Sherri Jo Gallagher, the second woman in history to win the NRA High Power National Championship, sports Eye Protection at Camp Perry. The first lady High Power Champion was Sherri’s mother, Nancy Tompkins.
In response to a Bulletin article about Protective Eyewear, one of our Canadian readers posted a personal story. His account demonstrates the importance of wearing eye protection whenever you shoot — no matter what type of firearm you are using — even air rifles. We hope all our readers take this to heart. All too often at rifle matches we see shooters, even some top competitors, risking their vision by failing to wear eye protection.
Eye and Hearing Protection are now MANDATORY for Highpower Rifle competitors and Pistol shooters in all CMP-affiliated matches. The 2020 CMP Highpower Rifle, Pistol, and CMP Games Rulebooks all contain the following rule: “All competitors and competition officials are required to wear appropriate eye and hearing protection when on shooting range firing lines during highpower rifle or pistol firing. All competitors must comply with this requirement before they can participate in a CMP sponsored or sanctioned competition. Competitors are responsible for selecting their eyewear and hearing protection.”
Eye Protection — Lesson Learned by Nicholas from Canada
As a boy on a mixed farm on the plains the first shooting stick I owned was a Red Ryder BB gun. My Dad bought it for me as I showed a keen interest in the shooting and hunting sports. I was about 9 years old at the time.
We had literally thousands of sparrows in our large farm yard and they liked to roost on the steel railings in the barn loft. I took to slowly thinning out their ranks by flashlight at night as these little winged pests settled in the farm buildings.
One evening as I slayed sparrow after sparrow in the barn loft — with about a dozen farm cats following me to consume these easy meals, I fired at another bird centered in my flashlight beam.
However, my aim was a bit low — and the copper pellet hit the steel beam square on. Instantly I felt a sharp pain as the BB bounced back and hit me squarely between the eyes on the bridge of my nose – drawing blood from the partial penetration into the skin. A half inch either way and I’d have lost an eye!
Never, never, never shoot at any target with a steel background with any firearm, even a BB gun – is the hard lesson I learned, and wear the best shooting glasses that money can buy!
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT!!
Editor’s Comment: Among competitive pistol shooters, the use of safety eyewear is universal. You’ll never see Rob Leatham, Julie Golob, or Jerry Miculek competing without eye protection — for good reason. The handgun sports’ governing bodies effectively enforce mandatory eye protection policies. We wish the same could be said for competitive rifle shooting. We often see benchrest, High Power, and F-Class competitors shooting without eye protection. We’ve heard all the excuses, yet none of them trump the safety considerations involved.
We recommend that all shooters and hunters employ eye protection whenever they use firearms or are at a location where live fire is taking place. You only have two eyes. A tiny bullet fragment or ricochet is all it takes to cause permanent blindness in one or both eyes. As rifle shooters, we place our eyes a couple inches away from a combustion chamber operating at pressures up to 70,000 psi. I know quite a few guys who will religiously put on safety glasses when running a lathe or a drill press, yet the same guys won’t use eye protection when shooting their rifles — simply because it is “inconvenient”. That’s nuts. It doesn’t matter is you are a cub scout or a multi-time National Champion — you should wear eye protection.
I will give you a personal example. A year ago I was shooting a 9mm pistol. One of the cartridges had a primer burst outward blowing small particles, some brass, and a piece of the pistol’s extractor right back into my eyes. Thankfully I was wearing good wrap-around safety glasses. No injuries at all. But without those safety glasses, this could have been very serious. I always wear safety glasses with ALL firearms. Shown below is the same kind of primer blow-out I experienced, but with a .270 Win rifle cartridge.
Be wise — protect your eyes. To learn more about eyewear safety standards, and to learn about the latest options in ANSI Z87-certified protective eyewear, read our article on Eye Protection for Shooters.
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The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU), in cooperation with Shooting USA TV, has created a series of instructional Pro Tip pages covering a wide range of shooting disciplines. All totaled, there are more than 50 USAMU Pro Tips. Most relate to rifle marksmanship but there are also numerous tips for shotgunners and pistol shooters. Each Pro Tip entry includes multiple photos and 6-15 paragraphs, in an easy-to-follow format. Many Pro Tips also include an instructional video produced by Shooting USA. Here are three Pro Tip videos, and links to seven more Pro Tip web pages.
USAMU TOP TEN PRO TIPS
1. Reading the Wind with SGT Sherri Gallagher.
Apart from gravity, wind has the most pull on the bullet as it travels down range. Being able to accurately read the wind and mirage will greatly enhance your performance on the rifle range. National Champion, SGT Gallagher gives you some of her tips.
2. Angle Shooting with SFC (Ret.) Emil Praslick.
SFC Praslick shows you how to determine the angle to your target, and then how to include that to change your data necessary to hit your target on the first shot.
3. Rifle Grip, Stance and Body Position for 3-Gun with SFC Daniel Horner.
Professional 3-gun marksman SFC Daniel Horner, U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU), give tips on how to properly handle a semi-automatic rifle, including grip, stance and body position.
The ability to read the wind is what separates good shooters from great shooters. If you want to learn wind-doping from one of the best, watch this video with 2010 National High Power Champion (and U.S. Army 2010 Soldier of the Year) Sherri Gallagher. Part of the USAMU’s Pro Tips Video Series, this video covers the basics of wind reading including: Determining wind direction and speed, Bracketing Wind, Reading Mirage, and Adjusting to cross-winds using both sight/scope adjustments and hold-off methods. Correctly determining wind angle is vital, Sheri explains, because a wind at a 90-degree angle has much more of an effect on bullet lateral movement than a headwind or tailwind. Wind speed, of course, is just as important as wind angle. To calculate wind speed, Sherri recommends “Wind Bracketing”: [This] is where you take the estimate of the highest possible condition and the lowest possible condition and [then] take the average of the two.”
It is also important to understand mirage. Sheri explains that “Mirage is the reflection of light through layers of air, based off the temperature of the ground. These layers … are blown by the wind, and can be monitored through a spotting scope to detect direction and speed. You can see what appears to be waves running across the range — this is mirage.” To best evaluate mirage, you need to set your spotting scope correctly. First get the target in sharp focus, then (on most scopes), Sheri advises that you turn your adjustment knob “a quarter-turn counter-clockwise. That will make the mirage your primary focus.”
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Our friend Darrell Buell has a new Beast — a monster 64-inch-long .375 CheyTac that weighs more than 70 pounds! Designed for ultra-long-range shooting (two miles and beyond), this beast represents the state-of-the-art in extreme long-range rifles.
Darrell reports: “This rifle is pretty much purpose-built to shoot 2+ miles extremely accurately. It is a .375 CheyTac (lengthened) built on a BAT 2.5″ action. The custom 35″, 1:10″-twist Brux barrel is a fat, 2″-diameter ‘straight taper’ with fluting. A custom 5″-long muzzle brake is fitted at the end. All barreled action work was done by R.W. Snyder Custom Rifles. The stock was created to fit the build by PDC Custom, and the massive muzzle brake as well.” The “bridge” at the end may look like a barrel block, but it’s not — the barrel completely free-floats. (The Picatinny rail on top of the bridge allows use of an overhanging bipod as an alternative to the JoyPod).
Darrell has lots of elevation on tap: “With 150 MOA in the Ivey rings, another 20 MOA in the scope rail, 55 MOA in the Nightforce Competition scope, and 10 MOA in the FCR-1 reticle, there’s an impressive +235 MOA available.”
Today we want to wish Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms around the world. All of us must remember that we literally owe our lives and our well-being to our mothers, who brought us into the world. Without the love, support, caring, and nuturing of our mothers, none of us would be here. So to mothers everywhere, we say:
“Thank you. Bless you. May your lives be filled with happiness today and everyday.”
Here is a photo of the one of the greatest moms in the shooting community, Nancy Tompkins, along with two of her little girls (who both turned into pretty good shooters themselves). On Nancy’s right is Michelle Gallagher, a top long-range shooter. On the left is Sherri Jo Gallagher, who was the second woman in history to capture the NRA National High Power Championship at Camp Perry. Who was the first woman ever to accomplish that feat? You guessed it — Nancy Tompkins, Sherri’s mom, was the first-ever female High Power Champion.
We had to share this inspiring photograph (below) of SGT Sherri Jo Gallagher. As well as being a highly-trained Army parachutist, Sherri is one of America’s top shooters. In 2010 Sherri Jo won the NRA National High Power Championship. She was only the second lady in history to become the National High Power Champion (the first was Sherri’s mother, Nancy Tompkins).
Also in 2010, Sherri was named the U.S. Army Soldier of the Year, the first female soldier to be so honored. This award is given to the top soldier at the U.S. Army’s Annual Best Warrior competition.
SGT Gallagher is currently a proud member of the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team. In that role, she gets to do fun stuff like this…
SGT Sherri Jo Gallagher
In 2010, SGT Sherri Jo Gallagher became the first U.S. military shooter since 1987 to win the Nat’l High Power Rifle Championship. She was only the second woman ever to win — the first being her mother, Nancy Tompkins.
Sherri’s family is legendary in U.S. shooting competition. She spent her childhood summers touring shooting competitions with her parents, Mid and Nancy, both competitive shooters. Sherri’s sister Michelle Gallagher is also a top-level long-range shooter, with many titles to her credit. “My family is always there for me — we are really close,” Gallagher said. “I am who I am today because of my family. We have so much fun and live life that way.”
Story based on report by Kyle Jillson inNRAblog.
Carl Bernosky wasn’t the only shooter to win an award at the 2012 High Power Rifle Championships. The ten-time champ* was joined at the Award Ceremonies by plenty of other talented competitors who received awards for High Woman, High Junior, High Senior and many other classifications.
National Championship
First Place: Carl R. Bernosky, Ashland, PA, 2391-141x
Second Place: SGT Sherri J. Gallagher, Englewood, CO, 2390-131x
Third Place: Staff Sergeant Brandon K. Green, Fort Benning, GA, 2388-135x
Winners of Other Trophies and Awards
Here is a gallery showing many of the award winners at the 2012 National High Power Championships. These photos were taken backstage at the awards ceremony. Below the gallery, winners in both Service and Match Division are listed, along with their awards and relevant scores.
*Carl Bernosky won the Match Rifle Trophy in 1981, putting him at eleven all-time, but D. I. Boyd outshot him with the service rifle by one point, bringing about one of the rare occasions the Service Rifle Champion is also the overall winner.
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Breaking News — Carl Bernosky hung on to win his 10th National High Power Championship, with a 2391-141X final Aggregate. Just one point behind, after four days of competition, was 2010 Champ SGT Sherri Gallagher. Sherri shot a 200-12X in the final event (Crowell Trophy Match) to close the gap, but it was too little, too late. Bernosky had a lead going into the last event, so even though he dropped a point (scoring 199-13X in the Crowell), he was able to prevail by a single point. Had Carl dropped two points, he still would have won the Championship because Carl had a higher X-Count than Sherri, who finished with a 2390-131X Agg. All in all, it was a well-deserved win for a great shooter, one of the best ever, that’s for sure.
This was one of the most exciting championships in recent memory. Two shooting marvels, both past High Power National champions, were neck and neck all the way ’til the end. And either could have lost the title with one errant shot or crossfire. SSG Brandon Green of the USAMU shot a superb match to finish third with 2388-135X. Multi-time High Power Champion David Tubb racked up the fourth-highest Aggregate: 2387-145X. That means David had the highest X Count of the top 5. However, we’re told by Emil Praslick that: “David Tubb shot his Match Rifle fitted with a scope this year, placing him in the Any Sight/Tactical Class.” Accordingly, Tubb was not in the running for the overall championship.
We congratulate Carl Bernosky on his hard-fought victory in 2012. This title brings Carl’s total to 10 High Power Championships, really an amazing accomplishment. We also congratulate runner-up SGT Sherri Gallagher, and all the shooters who competed at Camp Perry in the High Power Championship events.
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Story based on report by Kyle Jillson in theNRA Blog
Today, Friday August 10th, is the last day of the NRA Individual High Power Championships. Heading into the last day, Carl Bernosky (2011 Champ) and SGT Sherri Gallager (2010 Champ) are tied on points at 1795, while Carl has five more Xs. This is a tight battle. There are three matches left to shoot: Crescent Cup (slow fire, standing, 200 yards); Cavalry Cup (rapid fire, prone, 300 yards); and Crowell Trophy (slow fire, prone, 600 yards).
This Championship should go down to the wire. Carl is one of the best standing shooters in history, so he should do well in the Crescent Cup, while Sherri is a long-range wizard so we can expect her to do well in the 600-yard Crowell Trophy match. What’s more, Sherri is shooting a .260 Remington which may offer better ballistics at 600 than Bernosky’s 6mm Hagar. FYI, on Thursday, Gallagher shot superbly in the 600-yard Air Force Cup match — her 200-17X score was just one X shy of the National Record (which was set by Sherri’s mother, Nancy Tompkins).
Gallagher’s showing in the Air Force Cup helped close the gap between her and leader Carl Bernosky. The two shooters are slowly pulling away from the rest of the pack, although there is the possibility of another winner if one of the leaders has a real disaster. SSG Brandon Green and Rodrigo Rosa are both just three points back from the leaders (Green has more Xs than Rosa though). The high Service Rifle shooter is still SSG Tyrel Cooper, who has a 1787-71X score. Ty’s score is remarkable considering his AR-platform rifle has relatively crude military sights and non-adjustable buttstock.
High Power Rifle Championship — Match 400
Scores As of Thursday 8/9/2012
Story by Kyle Jillson for theNRA Blog.
After a day of steady shooting while those ahead of him faltered, Carl Bernosky regained the lead in the 2012 NRA National High Power Rifle Championship. Sporting a 1195-66X at the halfway point in the competition for the Mumma Trophy, Bernosky is ahead of the pack, but that lead could change with a single shot out of the 10-Ring. And bad weather is expected, increasing the chances of a missed shot. Thunderstorms are predicted today — that means rain, gusty winds, and range delays. Blustery winds will prove particularly challenging during today’s Air Force Cup match, shot at 600 yards.
Gallagher and Bernosky Are Neck and Neck
SGT Sherri Gallagher, who started the morning one point ahead of Bernosky, increased her lead to two following the Navy Cup. Following a practically clean round of 199 (Bernosky fired a 198), Bernosky made up a point each in the Coast Guard match and the afternoon’s Army Cup. Their point totals tied, it came down to an X-count. That’s where Bernosky holds the lead … by seven. Behind only a handful of Xs, Gallagher sits in second, for now.
Close behind the two leaders is SSG Brandon Green of the USAMU. Green’s 1194-67X score places him in third place, down just one point of the current leader. And Forum Member Rodrigo Rosa, currently in fourth Place with 1193-70X, is just two points off the lead. Note that Rosa has the highest X-count among the top five — this could come into play in the days ahead. Yesterday’s leader, SSG Tyrel Cooper, slipped a couple points, but is still in the running at fifth. And as the highest Service Rifle shooter, Cooper holds the lead in the Service Rifle Championship. It’s remarkable that Ty Cooper is right up with the leaders, shooting a AR-platform rifle with standard buttstock and military sights.
There are still two full days of shooting in the High Power Rifle Championships. A lot can happen to shift the standings on the leaderboard. Here are the specific matches scheduled today, August 9th:
Appreciation Cup — Rapid fire match shot in the sitting/kneeling position at 200 yards.
Report by By Kyle Jillson for theNRA Blog
Four days of NRA individual High Power shooting began this morning as shooters started their long race for the prestigious Mumma Trophy. Weather is slated to be another perfect day with clear skies and temperatures not getting too hot. In 2011, Carl Bernosky won his ninth High Power title after shooting a 2393-160X. Will Carl make it an even ten this year? Maybe a new shooter will take top spot on the podium in 2012?
Today’s matches are the NRA Member’s Trophy, Scott Trophy, and Coast Artillery Trophy. The Scott Trophy Match is shot rapid fire from 200 yards in the sitting/kneeling position while the Coast Artillery Match is a 300-yard rapid-fire event shot prone. The Member’s Trophy match is shot slow fire from 200 yards in the standing position.
Early Match Results
The preliminary results for the Member Trophy and Scott Trophy matches are in. The first and second relays for the three matches are all wrapped up. Previous High Power National Champions Sherri Gallagher (2010), Carl Bernosky (2011) and David Tubb (most recent 2003) all took part in relay one. The results posted below are preliminary. The scores for relays three and four are still be recorded and tabulated at this time. With all matches expected to end around 3:00 pm, the NRA Blog will provide updates from the NRA High Power Championships in Camp Perry as they become available.
Members Trophy Match
1. Sherri Gallagher 199-5X
2. Carl Bernosky 198-9X
3. Tyrel Cooper 198-5X
4. Gus Dunfey 198-5X
5. Brandon Green 197-10X
Scott Trophy Match
1. Carl Bernosky 200-18X
2. David Tubb 200-18X
3. Sara Rozanski 200-16X
4. Tyrel Cooper 200-15X
5. Rodrigo Rosa 200-14X
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The 2012 CMP Eastern Games and Creedmoor Cup took place May 5-13, 2012 at Camp Butner, NC. CMP events ran May 5 through May 8, followed by the Creedmoor Cup matches May 9-12. In the Creedmoor Cup segment, SGT Sherri Gallagher won the overall individual Championship (and Match Rifle Division), shooting 2386-138X out of a possible 2400. Just one point behind was fellow USAMU shooter SSG Brandon Green, with 2385-123X. Sherri also won the Creedmoor EIC match. Sherri proved, once again, that she’s hard to beat when she’s “on her game”. Top Service Rifle shooter was Army Reservist CPT Samuel Freeman (2375-106X), followed by SSG Tyrell Cooper (2370-94X). USAMU Team Praslick won the 4-person Team Match Rifle Championship, while USAMU Team Peters won the 4-person Team Service Rifle Championship. CLICK HERE for complete 2012 Eastern Creedmoor Cup Match Results.
Creedmoor Sports’ General Manager Dennis DeMille was “Top Shot” at the CMP Games. Dennis won the Garand Match by six points, and Dennis also took the coveted Three-Gun Aggregate Trophy. Glendale Rutherford won the Springfield Match, while Sean Leighton won the Vintage Military Match. The M1 Carbine Match had a high turn-out, with 99 shooters. William Bowling (360-4X) took top honors by one point over William Aten (359-2X). In the popular Rimfire Sporter Match, Jacob Guay (594-41X) edged Ron Villanueva (594-39X) on X-Count to win the title.
In another tightly contested match, the team of Douglas Armstrong and Kenneth Clowdis (390-13X) won the Vintage Sniper Team Match by one point over Paul Patel and Howard Burrill (389-16X) of team ‘Hardleg 1′. However, Paul Patel topped a huge field of 122 shooters to win the Individual Vintage Sniper Rifle Match, with a two-point margin over runner-up Doug Armstrong.
In response to a Bulletin article about Protective Eyewear, one of our Canadian readers posted a personal story. His account demonstrates the importance of wearing eye protection whenever you shoot — no matter what type of firearm you are using — even air rifles. We hope all our readers take this to heart. All too often at rifle matches we see shooters, even some top competitors, risking their vision by failing to wear eye protection.
Eye Protection — Lesson Learned
Editor’s Comment: Among competitive pistol shooters, the use of safety eyewear is universal. You’ll never see Rob Leatham, Julie Golob, or Jerry Miculek competing without eye protection — for good reason. The handgun sports’ governing bodies effectively enforce mandatory eye protection policies. We wish the same could be said for competitive rifle shooting. We often see benchrest, High Power, and F-Class competitors shooting without eye protection. We’ve heard all the excuses, yet none of them trump the safety considerations involved.
The ability to read the wind is what separates good shooters from great shooters. If you want to learn wind-doping from one of the best, watch this video with 2010 National High Power Champion (and U.S. Army 2010 Soldier of the Year) Sherri Gallagher. Part of the USAMU’s Pro Tips Video Series, this video covers the basics of wind reading including: Determining wind direction and speed, Bracketing Wind, Reading Mirage, and Adjusting to cross-winds using both sight/scope adjustments and hold-off methods. Correctly determining wind angle is vital, Sheri explains, because a wind at a 90-degree angle has much more of an effect on bullet lateral movement than a headwind or tailwind. Wind speed, of course, is just as important as wind angle. To calculate wind speed, Sherri recommends “Wind Bracketing”: [This] is where you take the estimate of the highest possible condition and the lowest possible condition and [then] take the average of the two.”
Today we want to wish Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms around the world. All of us must remember that we literally owe our lives and our well-being to our mothers, who brought us into the world. Without the love, support, caring, and nuturing of our mothers, none of us would be here. So to mothers everywhere, we say:
We had to share this inspiring photograph (below) of SGT Sherri Jo Gallagher. As well as being a highly-trained Army parachutist, Sherri is one of America’s top shooters. In 2010 Sherri Jo won the NRA National High Power Championship. She was only the second lady in history to become the National High Power Champion (the first was Sherri’s mother, Nancy Tompkins).
In 2010, SGT Sherri Jo Gallagher became the first U.S. military shooter since 1987 to win the Nat’l High Power Rifle Championship. She was only the second woman ever to win — the first being her mother, Nancy Tompkins.
This Championship should go down to the wire. Carl is one of the best standing shooters in history, so he should do well in the Crescent Cup, while Sherri is a long-range wizard so we can expect her to do well in the 600-yard Crowell Trophy match. What’s more, Sherri is shooting a .260 Remington which may offer better ballistics at 600 than Bernosky’s 6mm Hagar. FYI, on Thursday, Gallagher shot superbly in the 600-yard Air Force Cup match — her 200-17X score was just one X shy of the National Record (which was set by Sherri’s mother, Nancy Tompkins).
The 2012 CMP Eastern Games and Creedmoor Cup took place May 5-13, 2012 at Camp Butner, NC. CMP events ran May 5 through May 8, followed by the Creedmoor Cup matches May 9-12. In the Creedmoor Cup segment, SGT Sherri Gallagher won the overall individual Championship (and Match Rifle Division), shooting 2386-138X out of a possible 2400. Just one point behind was fellow USAMU shooter SSG Brandon Green, with 2385-123X. Sherri also won the Creedmoor EIC match. Sherri proved, once again, that she’s hard to beat when she’s “on her game”. Top Service Rifle shooter was Army Reservist CPT Samuel Freeman (2375-106X), followed by SSG Tyrell Cooper (2370-94X). USAMU Team Praslick won the 4-person Team Match Rifle Championship, while USAMU Team Peters won the 4-person Team Service Rifle Championship. 
Creedmoor Sports’ General Manager Dennis DeMille was “Top Shot” at the CMP Games. Dennis won the Garand Match by six points, and Dennis also took the coveted Three-Gun Aggregate Trophy. Glendale Rutherford won the Springfield Match, while Sean Leighton won the Vintage Military Match. The M1 Carbine Match had a high turn-out, with 99 shooters. William Bowling (360-4X) took top honors by one point over William Aten (359-2X). In the popular Rimfire Sporter Match, Jacob Guay (594-41X) edged Ron Villanueva (594-39X) on X-Count to win the title.
