Congratulations to USAMU member SSG Michael McPhail, winner of the 2011 Smallbore Rifle Prone Championship. SSG McPhail won three matches and took the 1st Daily 1200 Aggregate as he shot consistently throughout the week to finish with 4796-401X. Coming in second place overall was Mark Delcotto with a 4796-380X and CPT Christopher Abalo, SSG McPhail’s teammate on the AMU, finished third with a 4795-388X.
With so many talented shooters participating in the championship, SSG McPhail’s commanding X-score ended up as the deciding factor as his point total of 4796 was matched by two other shooters, Mark Delcotto (Civilian Champion), and Paul Nordquist (Any Sight Champion). McPhail shared credit for his victory: “I’d like to thank the commander of the AMU, all the solders and support staff at AMU — coaches, other shooters, my teammates — and also the NRA and the volunteers. Without the volunteers this match would never even happen.”
Held July 24-29, the Smallbore Rifle Prone Championships are a part of the NRA National Rifle and Pistol Championships held at Camp Perry, Ohio each year. Comprised of a Metallic Sight and Any Sight championship, competitors take 480 shots over the course of 12 matches from distances of 50 meters and 100 yards to determine who will take home the Critchfield Trophy.
Special Category Winners
Paul Nordquist shot a 4796-371X to match McPhail’s point total and secure the title of Any Sight Only Champion. Renowned shooter Nancy Tompkins won the High Woman award with a 4794-375X. Reya Kempley shot second (among women) with a 4794-352x and Sarah Beard of Texas Christian University took third with a 4790-351x. Kempley also won the Metallic Sight Championship with her aggregate of 2400-182x.
Civilian Champion: Mark Delcotto – 4796-380X
Any Sight Only Champion: Paul Nordquist – 4796-371X
Woman Champion: Nancy Tompkins – 4794-375X
Senior Champion: Peter Church – 4791-352X
Intermediate Senior Champion: Larry Parker Sr. – 4788-349X
Collegiate and Junior Champion: Sarah Beard – 4790-351xX
Intermediate Junior Champion: Katie Bridges – 4784-340X
Sub-Junior Champion: Sammy Richardson – 4751-270X
Service Champion: SSG Michael McPhail, USA – 4796-401X
High Visitor: Keigh Ridgeway – 4785-340X
The Randle Trophy match is smallbore international postal match with women competitors only. The Randle Trophy match was shot July 26th at Camp Perry immediately after the Dewar Trophy match. The course of fire for the match is a Dewar Course, where each shooter fires 20 shots at both 50 and 100 yards in the prone position. Below is a slide show with photos of the match.
Started in 1952 for International Women’s Team Competition in memory of former NRA President Thurman Randle, participating teams must be from an English-speaking country and field a team of 10 firing members, two alternate shooters, a captain, and a coach. Earning a position on the U.S. team is not easy, members must be one of the 12 top-scoring shooters in the Metallic Sight Aggregate competition at Perry to be invited. Below are the talented members of the 2011 Randle Trophy Team.
Metallic Sights Standing Competition Video
Yesterday, 21 August, marked the opening of the Smallbore 3-Position Competition at the NRA Championships in Camp Perry, Ohio. The video below shows some of the shooters during the standing segment of the Metallic Sight portion of the smallbore championship events.
Standing Position Shooting
This week, smallbore competitors compete in three different positions: Prone, Standing, and Kneeling. Here are images from the standing portion of the event.
Prone Shooting
Here is a slide-show from the prone segment of the Smallbore three-position tournament at Camp Perry. These photos were taken on 21 July, during the first relay.
Images provided courtesy the NRA Blog, used by permission, all rights reserved.
Smallbore competitors — mark your calendars for July 15 through July 19. That’s when the 2011 NRA National Metric Smallbore Championships will be held at the Wa-Ke’-De Range in Bristol, Indiana. Practice Relays will be held on the 15th. With Position shooting scheduled for July 16-17 and Prone for July 18-19, this event is a great way to tune up your marksmanship skills prior to the Smallbore Championships at Camp Perry which kick off on July 21st.
The Second Annual NRA Metric Smallbore Championships are limited to the first 200 competitors. You can still register now by contacting H.Q. Moody at 703-267-1475 or HMoody@nrahq.org. Don’t procrastinate — anyone attempting to sign up after July 8th will have to do so at the Statistical Office at the Chief Wa-Ke’-De’ Range. The Jameson Inn in Elkhart, Indiana is the host hotel. Mention the National Metric Championships to receive a special rate.
The 2011 NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championships, hosted by Clemson University, conclude today. We have final results from the Air Rifle competition which wrapped up earlier. Clayton Peck of Michigan State won the overall air rifle title with a 582 score. Clemson’s Dylan Smith took second with 570, barely edging Tori Kostecki from North Georgia CSU who posted a 569. In team competition, Clemson won gold, Penn State took second, while West Virginia finished third. Below is a slide show with images from the air rifle finals which took place at The Citadel Marksmanship Center.
Manners Composite Stocks has released its new MCS-T4 trainer stock for CZ 452 and 455 actions. This should work well for guys who cross-train with a .22LR or who compete in the popular Tactical Rimfire matches now offered by many clubs. The MCS-T4 duplicates the feel, heft, and ergonomics of a full-size tactical stock, making it easy to transition from your centerfire rifle to your smallbore trainer.
Tom Manners reports: “This is the second .22LR trainer stock we have developed. The design goal is the same as the first stock we built for the SakoQuad. This project was started for the guys that wanted a full-size rimfire training rifle that had the same size and feel as their full-size service gun. The goal was to have a gun that had the same balance, feel, and as close to same ergonomics as a full-size Remington 700. That lets you train effectively with inexpensive .22LR ammo.”
Tom added: “We designed the MCS-T4 so the CZ 452/455 bolt handle and trigger are in the same location as your full-size service rifle”. Manners can also deliver the MCS-T4 with an extra-heavy fill to bring the weight of the complete gun up to about 13 lbs — about the same as a centerfire bolt gun with a medium-contour barrel. With the MCS-T4, a shooter can put together an affordable rimfire cross-trainer without having to spend big bucks on a 40X action or 40X clone. The new Manners MCS-T4 CZ Trainer Stock lists for $475.00 plus shipping. For more info, visit MannersStocks.com or call (816) 283-3334.
When Olympian Matt Emmons wasn’t on the firing line at the 2010 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final in October, the shooting community took note. Emmons was in New York battling thyroid cancer and recovering from a surgery that removed his entire thyroid. After his surgery, Emmons competed in the 2010 USA Shooting Winter Airgun Championship and reached the podium each day in Men’s 10m Air Rifle.
In February, Emmons won the 2011 Rocky Mountain Rifle Overall Championships. With that gutsy performance, Emmons served notice that he is back, and he’s the man to beat. Emmons set a new USA Shooting National Record with 1188 points in Men’s 50m Rifle 3P qualifier. Moreover, Emmons finished the three-position match with a 19.6 point margin over the silver medalist. His final score was 1188 points in day one, 1179 points in day two and 101.6 points in the final for a total of 2468.6 points. He also topped the competition in Men’s 50m Rifle Prone with 1303.6 total points. Emmons also took gold in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle event with 1295.3 total points.
Emmons was named the match’s Overall Champion after winning all three events in the Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships and finishing an impressive 27 points ahead of the next competitor. National Rifle Coach Major Dave Johnson said, “Emmons continues to build towards the spring World Cups; he’s had an incredible tournament and has worked very hard in recovery.” Performances such as Emmons’ deserve to be recognized, which is why Matt Emmons is the ELEY/USA Shooting Athlete of the Month. We congratulate Emmons and wish him continued success as he prepares for his first ISSF World Cup of the season in Sydney, Australia, March 21 to 30.
Top airgun and smallbore shooters competed this past week at the 2010 ISSF World Cup Rifle and Pistol Finals. In this season-ending World Cup, Russia led the pack of nations, taking an impressive total of five medals (four gold and one silver) out of ten shooting events. The USA was second with two gold medals and one bronze, while Italy finished third with one gold, two silver and one bronze.CLICK HERE for the complete match results posted on the ISSF-sports.org website.
Team USA put on a solid performance with three medals and six finals appearances. U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Daryl Szarenski won the Men’s 50m Free Pistol competition, finishing 5.5 points above the silver medalist. In an interview with the ISSF’s Marco Dalla Dea, Szarenski said, “This has definitively been my best season ever!”
American Jamie Beyerle won the gold medal in Women’s 3-Position, 50m Rifle event. During the match, Beyerle shot an amazing 590 points to qualify in first place for the finals. Jamie also won the Air Rifle Champions Trophy (with a €500 prize from Sius Ascor), outdoing Germany’s Sonja Pfeilschifter. This was the second straight Champions Trophy for Beyerle, who also took the prize at the 2009 ISSF World Cup Final in Wuxi. In addition to her Gold Medal in 50m 3P, Jamie won Bronze in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event.
Sgt. 1st Class Jason Parker was 1.5 points shy of medal contention in Men’s 50m Rifle Three Position. Parker finished fourth with a match score of 1170 points and the highest scoring final of 100.1 points. Teammate Sgt. Joseph Hein finished seventh in the Men’s 50m Rifle Prone event. Hein was in a four-way tie for third headed into the final, but fell short of a medal with a 101.8 point final for 698.8 total points.
While much of the American shooting community is focused on the National Championships in Camp Perry, Ohio, nearly 2500 of the world’s top shooters are competing in Munich, Germany in the 50th ISSF World Shooting Championships which concludes August 11, 2010.
The 50th World Shooting Championship opened in Munich, Germany on the 30th of July with a festive Opening Ceremony on Munich’s iconic Marien-platz. This is the largest World Shooting Championship ever — with 2,460 shooters from 103 countries competing for medals in 54 events. Competitors will also vie for 69 Olympic Quotas allowing their respective nations’ teams to compete at the 2012 Games in London.
At the ISSF World Championships, disciplines include Air Rifle, Air Pistol, Smallbore Rifle, Smallbore Pistol, Running Target, 300m Rifle, and Trap, with classes for Men, Women, and Juniors. So far Americans have done well, with high individual placings and a team win in the mens’ 50m rimfire prone event (see photo). The 50m mens’ prone team, consisting of Matt Emmons, SGT Michael McPhail, and SFC Eric Uptagrafft, won its second consecutive World Championship.
The ISSF-Sports.org website provides extensive coverage of the ISSF World Championships, including video webcasts of the finals in many disciplines. There are numerous photo galleries where you can see the shooters and high-tech air rifles and rimfire rifles used by the top shooters from many countries.
Running Target Competition is Fun to Watch
At the ISSF Worlds, one of the most challenging events is the Running Target Competition. Since this is not an Olympic shooting discipline, you may have never seen it before. But we guarantee this is worth checking out. Shooting in a man vs. man format, pairs of shooters engage a quickly moving target at 10 meters with air rifles. But the scoring is like tennis. For each pair of shots (one by each shooter), the competitor who puts his shot closest to dead center gets one point, while his opponent gets nothing. This is all done offhand from the standing position, requiring superb holding skills. It’s hard enough to shoot “10s” when the target is fixed. Imagine trying to put a pellet in a tiny 10-Ring, when the target is moving! To watch the Running Target Finals, CLICK this LINK then select the “Medal Match 10m Running Target Men” video from the list at the right. Forward to the 28-minute mark for the final Gold Medal shoot-out between Russia and China.
Shooting an impressive 4790-355X, SSG Shane Barnhart earned the title of National Smallbore Rifle Prone Champion, while competing this week at Camp Perry, Ohio. Finishing second and third, respectively, were 1LT Christopher Abalo, and Charles Kemp. Abalo and Kemp had identical 4786 scores, but 1LT Abalo had the higher X count. Abalo scored 344X compared to Kemp’s 338X.
Army Shooters Top the Field Story by Danielle Sturgis, The NRA Blog
SSG Shane Barnhart has been to Camp Perry since 1992, minus two years. This year is his best smallbore rifle performance. Did he come expecting to win? “I was hoping (to place in top 3),” he said. “I knew going into Any Sight that I had Abalo and Kemp, both very fine shooters, to keep up with.” What was the biggest challenge of the week? “Battling the wind,” Shane said. When asked if he had any advice for young people thinking about shooting competitively, Barnhart responded: “You can get a free ride to college,” he said.
First Lieutenant Christopher Abalo practiced for the national smallbore prone championships for just one month, yet still managed a strong second-place finish. “I took a two-year break from competitive shooting, so this feels good,” he said. “I feels great, actually. I expected to shoot well, and I would say I met my expectations.” Below are photos from the 2010 Smallbore Prone Championships.
Gunny Zins Wins his 10th Pistol Championship
In related news, retired Gunnery Sergeant Brian Zins of Poland, Ohio, was named national champion at the NRA National Pistol Championships held July 13-17 at Camp Perry. This was Zins’ 10th National Championship. Zins shot consistently high scores throughout the event, winning the .22 Caliber Championship and placing in the top three for both the Center Fire and .45 Caliber Championships. Zins’ Aggregate score of 2650-134X placed Brian at the top of the leader board for the tenth time in his shooting career — a record number of National Pistol Championships. CLICK HERE to learn more about Zins and other pistol competitors.
Congratulations to USAMU member SSG Michael McPhail, winner of the 2011 Smallbore Rifle Prone Championship. SSG McPhail won three matches and took the 1st Daily 1200 Aggregate as he shot consistently throughout the week to finish with 4796-401X. Coming in second place overall was Mark Delcotto with a 4796-380X and CPT Christopher Abalo, SSG McPhail’s teammate on the AMU, finished third with a 4795-388X. 
The 2011 NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championships, hosted by Clemson University, conclude today. We have final results from the Air Rifle competition which wrapped up earlier. Clayton Peck of Michigan State won the overall air rifle title with a 582 score. Clemson’s Dylan Smith took second with 570, barely edging Tori Kostecki from North Georgia CSU who posted a 569. In team competition, Clemson won gold, Penn State took second, while West Virginia finished third. Below is a slide show with images from the air rifle finals which took place at The Citadel Marksmanship Center.
When Olympian Matt Emmons wasn’t on the firing line at the 2010 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final in October, the shooting community took note. Emmons was in New York battling thyroid cancer and recovering from a surgery that removed his entire thyroid. After his surgery, Emmons competed in the 2010 USA Shooting Winter Airgun Championship and reached the podium each day in Men’s 10m Air Rifle.
American Jamie Beyerle won the gold medal in Women’s 3-Position, 50m Rifle event. During the match, Beyerle shot an amazing 590 points to qualify in first place for the finals. Jamie also won the Air Rifle Champions Trophy (with a €500 prize from Sius Ascor), outdoing Germany’s Sonja Pfeilschifter. This was the second straight Champions Trophy for Beyerle, who also took the prize at the 2009 ISSF World Cup Final in Wuxi. In addition to her Gold Medal in 50m 3P, Jamie won Bronze in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event.
The 50th World Shooting Championship opened in Munich, Germany on the 30th of July with a festive Opening Ceremony on Munich’s iconic Marien-platz. This is the largest World Shooting Championship ever — with 2,460 shooters from 103 countries competing for medals in 54 events. Competitors will also vie for 69 Olympic Quotas allowing their respective nations’ teams to compete at the 2012 Games in London.
Shooting an impressive 4790-355X, SSG Shane Barnhart earned the title of National Smallbore Rifle Prone Champion, while competing this week at Camp Perry, Ohio. Finishing second and third, respectively, were 1LT Christopher Abalo, and Charles Kemp. Abalo and Kemp had identical 4786 scores, but 1LT Abalo had the higher X count. Abalo scored 344X compared to Kemp’s 338X. 
