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2009 Camp Perry Updates
from Mike Krei, Director, NRA Competitive Shooting Division

Important Telephone Contact Changes:
Please use the following numbers to contact NRA Offices at Camp Perry; published numbers in the 2009 Camp Perry Program have been changed.
Entry Office  419-301-4164
Statistical Office  419-301-4161
Volunteer Office  419-301-4160

New NRA Office Building  Building 950
Many of the old building previously used by the NRA during the National Matches were demolished this last fall and winter and one new building put in there place. Building 950 will now house the following NRA Offices: NRA Entry Office, NRA Awards Office, NRA Finance Office, NRA Smallbore Scoring/Challenge area and NRA Bulletin Board Room.

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING BUILDING 950
It is very important for you to know that this building will be locked-up each night. It will essential that competitors get into the Bulletin Board Room during Challenge Periods to check your scores. This building will be locked for security purposes.

NRA Competitor Receptions
All competitors and visitors are invited to attend three NRA receptions during the NRA National Rifle and Pistol Championships at Camp Perry. These receptions are free and will include beer, wine and hors doeuvres. Please place these dates on your calendar:

Match Directors Reception  National Pistol Championship  July 15, 2009  5:00 PM  6:30 PM
Match Directors Reception  National Smallbore Prone Championship  July 27, 2009  5:30 PM to 7:00 PM
Ring of Freedom (NRA Foundation) Reception  National High Power Championships  August 10, 2009  5:30 PM to 7:00 PM

STILL TIME to Register for the 2009 National Matches Online!
Online entry for the 2009 NRA National Rifle and Pistol Matches held at Camp Perry are still available! To enter, visit www.nmentry.com.
The 2009 NRA National Rifle and Pistol Championship Program is now ready to view, click here or visit www.nrahq.org/compete/cp-downloads.asp.

Dan Holmes shooting in the darkest and foggiest conditions we've ever had at the Hopkinton Prone Matches...July 2nd, 2009. Photo by Rich Girvin.

A dull and foggy day with a drizzle of rain. The house is banked in with rolling clouds, which rise now and then to show the dreary curves of the moor, with thin, silver veins upon the sides of the hills, and the distant boulders gleaming where the light strikes upon their wet faces. –The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle.

Well that pretty much sums up last night at the Hopkinton Prone Matches. By far the most fog and poorest visibility in which any of us have shot. Despite the poor visibility, myself and Erik Hoskins tied with a 399-28x and George Pantazelos took the number one slot with a 400-28…a very good score in such dense fog. Complete results can be viewed here.

After the match we played a few games of pool in the clubhouse and chowed on some delicious birthday cake baked for me by Loraine Lee.

Despite the thunderstorms and rain throughout the day, it looks like the weather may actually improve by match time this evening. I should be at the range around 4ish if shooters would like to shoot early.

Initial Preference
By Hap Rocketto

While sitting in the dentist’s office, awaiting a routine cleaning, I was surprised to find a magazine which was not yet old enough to be eligible for Medicaid.  Amid the haystack like pile of typical medical office literature: National Geographic, Yankee Magazine, Golf Digest, Yachting, Fortune, and Gourmet-magazines which lead me to believe that that my dentist was doing pretty well on cleanings and fillings-was a recent Newsweek.

As a browsed though it I came upon an essay by Sharon Begley who I used to read when her column “The Science Journal” was in The Wall Street Journal.  Begley writes on science issues and has the gift of translating complex scientific ideas and theories into readily readable prose for the hoi polloi.

The article in question discussed a recent finding by two professors of marketing, Leif Nelson of University of California, San Diego and Joseph Simmons of Yale, both of whom, coincidentally, earned doctorates from Princeton.

In this seminal work the authors declare that people like their names so much that they unconsciously opt for things that begin with their initials.  Sort of like my sister Leslie opting to drive a Lexus, living in Lexington, and smoking Lucky Strikes.  Note that two of the things might be considered positive while smoking Luckies is viewed a negative.  This view points to the odd fact that people are even drawn to the undesirable as long as it begins with an initial from the person’s name. Read more…

By Len Remaly

The Blue Trail 3-Position Regional began on Saturday June 27th with weather forecasts of overcast conditions with rain likely, but ended Saturday with beautiful sun all day, and Sunday started out overcast but ened sunny also.  The match was held on the North Range, which was used to hold International Team Preliminary Tryouts back in the 1970’s which the old shooters remember well, especially one May tryout in 77 in which it snowed and was as cold as a Witches whatever.

After years of under use, nice new target holders were installed at 50 yds infront of a new high berm.  Berms were also on both sides and the rear of the range giving it the flavor of an international range.  Brush behind the line was cleared and the line cleaned of dirt and grass and looked pretty good, as did the entire fresh cut grassy 50 point range.

After irons, Junior Jake Costa was leading with a 1178, while Lisette Grunwell-Lacey and Intermediate Junior Remington Lyman were 3 points back at 1175.  Many thought the big lead of the top 3 might hold through scope day on Sunday, but Lenny Smittner had other ideas.  On Sunday he put on a scope, caught fire and passed young Lyman to end in Third with a fine 2346 out of 2400.  Meanwhile, Lisette and Jake had been batteling all Sunday and ended up tied at 2361.  Grunwell-Lacey had 133 X’s to Costa’s 124 and got the gold.  However, both should feel good about an outstanding performance.

High Sharpshooter was Dennis McMillen with 2306 while Kimberly Grohochi won the markswoman class with a fine 2301.  High Any sight team was Rem Lyman and Len Remaly with a 1168, just 3 points ahead of Smittner and Jim Stanley.  The team match progress was closely monintored by young Lyman and Smittner,  after every target, who announced that going into the last (Kneeling) target, the teams were tied, and the pressure was on.  That is, the pressure was on the only non-junior, Senior and indoor rifle coach for the other three, Len Remaly.  Len managed to drop 6 points on his last iron bull, maybe suffering from dehydradion, but to the surprise of some, managed to  clean his last any bull with 3 juniors watching the progress through their spotting scopes.  Remaly remarked that only one adult beat him in the grand agg.  The many Junior shooters that beat him were all been coached by him during a number of indoor seasons at Blue Trail Range.  He mentioned that his fine coaching was responsible for being beat by so many young shooters.  The many seasoned vetrans suggested that it was old age and a weak mind that probably had more to do with it.

Match Director Dave Lyman mentioned that he has plans to extend the present 50 yd line back to 50Meters, completely rebuild the line roof to cover the wide firing line, put garage doors on the wide sides to make the fireing line into a combo first class 50 meter international style rifle and air rifle range.  Plans are to have the new range in operation in 2010, which will make it one of the best 50 meter ranges in the country.

Complete results can be downloaded below
2009-ct-3p-conventional-regional

Len Remaly is a competitive rifle shooter, senior National 3-position champion, and contributor to pronematch.com.

The new issue of Shooting Sports USA is now available online here.

Erik Hoskins going into the second stage of the Dewar match at the RI Metric Prone Regional. Erik went on to tie the National Record in this match with a 399-33x.

Dan Makucevich , 2009 RI Metric Prone State Champion.

RI Metric Regional and Prone Championship
By Digby Hand

For a serious shooter a rifle match usually brightens any day and, in spite of seemingly inevitable cloud cover of this dismal spring, a cheery group of prone shooters descended upon the Smithfield Sportsman’s Club for the 2009 Rhode Island Metric Regional and State Championship. Firing an aggregate of three matches, 40 shots at 50yards, a Dewar Course-20 shots at 50 yards and 20 shots at 100 yards, and a final 40 shots at 100 yards on the demanding international targets all of the competitors vied for Camp Perry vouchers, worth 50% of the National Championship entry fee, while the Rhode Island residents were in the hunt for various state titles.

The rustic covered Smithfield smallbore range provided the competitors with shelter from any rain which might appear. The relatively benign conditions, a very light switching wind and an overcast sky, allowed for the line to concentrate on shot execution more than condition doping, but woe betide the shooter who ignored a spinning windmill or the slight flick of a wind flag for the international target is not forgiving of errors.

Scopes adorned the rifles of almost all of the seniors and at least one of the Juniors. Jeff Doerschler, many times a national Champion in both individual and team competition, jumped out to an early lead in the 50 yard match with a 396-27X which was remarkable for its consistency, a pair of 198s. Sitting right behind him was Dan Holmes who shot a pair of 197s for a 394-23X as was Dan Makucevich and Intermediate junior Brian Jylkka with 393s. Right behind them was Massachusetts veteran Chuck Cannon, Chet Ruscio-Jeff Doerschler’s running mate, and Rhode Island’s venerable smallbore rifleman, Hap Rocketto.

With the start of the Dewar match Erik Hoskins began his play. Coming back from a mediocre 390 in the first event he posted a near perfect 200-17X in the first stage at 50 yards. The second stage is at 100 yards with a one inch ten ring and it is here that the rubber meets the road. Hoskins cleaned his first bull and leaked one out a for a 199-16X. He won the match handily. The member of the Norwich University Athletic Hall of Fame added one more line to his shooting resume by tying the National Record for this event set in 1991. Jylkka, who elected to shoot in the open class with a scope, was second with a 394-26X while Holmes cruised into third posting a 393-18X. While Jylkka was in firm control of the junior category the regional winner was shaping up as a race between Hoskins-down 11, Makucevich-down 14, and Doerschler-down 16, going into the last 40 shots, not a large margin on the metric target, scope shooting or not.

Read more…

Prone Pics from USA Shooting Nationals
By Erik Hoskins

Here are some pictures I took of the Men’s prone event at Ft Benning. Enjoy! -Erik

The Wussification of the High Power Shooter
By Hap Rocketto

American high power shooting has gone through many changes, much of it evolutionary and the natural progression of technological development. The earliest shooters used matchlocks which led to the snaphaunce, the wheel lock, the flintlock, the percussion cap, and now the self contained metallic cartridges.

The barrel started out as a smooth iron tube. Later it was grooved laterally to help in reloading, the grooves filling with the black powder fouling allowed for more shooting before a cleaning was required. Smokeless powder more or less ended that problem but some how the grooves became twisted and the resultant rifling increased the accuracy of the firearms.

All firearms were originally loaded from the front but innovative minds came up with primitive breech loading mechanisms that increased the rate of fire. With the development of the metallic cartridge breech loaders quickly moved from single shot actions to self loading. The advancement in actions brought about a transformation of the cartridge from pin or rim fire to the centerfire cartridge as the need for a faster and more powerful cartridge grew. Read more…

Cease Fire? Somethings wrong with this picture! I had the shooters get into position last night with bolts open and fingers off the triggers so we could get a few rare photos from in front of the firing line. Photo by James Lee

Don Norris having a hell-of-a-time at last night's HPM

Thank god the sun came out last night…I was about to crack after a week of rain. And boy did we have a beautiful evening to shoot; warm, sunny, and little wind. We had a record 16 shooter turnout last night as well, because I imagine everyone just wanted to do something outside after all the rain. I took the third place slot with a 399-23x with iron sights and Chuck Cannon secured second place with a 399-28x. Erik Hoskins emphasized the fact that he really, really likes shooting scope by hammering a 400-36x (with a 200-20x on the second stage) and taking top honors. Complete results can be viewed here.

After the match everyone had a great time eating pizza, popcorn on the campfire, and chatting with friends. I took a TON of pictures last night and you can see them on Flickr or in the slideshow below.