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August 4th, 2010
 by Steve Cooper, CMP Online
The CMP Rimfire Sporter Match is now one of the most popular events at Camp Perry, drawing hundreds of entries. The Rimfire Sporter Match, first held in 2002, was designed to accommodate a novice shooter with nothing more than a store-bought .22 caliber rifle (and no fancy competition gear). The Rimfire Sporter Match is a recreation-oriented, 3-position competition using off-the-shelf .22 caliber sporter rifles. Rifles may be manually operated or semi-automatic and competitors are broken into three classes: open sights, telescopic sights, and tactical rifle. Read AccurateShooter.com’s detailed Guide to Rimfire Sporter Matches
Blustery Conditions Challenge Rimfire Sporter Shooters
While some shooters dealt with a driving rain, wildly-fluctuating crosswinds and the accompanying delays, others enjoyed bright sun and calm conditions during the 9th annual Rimfire Sporter Match on Sunday, July 25th. Chalk it all up to “The Camp Perry Experience”. Veteran shooters know that weather is almost always a factor here and newcomers received received a classic introduction to it Sunday. Nonetheless, the shooters battled through the conditions to post some fine scores.
Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Steven Slee, 46, U.S. Army Reserve, won the Open Sights class with an aggregate score of 578-23X out of 600 possible. Charles Opalewski II, 20, was second in open sights with an aggregate score of 574-14X. Opalewski was also the high ranking overall junior and 4-H junior shooter. Nick Takacs, 61, was the high senior competitor in open sights class with an aggregate score of 569-17X. In Telescopic Sights class (T-class), Lucas Boord, 20, finished first, using a Kimber Hunter to score 593-27X. Placing second in T-class was CSM Steven Slee with a 592-31X. Natalie Harper was the High Woman, High Junior and High 4-H Junior shooter in the Telescopic Sights Class with an overall score of 588-14X. The top senior shooter in T-class was Steve Gossage, 63, with an aggregate of 586-32X. READ More …
August 3rd, 2010
 While much of the American shooting community is focused on the National Championships in Camp Perry, Ohio, nearly 2500 of the world’s top shooters are competing in Munich, Germany in the 50th ISSF World Shooting Championships which concludes August 11, 2010.
 The 50th World Shooting Championship opened in Munich, Germany on the 30th of July with a festive Opening Ceremony on Munich’s iconic Marien-platz. This is the largest World Shooting Championship ever — with 2,460 shooters from 103 countries competing for medals in 54 events. Competitors will also vie for 69 Olympic Quotas allowing their respective nations’ teams to compete at the 2012 Games in London.
At the ISSF World Championships, disciplines include Air Rifle, Air Pistol, Smallbore Rifle, Smallbore Pistol, Running Target, 300m Rifle, and Trap, with classes for Men, Women, and Juniors. So far Americans have done well, with high individual placings and a team win in the mens’ 50m rimfire prone event (see photo). The 50m mens’ prone team, consisting of Matt Emmons, SGT Michael McPhail, and SFC Eric Uptagrafft, won its second consecutive World Championship.
The ISSF-Sports.org website provides extensive coverage of the ISSF World Championships, including video webcasts of the finals in many disciplines. There are numerous photo galleries where you can see the shooters and high-tech air rifles and rimfire rifles used by the top shooters from many countries.
Running Target Competition is Fun to Watch
At the ISSF Worlds, one of the most challenging events is the Running Target Competition. Since this is not an Olympic shooting discipline, you may have never seen it before. But we guarantee this is worth checking out. Shooting in a man vs. man format, pairs of shooters engage a quickly moving target at 10 meters with air rifles. But the scoring is like tennis. For each pair of shots (one by each shooter), the competitor who puts his shot closest to dead center gets one point, while his opponent gets nothing. This is all done offhand from the standing position, requiring superb holding skills. It’s hard enough to shoot “10s” when the target is fixed. Imagine trying to put a pellet in a tiny 10-Ring, when the target is moving! To watch the Running Target Finals, CLICK this LINK then select the “Medal Match 10m Running Target Men” video from the list at the right. Forward to the 28-minute mark for the final Gold Medal shoot-out between Russia and China.
Team USA photo by Wolfgang Schreiber, ©2010 ISSF
August 2nd, 2010
by Danielle Sturgis, The NRA Blog
 A collegiate All-American in the 1940s, Mr. Fred Cole is now 88 years old and still a Camp Perry competitor. At Thursday night’s NRA Awards Ceremony, where smallbore prone champions were awarded their medals, Match Director H.Q. Moody was excited to introduce him to the audience before the official ceremony began. “He’s been our senior perennial champion forever,” Moody said, “and he’s one of our sport’s fine gentleman.”
 As Cole stood and waved at the audience, the entire auditorium joined him in a thundering standing ovation. Cole competed in both the 2010 smallbore 3-position competition and the smallbore prone competition. He ended the week with a comprehensive score of 4714-216x. Cole’s pictured above (left) shooting in the prone position from 100 yards.
“I started shooting in 1937 at Xavier High School Rifle Team,” Cole told NRAblog. “That’s 73 years of shooting. I shoot mostly smallbore position. That’s my first love.”
The Stonybrook, New York, resident reports winning a total of 6 intermediate senior championships throughout his Camp Perry career.
Why has he devoted so much of his time to competitive shooting? “It’s the greatest sport in the world,” Cole proclaimed. “It’s a character builder. It demands personal discipline. It’s a challenging sport, and one can participate individually or as a team member.”
July 30th, 2010
 Shooting an impressive 4790-355X, SSG Shane Barnhart earned the title of National Smallbore Rifle Prone Champion, while competing this week at Camp Perry, Ohio. Finishing second and third, respectively, were 1LT Christopher Abalo, and Charles Kemp. Abalo and Kemp had identical 4786 scores, but 1LT Abalo had the higher X count. Abalo scored 344X compared to Kemp’s 338X.
Army Shooters Top the Field
Story by Danielle Sturgis, The NRA Blog
SSG Shane Barnhart has been to Camp Perry since 1992, minus two years. This year is his best smallbore rifle performance. Did he come expecting to win? “I was hoping (to place in top 3),” he said. “I knew going into Any Sight that I had Abalo and Kemp, both very fine shooters, to keep up with.” What was the biggest challenge of the week? “Battling the wind,” Shane said. When asked if he had any advice for young people thinking about shooting competitively, Barnhart responded: “You can get a free ride to college,” he said.
First Lieutenant Christopher Abalo practiced for the national smallbore prone championships for just one month, yet still managed a strong second-place finish. “I took a two-year break from competitive shooting, so this feels good,” he said. “I feels great, actually. I expected to shoot well, and I would say I met my expectations.” Below are photos from the 2010 Smallbore Prone Championships.
Gunny Zins Wins his 10th Pistol Championship
In related news, retired Gunnery Sergeant Brian Zins of Poland, Ohio, was named national champion at the NRA National Pistol Championships held July 13-17 at Camp Perry. This was Zins’ 10th National Championship. Zins shot consistently high scores throughout the event, winning the .22 Caliber Championship and placing in the top three for both the Center Fire and .45 Caliber Championships. Zins’ Aggregate score of 2650-134X placed Brian at the top of the leader board for the tenth time in his shooting career — a record number of National Pistol Championships. CLICK HERE to learn more about Zins and other pistol competitors.
July 27th, 2010
 The NRA Metric Smallbore Championships were held in Bristol, Indiana from July 17-20th. Team Lapua shooters performed well in this prestigious match. Team Lapua member Kevin Nevius shot superbly, earning the title of 2010 Metric National Champion. Nevius also won the Metallic Sight Aggregate Trophy, the Metallic Sight Team Trophy with Eitan Barazani, and the Overall Metric National team title with Barazani. Both Nevius and Barazani shot Lapua ammo.
Team Lapua member Nancy Tompkins, shooting Lapua Midas+ ammo, was the 1st Master and Top Woman competitor. The First-place Junior competitor, Elijah Ellis, also shot Lapua ammunition. Most of these top competitors are now competing in the 2010 NRA Smallbore Prone National Championships held at Camp Perry, Ohio, this week, July 25-28th.
At the Metric Championships, conditions were mild and partly cloudy both days. Day 2 (any sights day) saw slightly higher wind velocities. Both days saw winds from the south (from behind the firing line) that would switch quickly from left to right.
Nevius’ Championship Rifle and Winning Ammo
Kevin Nevius used Lapua X-ACT and Midas+ ammunition in the Walther-based prone rifle he built last winter specifically for Lapua ammunition. The gun features a Walther KK300 action (won at the 2008 National Matches) and a 1:17″-twist Hart barrel. NOTE:The above photo, taken at the 2008 National Championships, show Nevius with a different rifle.
July 26th, 2010
Shooting at the Original Pennsylvania 1000-Yard Benchrest Club (Williamsport), Frank Weber, set a new Light Gun Williamsport Record Score and World Record Score this past weekend, a 100-6X (4.237″) for ten (10) shots. Our Assistant Editor Jason Baney witnessed the new record while working the pits. Jason reports: “Frank’s 100-6X beats my Williamsport Record and Andy Murtaugh’s World Record. It was an incredible group. Frank almost got a group record as well — nine of Frank’s ten shots measured about 3.4″, all falling well inside the 4″x4″ white square. This was a great achievement for Frank. He has been shooting at Williamsport since 1968, and this is his first-ever Light Gun group under 7 inches.”
Weber’s Record-Setting Light Gun
Frank Weber set his 1K record with a BAT-actioned 6mm Dasher smithed by Mark King. The Broughton 1:8″ twist, 28″ barrel has a 0.266″-necked Dasher chamber, with 0.155″ freebore. The Broughton barrel is nearly new — it had roughly 100 rounds through it when the record was shot. For optics, Weber used a Nightforce 8-32x56mm NXS scope.
Record Recipe: Varget, BR4s, and Custom 105gr Bullets Jumped .010″
Weber’s record-setting load was fairly typical for a Dasher, except for the projectile. Frank loaded 33.5 grains of Hodgdon Varget and CCI BR4 primers behind a custom 105gr bullet, seated 0.010″ OFF the lands (i.e. he was jumping the bullets ten thousandths). Ironically, Frank was using this relay to test seating depths. It certainly seems that he found a load that worked! Later, in the shoot-off, Frank tried IMR 8208 XBR powder.
July 26th, 2010
The Versus cable network’s new 3-Gun Nation TV show debuts on the Versus cable network, today, July 26, 2010. The show airs Mondays at 7:30 a.m. EST and Thursdays at 3:00 p.m. EST. The video below previews the kind of 3-Gun tournaments Versus will cover. The inaugural season features some of America’s best multi-gun events: Superstition Mountain 3-Gun, Blue Ridge Mountain 3-Gun, Midwest 3-Gun Championship, MGM Ironman 3-Gun Tournament, and the Rocky Mountain 3-Gun. Each event ends in a head-to-head, single elimination shoot-off with the winner earning $5,000.
The 3-Gun Nation Tour is a season-long series of matches at multiple venues. Competitors accumulate points throughout the season, and the top 50 are eligible to compete in the year-end championship following the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals held September 13 outside Las Vegas, NV. In addition, the top finishers in each division at the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals, who have not already earned a spot in the 3-Gun Championship, will earn a wild card berth, giving 10 additional competitors a shot at $5,000.
The winner of the 2010 3-Gun Nation Championship will receive $25,000, courtesy of Leupold, and will earn the title of the world’s top 3-Gun shooter. The match-by-match money awards, combined with the $25K 3-Gun Nation championship prize, collectively represent the most richest set of prizes in the history of practical shooting. The final two competitions on the 3-Gun Nation tour are: Rocky Mountain 3-Gun in Raton, NM, August 5-7; 3-Gun Championship at the USPSA Nationals in Boulder City, NV, September 13.
July 23rd, 2010
In cooperation with the NRA Office of Disabled Shooting Services, Pyramyd Air is offering $224.00 off the Air Arms S400 MPR air rifle for qualifying shooters with disabilities. Disabled shooters and Adaptive Shooting groups can obtain the Poplar-stocked S400 MPR for $750.00 with FREE Shipping. This gun normally retails for $974.00.
 How to Get the Discount — Call Vanessa
Disabled shooters wanting an Air Arms S400 MPR air rifle should contact NRA Disabled Services Director Vanessa Ross. Call Vanessa at (703) 267-1495 or email disabled-shooting@NRAhq.org. Vanessa will provide a Promo Code good for the rifle discount. In addition, there is a second discount code providing 10% off an entire Pyramyd Air order. You cannot combine two promo codes on a single order, so use the second promo code for a separate order if you want to purchase pellets, targets, rifle cases, and other accessories.
Pyramyd Air S400 MPR Specifications
Though it weighs only seven pounds, a good thing for disabled shooters, Pyramyd’s S400 MPR is a quality air rifle with features similar to imported “name brand” air rifles. This breechloader has a 12-groove barrel and a walnut stock, which comes in right-hand, left-hand, or ambidextrous versions. An adjustable rear diopter sight and front sight with insert come with the gun. The S400 MPR has a 5-way adjustable trigger. You can adjust height, forward or rear placement, rotation of trigger blade, first-stage length, second-stage pull weight and placement of the trigger pad. NOTE: The cocking bolt is NOT adjustable for position and is on the right side of the gun.
NRA Disabled Shooting Services Director Vanessa Ross comments: “We are extremely grateful to Pyramyd Air for their commitment to the disabled community and offering a cost-effective way for individuals to get into the competitive game. To learn more about the NRA’s disabled shooting program visit www.nrahq.org/compete/disabled.asp.
July 22nd, 2010
A “Dream Team” composed of four of America’s top lady shooters set a new national long-range Palma record at the Rocky Mountain Palma Championships at Raton, NM last week. The four-woman squad of Trudie Fay (Captain), Michelle Gallagher, Noma Mayo, and Nancy Tompkins shot brilliantly to establish a new National Palma record of 1796-112X, breaking the existing 1791-102X record held by the USAMU (Praslick) team.
Officially listed as “The U.S. National Team”, but dubbed “Team Estrogen” by one of the gals, this squad of four female High Masters was coached by Steve Conico, a veteran long range shooter from New Mexico. Michelle told us that Coach Conico did a great job calling the wind, and all the team members performed well: “Our strategy was simple: lay down, shoot, let Steve think for everybody. Steve’s a fantastic coach. We all just had a good day. All four trigger-pullers were on top of our game. The combination of good conditions (for Raton), great coaching, and good shooting allowed a memorable team performance. That combination is rare. It’s not going to happen again any time soon.”
SCORES: T. Fay: 448-39X | M. Gallagher: 450-35X | N. Mayo: 449-26X | N. Tompkins: 449-22X
For Michelle, competing in this match with a team of female all-stars (who are all close friends) was a dream come true: “We’ve been planning to have a womens’ team for 10 years and it finally happened. It’s fun getting everyone together. We’re all delighted it worked out so well. And I loved being able to shoot with my mom.” Michelle shot a perfect 450 in the match, not dropping a single point.
 Record-Setting Equipment
All four Dream-Teamers were shooting conventional single-shot .308 Winchester Palma rifles — no tube-guns in this arsenal. Nancy Tompkins’ rifle featured a wood stock, Stolle Panda action, and 30″ Krieger barrel. Michelle’s rifle was similarly configured but she used a fiberglass McMillan stock. Nancy and Michelle shot ammo loaded with Hodgdon Varget powder, Wolf (Russian) primers, and the 155.5gr Berger Palma bullet. The other two team members, Noma and Trudie, may have been using Sierra #2156 155gr Palma bullets but that’s not confirmed.
Loading for the 155.5gr Berger Palma Bullet
Michelle observed that the 155.5gr Berger Palma bullet doesn’t require any special tuning: “With the 155.5, it’s pretty easy to swap out any load you’ve used successfully with any of the other 155s. The 155.5 doesn’t require a lot of extra load development. As far as seating depth goes, some people are successful jumping them, some people are successful jammin’ them in. Personally I’ve always soft seated. I haven’t found them to be very finicky.” Editor’s note: “Soft Seating” refers to deliberately loading the bullets long, with fairly light neck tension, and then allowing the bullet to find it’s position as one closes the bolt. The potential benefit is that the bullet ogive is always in the same position relative to the start of the rifling.
Good Conditions Aid Record-Setting Team Performance
During the July 10 team match, the weather gods smiled, providing good conditions (by Raton standards) for the female Dream Team’s record-setting performance. Michelle observed: “Have you ever shot at Raton? It can be the devil. Raton can be really nasty, but it was a pretty benign day by Raton standards. The wind was switchy but not what I’d call ‘blow you off the paper’ wind. We were all able to concentrate on the mechanics — just ‘lay down and squeeze’. Steve did all the work.”
July 22nd, 2010
With the firing of a cannon, the 2010 Smallbore Position Championship commenced on July 22, 2010. Today, the 22nd, competitors will shoot the Metallic Championship, on the 23rd the Any Sight Championship will be held, and the team matches will run on Saturday the 24th. Over 300 shooters will compete for the Frank Parsons Memorial Trophy. In years past, juniors have comprised around 70% of the total competitors. This year junior shooters make up 85% of the competitors. That’s a good sign for the future of the sport.
This report came from the NRA Blog which will provide scores, photos, and videos in the days ahead. Above is a video from the 2009 Smallbore 3P competition at Camp Perry.
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