Spring 2005 Update

ALABAMA RIFLE AND PISTOL ASSOCIATION October 2005 Bulletin

Camp Perry High Power

Camp Perrv High Power: The end of what many of us consider the shooting season, the National Championships at Camp Perry, Ohio, have corne and gone and fall is closing in soon. As you clean, separate and consolidate your brass collection, we thought we would give you a brier desGription of the closing round of matches that made up the busy end of the sumn1er. Various Alabama shooters contribute to tell you about. the 2005 National Championships held at Camp Perry, Ohio. Our state was well represented at the nationals with adults and juniors participating in Smallbore week and the CMP portion of High Power Rifle. A few stayed for NRA week. For several, it was their first time to the Nationals. I hope all of the new participants are hooked.

With any atiicle, the writer has to decide how much information is too much. What we will try to do here is focus more on what Alabama shooters are doing rather than who won what at the top of the leader board. That doesn't take away from any of these shooter's accomplishments. I have had the pleasure this year of shooting with some of the best, civilians and servicemen; For those interested in the full story I encourage you to check out the CMP website for scores.

Inclosing, please say a prayer for all our servicemen and women and their families, at home and abroad, who have made the CHOICE to serve, many of which who have paid the ultimate price. Also remember and pray for all those who have been affected and will continue to be by hurricane Katrina.

, John Liechty

President's Match Consisting of 10 rounds at 200 standing, 10 rounds at 300 rapid prone and 10 rounds at 600 slow prone all with no sighters, you really have to be on your game for this match. One of the enticing aspects about this sport is the mental challenge. All competitors shoot against themselves in a match, trying to improve on one's personnel best. But in this match not only are you shooting against yourself, you are also shooting against many of the top shooters in the country, distinguished and non- distinguished, with the goal of shooting well enough to place in the top 100 shooters and earn a little round pin and patch.

Conditions for the President's match, and for the entire week for that matter, were about as good as conditions get at Camp Perry. There is always the wind to deal with, especially at 300 and 600 yards, but skies were clear and sunny for the entire day. There was little to no wind to speak of for 200 yard standing, only the B52 sized butterflies we all get when shooting a 30 round match against the many of the best high power shooters in the country. No pressure right? I finished standing with a 91. ~ 1X pretty typical for me of late. With a 94~Ox all out to the left, my 300 rapid prone was a different story as the loose trigger nut proved to be the problem. Winds were left to right 3~4 mph, maybe half value max and just enough to require a correction. I would pass along what happened but as I've said in the past, that would be negative reinforcement. At 600 yards the fun continued with a finish of 86~ I x. After shooting I was able to sit down behind my teammate Lee Wiggins to watch his conditions it's funny how I can see the mirage in the scope better when it's not me behind the rifle. What gives?

In the end Lee ended up with a 27J-lx, Rick Hamby a 272-3x, Bob Head a 261-0x and myself a 271-2x. Oh well. The quest continues. I would add that one of the neat things about this sport, perhaps the neatest afthis venue, is shooting with and hanging out with your friends and fellow shooters.

The Nation Trophy Match

The National Trophy Individual Match, or Leg Match as it's affectionately known was shot on Wednesday. Because the stakes are what they are (i.e. Leg Points) many shooters use the President's match on Tuesday as a tune up and chance to confirm zeros before competing in this one. Three shooters from the Alabama State Team participated in the match, their scores were as follows: Bob Head - 475-11x, John Liechty - 461-7x and Lee Wiggins 446-7x. At least three other adults from Alabama shot too, their first time at Camp Perry, and their scores will be reported elsewhere. We put a lot of emphasis on this match, perhaps too much, as Lee's comments indicate below. Anyone who has shot at the National Matches will empathize with his remarks. We have included them in their entirety.

Morning It's Wednesday, August 3rd, 2005 at 3:15 am. I've gotten very little sleep. Not because of someone else's snoring, because I'm the someone that all the other else’s in the room have said was snoring all night last night. This is impossible due to the fact that you have to be able to sleep to snore though, right?! No this morning I'm awake because it's Leg Day at Camp Perry. The one day that all the other days of cussing, freezing, baking, shooting, practicing, planning, skulling, reloading, dry firing and careful cleaning are geared towards. It's the anticipation and excitement right? Yeah Right! No, it's the squadrons of B-17 sized butterflies forming up for a thousand plane raid on my nerves. And Major Murphy has happily volunteered to lead the assault.

After receiving an 8 point leg at Fort Benning, Georgia earlier in the year (luckily! one "x" did it), the other shooters said that Camp Perry is a ~ 10 point leg because of the large number of shooters. *Special Note: This is from people who already have their distinguished badge... what do they have to worry about, Huh?!* OK, a few hours later and I'm standing on my firing point with 5 other men who will make up the six relays on our point. Let's see 150 firing points X 2 ranges X: 6 relays on each firing point is……?~~ Yeah ,there are a lot of other people out there trying to get leg points;-No Pressure There! And guess who is Relay # 1; yes... the wind guinea pig. You get three guesses and the first two don't count. Never mind the fact that dropping 1 point in this match will move you down the list 35 places. What? Me worry? NAW!

The Match each morning, after the cannon shot which is our call to attention, the colors are presented and our national anthem is played. This is truly awe inspiring as ALL present show respect by facing the flag. The civilians uncover (remove hats) and cover their heart and the servicemen/women stand at attention and with a crisp salute. Just before colors, the noise level changes from a small roar to the ability to hear a seagull pass wind in a matter of seconds. [One small side item Why do people stand directly in front of a field artillery piece that they know is about to go off'? These folks have obviously participated in numerous Garand matches without hearing protection.] OK, back to business. ....

"On The Line with One Round Load!" I'm thinking relax, breathe, sight alignment and squeeze right? Heck NO! I'm praying to our Almighty that my first round hits the black on MY target. Remember ~ Check your target number, check your target number, check your target number, check ypur target number You can read into this what you want. That's another story. Offl1and's 10 shot score was a little off for me 94 out of 100 possible. .1 managed to shoot down about half of the bomber formation while they were carpet bombing my guts. OK, so I'm settling down a bit now added note: No Wind! This is very odd for Perry. In sitting rapid (or rabid should I say) with no sighters, I fired 10 shots for a 95. It felt pretty good, slightly right though. Still No Wind. Prone rapid was another 10 shots for a 96. The group was centered but big. I need to work on prone

Slow prone - 20 shots. OK, A B-29 has slipped in below radar (piloted by Major Murphy) and

Dropped a tactical nuke on my confidence! It is Very Windy, blowing left to right at full value 1 minute to 1 1/2 minutes and then switching from 3 to 9 o-clock. That's what the mirage is doing. The wind flags are pointing in three different directions at the same time. First round: a close 9 at 9:00; next three rounds are 10s; then a 7 and 9:00 - OOPS wind shift, 5 clicks right. Three more 10s and

Another 7 at 3:00 - OOPS wind shift back. This went on for twenty shots; I finished with a 175 out of

200. I Hate Wind!

In Conclusion

So much for the 10 point leg! Wait till next year I'm buying a Barrett, no more wind worries for me. The berm shots ought to be interesting though. . . . . . . . ..

Lee Wiggins Alabama Service Rifle T earn, shooter

Note: State Association Life Member Chris Atkins shot a 487-14x in this match. This score placed

him 3200 overall and 3rd non-distinguished out of 1222 competitors. .J Moses

Springfield/Vintage Rifle Match

Springfield/Vintage Rifle Match 2005 marked the 4th annual Springfield/Vintage Rifle Match at Camp Perry. This match follows the same course of fire as the John C. Garand Match with the addition of 10 extra second for rapid fire prone. This sounds like a lot of time, until you try to hang onto one of these .30 cal, "tiny-sighted", straight-stocked bucking broncos for 10 hand-cranked shots. (The course of fire for the John C. Garand Match is: 5 sighters followed by 10 shots prone in 10 minutes, 10 shots in 70 seconds prone and 10 shots standing in 10 minutes. The SR target with a 13 inch black, a 7inch 10 ring and a 3 inch X-ring is used in all stages)

As per the CMP rules, the rifles have to be ''as-issued.'' This means no bedding or other N.M. type modifications. You are allowed to use a replacement barrel or stock as long ~~it conforms to original dimensions and finish. As with most sporting events with non-specific rules such as these, you are now seeing more rifles with new replacement parts and the scores are creeping up every year. An original 03A3barrel manufactured in 1942 during the stresses and urgency of wartime production is hard pressed to compete with a 1-14" twist hand lapped Krieger or Hart in the accuracy department. It is legal, but as with most sports it can make the top spots available to the few who run the equipment race. Ammunition is still 150 grain ball manufactured by Federal and is issued on the line.

Awards for the match are broken into three medal categories: Bronze - score of 252-264, Silver - score of 265-273, and Gold- score of 274-300. Everyone who completes the match regardless of score receives a T-shirt. To the best of my knowledge, there were only 4 shooters from Alabama who competed in the Springfield match this year. The match is held the same day as the team match, I personally feel the entries for this match would double easily if it were moved to Thursday during the Junior High Power Team Match. Few juniors are foolish enough to fire a .30-06.

John McLean and Mark Johnson, both from Anniston, were both doing well until the Perry winds blew their hopes of a medal away during offhand. Scott Woody from Saks shot a 99-1x prone slow dropped a few more in rapid and came out of the morning relay with a 276-2x and a Gold medal. I had my usual elation followed by a train wreck during prone slow, six "x"s in a row followed by an 8,9,10, and x (StupidWW2 barrel, I wonder how much one of those Krieger’s cost?). My final score of 281-9x was good enough for a Gold but far from the 293-9 that John Friguglietti shot to win. Oh, well there's always next year. For more info and complete rundown of the scores go to www.odcmo.com. Stephen Reed

Note: Reed was 30th out of 700 competitors. 8aks is a neighborhood in Anniston. In the M1 match, Reed; from Attalla, scored 280-5x for 60th place. Robert Head, .from Auburn, shot a 280-2x for 69th place. There were 1196 competitors in this match J: Moses

National Team Trophy Match

For me one of the best experiences of the entire week was shooting the National Trophy Team match on the Alabama Service Rifle Team. Each team is made up of six shooters, a team captain, team coach, score keeper and verifier. Team captains and/or coaches shoot depending upon team needs and available talent. Under clear skies and relatively mild temperatures for Camp Perry, team captain David McAlister of Decatur ran herd on the lot this year. The team coach was Rick Hamby of Atl1ens. Diane Ezell from Prattville stepped up and scored for the team this year (thanks Diane!) and Dubb Taylor of Madison verified scores.

For each shooter the National Team Trophy (NTT) match is the standard 50 shot national match course that everyone's familiar with but with a few catches. The six shooters fire each stage in order with pair firing during the slow fire phases of standing at 200 yards and prone at 600 yards. Pair firing is done in order: right gun first followed by left, and so on. A shot fired out of order is a miss, so it is important to stay on track. This is easily done with the firm guidance of the Coach (snickering and jokes from the Captain aside). To place well in the team match all six shooters must perform well across the course. Shooters this year were Robert Head of Auburn and Rick, identified above as 1st and 2nd guns, 1 st pair; myself and Robert Ezell of Prattville (Diane's husband) as 2nd pair; guns 1 and 2, and Bill McPherson of Argo and Lee Wiggins of Hoover rounding out the team as 3rd pair; guns 1 and 2.

I think all would agree that the wind's affect on the bullet at 200 isn't typically the problem with offhand. It's what the wind does to the shooter and his mental faculties that is often the issue. The morning brought windy conditions, so most of the coach's and captain's efforts at 200 focused on moral support. The wind was left to right as I recall, evident by the words expressed down the line and the scoring disks down range. Each one of us struggled with yours truly as high shooter pulling out a 94-2x (occasionally a blind squirrel gets a worm). {How many metaphors did Liechty mix on that one? Moses} During the: sitting and prone rapid phases the coach calls the Wind correction and gets busy on the scope calling shots as the shooter favors, takes black and takes white. The trick is good cadence and breathing, which we all know is not easily done in 60 to 70 seconds without just the right combination of aggression, calm, focus and determination. Not to be outdone, I balanced my good performance at 200 standing with one on the other end of the spectrum at 300 rapid (Honest coach, I didn't see that 6 at 9:00, must've been a bad bullet Eh?). No cleans today but Coach Rick and Robert Ezell were high shooters at 200 with 98-5x and 98-4x respectively. Mr. Ezell was high team shooter at 300 prone with a 98-3x.

Every one made it to the 600 yard line, albeit warm without the assistance of an artificial shelter in our vicinity of the 600 yard line, and ready to lie down for the long play portion of the match. For those duffers like me, getting the opportunity to shoot and have someone who knows what there doing coach you is a real confidence builder and altogether treat. I can't say that my eyes were particularly spot on for 600, but I was pleased considering the conditions. You'd think we all drank the same Kool-Aid as each of us finished within four points same score. High shooter at the back was Bill McPherson with a 190-5x. All in all, despite the self-inflicted wounds, we ended up with an aggregate score of 2807 -60x, finishing 27th out of 59 teams and, in recent past, 2nd best for the Alabama Service Rifle Team behind the 2002 team which shot a 2811-56x. John Liechty