The National Benchrest Shooters Association (NBRSA) held its 600-Yard and 1000-Yard Benchrest Championships in April. Both events were held at the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center facility in Northern California. With significant rainfall in Spring 2017, the range was unusually green and pretty as you can see.

1000-Yard NBRSA Nationals, April 22-23, 2017

The 2017 NBRSA 1000-Yard National Championship was held at the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center last weekend. Congratulations to Richard Schatz, the 2017 NBRSA 1000 Yard National Champion. Richard, a past NBRSA Champ, also won Light Gun Score and Heavy Gun Group. Bill Johnston finished Second Overall, while Louie Tamagni secured Third Overall. Recently-crowned 600-Yard Champ Robert Hoppe won Heavy Gun Score at 1000, showing his ability at the longer distance. Congrats also to Dan Roberson who set a new Light Gun 3-Target Group National Record: 3.395. That’s 1/3 MOA at 1000 yards for three targets. That would be impressive at 300 yards. At 1000 yards, it is stunning.

CLICK HERE for a MS Word file with full 1000-Yard Match Results.

600-Yard NBRSA Nationals, April 19-20, 2017

The 2017 NBRSA 600-Yard National Championship was held at the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center April 19-20. Robert Hoppe shot superbly to win the 2017 Mid-Range Championship. Along with his overall title, Hoppe won Two-Gun Group, Two-Gun Score, Light Gun Group, and Heavy Gun Score. Mighty impressive shooting — Congrats Robert. Finishing Second Overall was Jamie Cardena, while Bert Croy took Third Overall. Jason Peterson had the Top Light Gun Score, while Richard Duncan won Heavy Gun Group. Terry Nunemaker shot the smallest group, a 1.087″ 5-shot, 50-1X. That was a stunning target, all shots centered. Congrats to 2017 Champ Robert Hoppe and all the “Top Guns”.

CLICK HERE for a MS Word file with full 600-Yard Match Results.

Photos courtesy Tanner Furniss and Canada Cummins.CLICK HERE for Match Gallery.

File photo from past event.

The three linked MS Word documents include results of the 600-Yard Nationals, the 1000-Yard Nationals, and the F-Bench Match. Click and download these files to view complete Group, Score, and Aggregate results, with rankings of all the individual competitors.

NBRSA 1000-Yd Nationals Results | NBRSA 600-Yd Nationals Results | NBRSA F-Bench Results

The weather for the matches was pretty nice this year and I think that everyone had a good time. The only one that I saw that was unhappy was Bill Hubina. Bill was mistakenly left off the bench sighnup for the 1000 Yard and was not very happy about getting stuck on Bench 25 by himself. He seemed okay about it after he won the Heavy Gun Group. The only record broken this year was 3-Target Light Gun Score. The old record was broken by both Robert Hoppe 50-2, 49-2, 48-0, 147-4 and Richard Schatz 49-2, 49-1, 49-1, 147-4. Once again congratulations to Richard Schatz and Jerry Tierney. I look forward to seeing you all again next year at the 2014 Nationals.

These three MS Word “.Doc” Files contain all the groups and scores for the three different matches. Check them out for all the winners and see how close you came to being the 2013 National Champion.
(Right Click and “Save As” to Download.)

600-Yard Complete Match Results | 1000-Yard Complete Match Results | F-Bench Results

Complete Match Scores (MS Word files): 600-Yard Results | 1000-Yard Results | F-Class Bench Results

Peter White was crowned the new NBRSA 600-yard Champion. Peter, who shot a 6mm BRX in both Light Gun and Heavy Gun classes, finished with 17 ranking points overall, well ahead of runner-up Greg Wilson (24 points). (In the two-gun overall ranking, fewer points are better). A highlight of this event was Bruce Bangeman’s 280-7X score, which has been logged as a potential NBRSA World Record.

Bruce Bangeman was the “Top Shot” in the NBRSA 1000-Yard Championships held on Saturday and Sunday. Bangeman won the 2-Gun Overall to be named the NBRSA 1K champion, with 23 ranking points. Bob Hoppe finished second with 26 points, and our friend Bruce Duncan of MT Guns finished third with 32 ranking points. CLICK HERE for a PDF file with complete 1000-yard results.

Despite rather blustery weather, there was a good turnout for all the events, with over 30 shooters on the line in both the 600-yard and 1000-yard Tournaments. Bruce Duncan, who finished 3rd overall in the 1K event, told us that: “Conditions were tough off and on throughout the match. We had targets blown off the board in some events. The winds were especially nasty on Sunday morning.”

600-Yard NBRSA National Championship

National 2-Gun 600yd Champion: Pete White, 17 points
2nd: Greg Wilson, 24 points
3rd: Gary Gagliono, 27 points
4th: Ken Schroeder, 33 points
5th: Jay Cutright, 34 points (tiebreaker- higher finish in 12 tgt grp)
6th: Robert Hoppe, 34 points
7th: Lou Murdica, 38 points
8th: Connie Murdica, 40 points
9th: Bruce Bangeman, 41 points
10th: John Crawford, 44 points

2 Gun Score Champion: Pete White 798 7x
2 Gun Group Champion: Jay Cutright 3.291

2011 Light Gun Score Champion: Bruce Bangeman, 280-7X (Pending World Record)
2011 Light Gun Group Champion: Jay Cutright, 2.670″
2011 Heavy Gun Score Champion: Connie Murdica, 535-3X
2011 Heavy Gun Group Champion: Jay Cutright, 3.912″

1000-Yard NBRSA National Championship

National 2-Gun 1K Champion: Bruce Bangeman, 23 points
2nd: Bob Hoppe, 26 points
3rd: Bruce Duncan, 32 points
4th: Billy Copelin, 37 points (won tiebreaker)
5th: Lou Murdica, 37 points
6th: Jay Cutright, 37 points
7th: Gary Gagliano, 42 points
8th: Greg Wilson, 44 points
9th: Curt Mendenhall, 51 points
10th: Everet Smith, 52 points

2 Gun Score Champion: Jay Cutright, 781-3X
2 Gun Group Champion: Bruce Bangeman, 8.279″

2011 Light Gun Score Champion: Gary Gagliano, 271-3X
2011 Light Gun Group Champion: Bruce Bangeman, 6.690″
2011 Heavy Gun Score Champion: Jay Cutright, 534-3X
2011 Heavy Gun Group Champion: Bruce Bangeman, 9.869″

F-Class Benchrest Match
In addition to the 600-yard Nationals and 1K Nationals, this year the Folsom Shooting Club conducted something relatively new — an “F-Class Benchrest” event. On Friday, a benchrest match for F-Class rifles was held. This allows the F-TR guys and the F-Open shooters with their 22-pounders to shoot from a seated position. Jerry Tierney reports: “The Friday F-Class Bench match was won by Tom Price (right) with a 386. In second place was Charles Greer with a 386 with less Xs.” Jerry finished in 3rd place “with a lot more Xs but only 385 points”. The first match was fired on the F-class target. The second match was on the slightly smaller 1000-yard bench rest target.

Shooters Pick 1K Benchrest Targets for Future F-Bench Matches
There was a vote on which target to shoot on for F-Class bench match and it was a close vote. Bob Hoppe observed that any range holding an F-bench match will have the 1000-yard Benchrest targets, but may not have F-Class 1000 yard targets. Another vote was taken and the 1000-yard Benchrest targets will be used for F-Bench matches.

Noma Mayo Wins Prone, Pete White Wins F-Open, Sean Mattson Wins F-TR
Jerry Tierney reports: “I really hate to say this but, Lane got beat by the girl again. Prone winner was Norma Mayo with a 599-43X, edging runner-up Lane Buxton who shot 598-40X. That is a bunch of Xs!” Interestingly, If Noma had shot on the F-class target (using iron sights and sling) her score would have been 582.

F-Open winner was Peter White, who posted 592-33x to edge Jerry Tierney on X-Count. Jerry shot 592-20X for second place. Jerry was shooting his 7mm SAUM (with Berger 180gr Hybrids) while Peter was shooting his 6BRX with Varget, Berger 108s, and CCI BR4s. Forum member Sean Mattson shot 555-16X, finish first in a large F-TR field. With 20 shooters, F-TR was the most popular class.

NBRSA 600-Yard and 1000-Yard Nationals Coming Soon
One reason this Match was so well-attended by F-Classers is that the NBRSA 600-Yard and 1000-Yard Nationals plus a 1K F-Class Bench Match will be held later this month in Sacramento, so this weekend was an ideal “tune-up” match. The entry/information forms are now available for the NBRSA 600-yard Nationals (Sloughhouse 600: April 20-21, 2011), 1000-Yard F-Class Bench Match (April 22, 2011), and 1000-Yard Nationals (Sloughhouse 1000: April 23-25, 2011). All three major events will be held at the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center, located outside Sacramento, California.

There will be hot dogs for purchase April 20,21,22, and 24, while lunch will be catered on Saturday, April 23rd. Match Fees for the two Nationals Events are $50.00 per class (Light Gun and Heavy Gun), while the fee for the F-Class Bench Match (22-lb class) is $30.00. Make Checks payable to: Sloughhouse Benchrest Shooters Inc., 10607 Sacramento Road, Galt, CA 95632. More information will be available on the NBRSA website.

ENTRY FORMS (PDF Format)
NBRSA 600-Yard Nationals Sign-Up Form
F-Class 1000-Yard Bench Match Sign-Up Form
NBRSA 1000-Yard Nationals Sign-Up Form

We know you east-coasters may still be shoveling snow, but it’s time to pack up those F-Class rifles, start loading ammo and get prepared for one of the biggest long-range shooting events of the year. There will be shooters from across the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, and likely from Australia and South Africa. Match organizers expect upwards of 150 competitors.

This year the course of fire is at two distances: 600 and 1000 yards. There will be three days of individual competition and a one-day team match. Lunch will be served at the range each day, and a huge barbecue is included for Saturday. The awards for placing high in the standings will be great, but the prizes drawn randomly from all of the competitors participating will be even better.

If you’re curious about the location and how the Nationals are run, check out this report on the 2006 F-Class Nationals previously held in Sacramento.

UNITED STATES F–CLASS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2010
DATES: March 25, 26, 27, 28, 2010

LOCATION:
Sacramento Valley Shooting Center
P.O. Box 1407
15501 Meiss Road
Sloughhouse, California
Ph. 916-354-9668
Web site: www.sacvalley.org

Jim O’Connell, official match scorer, observed: “It was Billy Copelin’s weekend as he won just about everything that wasn’t nailed down. On his way to winning the 2009 National Championship, Billy set four new records and earned himself a spot in the Hall of Fame (joining Jerry Tierney and Don Nielson). Congratulations to Billy…that was some fine shooting!” Copelin’s four pending records are: 3-Target LG Score (147-3X); 6-Target LG Group (4.611″); 2-Gun 12-Target Score (840-8X); and 2-Gun 12-Target Group (6.566″). Below is a video of Copelin shooting at the 600-yard NBRSA Nationals in 2008.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Generally Good Conditions Prevail
Fairly nice weather conditions prevailed for the 2009 NBRSA 1000-Yard National Championship. As a result, some fine scores were fired. Ventura, CA shooter Barry Bluhm, who won the Light Gun Score title with an impressive 279-6X, told us “There was nice weather most of the time all three days. Winds were 3 to 6 mph, but they didn’t stay the same. During some relays, winds got twitchy and would switch from side to side. If you missed a wind call, you could get burned.”

Barry, who does testing for AccurateShooter.com as one of our elite “designated trigger pullers”, noted that while Copelin “pretty much cleaned everyone’s clock with his Dashers”, a lot of guys shot big cartridges in Heavy Gun Class. George Tompkins was shooting 300gr bullets from a massive, metal-stocked Maxi chambered for the .338 Lapua Magnum.

Jerry Tierney finished second overall in this year’s NBRSA 1K Nationals. Jerry, the 2008 NBRSA 600-yard Champion, brought his .284 Winchester to the match, “making LG weight by an ounce or so.” Tierney, who is renowned for his wind-doping skills, tells us “he was rooting for the wind to blow, but it was Dasher weather.” Jerry added that the big boomers did not distinguish themselves: “The true heavies made a lot of noise but were not really in the running in these conditions. It was strictly a Dasher weekend, and a really great shooter [Copelin] behind a Dasher finished on top.” Tierney added that Copelin really deserved the championship: “Billy’s been at it many years; we all knew he was going to win the big one someday.”

Great Shooting by Many Competitors
Though Copelin hauled away the biggest trophies, there were many impressive performances by other shooters. Jay McMunn shot an amazing 2.445″, five-shot Small Group in Light Gun, and Stu Harvey wasn’t far behind at 2.473″. Charles Greer nailed two ten-shot 99s in Heavy Gun and one was a very small 6.649″ to boot. Robert Hoppe and T. Johnson both had 10-shot HG groups under 5.5″ (though Copelin shot smallest of all with a 4.907″ in HG).

Overall Rankings, using the NBRSA scoring system, which counts placements for both score and group, are listed below (lowest total wins). CLICK HERE to download complete results with group and score rankings for all events. We send a big “Thank-You” to Jim O’Connell from providing these match results so quickly.

National Champion — BILLY COPELIN (5 total points)
Second Place — GERALD TIERNEY (24)
Third Place — KENNETH SCHROEDER (26)
Fourth Place — CHARLES GREER (31)
Fifth Place — BARRY BLUHM (33)
Sixth Place — GREG WILSON (44)
Seventh Place — ROBERT HOPPE (46)
Eighth Place — LOU MURDICA (47)
Ninth Place — T. JOHNSON (54)
Tenth Place — GARY NOBLE (55)