On Friday we packed up and headed south to Minneapolis for the 3200 Metric Prone match being held at the Minneapolis Rifle Club located just north of Elk River.
I was a little worried about going through U.S. Customs with my rifle, but they were so surprised to see an official ATF form that a four of them came out to see what I was bringing across. It took all five minutes to check the serial number, talk to them about the match, and get my official stamp -- and that was that. Almost too easy, but I wasn't complaining.
I found the range without getting lost Saturday morning -- woohoo! -- and was the third shooter to arrive. This meant I had the pick of spots and chose position eight as the flags seemed best placed for me there. It was misty, hot and humid when we started at 0900 sharp with no wind to speak off.
Misty and hot -- it hit 86 F on Saturday before humidity
I was a little worried about shooting NRA rules as I usually take 24-26 minutes for a relay when shooting ISSF targets, but the NRA only gives you 20 minutes for sighters and 20 record shots. It turns out I didn't need to worry as my slowest relay all day was 18 minutes.
Since this was a metric prone event, we shot the ISSF targets at 50 metres and the ISSF 300 metre reduced target at 100 yards. There was a lot of grumbling about the 50 metre targets as they're substantially more challenging than the NRA conventional 50 yard prone targets (ISSF 9-ring = NRA conventional 10-ring).
Looking downrange on my position
I haven't trained since the last years' nationals in July. I've dryfired a bit and worked some on the CURT simulator over the winter, but nothing serious. So I wasn't too sure how I'd fare, especially since I was using my new wooden free rifle stock for the first time.
As with the relay time, I didn't need to worry. The first match of the day was 40 shots at 50 metres, and I scored a 192-6x + 189-2x = 381-8x. Next up was the Dewar match, another 20 shots at 50 metres plus 20 shots at 100 yards. I've never shot at 100 yards before so I didn't really know what to expect, but with almost no wind everything went well and my Nesom flipover front sight worked great: 187-3x + 189-6x = 376-9x.
Looking down the line -- there were 13 shooters in total
After our second break of the morning, we stayed long for the third match, 40 shots at 100 yards. By this time the wind was starting to pick up beyond the 50 metre line, switching back and forth lazily with no real pattern. I got caught chasing myself the first target (the green filter didn't help, either) but I settled down the second and focused a little better: 181-1x + 187-3x = 368-4x.
We closed the day with the fourth match and some passing rain showers -- another 40 shots at 50 metres. My first target I set up too wide and fought to keep from falling off to the right but I was too stubborn to break position and rebuild it, especially with only 20 minutes on the relay. The second 20 felt better position wise, but the last 10 shots were really painful -- my left hand had had enough and no matter how I focused it really hurt so I shot between throbs and finished quickly: 187-4x + 188-3x = 375-7x.
Shooters checking their scores
So my aggregate score for my first ever 1600 match was a 1500-28x. It wasn't spectacular, but I wasn't the last shooter in my category either, and I don't think I embarrassed myself either. I did mention several times for anyone listening that I hadn't shot since last summer, so hopefully no one thought I was sandbagging it! And just as we finished the clouds opened up and it absolutely poured for about 15 minutes -- a good time to quit!
I was looking forward to returning on Sunday for another 1600, shooting irons while the others used their scopes, but my son developed a fever overnight and we decided to head home early instead. All in all, it was a great experience and the crew at the MRC are super friendly and very easy to get along with.
Saturday's results
I'd like to thank George Minerich, president of the Minnesota Rifle and Revolver Association for helping me with my ATF paperwork, Bruce Blahut for running the match, and the pleasure of shooting next to blogger Jim Evenson of Minnesota Rifle Shooting. Thanks, guys -- I'll be back next summer, if not sooner!
Addendum: It looks like Emily Quiner put on a clinic on Sunday to win the match! See Jim's complete report on the Minnesota Rifle Shooting blog plus a nice picture of me, too!
I was a little worried about going through U.S. Customs with my rifle, but they were so surprised to see an official ATF form that a four of them came out to see what I was bringing across. It took all five minutes to check the serial number, talk to them about the match, and get my official stamp -- and that was that. Almost too easy, but I wasn't complaining.
I found the range without getting lost Saturday morning -- woohoo! -- and was the third shooter to arrive. This meant I had the pick of spots and chose position eight as the flags seemed best placed for me there. It was misty, hot and humid when we started at 0900 sharp with no wind to speak off.
Misty and hot -- it hit 86 F on Saturday before humidity
I was a little worried about shooting NRA rules as I usually take 24-26 minutes for a relay when shooting ISSF targets, but the NRA only gives you 20 minutes for sighters and 20 record shots. It turns out I didn't need to worry as my slowest relay all day was 18 minutes.
Since this was a metric prone event, we shot the ISSF targets at 50 metres and the ISSF 300 metre reduced target at 100 yards. There was a lot of grumbling about the 50 metre targets as they're substantially more challenging than the NRA conventional 50 yard prone targets (ISSF 9-ring = NRA conventional 10-ring).
Looking downrange on my position
I haven't trained since the last years' nationals in July. I've dryfired a bit and worked some on the CURT simulator over the winter, but nothing serious. So I wasn't too sure how I'd fare, especially since I was using my new wooden free rifle stock for the first time.
As with the relay time, I didn't need to worry. The first match of the day was 40 shots at 50 metres, and I scored a 192-6x + 189-2x = 381-8x. Next up was the Dewar match, another 20 shots at 50 metres plus 20 shots at 100 yards. I've never shot at 100 yards before so I didn't really know what to expect, but with almost no wind everything went well and my Nesom flipover front sight worked great: 187-3x + 189-6x = 376-9x.
Looking down the line -- there were 13 shooters in total
After our second break of the morning, we stayed long for the third match, 40 shots at 100 yards. By this time the wind was starting to pick up beyond the 50 metre line, switching back and forth lazily with no real pattern. I got caught chasing myself the first target (the green filter didn't help, either) but I settled down the second and focused a little better: 181-1x + 187-3x = 368-4x.
We closed the day with the fourth match and some passing rain showers -- another 40 shots at 50 metres. My first target I set up too wide and fought to keep from falling off to the right but I was too stubborn to break position and rebuild it, especially with only 20 minutes on the relay. The second 20 felt better position wise, but the last 10 shots were really painful -- my left hand had had enough and no matter how I focused it really hurt so I shot between throbs and finished quickly: 187-4x + 188-3x = 375-7x.
Shooters checking their scores
So my aggregate score for my first ever 1600 match was a 1500-28x. It wasn't spectacular, but I wasn't the last shooter in my category either, and I don't think I embarrassed myself either. I did mention several times for anyone listening that I hadn't shot since last summer, so hopefully no one thought I was sandbagging it! And just as we finished the clouds opened up and it absolutely poured for about 15 minutes -- a good time to quit!
I was looking forward to returning on Sunday for another 1600, shooting irons while the others used their scopes, but my son developed a fever overnight and we decided to head home early instead. All in all, it was a great experience and the crew at the MRC are super friendly and very easy to get along with.
Saturday's results
I'd like to thank George Minerich, president of the Minnesota Rifle and Revolver Association for helping me with my ATF paperwork, Bruce Blahut for running the match, and the pleasure of shooting next to blogger Jim Evenson of Minnesota Rifle Shooting. Thanks, guys -- I'll be back next summer, if not sooner!
Addendum: It looks like Emily Quiner put on a clinic on Sunday to win the match! See Jim's complete report on the Minnesota Rifle Shooting blog plus a nice picture of me, too!
Jason - if you change the link to my last post, there is much more info there. Jim
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