December 2023 FWRRC NEWSLETTER

FWRR Club Meeting

The next meeting of the Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club will be held on Monday, December 4, 2023.  Meeting Place: VFW Post 857, located at 2202 West Main Street in Fort Wayne.  Meeting Time: 7:00 p.m.

Meeting Agenda:  Standard meeting format.  Please make an effort to attend meetings, as a quorum is required to conduct club business.  Be an active club member. You’ll enjoy the camaraderie.

2024 Membership Renewal

2024 Membership Renewal Forms will be mailed in early December.

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS AT THE TOP OF THE FORM.  

Provide responses to all requested information and remember to include proof of current NRA membership.   Proof of NRA membership must be dated.  A photocopy of a membership card or a magazine label (or the label itself) are acceptable forms of current membership proof.  (Some NRA membership cards lack dates.  At present, magazine labels contain membership date information.)

Dues must be received on or before March 1st to avoid a late fee or termination of membership. Dues received with postmark dates after March 1st, but on or before March 31st, are subject to a $25.00 late fee. Dues received with postmark dates after March 31st will be returned with a notice indicating that 1) the party’s membership has been terminated, and 2) future membership requires submission of a membership application and payment of new member fees (c.f., Bylaws Article XI, Section 2).  Dues paid with an NSF check are subject to a $25.00 returned check fee.

If personal hardship prevents timely payment of dues, contact a club officer who may arrange either for dues to be waived or for payment to be deferred.

Individuals who were accepted as members after October 1, 2023 are not required to pay membership dues for the 2024 calendar year; nevertheless, they do need to return the renewal form with proof of current NRA membership.

Updating the roster is a time-consuming activity.  Deciphering illegible printing and contacting members to obtain proof of NRA membership are frustrating and time-consuming tasks. 

Lock Combination Change

The lock combination change is made on Cleanup Day (mid to late April).  Retain your 2023 Membership Card until the change is made.

Dues Increase

Basic dues for 2024 will increase from $60.00 to $80.00 and will be increased at a rate of $5.00 per year for the following four years.  Individuals inducted before January 2024 will be grandfathered with regard to Senior and Life memberships under Article XI, Section 5 of the recently amended 2002 Bylaws.  Individuals inducted after January 2024 who have been members for at least five consecutive years are eligible for Life (dues free) membership in the year following their 70th birthday.  Article XI, Sections 5 of the Bylaws will be amended to reflect these changes.  The revision will be sent with 2024 Membership Cards.

Maintenance Activities

The mowers, sprayer, and cistern were winterized.  The post at the south end of the 100/200-yard covered firing line was repaired thanks to the efforts of Jim Johnston, Ken Ross, and Marty Didion.   The landscape company who damaged the post will be billed for the repair. One hundred road edge markers were installer by Jim Sweeney.  The long-awaited horn/light system was installed on the 25/50/100-yard firing line.  Thanks for the installation go to Larry Beardsley who headed up the project. Larry was assisted by Michael Grannis.  Instructions for system use are posted at the 25/50/100-yard building.  Work to extend the system to the 100/200-yard firing line will be undertaken at a later date.   A repair was made to the 100-yard firing line on the 300-yard range after a careless person drove across the mound.  The Club Cadet mower was taken in for maintenance. Thanks go to Jim Sweeney for transporting the mower to and from the repair facility.  The remainder of the earth work on the east side of the ditch and work to extend the berm between Pistol Pit Bays 4 & 5 will be accomplished next year. 

New Members

No new members were inducted at the October meeting.

Driving Off Road

To avoid damage to the newly installed swales, it is no longer permissible to drive off road to the 100-yard target holders.  Soil conditions permitting, it is acceptable to drive on the lawn downrange of the 100-yard firing mound on the 300-yard range.

Discipline Reports

ACPDL (Allen County Practical Defense League)

The last match of the 2023 calendar year will be held on December 2nd.  Only ACPDL members are permitted to shoot.  The pre-match meeting begins at 9:00 a.m. and shooting commences at 9:30 a.m.  Matches are typically finished by 12:00 noon.  Observers and those persons interested in becoming ACPDL members are welcome.

USPSA (United States Practical Shooting Association)

The last match of the 2023 calendar year was held on October 15th.  Matches will begin again in April 2024.

High-power (HP)

Winter Offhand Matches are scheduled for the second Saturday of the month, November through March.  Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. and match start time is 9:00 a.m. 

Cowboy Action

Cowboy Action matches are scheduled May through October.  Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. for regular matches and at 9:00 a.m. for voluntary side matches.  Regular match start time is 10:00 a.m. 

Mowing Crew

The following individuals were members of the 2023 Mowing Crew:  Marty Didion, Tom Fortman, John Halter, Matt Hice, Jim Johnston, Russ MC Curdy, Dennie Mc Nabb, Ozzie Ostheimer, David Rinaldi, Rick Schwaiger, Jim Sweeney, and Gary Walker.  Thanks also go to Gary Walker for spraying unwanted grass and weeds.

If you are interested in joining the mowing crew, contact Martin Didion at martindidion4@gmail.com

2024 Range Activity Schedule

Discipline leads should be prepared to submit their proposed schedules for the 2024 season during the December meeting. (Note:  A 2024 Schedule has been posted on the website at https://fwrrclub.org/index.php/2023/11/22/2024-fwrr-schedule/, but keep an eye out for possible changes.)

For Sale

Centra Rear Sight, 1//4 min. clicks, AR-15 flat-top mount: $190.00.  Gehmann Model 570 rear sight iris with diopters and filters: $88.00.   Gehmann Model 522A22 front sight iris: $58.00. Mo’s front sight mount for 0.750” O.D. barrel: $50.00.  Contact Tony Holdgreve at (260) 705-6940.

Jaggi Shooting Glasses Frame with extra nose piece, lenses, blinders and case: $125.00. Contact Marty Didion at E-mail martindidion4@gmail.com

100 rounds of 7.62 x 54 National Match ammunition ( M118, 180-grain, dated 1970 Lot LC 20-6), 85.00 OBO.  Proceeds go to Juniors.  Contact Larry Beardsley FWRRHPDirector@aol.com.

Approximately 400 Sierra 2200 168-grain .308 BTHP bullets.  These bullets have been moly coated, but should clean up in a tumbler or just shoot them as they are to clean out your barrel.  Midway wants $0.40 each in quantity100; we’ll let these go for $30/100.  Proceeds go to Juniors.  Contact Larry Beardsley FWRRHPDirector@aol.com.

Members who wish to sell shooting-related items may send ad information to Martin Didion at martindidion4@gmail.com

Ads must be received three weeks before meetings in order to appear in the next newsletter.

Winter Offhand Match 11 November – Marshall Rohrbach tops score list!

Saturday was a bright, beautiful day for a Match!

Saturday, November 11 was the opening match in the Winter Offhand Tournament.  It was a beautiful day for shooting; great light, brisk but not chilly temperatures and no wind.  Fourteen shooters came out for the day and as Mark Walters commented; “Wow, folks came out to shoot today” – some really good scores were posted.

As we were totaling scores, someone commented “Oh well; Mike, Mark and Mark again”.  

Uhhh, nope – not this time.  The top slots are still an “M” club, but today the “M” club was Marshall Rohrbach, Mark Richard, Mike King, Mark Walters and Mia King.  Great shooting guys (and girl).

The top five scores were:

Marshall Rohrbach (Junior Boy)                      381-5X

Mark Richard                                                    378-3X

Mike King                                                          375-6X

Mark Walters                                                    374-4X

Mia King    (Junior Girl)                                    369-6X


It should be noted that this was the first time that one of our Juniors was a match winner.  Congratulations to Marshall!

On occasion The Old Man can still offer some coaching tips
Mia and Kileen didn’t really need their toboggan hats for the Saturday Match

Thanks to Jon McDaniel for bringing us donuts and Sajea Shaffer for being our photographer – I will post pictures to the website later on.

Out next match is the second Saturday in December, December 9th.  Registration opens about 8:15 and we shoot when the first relay is full or we get good light – you never know about gloomy December days.  The second relay is at about 9:00 and we finish up about 10:30, so it doesn’t take a lot of the day.

Larry Beardsley Sends

October Mid-range Match Results- Revised

October Mid Range Results

Here are the revised results for the October Mid-range match.  (I had to correct one shooter from Service rifle to Match rifle). We had only two F-Class shooters, so I did not make an award for F-Class; just Match and Service rifles.


We had 21 shooters for the match, a very good turn out.  The shooting was outstanding.  If you didn’t shoot a High Master score – you were just about out of the money!


And – a big Thank You to Mark Walters for running the match and Mike and Glenna Grannis for their Stat Office work.


Summary of results:
                          Service Rifle                                 Match Rifle

First:       Mike King    599-29X (Wow!)   Joe Bakies  600-40X  (Double Wow!) 
Second:   Gary Mabis  590-24X               Mark Walters  594-33X
Third:      Kileen Shaffer 584-18X           Jim Jckson 592-25X 

The high Junior was Kileen Shaffer with a 584-18X, one point off of a High Master score and third place overall in Service rifle. 

Our next match is the first Winter Offhand Match on November 11th. Registration and setup start about 8:15. We will probably need to do some work to get setup for this first match, but we will shoot when we get a full relay on the line – or about 9:00 whichever comes first.