The 2011 IBS Nationals were held at the White Horse Center Range near Peeltree, West Virginia. This was a 3-target Aggregate match for both Light Gun (LG) and Heavy Gun (HG) with six (6) targets total. The big winner was Shooters’ Forum member Tod Soeby (aka 4Xforfun). Tod, who hails from North Dakota, drove a long way to the match, but his journey was well worth it, as he topped a large, highly-competitive field of 117 shooters. Soeby won BOTH the 2-Gun Overall as well as the Light Gun Group+Score Overall (In Light Gun, Tod was #1 for Group and #6 for Score, shooting a 6mm Dasher). Soeby’s Light Gun Group Agg was a remarkable 3.884″, nearly an inch smaller than the next best Light Gun Group Agg, a 4.724″, turned in by Salley Bauer. Gordy Gritters finished second in 2-Gun Overall, while David Powell secured third place in 2-Gun Overall.
Tod’s three, 5-shot Light Gun groups were: 4.489″, 3.760″, and 3.283″. That yielded an average of 3.884″ at 1000 yards. Think about that — Tod’s average is barely over one-third MOA, which is 3.49″ at 1000 yards — seriously small. Yes, those Dashers can shoot!
Wesley Springman was the top Heavy Gun Shooter, placing second in Group and third in Score, to finish first Overall in Heavy Gun class. Don Rabun was second in HG overall, with Eric Springman taking third in HG, edging Don Nagel on a tie-breaker (both Eric and Don racked up 14 Agg Rank Points). As noted above, Tod Sobey won the Light Gun Overall, with Donald Whitlock second in LG, and David Powley third. Notable other performances were Jeffrey Morten’s first place finish in LG Score, and Eric Springman’s outstanding Group shooting in Heavy Gun. Eric finished #1 in HG Group, with an impressively small 5.925″ Agg (that’s for ten-shot groups). And Sharon Ruben nailed the small group for the match, a mind-blowing 2.686″ on her second Light Gun (5-shot) target. For reference, one-quarter MOA at 1000 yards is 2.617″. Amazing.
Winning Rifles: 6mm Dasher Light Gun, 300 WSM Heavy Gun
Tod Soeby provided this equipment rundown for his Nationals-winning rifles.
Light Gun (6mm Dasher): Smithed by Greg Wahlstrom, Straightline Customs, in Ogilvie, MN. Greg also did the stock work and bedding. Action is a BAT “M” multi-flat, 8.5″-long, R-L-R dual port. Stock is a Shehane ST-1000. Barrel is 30″ Krieger 1:8″ twist, chambered as 6mm Dasher with 0.267″ neck. Optics are: Nightforce NSX 12-42X in BAT +20 MOA aluminum ring/bases.
Heavy Gun (300 WSM): Smithed by Clay Spencer. Action is BAT “L”, 10″-long, 2″-round, dual port. Stock is a Bruce Baer 5″-wide thumbhole, with custom rails by Greg Wahlstrom of Straightline Customs. The barrel is a Hart 1:10″ twist chambered in 300 WSM. Optics are: Nightforce 12-42X Benchrest model. Tod is not sure about the source of Picatinny rail and rings.
117 Shooters Competed at 2011 IBS Nationals
Overall, shooters commented that West Virginia’s White Horse facility was a nice range, and many folks hoped that other major events might be hosted there in the future. Despite the predicted hot, humid weather, there was a great turn-out for the event, with 117 registered shooters in Light Gun and 115 Heavy Gun Registrants. The match organizers at White Horse did a good job with such a large field of shooters. The excellent turn-out proves there is a growing interest in long-range benchrest.
The International Benchrest Shooters (IBS) has updated its Official Rules of Competition. The complete IBS rules, with all recent updates, are presented in the latest Rulebook #12a. This is updated through July 2011. Rulebook #12A includes 2010 rule changes and 2011 temporary rules. New rules are highlighted with red text. You can now download the updated Rulebook #12a, as a .PDF file, from the IBS website.
The White Horse Center Range near Peeltree, West Virginia, will host the 2011 National IBS 1000-Yard Nationals from September 3-5, 2011. The good news is that the match directors have lowered the fees in response to the week economy and high gas prices. If you register before August 8th, the match fee is only $80.00 per gun.
Match Schedule and Fees
The 1K Nationals will be a 3-target Aggregate match for both Light Gun (LG) and Heavy Gun (HG) with six (6) targets total. Membership in the IBS, NBRSA, or Williamsport organizations is required — bring your membership card. The match will run Saturday, Sunday, and MONDAY, September 3, 4, and 5. Practice and Sight-in will be available Wednesday (8/31), Thursday (9/1) and Friday (9/2), starting daily at 8:00 am. NOTE: There will be a $10.00 per target fee during practice days and the shooter must furnish his/her own target puller.
Match fees for the Nationals are $80 per gun ($40 per gun for Juniors), if post-marked before August 8, 2011. Thereafter fees go to $90 per gun ($45 per gun for juniors). All registrations MUST be received by 3:00 pm Friday, September 2nd. No walk-up registrations will be accepted on match days.
How to Get There
The Center is located 9.7 miles south on State Route 20 from I-79, exit 115 or 10.1 miles north of Route 20 from Buckhannon. Look for a brown and yellow Dept. of Natural Resources sign on Route 20. Take Crouse Road to the next sign, turn right at the sign, and proceed up the hill to the Center. Map coordinates are: 39°, 7′, 11″ North latitude; 80°, 13′, 4″ West longitude. The White Horse Center website has information on area hotels and campgrounds.
Story Tip by EdLongrange. We welcome submissions from our readers.
At its January 15, 2011 Annual Meeting, the International Benchrest Shooters (IBS) adopted some new rules affecting both long-range and short-range competition. First, by a significant margin, IBS long-range shooters voted to allow muzzle brakes in Heavy Gun class. This will allow the Light Guns (which often have muzzle brakes) to compete in both classes. The purpose of the change is to draw more competitors, and allow those shooters, who can only afford one rifle, to shoot in both classes.
Muzzle brakes are now allowed in both Light and Heavy Gun Class in IBS Long Range events.
This change, which applies to both 600- and 1000-yard matches, was supported by the Long Range Committee and endorsed by the Executive Board. Comments in the recent IBS Survey also showed broad support for this rule change. A few folks grumbled that allowing muzzle brakes in HG events will make Heavy Gun relays more noisy, but since Light Guns already employ brakes, most shooters have learned to live with the nuisance.
Temporary Rule Changes Adopted
Both temporary 2010 rule changes were soundly passed with about 90% of the mail ballots in favor. All shooters will be effected by a change that allows recognition of all record-breaking efforts, regardless of match or relay. Short-range shooters must now comply with tighter restrictions on placement of wind flags — once an Agg begins, the flags must stay put.
Wind Flag Location Regulations
Flags will be essentially restricted to the lane in front of shooters. After an aggregate commences, wind flags cannot be moved except by range personnel, and never for the shooters’ convenience or advantage.
Multiple Record-Breakers on Same Day
If multiple competitors break a record on a given day, regardless of the match they attended or the relay on which they shot, each one is given full credit for breaking the record. The best score shot on that day is recognized record going forward. This Rule, as adopted, is NOT retroactive
2010 IBS 600-yard Shooter of the Year honors have just been announced. Sam Hall of Boonville, NC stole the show again this year, securing 100 points to earn another Shooter of the Year (SOY) Title. Congrats Sam! Not far behind was Dasher Ace (and a former Shooter of the Year) Richard Schatz with 86 Points. Brenda Hobbs was the Female Shooter of the Year with 7 Championship points, while Stanley Clarke’s 6 points him earned him “Rookie SOY” honors.
Here are the final standings, courtesy Dick Grosbier of the IBS:
IBS Shooter of the Year Rankings
1. Samuel Hall – 100 points
2..Richard Schatz – 86 points
3. Dan Hobbs – 50 points
4. Glen Sterling – 39 points
5. Rich Griffin – 32 points
Female SOY: Brenda Hobbs (7 points)
Rookie SOY : Stanley Clark (6 points)
Some months ago, Sam Hall revealed many of his shooting secrets and gun-handling tips in a short video. Because of windy conditions, the audio track is pretty poor, but if you pay attention you can learn some very valuable lessons from Sam:
Jeff Stover, president of the International Benchrest Shooters (IBS), told us his organization is looking to grow the ranks of shooters in registered benchrest matches. As part of that effort, the IBS Executive Board has commissioned two online surveys to gauge the opinions of both active benchresters and the general precision shooting community. Below are links to the two surveys. The first is for current, or former, benchrest competitors and the second is for NON-benchrest shooters. Jeff adds: “The survey takes only a few minutes to fill out.” So have at it guys…
Results of the survey will be presented and discussed at the IBS Annual Meeting on January 15, 2010 in Harrisburg, PA. Details of the meeting, and the survey results, will be posted on the IBS web site within 48 hours of the meeting’s conclusion.
The Future of IBS Competition — Comments by Jeff Stover
The primary purpose for the surveys is determine how we can grow benchrest shooting. We realize there are a lot of shooters that were once into the sport but have drifted away. Why? Have they found something else, or are we doing something wrong?
The second group we want to reach are serious shooters that do not consider themselves to be benchresters. How do they view us? Are they interested in learning more? How can we help?
By design, the surveys contains some quite provocative and controversial questions. Some questions seek opinions on caliber-neutral scoring in Score and whether the two benchrest organizations should be combined. We even tackle the age-old questions about competitions for factory rifles and whether there should be shooter classifications.
I have been thinking a lot about benchrest in comparison to the other shooting disciplines. In doing so, it is nearly impossible to avoid buzz words, such as “elite”, “ultimate” and “cutting edge”. Simply put, benchrest shooting CAN be described as such, because that is what we do. If that turns off some, so be it. The rifles that sit on the rests aimed at IBS or NBRSA targets from 100 to 1000 yards ARE the most accurate on the planet. Note I did not say “some of the most accurate”.
Probably the most challenging part of our game is there is NO room for error. A group or aggregate that measures, say .270″ is a far cry from a .170″. Point out a .10″ tick mark on a ruler to the average Joe and tell him that is the distance that represents the difference between great and average. I think the very nature of our discipline appeals to a particular type of individual. We are trying to place each shot in the same hole or on top of a small ‘x’. It is hard to dabble in benchrest. It is a bit of an “all or nothing” game.
Selling our sport can be a little difficult. Some of the uninitiated think it is either too complex or too easy (see the comments on this benchrest video on Youtube if you want to lose your lunch).
I don’t mind that we are a “niche” sport, but we need to be a critical mass to make sure the normal weekend shoots have healthy numbers. Interestingly, most of the really large shoots, such as both Nationals and the Super Shoot have held their own in recent years. So, maybe the economy does play into the number of shoots that a person attends. There is a question to that effect in the survey.
Recently, I had a call from a fellow that is building a sophisticated range here in the east. He was not a benchrest shooter, but wanted information on what we needed so that he can host registered matches. He directly told me that benchrest was important because that is where all the accuracy improvements were coming from and he felt his range needed to cater to our discipline. Enough said.
Comments can be directed to me at jstover33 [@] comcast.net. — Jeff Stover, IBS President
Here is the book we have all been waiting for. Tony Boyer, by far the greatest shooter in the history of short-range benchrest competition, has finally released his new 323-page book. It’s a beautiful product, full of color photos from cover to cover. Every serious benchrest shooter should read Tony’s book. He has dominated registered benchrest in a fashion that will never be duplicated. Tony Boyer has 142 U.S. Benchrest Hall of Fame points. That total is unprecedented. The next closest shooter, Allie Euber, has 47 Hall of Fame points.
The full-color book is 323 pages long, and there are color photos or color illustrations on nearly every page. The hard-cover first edition costs $42.50, while the soft cover version is $34.50. These are available from Bruno Shooters Supply, 1-800-455-0350. You can also buy directly from Tony Boyer’s publisher, Turks Head in Washington state, by visiting www.RifleAccuracyBook.com.
Special Limited Slipcase Edition, Signed by Tony Boyer — 500 Only
A total of 500 limited-edition, hardback versions of the Boyer book were printed. These 500 limited edition books are all signed by Tony Boyer. Cost is $64.50, and that includes a fitted external slipcase to protect the book’s cover. The Boyer-signed, limited edition books are offered exclusively through Turks Head. Call (206) 782-4164 (ext. 0) to order, or visit www.RifleAccuracyBook.com.
If you want a limited, signed edition, you should act quickly.
Richard Schatz won the 2010 IBS 600-Yard Nationals held recently in St. Louis, Missouri. Congratulations to Richard for this big win against very capable competition! Posting in our Shooters’ Forum, Richard Schatz noted: “It was a great time seeing old friends and making new ones. The St. Louis range turned out to be very challenging with winds switching fast enough to keep everyone on their toes just trying to stay in the game.” Forum member David L. (aka David2) attended the match and tells us: “St. Louis has a very nice facility. The Match Director and target crew [ran] a good match, even with some gusty winds blowing off or loosening a couple of targets.”
Match Report by Jerry Kloeppel
St. Louis hosted 74 shooters at its first 600-Yard Nationals. Pleasant temperatures and strong, gusty, switchy winds both days kept shooters off-balance. As usual though, the weather conditions didn’t seem to bother some while driving others crazy. Friday was all Light Guns and at the top of the heap was Dan Hobbs with a First Place group Agg of 3.013. Richard Schatz came in second with 3.019 and Samuel Hall in third with a 3.028. Now that’s a tight race!
For score, Hobie Bond [took first] with a 361 followed by Jay Cutright’s 355 and Mike Jakubczak’s 352. Mike also won the overall Light Gun Championship. The Small Group of the day went to Sam Hall with an amazing 1.128″ in those conditions. Richard Schatz found a way to keep them in the middle… with two perfect 50s for the day. Also on Friday Mike Hanes won a Kelbly stock for a shot closest to the center.
Saturday’s winds were even worse than Friday’s and again some shooters made it look easy. In Heavy Gun, Sam Hall took first in group with an impressive 2.136 Agg. Al Forbes finished second with a 2.590 and Schatz was with with 2.612. The score Champ was Richard Schatz with a 355 total, followed closely by Richard Griffins (352) and Dan Hobbs (351).
Here is how the Two-Gun overall standings worked out. In Two-Gun Group, Sam Hall was first, with a 2.582 Agg. Schatz was second with 2.815 and Al Forbes was third with a 3.004. A group size tie-breaker gave the Two-Gun Score title to Richard Schatz over Richard Griffin (both men racked up identical 696 scores). Also on Saturday, David Dorris of Benchsource presented Don Elder with a shiny new Benchsource annealing machine as a prize for the shot closest to center. And that brings us to the 2010, IBS 600-yard overall Champion: Richard Schatz. Congratulations Richard.
The 2010 IBS 1000-Yard Nationals took place September 1-4 at the Gopher Rifle & Revolver Club (GRRC) in Harris, MN. There were three days of shooting for both Light Gun (LG) and Heavy Gun (HG) classes, with IBS, NBRSA and Williamsport rifles eligible. There was some rain on Thursday (Day 1) that delayed the afternoon relays, but, overall, Thursday had the best conditions. Mike Wieland of GRRC reports that winds were very strong on Friday (Day 2), while on Saturday (Day 3) “a breeze developed that provided a challenging condition and kept the groups bigger and the scores lower for most of the shooters”. The very strong winds on Day 2 also produced a number of DQs.
Bauer Wins Two-Gun and Heavy Gun; Baron Graham Wins Light Gun
The Overall Two-Gun Match Winner was Jim Bauer, who shot a 6mm Dasher in LG and a 300 Ackley in HG. Both guns were smithed by Gordy Gritters and featured Krieger Barrels, BAT actions, and Shehane stocks. In his Dasher, Jim loaded Spencer bullets with Reloder 15. For his Heavy, Jim used Berger bullets with Reloder 25. Jim’s match Aggs were 8.879 for LG and 9.694 for HG. Finishing Second Overall in Two-Gun was Jim Isaacson, followed by Jay Cutright (3rd), David Powley (4th), and John Stecik (5th).
Match Two-Gun Winner Jim Bauer also won the Heavy Gun Division with his Gritters-built 300 Ackley. Close behind were runner-up Steve Sabo shooting a 300 WSM (Broughton barrel, BAT action), and third-place Jay Cutright shooting a Bartlein-barreled big 7mm wildcat. Fourth and fifth in HG, respectively, were Tod Soeby (300 WSM), and James Isaacson (6.5×47 Lapua). Though there were quite a few 6mms used in HG class, the big boomers dominated the top positions.
Baron Graham shot very impressively to win the Light Gun Division. Baron shot a big 30 wildcat (300 Atlas), built by Leonard Baity. In his Krieger-barreled 300 Atlas, Baron shot used Berger Bullets with Reloder 25 powder. Second in LG was Jon Ammerman shooting a 6XC, followed by David Powley (3rd, 6-6.5×47), James Isaacson (4th, 6.5×47), and Gordy Mitchell (5th, 6mmBR). Though Baron’s big 30 won LG overall, the mid-size 6mm and 6.5mm cartridges did very well. Though a Dasher didn’t crack the Top Five in Light Gun, there were a bunch of Dashers on the line. This little cartridge, an improved version of the 6mmBR case, is really coming into its own in 1K competition, as is the 6.5×47 Lapua.
The Gopher Rifle & Revolver Club crew did an excellent job running the firing line, working the pits, handling targets, as well as doing the scoring and information gathering. Mike Wieland of GRRC says: “Thank you to all the volunteers, the sponsors and the shooters who made this a success!”
The 2010 Varmint Hunters Association Jamboree will be held July 26 – 30th, in Pierre, South Dakota. This 5-day event features a 2-Day Shootout, 3-Man Team Competition, and 3-Gun Match with prizes valued at over $4900. Classes for the Shootout are: Field Stock, Stock, Modified, Limited Open, and Unlimited Open. CLICK HERE for complete Shootout Rules.
In conjunction with the Jamboree, the South Dakota state 600-yard IBS Benchrest match will be held on Friday, the 30th. During the course of the week, other fun matches will be held, including a 600-Yard Groundhog Shoot, a 100-Yard Youth Shoot, and a .22 LR rimfire fun shoot.
The Jamboree is a family event with fun shoots Monday through Friday. There will be live and silent auctions, symposiums, special Ladies’ Events, regularly nightly speakers or entertainment, and a big Jamboree Banquet at the Ramkota Lodge on Friday. For more information, visit www.Varminthunter.org/jamboree.html, or call VHA members services, 1-800-528-4868.
Advanced registration is $35.00, while registration during the Jamboree costs $40.00. A Shootout ticket alone is $25.00, while a Banquet ticket costs $25.00. You must be a member of the V.H.A. and registered for the Jamboree in order to compete in the Shootout.
The 2011 IBS Nationals were held at the White Horse Center Range near Peeltree, West Virginia. This was a 3-target Aggregate match for both Light Gun (LG) and Heavy Gun (HG) with six (6) targets total. The big winner was Shooters’ Forum member Tod Soeby (aka 4Xforfun). Tod, who hails from North Dakota, drove a long way to the match, but his journey was well worth it, as he topped a large, highly-competitive field of 117 shooters. Soeby won BOTH the 2-Gun Overall as well as the Light Gun Group+Score Overall (In Light Gun, Tod was #1 for Group and #6 for Score, shooting a 6mm Dasher). Soeby’s Light Gun Group Agg was a remarkable 3.884″, nearly an inch smaller than the next best Light Gun Group Agg, a 4.724″, turned in by Salley Bauer. Gordy Gritters finished second in 2-Gun Overall, while David Powell secured third place in 2-Gun Overall.
Match Schedule and Fees
At its January 15, 2011 
2010 IBS 600-yard Shooter of the Year honors have just been announced. Sam Hall of Boonville, NC stole the show again this year, securing 100 points to earn another Shooter of the Year (SOY) Title. Congrats Sam! Not far behind was Dasher Ace (and a former Shooter of the Year) Richard Schatz with 86 Points. Brenda Hobbs was the Female Shooter of the Year with 7 Championship points, while Stanley Clarke’s 6 points him earned him “Rookie SOY” honors.
I have been thinking a lot about benchrest in comparison to the other shooting disciplines. In doing so, it is nearly impossible to avoid buzz words, such as “elite”, “ultimate” and “cutting edge”. Simply put, benchrest shooting CAN be described as such, because that is what we do. If that turns off some, so be it. The rifles that sit on the rests aimed at IBS or NBRSA targets from 100 to 1000 yards ARE the most accurate on the planet. Note I did not say “some of the most accurate”.
Here is the book we have all been waiting for. Tony Boyer, by far the greatest shooter in the history of short-range benchrest competition, has finally released his new 323-page book. It’s a beautiful product, full of color photos from cover to cover. Every serious benchrest shooter should read Tony’s book. He has dominated registered benchrest in a fashion that will never be duplicated. Tony Boyer has 142 U.S. Benchrest Hall of Fame points. That total is unprecedented. The next closest shooter, Allie Euber, has 47 Hall of Fame points.
