June 13 50/80 Match

50/80 Match

June 13, 2020

When I woke up about 2:30 on Saturday morning, I thought I was hearing a mouse gnawing on something in the ceiling.  Then, as I got my wits about me, I realized it was worse than a mouse – that was rain pecking on the window.

Aw Poooh – why does it have to rain on High Power Match day? 

I tossed and fretted until 5:30 and I got up and got my day started.  I looked at the radar from several places and even though it was still raining, it looked like there was a good chance it would break up even if we had to delay an hour.

But, by the time I got to the donut shop at Harlan, the rain had stopped to the point it just needed an occasional swipe of the wipers to keep the windshield clear.  By the time I got to the range –the rain had stopped and it looked like we would not get rained on.  Mike and Glenna had already gotten the Stat Office set up started.  We waited a bit to be sure the rain was gone and we went downhill to start setup.

As we get more familiar with electronic target setup, we are finding that four or five guys can set up an 8-target line in just about the time it would take for 8 pit-pigs to go down and setup cardboard backers, smear paste and put on paper centers.

Looking downrange from midline

When we started at 8:10, it was cool and cloudy.  Jackets felt comfortable and that wind straight from 6:00 was cold on the back of your neck.  One target decided to act up, but we quickly figured out a work-around and life just went on.  The clouds broke up quickly and by the time Relays 1 and 2 went back to 300-yards, we had just about as beautiful a day to shoot as could be asked for.  The light was absolutely fantastic, wind was light and almost constant and the temperature was “just right”.  Relays 1 and 2 finished up at 10:49 – an 80 round match shot in less than three hours.  Good work guys!

Perfect light; no wind; this is as good as it gets!

The afternoon went just as smoothly; the rookie Range Officer ended up setting up a pair of shooters to shoot on an MR-63 F-Class target because of his fat fingers on the master control display.  But, at least the shooter doesn’t have the shot-out barrel he thought he had!  Relays 3 and 4 shot their 80-round match in just under three-hours as well!

We had 23 shooters for the day out of 27 registered, with 4 shooters cancelling for last minute issues.  We had some fantastic shooting, with many scores above 190 for the 20 shot stages.  Joe Bakies took top spot for the day with a 790-26X, but his 199-12X at 300-prone took second place to Robert winding’s 199-15X.  It was that kind of a day

Ready on the low end …

Results are:

First Aggregate:          Joe Bakies (Lima Sabers)        790-26X           $ 71

Second Aggregate:     Robert Winding                      776-31X            $ 51

Third Aggregate:         Mike King (FWRR)                773-15X            $ 28

High Offhand              Joe Bakies                               195-5X

High Sitting                 Mike King                                198-5X

High Prone Rapid       Geoff Branson                      199-9X (Correction)

High Slow Prone         Robert Winding                      199-15X                      

        Creedmore         Joe Bakies                              199-12X

One of the visiting shooters commented, “I haven’t been here for a couple of years.  I forgot just how pretty this range is.”

Our next High Power activity is a Range Day for just fun shooting on the electronic targets on June 20th starting at 10:00.

The next 50/80 Match is July 11 – it starts at 8:00.  Although I have not heard from the NRA, this may be the first NRA Approved Match of the season.