Results from IBS 1000-Yard Nationals at White Horse Range, WV

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.

CLICK HERE for Full 2011 IBS 1K Nationals Results

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.