Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club

Being recognized as a Distinguished Rifleman is one of the highest achievements that a High Power shooter can achieve.

One of my long term projects is to recognize our Distinguished Riflemen with a plaque to display in the Clubhouse at the range. As part of that project, I have been scouring the list of 8600+ recipients of the Distinguished Badge for FWRR members.

So far, I have identified a number of FWRR recipients, but I am sure I have missed someone. My search has gone back to about 1970 – so there are probably pre-1970 recipients out there that I do not know of.

Here are the Distinguished Rifleman I have identified so far. If you know of anyone else, please let me know and I will update this list.

Distinguished Rifleman Badge Recipients – FWRR

Lynn Richter                 1978          No Badge Number Listed

Mike Goshert               1997          # 1267

Mark Strahan               1997          # 1286

Mark Walters               1998          # 1339

Carl Johnson               2013          # 2161

Brad Diehl                    2017          # 2372

Mike King                     2019          # 2444

Geoff Branson            2024          #2656

Winter Offhand lived up to its name on Saturday December 14th.  It was a nippy 20-degrees and with the wind from the southeast, if you were on the low end of the line – it was close to bitter.  At least one shooter declared; “I’m not going out there again – I can’t feel me I’m so cold!”  But – he did.

We had eleven shooters come to the line and we started about 8:35 – everyone got there early and we went ahead and started.

Match results were similar to November.  Mike King took Class AA first place with a 390-7x and Mia King took Class A top slot with her 376-6X.

On the season to date, Mike is top Class AA shooter with 779-19X and Mia is Class A leader with 732-5X.

Our next match is on January 11, with the Winter Offhand Match, a Winter 40 Match, a Class of 2025 class and shooting session and another try at having our Silver Mountain Targets class. Put the date on your calendar and join us to shoot or just come out and shoot the breeze with fellow FWRR members.  

FWRR Club Meeting

The next meeting of the Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club will be held on Monday, December 2, 2024.  Meeting Place: VFW Post 857, located at 2202 West Main Street in Fort Wayne.  Meeting Time: 7:30 PM.  

Meeting Agenda:  Officer Election follow by a standard format meeting.

Election Ballot

Club Officers will be elected during the December meeting.  Positions include: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Director, Program Manager, and Range Safety Officer. The term of a Director is six years; the term of all other elected officials is two years.   The election ballot is as follows.

President: Jim Sweeney (unopposed)

Vice President: Mark Walters (unopposed)

Secretary: Mike Miller (Incumbent), Joseph Penepent

Treasurer: Martin Didion (Incumbent), Douglas Burdick

Director:  Mike Toscos (incumbent), Jay Wehrle

Program Manager: Mark Walters (unopposed)

Range Safety Officer: C. Larry Beardsley  (unopposed)

Nominations will be accepted from the floor prior to the election.

2025 Membership Renewal

2025 Membership Renewal Forms will be mailed in early to mid-December.  Please remember to include proof of current NRA membership.  Either a photocopy of the membership card or a magazine label (or the label itself) are acceptable forms of proof.  If a photocopy of a membership card is submitted, it must display the expiration date.  Cards marked “Annual” and displaying no date are unacceptable.

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

Completed Membership Renewal Forms, proof of current NRA membership, and payments are due on January 1^st each year.  If your renewal form has not been received by mid-January, contact the Treasurer elect.

Dues must be received on or before March 1^st to avoid late fees or termination of membership. Dues received with postmark dates after March 1^st, but on or before March 31^st, are subject to a $25.00 late fee. Dues received with postmark dates after March 31^st 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 IX, 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, 2024 are not required to pay membership dues to the 2025 calendar year; nevertheless, they do need to return the renewal form with proof of current NRA membership.

Dues Increase

Basic dues for 2025 will increase from $80.00 to $85.00 and will be increased at a rate of $5.00 per year for the following three years.  Individuals inducted before January 2024 will be grandfathered with regard to Life membership.   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.  Ref.: Article XI, Sections 5 of the Bylaws, as amended to reflect these changes. 

Lock Combination Change Reminder

Retain your 2024 Membership Card until the lock combination change is made is made on Cleanup Day (mid to late April, 2025).

Maintenance Activities

The final mowing of the year was accomplished on November 11^th. The mowers, sprayer, and cistern were winterized. Number boards on the 300 yard range were removed and stored for the winter.

Mowing Crew

Thanks go to the following individuals who volunteered time and effort to maintain the grounds: Martin Didion, Tom Fortman, John Halter, Joe Harbor, Matt Hice, Jim Johnston, Russ McCurdy, Dennie McNabb, Ozzie Ostheimer, Karl Pulver, Rick Schwaiger, and Jim Sweeney.

Off Road Driving 

Off road driving between the west side of the ditch and a line straight North of the 100-yard impact berm is not permitted.  Members have been driving along the ditch to post targets on the 100-yard target frames in violation of this restriction, Exception: Ground conditions permitting, driving in this area is permitted for the purpose of placing/retrieving the number boards that are used during winter HP offhand matches.

Safety Note

On the Main Range, use of target frames or holders other than those provided is not permitted.  All shots are to pass through the cardboard backers that are placed on the target frames.  Do not intentionally allow bullets to strike target frames.  All firing is to be done from the designated firing lines.  Distances less than 25 yards may be shot in Bays 4 and 5 of the Pistol Pit, subject to the firearms type restrictions set forth in the Range Rules.  Shotguns may be patterned at 25 yards on the Main Range by placing the pattern board between the lower horizontal member and the ground.

(A note from the Safety Officer: On Thursday, 21 November I did a range safety inspection. I noted that at the 50-yard target stand, there were at least 25 bullet impacts in the top rail and another 10 in the bottom rail. There were also approximately 20 .223 cases in the gravel parking pad at the north end of the 100-yard firing line.)

Discipline Reports

ACPDL (Allen County Practical Defense League)

The last match of the calendar year will be held on 12/7.  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.

Cowboy Action, PCSL and USPSA

Cowboy Action, PCSL (tentative) and USPSA matches will resume in 2025.

High-power (HP)

Winter Offhand Matches are shot on the second Saturday of the month, November through March. Registration begins at 8:00 AM.  Match start time is 9:00 AM. The Main Range is closed to informal practice during winter offhand matches but the pistol bays remain open.  As  always, informal practice in the Pistol Pit is limited to Bays 4 and 5 when formal matches are not underway on the Main Range and in the Pistol Pit.

The High Power Range Officer writes:

“The summer HP season has wrapped up and we had a busy and productive year. Our schedule included the 50/80 matches that provide competitors the opportunity to compete for both NRA and CMP classifications, as well as the very popular 300-yard 3 X 20 matches.  The 3 X 20 matches bring competitors from all over Indiana as well as from central Indiana and the Toledo area and have set attendance records for recent years.  With our electronic targets and beautifully maintained range, our high-power matches have become the premier place to compete for shooters in the Lower Great Lakes region.”

“We have the 2025 schedule in place, subject to Club approval and tweaking as needed to accommodate State and National Match schedules that are not as yet final.”

Electronic Target System Training Class

The Club has purchased a Silver Mountain Electronic Target System that will be made available to individual members for use at the range.  Users must be trained before access to the system is granted.  The first class will be held on Saturday, December 14^th following the Winter HP Offhand Match (about 12:00 noon). Interested members are asked to contact Larry Beardsley. (FWRRHPdirector @aol.com).

New Members

Please welcome new members Zachary Calci, Scott Davis (returning member), Andrew Harbor, and Lawrence Shinabery.   These gentlemen were inducted as full members at the October, 2024 meeting.

Distinguished Shooter Listing

The Club would like to have a listing of members who have been awarded Distinguished Rifleman and Pistol Shot Badges.  If you are a Distinguished Shooter, or if you know a club member not now living who was Distinguished, please notify Larry Beardsley (FWRRHPdirector@aol.com).

For Sale

77 gr. Sierra Match King bullets. Boxes of 500, $160.00 each.  Jaggi Shooting Glasses Frame with extra nose piece, lenses, blinders and case: $125.00. Contact Marty Didion at  martindidion4@gmail.com.

Arisaka Type 99, 7.7 mm rifle with Lee die set.  Chrome-lined barrel and wood are in very good condition. It has anti-aircraft wing sights, but no sliding breech cover.  The chrysanthemum has been ground off.  .30-06 brass can be reformed to work in this rifle.  $99.00.  Contact Larry Beardsley at FWRRHPdirector @aol.com.

A large quantity of 16 ga. field loads and rifled slugs are available.  Some 12 ga. and .410 bore shot shells are also available. Contact Mike Miller at  (260) 467-0640.

Members who wish to sell shooting-related items may send ad information to Marty Didion at martindidion4@gmail.com.  Ads must be received three weeks before meetings in order to appear in the next newsletter.

We kicked off Winter Offhand on Saturday 9 November on a crisp fall day.  It was a dull day – not a lot of light and just cold enough that you could see breath from most of the shooters.  There was plenty of help to get set up and we started shooting about 8:45 when we had 12 shooters, one good full relay.

This winter we are shooting in a two class system – High Masters and Masters are Class AA shooters, Experts and below are Class A shooters.  Scores and awards will be made in both classes with the best four scores of the five match season counting toward the season totals.

In today’s match, the Class AA top slot went to Mike King with a 389-12X tally.  Top score in Class A and High Junior went to Mia King with her 369-4X score.

Then after the Winter Offhand match closed out, two other activities shared the range.  The Winter Forty group held their first bi-weekly match with 8 shooters and the Junior Class of 2025 had a class and shooting session.

The Junior Class of 2025 had six shooters in attendance and after the class session (which included a presentation on shooter respect and safety) a shooting session focusing on sight alignment, trigger control and sight adjustment to center shot groups was conducted. 

Thanks to Kileen and Mia for helping with the classroom presentations and additional thanks to Mia and Marshall for their help in mentoring the Class of 2025 in their shooting session.

It was a busy morning at the range with three groups sharing the facilities and managing to play well together. The next Winter Forty match will be in two weeks on Saturday November 23rd and the next Winter Offhand/Class of 2025 session will be on December 14th.  Put the dates on your calendar and come out and shoot with us!

At the October meeting of the FWRR, it was voted to purchase three Silver Mountain Target systems.  This has been done.  Two of these systems are the server based systems we use for formal matches and one system is a “Stand Alone” system of the type often used by individual shooters for practice sessions.

The Stand Alone system was purchased because a number of members who do not regularly shoot in formal high power matches indicated their desire to have access to an electronic target system to make practice sessions more productive; knowing exactly where shots impact on a shot by shot basis without having to walk down 100, 200 or 300 yards (then back) in a shooting session.

This system does require some instruction in its use.  Like the match system, it can be used with a smart phone, iPad, most tablets or just about any device you can use to access the internet.  It is not a hard system to learn how to use, but even with our match system – having five years of experience with it – we are still finding “oh-by-the-ways”.

I am proposing to have at least one training session for folks who are interested in using this system (I will do more if the interest is there). It would be a Saturday morning session and as a guess it would last about three hours with classroom instruction and a shooting session to practice what we cover in class.

Only members who have attended the training session would have access to the system and only members who show that their shooting skills would not endanger the target system would be qualified as users (like the CMP does at the Talladega range).  Even with this, there will is a chance of damage to the system (every year we lose about one sensor in high power matches and practice) and replacement costs for a damaged sensor run about $150.00.  I anticipate that there will be a modest user fee (think $20.00 per member) to be a user of this system, but those arrangements will have to be finalized as we get the details ironed out.

If you would be interested in using such a system and attending a training session, send me an email at FWRRHPDirector@aol.com so I can see how much interest there is in this plan.

Thank you,

Larry Beardsley

High Power Range Officer

What a way to close out a High Power season!

We had everything that a High Power Match could ask for.  The weather was outstanding.  The day dawned bright and just a bit frosty, but as the sun warmed the range, the frost vanished and the morning light on the targets contrasted with the fall colors to make a picture that looked like a fall postcard.

Then, there the helpers.  We weren’t going to shoot until 9:00, but when I got to the range at 7:30 (yes, almost in the dark) there were people already setting up targets.  Who could ask for a better crew to support a match? 

Next, if you are going to have a match, you need shooters.  How about the biggest crowd of the year; 25 shooters?  We had Grand Seniors, we had Juniors, we had Service Rifles, Match Rifles and a contingent of Palma and F-Class Rifles in the match – just about every ingredient you could ask for a match.The match was a 3 x 20 300-yard prone match. 

We set it up to be a casual fun match – shooters were assigned firing points and each group of shooters decided how they would fire the match.  One group of shooters shot all 60 rounds at once and another shot the match 20 rounds at a time.  If someone was waiting for a shooting position and one came open, we just swapped firing points and kept the match moving.

How well did it work?  We started a little after 9:00 (there were some last minute oh-pooh’s in getting set up) and finished a three relay 3 x 20 match by 11:58!  This was a great bunch of shooters who moved the match right along.

And, even after five seasons with the Silver Mountain Targets, we still manage to discover new things.  The guys on target 5 made a new and mystifying discovery.  If you made a sight correction, the point of impact moved the wrong way.  Upward elevation corrections moved the point of impact down and right windage corrections moved it to the left. When we cleaned up targets at the end of the match, we discovered the exact combination of swapped cables on target 5 that made for backwards corrections!  Maybe we need to send some folks back to kindergarten to learn their color words when they install targets. (We’re poking fun at ourselves – not fussing!)

We had three categories of shooting yesterday; Service Rifle, Match Rifle and Palma/F-Class rifles.

In the Palma/F-Class group, standings were:

First                      Joe Bakies           598-41X

Second                 Tom Bonner        596-34X

Third                     Lewis Levin         553-12X

Match Rifle settled out like this:

First                      Mark Walters     591-26X

Second                 Ron Dague          578-13X

Third                     Jim Jackson         575-12X

And the Service Rifle shooters:

First                      Ashley Stevens                  596-26X

Second                 Gary Mabis                         591-14X

Third                     Mike King                           590-20X

Fourth                  Marshall Rohrbach           571-16X  (High Junior)

These were great scores and there were a lot of good scores for the day. One great story of the day is Miss Aria, our newest Junior shooter in her first match (another left-handed 12-year old girl).  She swapped rifles this week and is shooting a full sized rifle that weighs as much as she does – well, almost – maybe.  She started with a 153-2 for her first string.  After a bit of a rest, her second string was a 173-0X and then she finished up with a third string of 189-4X.  That was really good shooting Miss Aria!

It was a great day – we had fun and everyone enjoyed a great match; a most excellent way to close out a high power season. The only problem – what do we do to make high power shooting even better next year?

We start Winter Offhand on Saturday, November 9 at 9:00 AM, and follow up with a Junior Class and the Winter 40 shooters.  Come out and join us!

What do college basketball coaches and Junior High Power coaches have in common? 

Both of them have to recruit to keep top performers in their program, and FWRR is no exception.  Our best source of new Junior shooters is the DeKalb County 4-H shooting sports program.  4-H shooters go through BB gun, air rifle, air pistol, archery and .22 rimfire shooting classes and after they complete these classes, many of them want to continue shooting in a more advanced formal program.

FWRR member Patrick Jessup heads up the DeKalb 4-H .22 rimfire program and last summer he invited FWRR representatives to come out to a 4-H shooting session and make a presentation about the FWRR Junior program.  Larry Beardsley and Mia King made a pitch to the group and Mr. Jessup gave us a list of prospective shooters.  We followed up with the prospects and decided that we had enough interest to hold a class for prospective 4-H shooting sports graduates.

We set October 12 as a date that worked for everyone and we worked on a class curriculum.  We decided that the CMP GSM class met our needs and we did some modifications to focus on the AR rifles we shoot in our Junior program.  We have a diverse and capable set of Juniors and we decided that the Juniors would have a major role in presenting this class to give back to the Junior program.  Mia King is a 4-H Instructor and a Certified NRA Pistol Instructor and Tayt Shaffer, our youngest Junior, is willing to try anything (well, at least once) and they agreed to help with the class.

We divided up the CMP curriculum and Mia took the parts dealing with Preparing the shot, Breathing, Trigger Control and getting into the actual positions.  Since I am way too stiff to bend into the positions, Tayt was our model – demonstrating different aspects of the Offhand, Sitting and Prone positions.

We had a very good turnout for the class; six students and three parents were present.  We welcomed parents because we want them to know just what we are doing with our program.  The classroom session went very well and after lunch, we had a shooting session.  While the students ate lunch, we zeroed three rifles at 100-yards and we had the students shoot from sandbags to work on operation of the AR rifles, practice trigger control and get used to using a scoped rifle instead of open sights.

Each student shot 20-rounds in their practice session and the emphasis was in shooting a good group – not necessarily putting everything in the X-ring. In summary – every student shot good groups and several beat up the black on the target pretty badly.

After the shooting session we did a class survey and we good high marks for how the class went.  Every student said that they would like to continue shooting over the winter, so we have a plan to go forward with this new group of shooters. 

We start Winter Offhand on November 9th.  After the “old guys” finish Winter Offhand, about 10 o’clock, we will meet with the prospective shooters (we’ll call them The Class of ’25).  We will have a class session and then a shooting session to follow up with the start we have made with this group of new shooters.

And, as college basketball coaches often do – we’ll declare that we had a great recruiting season.

FWRR Club Meeting

The next meeting of the Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club will be held on Monday, October 7, 2024.  Meeting Place: VFW Post 857, located at 2202 West Main Street in Fort Wayne.  Meeting Time: 7:30 p.m.  Meeting Agenda:  Standard meeting format.

Please make an effort to attend meetings, as a quorum is required to conduct club business. 

Club Election

Club Officers will be elected during the December meeting.  Positions include: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Director, Program Manager, and Range Safety Officer.

The term of the Director is six years; the term of all other elected officials is two years.

Persons who have been members in good standing for two full years are eligible to run for office and to vote in elections.   Eligible members who wish to have their names placed on the ballot should contact Mark Walters at the October meeting or via email (mwalt1@comcast.net).

Maintenance Activities, Facility Improvements, etc.

Thanks go to Jim Johnston and Rick Schwaiger for their work in cleaning up debris from the tree which fell at the south end of the 100-yard firing line.

Mowing Schedule

The 2024 Mowing Schedule is available on the club’s website. https://fwrrclub.org/

Mowing dates that are scheduled to occur are 10/16, and 10/30.  Dates are tentative, depending on weather and ground conditions.   Mowing times vary according to volunteer availability.  Efforts will be made to provide mowing date and time updates on the website. 

The Main Range is closed during mowing and other range maintenance activities.   Pistol Bays 4 and 5 remain open during mowing.  It is recommended that members check the website https://fwrrclub.org/  for updates before traveling to the range.

Sad News

Two members have passed away since the publication of the last newsletter: Bill Simon (April, 1988) and Nick Norris (February, 2006).  

Bill was an avid sportsman and high-power competitor.   Nick was interested in all facets of firearms, especially precision shooting.

Discipline Reports

ACPDL (Allen County Practical Defense League)

An ACPDL match will be held on  11/2.   The last match of the calendar year will be held on 12/7. 

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 calendar year will be held at 9:00 a.m. on 10/20.

High-power (HP) — Upcoming High Power Events

Junior Class 

On Saturday October 12, I am holding a High Power Clinic focusing on prospective Junior shooters from the DeKalb County 4-H shooting program – but if you have a Junior that would be interested in High Power, please invite them to this class.

The class starts at 8:00, participants will need to bring lunch.  After a morning classroom session, we will shoot to practice the things we covered in classroom instruction.  The class is free to Juniors and parents are welcome to sit in and see what we are doing with the program.   Let me know of any interested Juniors – contact Larry Beardsley at FWRRHPDirector@aol.com

3 x 20 Prone Match

Our last High Power match of the season will be on Saturday, October 19 – a 3 x 20, 300-yard Prone Match.  These matches are some of the most popular and well attended matches we have and I would like to close out the season with a BANG with this match.  The last match we had to run three relays -so make me run four relays this time!  Start time is 9:00 – we’ve lost the early morning sun as we get deeper into Fall.

Winter Offhand

Winter Offhand starts on Saturday, November 9th (note the return to second Saturday activities).  We register at 8:30 or so and start when we get a full relay on the line.  We will shoot as many relays as we need to accommodate everyone.  Course of fire is 22 shots first stage (the low two shots are considered to be sighters and 20-shots for record) and 20-shots for record second stage.

Depending on demand, there may be a Junior practice following the match as well as the winter Half Match crew resuming their matches.  Keep an eye open for how this works out.

The Main Range closes at 3:00 p.m. prior to HP practice sessions.   The pistol bays remain open during HP practice sessions and matches.   As is always the case, informal practice in the Pistol Pit is limited to Bays 4 and 5.

People and Accomplishments

FWRR Shooters at Camp Perry National Matches; Tayt Shaffer, Coach Beardsley, Geoff Branson and Emma Branson

Cowboy Action

The last Cowboy Action match of the calendar year will be held on 10/12.  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.  The matches begin with a mandatory shooter meeting. The ammunition requirements for the regular match are 60 rounds for pistols, 60 rounds rifles, and 30 rounds for shotguns.  Only lead bullets and shot are permitted.  Shot may be no larger than #4 (shot sizes 4 – 9). 

PCSL (Practical Competition Shooting League)

The last PCSL match of the calendar year will be held on 10/27. Match time is 10:00 a.m. Registration starts at 9:30 a.m. 

New shooter orientation begins at 9:50 a.m.  Rifles in caliber .223 and pistols in calibers 9 mm, .40 and .45 are used in this competition.  Rounds counts are 120/match for rifles and 60/match for pistols.

New Members

Please welcome new members Denis Cook (yes, one ‘N’), Melvin Craft, Eric Melton, and Paul Till. These gentlemen were inducted as full members at the August, 2024 meeting.

Distinguished Shooter Listing

The Club would like to have a listing of members who have been awarded Distinguished Rifleman Badges.  If you are a Distinguished Shooter, or if you know a club member not now living who is or was a Distinguished Rifleman, please notify Larry Beardsley; (FWRRHPDirector@aol.com).

For Sale

77 gr. Sierra Match King bullets, boxes of 500, $160.00 each.

Federal 205M Primers, $80.00/1000. 

Federal 210M Primers, $65.00/1000.

Jaggi Shooting Glasses Frame with extra nose piece, lenses, blinders and case: $125.00.

8 round M1 clips:  $2.00 each.

Contact Marty Didion at  martindidion4@gmail.com.

300+ Win; .30 cal. 150 gr. FMJ bullets, $50.00.

Two 250-count; .30 cal. FMJ BT (weight not specified in ad), $80.00 each.

Thirteen 5-count boxes of Rem. 12 ga. Managed-Recoil 1 oz. slugs, $7.00/box. 

2200 Win. large pistol primers, $6.00/100.

M1 Garand Clips in excellent condition, $4.00/each.

TC .54 cal. Renegade muzzleloading rifle with kit and supplies, $175.00.

Call Tom at (260) 740-6000.

Japanese Arisaka Type 99 Rifle, 7.7 mm with Lee die set.  Nice overall condition, chrome lined barrel is very good, wood is good.

I have shot this rifle with resized .30-06 brass and I survived, no particular excitement. This rifle has the wing anti-aircrafts sights, no sliding breech cover and the chrysanthemum is ground off.  Asking $99.00, but let’s negotiate, I need the space in the gun locker.  

Contact Larry Beardsley; FWRRHPDirector@aol.com

Members who wish to sell shooting-related items may send ad information to Marty Didion at martindidion4@gmail.com.  Ads must be received three weeks before meetings in order to appear in the next newsletter.

Team N-Squared (Norb Norbert and Tom Nagle) were the top team in the Leonard Johnson Memorial Match shot on Saturday September 21st. Team Johnson and Johnson (Jerry and Doug) were the runner-ups with a close second place finish.

The Leonard Johnson Memorial Match is shot in honor of Leonard Johnson (Jerry’s father and Doug’s grandfather), a long time FWRR member and a collegiate small-bore champion.  Leonard was active in small bore and high power shooting, so the Leonard Johnson Memorial Match is a combination of the two disciplines.  It is a team match.  It is shot with .22-rimfire rifles at 200-yards (yes, 200 yards with a .22-rimfire) and center fire rifles at 300-yards. Then to make the game more interesting, it is shot on the SR-42 target, a 200-yard reduction of the SR-3 300-yard target.  Then, atop that – when the shooters move back to 300-yards, they still shoot on that 200-yard reduced target.  The match has been called “The Toughest 2-Man Team Match in the Country”.

This year’s match ran afoul of two other state level competitions, so only two teams competed – but there was still some outstanding shooting.  In the 200-yard stage, for Team Johnson and Johnson – Jerry Johnson shot a 194-6X with a 99-4X second string, but youth and sharper eyes overcame old age and experience as Doug Johnson shot a 196-5X.

Team N-Squared were close with Tom Nagle posting a 193-5X and Norb’s 191 – 1X.  The match went to 300-yards with Johnson and Johnson in the lead by 6-points.  But, at 300-yards heat and eyesight began to take their toll on both teams and N-Squared crept up on Johnson and Johnson.  N-Squared captured a 334-6X aggregate to Johnson and Johnson’s 325-4X.  For the day, Team N-Squared came away with a 718-12X aggregate to Johnson and Johnson with a 715-15X.

Just wait until next year though.  We will shoot this match in August, after the NRA and CMP National Matches and before the Indiana State matches to enable more shooters to participate.

And, thanks to all of the shooters for donating their award winnings to the FWRR Juniors!

The FWRR High Power season will close On October 19^th with a 3 x 20 300-yard Prone Match.  Make plans to come out for this last match – make me schedule four relays!

Marshall Rohrbach won the Indiana State 100-Yard Championship on Saturday, September 14th at the Fall Creek Valley Conservation Club.  Marshall is the first Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club Junior shooter to win a state match, taking the top slot in a field of 13 shooters representing the best shooters in Indiana high power. This match is the second of four matches whose scores make up the ISRPA Aggregate State Championship. 

Marshall’s victory was a bit sweeter because he outscored one of Indiana’s perennial top shooters (and one of Marshall’s mentors, FWRR member Mike King) – with a Creedmoor victory – a tied score with the winner being decided by X-count.  Both Marshall and Mike shot scores of 780, but Marshall took the win with a 24X count to Mike’s 19X tally.

FWRR shooters took four of the five top places.  Mike King was second with his 780-19X; Geoff Branson was third with 776-27X (high X-count for the day) and Mark Richard followed in fourth, just one point behind with 775-21X.

Gary Mabis finished just out of the top five with 768-21X, Emma Branson, another FWRR Junior tallied 758-11X and Doc Habel shot 749-11X. 

Congratulations to all of the FWRR shooters – now on to Atterbury for the season finale.