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
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).
Series Premieres 9/12/2012 at 10:00 pm The National Geographic Channel is launching a new TV series about a father and son business, International Military Antiques, that specializes in antique and historical arms. Nat Geo’s new show, Family Guns, has solid production values, and the stars of Family Guns are more reputable than the clowns featured on some other gun-oriented cable TV series. Family Guns airs Wednesday Nights at 10:00 pm on the Nat Geo Channel. Tonight’s debut episode features 1920s-era Tommy Guns and two rare, mint condition World War II sniper rifles.
An international authority on antique weapons, Christian Cranmer first started collecting military antiques at the age of twelve. In the 1970s he began dealing antiques and traveled around the world collecting weapons from government arsenals that were being emptied. He established a reputation as having unrivaled knowledge of military history and antique arms.
In 1969 Cranmer heard about a mythical cache in Nepal. It would take over 30 years, but he would find this stockpile and make the greatest purchase of military antiques in his career. The amazing purchase amounted to over 55,000 firearms, with over 50,000 of them antique—Including 146 bronze cannons, a huge array of edged weapons, musket balls and parts. By 2000, Cranmer had purchased from countries from every corner of the world, and his company, International Military Antiques, had supplied military equipment for films including “Saving Private Ryan”, “Flags of Our Fathers”, “Cold Mountain” and “Inglourious Basterds.” See IMA’s inventory at www.ima-usa.com.
‘Family Guns’ Series Trailer (Worth Watching!)
Preview of ‘Family at War’ — Family Guns Episode 1
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.
On this anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2001, it is important to remember those who were lost, and honor those brave men and women who risked their lives to help others. But it is even more important that we, as a nation, remain vigilant, and not let down our guard. “Remaining vigilant toward this ever-present threat means constantly learning how better to protect ourselves. [W]e must fight and win the war on terror, so that we do not have to fight it here in America.” — Mark Kennedy
Chris Cox, Exec. Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), recently interviewed Gov. Mitt Romney, GOP Presidential candidate. Cox posed a number of questions relating to the Second Amendment and firearms regulations. We recommend that you visit NRAILA.org and read the Full Interview with Gov. Romney.
Here are sample Q&As from the NRA-ILA interview:
Chris Cox: First, let me start with the most basic question of all. In the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, and in the 2010 case McDonald v. City of Chicago, the U.S. Supreme Court—by a 5-4 majority—held that the Second Amendment guarantees the fundamental, individual right of all law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms. Do you agree that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental, individual right to own and use firearms for all lawful purposes?
Gov. Mitt Romney: Absolutely, and I was pleased when the Court finally rendered a clear and concise decision on this critical issue. The Second Amendment is essential to our free society. I strongly support the right of all law-abiding Americans to exercise their constitutionally protected right to own firearms and to use them for lawful purposes, including self-defense; the protection of family and property; hunting and recreational shooting.
Chris Cox: Obviously, America’s 100 million gun owners are very concerned that their Second Amendment rights hang in the balance at the U.S. Supreme Court by just one vote. President Obama’s two nominees to the Court so far—Justices Sotomayor and Kagan—have a history of anti-gun opinions and activism. And some have predicted that if Barack Obama is re-elected, he may have the opportunity to nominate several more justices to the Court. As president, if you had the opportunity, what type of individuals would you nominate to the Supreme Court? And which of the justices currently serving on the Court would you consider to be the best models of your judicial philosophy?
Gov. Romney: Chris, I believe the next president could indeed have the opportunity to shape the Court for decades to come, and that’s a key reason why the tens of millions of Americans who support the NRA should support my candidacy. My view of the Constitution is straightforward: Its words have meaning. The founders adopted a written constitution for a reason. They intended to limit the powers of government. The job of a judge is to enforce the Constitution’s restraints on government and, where the Constitution does not speak, to leave the governance of the nation to its elected representatives[.]
The 2012 Presidential race is shaping up as a close contest. With two months left before election day, many key “swing states” remain “too close to call”. Accordingly, experts believe that this election could go either way, meaning both Presidential candidates have a real chance to win in October. Some polls show President Obama maintaining a slight lead in the popular vote, while other forecasters predict Gov. Mitt Romney will secure enough Electoral College votes to win. In a tight election like this, your vote DOES matter. That’s why, no matter what your party affiliation, we encourage you to register and vote in the upcoming election.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has created a new BSA National Foundation to promote firearms safety training and marksmanship instruction for Boy Scouts. An initial $500,000 donation by Larry and Brenda Potterfield will serve to kick-start the BSA Foundation’s operations. As long-time supporters of their local BSA council, the Potterfields wanted to help more Scouts across America gain experience, confidence and expertise when it came to firearm safety and the shooting sports.
“The BSA is the country’s greatest developer of leadership in youth and Brenda and I are strong supporters of programs whose objective is to help develop the leaders of tomorrow,” said MidwayUSA founder and CEO Larry Potterfield. “Shooting sports is one of the most popular activities in Scouting and this gift is designed to help more youth have that experience.”
With its initial $500,000 in funding, the BSA National Foundation hopes to award approximately 20 grants beginning in 2013. Grant funds may be used for, but are not limited to, the purchase of ammunition, firearms, targets, firearm cleaning supplies, eye and ear protection, awards, shooting facility fees and travel expenses for Scouts to attend approved shooting competitions. For more info visit www.BSAFoundation.org or call the BSA Foundation at (972) 580-2219.
Over 70,000 Scouts earn the Shotgun or Rifle Shooting Merit Badges each year, which requires safety education, various shooting sports experiences, and outstanding marksmanship.
Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) currently serves nearly three million youths annually with leadership training and character development programs.
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D., California) has pledged to introduce a new, tougher “assault weapons” ban in the next session of Congress. Speaking to California delegates at the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Feinstein stated she would seek passage of an “updated assault weapons bill”, according to the SPCR.org website. Explaining her reasoning behind sponsoring new anti-gun legislation, Feinstein said: “Weapons of war do not belong on our streets, in our classrooms, in our schools or in our movie theatres.” Sen. Feinstein was a co-sponsor of the 1994 Federal ban on many types of semi-automatic rifles. This ban expired in 2004 and has not been revived so far.
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.
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?
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 National Geographic Channel is launching a new TV series about a 
Chris Cox, Exec. Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), recently interviewed Gov. Mitt Romney, GOP Presidential candidate. Cox posed a number of questions relating to the Second Amendment and firearms regulations. We recommend that you visit 
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has created a new BSA National Foundation to promote firearms safety training and marksmanship instruction for Boy Scouts. An initial $500,000 donation by Larry and Brenda Potterfield will serve to kick-start the BSA Foundation’s operations. As long-time supporters of their local BSA council, the Potterfields wanted to help more Scouts across America gain experience, confidence and expertise when it came to firearm safety and the shooting sports.
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D., California) has pledged to introduce a new, tougher “assault weapons” ban in the next session of Congress. Speaking to California delegates at the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Feinstein stated she would seek passage of an “updated assault weapons bill”, according to the 
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. 
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. 
“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?
