Submitted by Dennis Lindenbaum
River Bend Gun Club hosted the first annual Half-Perry Conventional 2400 on July 16-17. This provided an opportunity for shooters new to the game and those who have never made the trip to the hallowed grounds of Camp Perry to get a small taste of the format of the national matches. It also gave those leaving for Ohio in a few days to shake out their gear and fine tune all the bits to feel confident for the week of Perry. Twenty competitors participated in the weekend of individual and team registered matches and enjoyed a needed break from the searing heat that has defined the summer of 2011. Relatively calm winds started each day and then significantly escalated with each successive target to make sure everyone paid close attention throughout the afternoon. I don’t have exact temperatures, relative humidity or atmospheric density numbers to report, but it was definitely a great weekend for July in Georgia.
The format was irons on day one and any sights on day two. Steve Hardin shot well all weekend with his new custom Swindlehurst seeing competitive action for the first time and was on top of the pile after the opening day’s aggregate scoring a fine 1198-76X. His match performance will also result in a new classification card once NRA Central runs the numbers bumping him up to Master in Smallbore conventional prone. Congratulations Steve! Steve has been selected as wind coach for the 2011 U.S. Palma Team and will be guiding his 4-man crew to victory in Australia later this year. Close behind after day one was Dennis Lindenbaum with 1197-79X; followed by Don Greene (1195-81X) and Jim Hinkle (1195-68X). Tommy Steadman led combined Expert/Sharpshooter class with 1192-82X with Jimmie Fordham second at 1192-77X.
Competitors arrived at the butt-crack of dawn on day two for the 50 Meter Team championship. There were some fine performances by the five two-man teams shooting in the calm of the morning, but all prior national records remained intact when the match was completed. The first time pairing of Tommy Steadman and Dennis Lindenbaum proved to be a good one as they earned the gold medal with a combined score of 800-72X a few X’s shy of a record. In six months Lindenbaum will have aged enough to shoot as a senior and their score would have set a new mark resetting Tommy Steadman and Charlie Kemp’s old record. The silver medal was won by Tom Suswal and Don Greene with 796-53X. Bronze went to Jim Hinkle and David Dye.
As with most two-day matches at River Bend, things usually can change on day two of any sights and this weekend would be no different. Tommy Steadman is back on track with fine shooting this year and fired a near-perfect 1199-81X to easily take top honors for the day. Dennis Lindenbaum was second with 1197-86X. First Master was Tom Suswal with 1196-82X and first Expert/Sharpshooter was Ed Foley with 1196-82X. Top Marksman was Cor Vanderbeek with 1190-63X.
After Linda Steadman did her magic in the stat office with her assistants Murphy and Maggie handling data entry, the final tabulations were posted and the medals were awarded. Dennis Lindenbaum was the match winner scoring 2394-165X dropping three points each day. Three of those lost points the first day were on the opening 50 yard target in no wind. Every target counts, especially the ones up close. Steve Hardin earned second place overall with 2393-171X just a point back. First Master was Tom Suswal; first Expert/Sharpshooter was Tommy Steadman; and First Marksman was John Matthews.
Thanks to Linda Steadman, Jim Hinkle, David Dye, Dave Rabin and Tom Suswal for range and match responsibilities. Thanks to all the participants who competed. The match was a great success and hopefully will become a regular event in the match calendar each year. Our next match in August will be the Georgia State Metric championship. Look for more details on the match format in the club newsletter.
Complete results can be downloaded here: 2011-ga-half-perry (PDF, 29KB)
