Report by Kyle Jillson for NRABlog.com
This year you can catch all the action at the 2013 NCAA Rifle Championships in real time thanks to a live stream from the match venue in Columbus, Ohio. Just hop on over to the NCAA Live website and dive right in. (The NCAA also provides live streaming coverage of other winter championship events.) The individual finals are set to stream live at 4:30 pm Eastern time.
Relay #3 is underway now (as this story is released) and the finals begin at 4:30 PM Eastern. In Relay #1, Alaska-Fairbanks’ Ryan Anderson took the lead with a 586-35X. After shooting a perfect 200 from prone, Anderson faltered slightly while standing and shot a 191, dropping nine. In kneeling, the final leg, he warded off the other shooters in his relay with a 195 to stay at the top.
High-Tech Hits the Road
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has a portable air gun range that travels around the country in trailer rigs. The CMP’s new $425,000 mobile range features 60 electronic targets, automated target lifts, target monitors (for 60 stations), and jumbo viewing screens for spectators. Positioned on tables along the firing line (photo below), the 60 MEGALink color screens show scores in real time. The high-tech electronic targets provide quick and accurate results, and spectators can watch a “live feed” on eight big-screen LED television monitors. The entire system is controlled by a trio of computers which do the scoring and operate the targets, lifts, and TVs.
The CMP’s state-of-the art, mobile air gun range boasts 60 electronic MEGAlink targets produced in Norway. MEGAlink is the same target system used at CMP North and South stationary air ranges. The MEGAlink target “boxes” are each connected to a lift system than can raise and lower the targets for 3-position shooting. All of the components are designed so that the range can be quickly constructed using as few as three people. A large trailer can haul all 60 targets plus all the related monitors, computers, tables, chairs, and hardware in one load-out.
“With travel being difficult for competitors to make it to Ohio or Alabama, the idea of the mobile range arose to transport electronic targets to the shooters instead of them coming to us,” said James Hall, CMP Program Outreach Supervisor. Because of its versatile design, the range can be used as either a 60-point range or broken down into three sets of 20 targets or two sets of 30 targets. “The range can be set up in almost any combination of targets, which allows small gyms and conference centers to host a match with maximum target use,” said Hall.
The first “trial” match of the Mobile Range was at the Montgomery Bell Classic in Nashville, TN in October 2012. “The match was a success, not only for the Montgomery Bell Academy, but also for the CMP,” Hall said. “The targets ran well, and we received a positive response from spectators.” Other CMP events where the range has been put to the test include the 5th Brigade Championship in Kerrville, TX in December 2012 and the Bass Pro 600 in Leeds, AL in January 2013.
All packed up and ready to go, the CMP’s Mobile Range will roll on to future events, including the JROTC Service Championship in Salt Lake City, UT, 4H Nationals in Grand Island, NE, the American Legion Championship in Colorado Springs, CO and various CMP summer camps and clinics. “The Mobile Range has generated a great response,” Hall admitted. “We hope it continues to give shooters out west and other areas of the United States a chance to compete.”
This week (March 8-17) the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) hosts the Army Strong Collegiate Shooting Championships at Fort Benning, Georgia. More than 300 elite junior and collegiate shooters are expected to compete. This event involves six distinct championships: the NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championships; the NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championship; the Scholastic Steel Challenge (SSC) Collegiate Championship; the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) Challenge; the Scholastic Pistol Program (SPP) Collegiate Championship; and the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) East Coast Clay Target Championship.
Colleges and Universities competing at this year’s championships include Clemson, Ohio State, Univ. of Michigan, U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, Penn State, and the Virginia Military Institute. Junior shooters from Georgia, Tennessee, Kansas, Massachusetts, and other states will compete in the SCTP Challenge. The Scholastic Steel Challenge (SSC) provides the opportunity for junior and collegiate shooters to participate in the exciting and challenging family sport of “speed steel.” The competitive format is based on the Steel Challenge, the nation’s most successful handgun competition. West Point will be among the favorites at this year’s SSC match.
The USAMU’s facility at Fort Benning “is the ideal location to hold a shooting competition of this magnitude,” said Lt. Col. Don King Jr., USAMU commander. “These collegiate and junior championships are on par with the World Cups, Olympic Trials and National Championships we have hosted throughout the years here at the ‘Home of Champions'”. For a complete schedule of events, go to www.usamu.com.
Pyramyd Air, the leading online airgun retailer, has developed two smart phone Apps for airgun shooters and airsoft shooters. Pyramyd’s FREE Air Wizard App is offered for both Apple iPhones (go to: iTunes Store) and Android OS phones (go to: Android App Market).
Pyramid Apps Calculate Projectile Energy, and Do Conversions
The Air Wizard Apps calculate muzzle energy (based on projectile weight and observed velocity). The Apps can do a host of conversions: foot-pounds to joules, joules to foot-pounds, grams to grains and grains to grams, pounds to pounds and ounces, feet to yards, yards to feet, meters to yards, yards to meters, Fahrenheit to Celsius, Celsius to Fahrenheit, FPS (feet per second) to MPS (meters per second) and MPS to FPS. Most of these calculations work for all gun types — airguns, firearms and airsoft.
Special Functions for Airsoft Guns
For airsoft guns, the Apps offer additional computations including determining joules, meters per second (MPS), feet per second (FPS), kilometers per hour and battery time for auto-electric guns (AEG).
Additional Air Rifle Information from Pyramyd Air
Pyramyd Air provides professional product videos from Airgun Reporter Paul Capello. Pyramyd’s Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier writes a highly respected daily Blog, the Pyramyd Air Report. Pyramyd also provides instructional videos through its online Airgun Academy.
American Airgunner is the first and only television show about airgun shooting sports. This cable TV show features a wide range of airgunning interests, including hunting, competitive shooting, and plinking. American Airgunner has signed a 52-week 2013 agreement with Pursuit Channel to help anchor its “Friday Night Firepower” line-up of shows with all-new episodes. American Airgunner will air Friday at 8:30 pm (EST), and again Wednesdays at 4:30 pm (EST). (Check local listings for other times.)
“2013 is already a good year for American Airgunner. We have a primetime slot on America’s largest outdoors network” said Justin Biddle, exec. producer of the show. Episodes this year will include airguns for Olympic-style competition, large- and small-game hunting, training, and backyard fun shooting. This year’s shows will also feature industry experts explaining airgun technologies and airgun history.
Airgunner Challenge — Test Your Skills
American Airgunner TV Show is seeking competitors “with strong personalities” for the 2013 Airgunner Challenge. Chosen challengers will vie for a $5000.00 top prize. You don’t need professional training in the shooting sports, just be in good physical shape and confident in your shooting abilities. Apply soon — Deadline is February 22, 2013. CLICK HERE for more information.
Congrats to 2012 Olympian Sarah Scherer who set an NCAA record with a 597 in smallbore this past weekend in a showdown with UTEP Rifle Team. She also tied the NCAA record with a 1,195 aggregate in leading the defending NCAA Champion TCU Women’s Rifle Team to their 22nd consecutive victory.
Sarah shot her record scores at a match at UTEP on Saturday. The TCU Horned Frogs topped the UTEP Miners 4,694-4,511. Sarah Scherer set an NCAA record in smallbore, firing a 597. Scherer added a 598 in air rifle to tie the NCAA Aggregate record with a combined 1,195. In smallbore, Sarah shot a perfect 200 in prone, a 199 in standing and a 198 in kneeling. In air rifle, she fired five perfect strings of 100, including the final four strings. Her lone 9s came in the second string of shots when she shot a 98.
Scherer’s record-breaking smallbore shooting lead TCU to victory in the rimfire competition, with the Horned Frogs winning 2,335-2,223 over UTEP. TCU had the top four smallbore shooters, and TCU also boasted five of the top six shooters in air rifle to help TCU to a 2,359-2,288 win. TCU will fire one more match before the NCAA Championships in March.
SHOT Show 2013 has been underway since Monday. This show seems bigger than ever, and the sheer number of noteworthy products on display is mind-boggling. We’ve seen some remarkable new scopes from Nightforce, Kahles, and IOR-Valdada. Dave Kiff at PT&G has some “game-changing” new products. Winchester’s new 17 Win Super Mag rimfire cartridge has generated lots of interest, and Savage showed off its new B.MAG bolt action chambered for the new cartridge.
Here’s a quick sample of some cool or interesting products we saw in action on Media Day or on display inside the Sands Convention Center. We’ll do more complete write-ups/reviews once we “back to the office” and have a change to digest spec sheets and edit video. But please enjoy this photo “sampler” from SHOT Show 2013.
New Kahles 10-50X Competition Scope, with Central (big wheel) Parallax Adjustment
New Savage B.MAG Rifle Chambered in 17 Win Super Mag Rimfire
Prototype “Tinkertoy” Benchrest Rifle from McMillan Built on “Alias” Action
New Datum Dial Ammunition Measurement System from Forster Products
New .338 Lapua Magnum Action and Complete .338 LM Rifles from Kelbly’s
New Savage Bolt from PT&G with User-Adjustable Spring Tension
Futuristic $22K Tracking-Point Rifle System with Automatic Ranging, Ballistic Calculation, and Aiming Solution
New .375 Caliber, 350 grain, ultra-high-BC Match-King Bullet from Sierra
Vectronix Laser Rangefinder Units ($1995.00 – $8510.00)
Air Arms S400 Multi-Purpose Rifles (Regular and Biathlon Models)
Accuracy Int’l PSR Multi-Caliber Rifle System — ‘Takedown Edition’ in .338 LM
Kruger of Germany produces match targets for the ISSF and major World Championships. Kruger’s quality control is second to none. Now officially-licensed NRA targets are available from Kruger Premium Targets in the USA. With elite competitions being decided by thousandths of an inch in shot placement, shouldn’t your club use the best-quality targets available? Kruger targets are made from premium-grade paper to permit precise, reliable measurements. For example, to ensure that target holes do not have irregular edges, Kruger’s NRA Air Rifle and Air Pistol targets are printed on machine-smoothed 210 gram board made from short-fiber materials. Mike Krei, Director of the NRA’s Competitive Shooting Division, has stated: “It is generally accepted that Kruger has the best heavy pulp target paper in the world and that directly relates to the excellent clean bullet holes which are essential for precise scoring.”
Kruger offers the full array of official NRA air rifle, air pistol, international pistol, and smallbore targets. In addition, Kruger sells photo-realistic Animal Targets, plus a cool series of Fun Targets for plinking and informal practice. Kruger targets can be ordered online through www.Kruger-US-Targets.com or you can call Kruger’s USA distributor, MK Tactical, at (503) 746-6816. MK Tactical is located in Hillsborough, OR.
Our friend and product tester Joe Friedrich is the proud owner of a spectacular front rest from James Pappas. This rest is used for both air rifle and rimfire benchrest matches. The fancy Pappas front rest is a shortened, front-support-only version of the Pappas one-piece rest, which is popular with rimfire benchresters. Pappas engineered this rest to comply with air rifle benchrest rules which do not allow use of integrated (one-piece) front and rear rests. The end result was a 30.8-lb masterpiece of machining.
The workmanship on this Pappas front rest is astounding. Accurately described as a “work of art” by Joe Friedrich, this rest, crafted of aircraft-grade aluminum, sets new standards for “Benchrest BLING”. It looks like it should be on display in an art museum. Nearly all components of this rest, including the adjustment controls, have been polished to a mirror finish.
Convenient Rear Windage and Elevation Controls
The Pappas front rest features separate fine-tuning controls for windage and elevation, plus a central gross-elevation control. Normally, once the rest is centered-up on the target, you can make all needed elevation and windage adjustments with the rear (fine-adjustment) controls. In the video below, Joe explains how the controls work as he practices with his modified Theoben Rapid MFR air rifle. Joe hopes to use this new Pappas rest in the upcoming Air Rifle Benchrest Worlds to be held in South Carolina this summer. (Note: In the last minute of the video, the back-lighting was so intensely bright that we lost detail in the foreground. We apologize for that flaw, but you can still hear the audio.)
Price for this Masterpiece? Don’t Ask…
If you are interested in getting a similar rest, visit PappasRimfireProducts.com, or call James Pappas directly at (817) 735-9883. Be forewarned — James said “If you need to ask about the price, you probably can’t afford it.” This is truly the “Rolls-Royce” of front rests, and it will be priced accordingly.
Airguns are fun and inexpensive to shoot. During the winter you can practice indoors, developing skills you can use in smallbore and centerfire competition. If you want to get a quality air rifle for fun shooting or competition, save money by ordering through Pyramid Air, which has the largest inventory of air guns in the USA.
10% Off for Clubs, Camps, and Trainers
Pyramid Air currently offers a 10% off promotion for NRA clubs, camps, and trainers. The 10% discount applies to quality air guns, ammo, and accessories. To get the 10% discount, qualified purchasers simply enter coupon code PYRAMYD-NRA during the check-out process. You can choose from a huge selection of top brands such as: Evanix, Hammerli, Beeman, Air Arms, AirForce Airguns, IZH-Baikal, Walther, RWS, Gamo, Crosman, Daisy, Benjamin, Sheridan, Marksman, Mendoza, Remington, Beretta, Colt, S&W, Winchester, Sam Yang, Sumatra, Webley & Scott, Weihrauch, Feinwerkbau (FWB) and many more. NOTE: This 10% discount cannot be combined with free shipping and some items are excluded.
Story based on report by Ashley Brugnone for 
“With travel being difficult for competitors to make it to Ohio or Alabama, the idea of the mobile range arose to transport electronic targets to the shooters instead of them coming to us,” said James Hall, CMP Program Outreach Supervisor. Because of its versatile design, the range can be used as either a 60-point range or broken down into three sets of 20 targets or two sets of 30 targets. “The range can be set up in almost any combination of targets, which allows small gyms and conference centers to host a match with maximum target use,” said Hall. 
Kruger of Germany produces match targets for the ISSF and major World Championships. Kruger’s quality control is second to none. Now officially-licensed NRA targets are available from 
Airguns are fun and inexpensive to shoot. During the winter you can practice indoors, developing skills you can use in smallbore and centerfire competition. If you want to get a quality air rifle for fun shooting or competition, save money by ordering through 
