles. Considering all this — is the 6.5×47 Lapua the next, great do-it-all cartridge — a chambering that can win a benchrest match one weekend and harvest a whitetail the next?
Laurie Holland Talks About the 6.5×47 Lapua
Many of the world’s best wheelgunners will be in California the first week in June. The 19th Annual Smith & Wesson Int’l Revolver Championship (IRC) takes place June 4-6 at the 
