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February 17th, 2009
This news item comes to us via the NRA Blog. Attention all Junior Pistol and Smallbore Rifle Shooters: registration for the NRA Junior Pistol and Junior Smallbore Camps is now open! Space is limited to 50 shooters for the Junior Pistol Camp and 72 shooters for the Junior Smallbore Rifle Camp. CLICK HERE to download your paperwork, and send it in. You can also call (703) 267-1481 for more information.
CLICK HERE for Smallbore Rifle Camp Program Materials
These camps are designed for junior, intermediate-level pistol or smallbore rifle shooters. The smallbore rifle camp has been primarily designed for the intermediate shooters. However, beginners will be accepted on a space available basis. Shooters need to be at least 12 years old. Taught by NRA Certified Coaches, both camps provide expert coaching in the fundamentals of shooting while providing a safe, enjoyable learning experience. These camps are the perfect way for juniors to improve their shooting skills while meeting other shooters in their age group.
The NRA Junior Pistol Camp will be held July 14-17, 2009 at Camp Perry, Ohio. The NRA Junior Smallbore Rifle Camp will be held July 25-30, 2009 at Camp Perry, Ohio, and provides instruction in 3-position and 4-position smallbore rifle shooting. Both camps cost $175.00 for advanced registration (must be received before June 15, 2009) or $200.00 for standard registration (paperwork received after June 15, 2009).
February 15th, 2009
From February 12th through the 28th, Camp Perry hosts more than 500 high school Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) cadets from across the US and Department of Defense Schools overseas. The cadets will be competing in the All Service Air Rifle Championships to determine Army, Marine, Navy and Air Force JROTC national individual and team champions. In addition, the top competitors in each championship will advance to the National JROTC Air Rifle Championship at Fort Benning, Georgia in March.
Camp Perry’s new Marksmanship Center facilities are comparable to the best airgun ranges in the world (such as those in Beijing and Munich) that host International Sport Shooting Federation (ISSF) competitions. Gary Anderson, CMP’s Director of Civilian Marksmanship, said, “our state-of-the-art air rifle range [is] the finest facility of this type in the entire Western Hemisphere.”
The JROTC competition process started last November when nearly 7,000 cadets and 1,200 JROTC unit teams began firing on CMP-provided postal targets at their home ranges. The CMP then used its Orion Visual Imaging Scoring system to scan and score the 21,800 10-bullseye paper targets electronically.
Competitors in the JROTC Championships will fire with either “precision” or “sporter” class air rifles. In general, precision rifles are high tech and feature adjustable stocks and triggers, internal rechargeable air tanks or CO2 cylinders, etc. Sporter rifles are low-cost, conventional appearing air rifles without specialized adjustments, but they also utilize air or CO2 cylinders to power their projectiles. The competition entails 60-shot three-position events to be fired on two successive days. Each day, competitors will fire 20 shots each in prone, standing and kneeling positions at bullseye targets placed at 10 meters.
For more information, visit the CMP website at www.ODCMP.com. Some of the JROTC Air Rifle matches will be “webcast” on the internet.
February 13th, 2009
 Bryan Litz recently assumed the mantle of “Ballistician” for Berger Bullets. Before joining Berger, Bryan was a missile design engineer working with the U.S. Air Force. An NRA High Master, Bryan also happens to be one of the country’s top long-range shooters. Bryan (aka “bsl135″ in our Forum) has written many ballistics programs and technical papers dealing with long-range flight dynamics of projectiles. Bryan has recorded some very impressive match performances recently. At the 2008 NRA National Championships at Camp Perry, Bryan beat 258 other competitors to win the Palma Individual Trophy Match. Bryan shot a remarkable 450/26x, not dropping a single point.
Palma Match — Caught on Video
Bryan recently crafted a cool video that puts the viewer “in the driver’s seat” as Bryan shoots an 800-yard match with his .308 Winchester, iron-sights Palma rifle. Watch as each shot is marked and scored. Bryan explains: “The inset target at upper right displays each shot location in sequence. The score card shows the windage used for each shot, as well as the windage that was ‘Required’ for that shot to be centered. Wind wasn’t very challenging in this string, only requiring between 2 and 3 MOA right. This particular match is the 800-yard phase of a Palma course fired in the summer of 2008 at Camp Atterbury, IN. NOTE: I’ve had to cut out some ‘pauses’, and speed up the film in order to meet YouTube’s size requirements, so that’s why we sound like chipmunks.”
CLICK SCREEN to WATCH VIDEO. Click Menu Button for High Quality (HQ) Option
Bryan also has his own website with a number of authoritative articles. Topics include: Bullet Design, Meplat Trimming, Gyroscopic and Coreolis Drift, Palma Bullet Analysis, How Ballistics Programs Work, and Ballistic Coefficient Testing. CLICK HERE to visit BRYAN LITZ Website.
February 11th, 2009
On the ShootingUSA television show, today’s episode will feature the Infantry Team Match at Camp Perry. In connection with that segment, Sgt. First Class Kyle Ward of the U.S. Army Marksmanship provides guideslines on how to properly fit a shooting sling, and how to best use the sling in various shooting positions.
CLICK HERE to read Sgt. Ward’s step by step Sling Instructions.
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Proper Sling Adjustment
Once the sling is linked together properly, Sgt. Ward explains: “The next step is attaching the sling to your arm. Attaching the sling to your arm is simply done by creating slack in the sling, turning the sling a quarter turn clockwise if you’re a right handed shooter, or a quarter turn counter clockwise if you’re a lefty. You know that your sling is set to the proper length when you can easily and comfortably get into position, when you can take your firing hand off the rifle, and the rifle remains in your shoulder. To get the most of your sling, setting it to its proper length, and where you place it on your arm is critical. There are some general rules to follow when setting up your sling. You want it tight enough that it’s providing maximum support, but not so tight that you have to fight to get it into position.
Proper Sling Placement
Sling placement on your arm is also critical. In the sitting position, you want to place the sling toward the inside of the arm. Place the sling too far to the outside, and it will likely introduce pulse into your position. It’s not uncommon to have to adjust the length of the sling for different firing positions. While using the sling in the prone position, you should place the sling in the outside of the arm. Placing the sling too far towards the inside will reduce the sling’s effectiveness and likely generate pulse.
Try these techniques the next time you’re on the rifle range. Proper use of the leather sling will definitely increase you scores, and decrease the amount of perceived movement when looking through the sights.” |
February 10th, 2009
 The ladies beat the gents at the 2009 Arizona Long-Range Championship at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix, AZ. Nancy Tompkins (photo left) triumphed over 50 other shooters to win the main 1K event with a spectacular 600-36X, followed by Michelle Gallagher (of Berger Bullets) who shot 598-28X. Trudie Fay was the top shooter in Palma (.308) class. Way to go ladies! In this event, competitors shot prone (with sling) at 1000 yards. There were 60 rounds for record over two days, with two “any sights” stages, and one “iron sights” stage; the second “iron sights” stage was cancelled due to a sudden and severe hail storm.
Savage Tubegun Wows the Crowd at Ben Avery
Tubegun builder Gary Eliseo finished third overall with 596-27X. Gary’s performance shocked many fellow shooters … not because Gary doesn’t have the skills, but because he shot a 200-12x and a 199-6X on Day One with a Savage-actioned rifle. That’s right, Gary was shooting a prototype S1 Tubegun built with an out-of-the-box Savage Target Action with factory Accutrigger. Gary told us: “To be honest, like everybody else, I was amazed at how well that Savage shot. And I did no modifications or accurizing to the action whatsoever. All I did was lap the outside of the action to the S1 chassis for a better fit.”
German Salazar believes the Savage Tubegun is a very important development: “Here’s an affordable long-range prone rifle that can be assembled by the shooter with simple tools. Get a prefit barrel with barrel nut and you don’t even need a gunsmith. You save money, and just as importantly, you save time — no more year-long waits to get your rifle built.”
Plenty of 6mm Rifles on the Firing Line
While the match winner and runner-up were shooting 6.5-284s, the majority of the remaining Top 10 finishers were using a 6mm cartridge of some kind. Gary Eliseo finished third shooting a 6BR Improved (BRX), Randy Tesseidre finished fourth, also with a 6BRX, and German Salazar finished fifth shooting a 6XC and four of the next five finishers also shot 6mm cartridges. This may evidence a trend towards the smaller caliber over the 6.5mm. Why are we seeing more 6mm cartridges used at 1000 yards? According to German Salazar: “The answer is pretty simple — higher scores. Many (but certainly not all) shooters have found their scores increase when shooting 6mm cartridges, as opposed to the 6.5-284 or even the 7mms. The reasons are more consistent vertical and less recoil, and those two factors are related. With less recoil it’s easier to maintain the precise hold needed to shoot 10s and Xs throughout the match.” Third-place finisher Gary Eliseo also feels that some of the 6mm cartridges may be easier to tune than the 6.5-284. “I shoot the 6BRX”, Gary explained, “it’s an amazing little cartridge–easy to load for. With Berger VLDs seated into the lands it’s super-accurate and really holds tight elevation.”
More Match Results on Desert Sharpshooters Website
Complete Match Results are available on the Desert Sharpshooters website. The Top Three F-Class shooters (in order) were Jim Murphy, Larry Bartholome, and Jeff Cochran, while John Brewer was F-Class High Senior. The Palma match for .308 rifles, held on Friday, was tightly contested. Among the 48 Palma competitors in Friday’s match (not part of the championship aggregate), the top five finishers were Eddie Newman (445-26X), Gary Eliseo (444-25X), David Littlefield (444-21X), Trudie Fay (443-29X), and Steve Cunico (442-26X). Trudie was the High Women shooter while Steve was High Senior.
February 8th, 2009
 We have a friend who is a record-holding benchrest shooter. He recently decided to explore a new discipline — prone shooting with iron sights — and he has been practicing with a Suhl 150 three days a week. We gave him a copy of David Tubb’s twin-disc Modern Match Rifle instructional DVD, which contains over 4.5 hours of information and expert advice. Two days later, our friend reported: “The DVD is amazing. I watched it two times all the way through. There is so much information on those discs. It’s worth the money just to see how Tubb sets up his rifle and sling… but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve already put some of Tubb’s suggestions to work, and my scores got better.”
In his DVD, 11-time National High Power Champ David Tubb explains across-the-course positions (and the Approach Method in Offhand) and how to set-up the rifle for each position. He also also covers targets, set-up and use of aperture sights/diopters, and how to best place and use spotting Scopes. The DVD includes bonus footage of David shooting strings in all of the across-the-course positions. If you shoot Service Rifle, High Power, or prone, you can benefit from watching David’s DVD. The full 2-disc DVD is available for $49.95 from Creedmoor Sports or Superior Shooting Systems.
David has included highlights from that DVD in a shorter promo video, linked below. View the video and you’ll learn a great deal just by watching how David shoulders his rifle, and how he adjusts and maintains his shooting position. David demonstrates prone, sitting, and standing positions.
February 6th, 2009
The Ben Avery Shooting Facility hosts the Arizona Long-Range Championship this weekend, February 7-8, 2009. This event will draw many of the top 1000-yard shooters from the Western states. Prior to the Long-Range Championships, a individual Palma match will be held today, Feb. 6th. The Palma match will have 15 shots for record at EACH of three distances: 800, 900, and 1000 yards.
 
Photos courtesy AZ Desert Sharpshooters.
On Saturday the 7th there will be two (2) Any-rifle, Any-sight 1000-yard matches (20 record rounds per match), followed by a 4-man team match with two shooters per realy. On Sunday the 8th, there will be two more Any-rifle, Any-sight 1000-yard matches (20 record rounds per match). The Championship will be determined based on combined Saturday and Sunday Aggregates.
CLICK HERE for Match Program and Schedule.
Member of the U.S. F-Class Open Team have been “working out” this week at Ben Avery, tuning their 6.5-284 rifles and working on team strategies. Many members of the Team will participate in the AZ Long-Range Championship this weekend. If you are in the Phoenix area, this is your chance to come out and meet team members and see some of America’s top long-range shooters in action.
January 28th, 2009
 The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has just released its latest 2009 sales catalog. This includes surplus military rifles (Garand, M1 Carbine, m1903 Springfield), plus .22LR training rifles, and “special-edition” new-production air rifles offered by the CMP.
In addition to rifle sales, the CMP Catalog offers ammo (e.g. 30-06 ammo for Garands), shooting coats, slings, tools, and many other accessories. If you are a classic rifle collector, Service Rifle competitor, or enjoy shooting rimfires and air rifles, you should definitely check out the CMP Catalog. There are some great deals inside. The 2009 CMP Catalog is FREE. If you want a hard copy of the catalog, CLICK HERE to fill in the Mail Request Form. Or, just click the link below to download the CMP 2009 Catalog as an Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) file.
CLICK HERE to Download Complete CMP 2009 Catalog (.pdf file).
January 27th, 2009
The NRA National Indoor Championships is a unique event for both adults and juniors. At different locations throughout the country, multi-discipline smallbore and air rifle regional (aka “sectional”) matches are held. The scores from all the sectionals are collected and compared, and the NRA announces National Champions based on the scores. This is a great way for your local club to have its members involved in a national program. There is still time for clubs to request to sponsor a Sectional in their area.
Indoor Championship Junior Program | Indoor Championship Open Program
First Matches held in January
The National Indoor Championships commenced on January 1, 2009, with the first sectional tournament being shot January 3. These championships will continue through March for Open Adults and through April for Juniors. Both the Open and the Junior Sectionals are now being conducted throughout the country. Open Sectionals are available for NRA 3-Position, NRA Conventional 4-Position, International Air Rifle, and International Smallbore Rifle. Junior Sectionals are being conducted in NRA 3-Position, NRA 4-Position, International Air Rifle, 3-Position Sporter Air Rifle, and 3-Position Precision Air Rifle.
NRA Postal Matches
The NRA also offers a wide variety of Postal Matches in 2009. A Postal Match is an event in which competitors fire on their home ranges using targets which have been marked for identification. The fired targets are then sent to NRA for scoring and ranking for awards. The NRA conducts various postal matches, many of which are in cooperation with national and fraternal organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America, 4-H Clubs, FFA, and JROTC. Like the National Indoor Championships, Postal Matches allow local clubs to participate in a nation-wide program.
CLICK HERE for Postal Match Information.
For more information on the NRA Indoor Championships call Dian Bullock, (703) 267-1482, or email dbullock [at] nrahq.org. To learn about the NRA Postal Match program, email postals [at] nrahq.org.
January 26th, 2009
In mid-2008, Sinclair Int’l released an all-new, super-wide bipod system for F-Class, Tactical, and Varmint shooters. Initially priced at $165.00, the Sinclair F-Class bipod was (then) a steal. The price is now up to $199.95, still a good deal in our opinion. And now you can get the bipod in either a silver (aluminum color) or matte black finish. On a tactical rifle, the low-gloss black looks great.
New Wider, More Versatile Design
Sinclair’s previous F-Class bipod was popular but shooters wanted a wider “wheelbase” and the ability to work with 3″-wide forearms. Sinclair’s new unit offers these features and much more. The new bipod is lower, lighter (36 oz.), and easier to mount than the previous model. The new unit attaches via a captured pin system that works fast and can’t get lost. After engaging the pin, two adjusting knobs then clamp the fore-arm onto a felt-lined bracket for a secure fit. The bipod will accommodate up to 3″-wide forearms (and even 3 3/8″ without canting adjustment).
Adjusts for Height and Cant Angle
The new Sinclair bipod features a large rotating lever that allows you to adjust rifle cant angle easily. Vertical height adjusts from 5.5″ to 10.25″, and the leg heights are independently adjustable — an important feature when shooting on uneven ground.
The folks at Sinclair did their homework. This is a completely redesigned system that offers an easily-adjustable, highly stable platform in the field. The unit is well-built, with all the adjustments you want and need. Given the quality of the design and materials, we think it reamains a good value, though the price has gone up since this “second generation” Sinclair F-Class bipod was introduced last year.
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