Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club

We have a new meeting place for our Club meetings. Our first meeting there was Monday, October 4th, and for the first time in a long time, we had a good crowd, not just a quorum; it was a very well attended meeting.

Our future meetings will be held at VFW Post 857, located at 2202 West Main Street in Fort Wayne – just follow Main Street through Ft. Wayne and you run into the site.  There is a lot of easily accessible parking and the meeting room is also easily accessible – no steep dark stairs to climb.

Meeting Times will be 7:00 p.m.  The VFW Post has a kitchen to provide supper before the meeting and beverages are available on site as well.

Our next meeting will be the FIRST MONDAY IN DECEMBER, December 6th. See you there!

I had a nice note from Tim Momper, a long time High Power shooter and member.

”  I was going through some photos and found this one that was taken on 7/18/10. I had arrived early on that beautiful summer morning, setting targets, getting ready to shoot. I started hearing a “whooshing” noise coming from the far SW corner of the range. It grew louder with time, then I saw it. The balloon was slowly losing altitude. At the point where it is in the picture I was communicating with the pilot. As he passed by he indicated that all was well, and his chase vehicle was just north of our position. He moved past me, slowly getting closer to the earth. I heard no emergency vehicle sirens, and assumed all was well. I thought this would make a nice story and picture in the news letter. “

Thanks Tim!

It’s 6:45.  I open one eye and I can hear rain rattling off the side of the house.  Oh well, we’ve had a really great summer of good weather, but it looks like our luck has run out.

But, I can’t just roll over and go back to sleep – I need to go out to the range and either wait out the rain or cancel the match.  While the coffee is brewing I checked the weather radar.  There is a green blotch of rain with a well-defined western edge moving across Ft. Wayne, but at the rate it is moving – it just might clear away by about 9:00.

So, I take my coffee and head out. Along I-469 it is just pouring.  At Harlan Donuts, it is a steady downpour.  I get to the range, open up the house, start the heat and wait and see if anyone is going to show up.  The rain sounds like someone is pouring gravel on the metal roof of the clubhouse – I am more convinced that this is going to be a rainout.

After I eat my fritter and drink my coffee, I start sweeping up the dead wasps, stink bugs, spider webs and dead grass. Then, Doc Habel shows up.  My comment to him; “Well, at least I’m not the only crazy person today.”  It starts to rain harder.

Then, about 8:15 Joe Bakies and Jack Baker from Lima Sabers walk in and just a few minutes later Mark Walters shows up also.  The rain slacks off a bit and we just sit around and swap stories about whatever comes to mind.  Then, about 8:45 it just pours again and just as suddenly quits.  We looked out the windows and there was a streak of light and a patch of blue sky off to the northwest.  By 9:00, our start time – the rain had quit, the clouds were breaking up and we decided; ”Let’s go do this.”

We had four people, two relays, so we set up the match as a FWRR vs. Lima Sabers head-to-head Club Match.  A coin flip decided that FWRR would shoot first and we decided to shoot all the way back with just one pit change.  By the time the FWRR shooters went to the line, the rain was gone and the sky was blue with fluffy cotton ball clouds floating by.

After a very doubtful beginning, we ended up with a fantastic day to shoot. It was cool enough that nobody got too hot and there was just a slight wind that fishtailed from about 2 o’clock to 10 o’clock to make the 200-yard rim fire stage a challenge. The fluffy white clouds were the biggest challenge as you could go from a target in bright sunlight to deep shadow in a matter of just a few seconds.

Mark Walters was very consistent over the day with 193-6X in the .22 rim fire stage and 193-5X at 300 yards for a 386-11X aggregate.  Joe Bakies made a good run at Mark’s score, but his 196-7X 300-yard score just did not quite make up for his 189-4X score at 200-yards.  His 385-11X fell one point shy of Marl’s 386-11X.

Doc Habel caught a couple of wind changes and a 7 and a pair of 8’s held him to a 181-1X in the .22 stage followed by a 188-2X at 300 yards.  Jack Baker, a Grand Senior, shot a very respectable 184-2X at 200-yards and a 169-2X at 300 yards.

But, The Leonard Johnson Match is the Toughest 2-Man Team Match in the country, so in the end it was the team scores that counted.  The Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club Team had a 755-14X and the Lima Sabers had a 738-15X, giving FWRR the bragging rights for the 2021 Leonard Johnson Memorial Match.

Joe Bakies is considering holding a 200-yard  .22 rim fire/300-yard center fire match at Lima in the spring, so we could well end up with an inter-club competition here with a suitable traveling trophy at stake.

And – it turned out to be a great day and a good time was had by all…..

FWRR Club Meeting (New Meeting Location)

The next meeting of the Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club will be held on Monday October 4, 2021. 

Meeting Place: Thanks to the efforts of Bill McEldowney, we will meet at VFW Post 857, located at 2202 West Main Street in Fort Wayne. 

Meeting Time: 7:00 p.m. 

FWRR Club Meeting (New Meeting Location)

The next meeting of the Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club will be held on Monday October 4, 2021. 

Meeting Place: Thanks to the efforts of Bill McEldowney, we will meet at VFW Post 857, located at 2202 West Main Street in Fort Wayne. 

Meeting Time: 7:00 p.m. 

Agenda: Standard meeting format plus a reading of the minutes of a Special Meeting that was held on August 31, 2021.  Please try to attend as a quorum is required to conduct club business.  Food and drink will be available at very reasonable prices before and after the meeting.

Meeting Attendance  (A Letter to the Membership from the Club Secretary, Mike Miller)

At the last meeting, no business was allowed to be conducted due to lack of a quorum.  It is a shame that only 24 out of approximately 375 members of FWRR felt that attending a meeting was worthwhile.  As members, we all have a responsibility to provide some support to the club beside paying dues and using the range when we feel like it.

Attending a meeting is not a big deal.  Meetings generally last only an hour or so.  If each member would attend two out of the six annual meetings, we would always be able to conduct club business.  The officers, directors and discipline leaders spend a great amount of time making the club continue to function.  Doing these thankless jobs would be much more gratifying if more members would provide some support by caring enough to attend a meeting.  Having 24 people attend a regular meeting is really a sad situation. 

Special Meeting

A special meeting of the Executive Board and Directors was held on August 31, 2021 at the FWRR Range.  The purpose of the meeting was to conduct club business that has been delayed due to a lack of a quorum at regularly-scheduled meetings.  (A provision in the Bylaws allows for such a meeting.)    In summary, a total of eleven topics appeared on the meeting agenda. It was agreed that four improvements projects were to be funded and implemented this year.  The projects include: installing covered firing points on the Pistol Range, installing a walkway at the north end of the building on the 25/50/100-yard Range (to eliminate a winter-time slip/fall hazard), adding fill dirt and seeding the 100-yard mound on the 300-yard Range, and seeding and adding straw the area around the new footbridge. The minutes of the special meeting will be presented at the October meeting.

New Footbridge

A new footbridge has been installed across the ditch on the 25/50/100-yard portion of the Main Range. The bridge is composed of three steel trusses that are topped with two-inch-thick, hickory planks. The bridge is anchored to concrete footings. The construction involved welding mounting plates to the trusses, installing concrete foundations, mounting the trusses, acquiring and attaching the top planks, excavating around the bridge and seeding the area.

Bridge trusses were acquired from a local company at no cost to the club through the efforts of Greg Peck. Ted Smeltzer, Shannon Parks and Ted’s son (David, a non-member) handled the design and installation.  Be certain to thank these dedicated people for their efforts in making this major improvement.

Please note that the bridge is a footbridge, not intended for vehicular traffic.

Main Range Maintenance Closings

Mowing is scheduled for the following Wednesdays: 10/13 and 10/27.  The Main Range is closed while mowing is being performed; however, the Pistol Range remains open.  Mowing times vary depending on volunteer availability.  Dates may vary depending on weather and ground conditions.  Mowing may continue beyond 10/27, depending on grass growth. If dates change or if mowing is required after 10/27, an effort will be made to post updates on the website.  Checking the website before traveling to the range is always recommended.

Mowing Crew

The following individuals were members of the 2021 Mowing Crew: Bob Bausser, Marty Didion, John Halter, Jim Johnston, Dennie McNabb, Russ McCurdy, Ozzie Ostheimer, Shannon Parks, David Rinaldi, Rick Schwaiger, Jim Sweeney and Gary Walker.  Be sure to thank these gentlemen for their work.

New Members

The following individuals recently became FWRR members:  Dallas Colley, Will Doetsch Jr., Bill McEldowney, Mark Hagler, Chris Harmon, William Howard, David Jenks, David Kline, Gregory McClure, Jon Underwood, Mark Wager and Johnathan Wright.  Bryan Smith is a returning member.

Indiana State Junior High Power Championship

The Indiana Junior High Power Rifle Championship was held at the FWRR Range on July 10, 2021. Eleven young shooters participated, coming from as far away as French Lick, Indiana and Maumee, Ohio.  The First-shot Ceremony was conducted by Sue Mogel, ISRPA Executive VP, whose offhand shot was an “X” on the 200-yard target.  The match went exceedingly well and the weather was just about perfect.  Highlights follow:

STATE JUNIOR HP CHAMPION: 

Madelyn Schnelle with an outstanding 489-23X score.

CLASSIFICATION WINNERS: 

Master Class, Madelyn Schnelle (489-23X)

Marksman, Robert Stevens (466-14X)

MATCH WINNERS: 

Offhand, Marshall Rohrbach (95-1X)

Sitting Rapid Fire, Alex Becker (95-3X)

Prone Rapid Fire, Logan Becker (96-1X)

Prone Slow Fire, Emma Branson (182-6X).

Our flamboyant HP RO, Larry Beardsley, who is never at a loss for words, will provide further details at the October meeting, 

Hoosier Home Range Hundred Matches

Hoosier Home Range Hundred Matches are shot a various locations throughout the state.  When this information was received, 31 shooters had participated in more than 70 matches. The standings through September 5th are as follows:

High Master Class, Mike King (FWRR), 493-25X

Master Class, Paul Ellerseck (Wildcat Valley), 488-15X

Expert, Mike Habel (FWRR), 468-8X

Sharpshooter, Colton Eads, (FWRR, Junior) 474-4X

Marksman, Emma Branson (Wildcat Valley, Junior), 465-8X.

For Sale

Long-time member Jim Coleman passed away in March of 2018.  Some of his firearms are being offered for sale at Thomlinson’s Shooting Supplies in Churubusco.  The sale began Saturday, September 11th.  The list of firearms includes several DCM Garands, a 1917 Eddystone Enfield and a NIB Remington 541. 

While it is not the Club’s policy to list items for sale at commercial institutions, this notice has been posted for the benefit of Jim’s wife.

Adds may be sent to Marty Didion at martindidion4@gmail.com.  Adds must be received three weeks before meetings in order to appear in the newsletter.

Reminders

Police your brass and trash before leaving the range.  Brass can become a hazard to facilities and personnel during mowing.  Brass may be discarded in the buckets provided for that purpose.  The trash containers at the range are not intended for use by the general membership.  Take home all trash (e.g., used targets, drink containers, and – particularly- food wrappers and food remnants).  Failure to remove your trash causes extra, sometimes quite unpleasant, work for the few volunteers who empty trash containers.

Do not shoot target frames or place objects to be shot on the frames.  All shots should go through the cardboard backers on which targets are posted. 

Closing Comments

Be sure to thank the following members for their “above-and-beyond” service to the club:

Bill McEldowney for his assistance with the electronic distribution of the newsletter.

Chris Harmon for the donation of two very nicely-made Safety Tables.

Mark Walters and his wife, Michelle, who acted as luncheon caterers at the Junior State HP Championship.

Mark Walters for the many hours spent at the loading bench preparing ammunition for the FWRR Juniors.

All HP shooters who assisted with the planning and execution of the Junior State HP Championship.

Glenna and Michael Grannis for handling HP entries and functioning as Statistical Officers.

The October 9 Mid-Range Match has been changed to an 80-round NRA Regional Match that will also be one of the matches that will count as the 2021 Governor’s Cup Match.

Due to conditions at Camp Atterbury, the ISRPA had to change the format of this year’s ISRPA State Championship matches. Instead of a two-day match at Camp Atterbury, the match is being shot at two sites; Wildcat Valley Rifle and Pistol Club and Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club and is being conducted in two one-day sessions.

The first set of matches for the 1600-point State Championship was conducted on 11 September (800-points) and on 9 October the second set of matches will be conducted at the same two sites. These two matches are also the 2021 Governor’s Cup matches.

Registration is now open – for more information or to register, contact Larry Beardsley at:

FWRRHPDirector@aol.com

The competition is picking up as rained out matches are made up and scheduled matches are shot.  So far The Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club and Wildcat Valley Rifle and Pistol Club have shot matches and turned in scores.

It is interesting to note that while “the usual bunch” of shooters show up in the leader standings in the top classifications, it is the Junior shooters who are making their presence noted in the lower classes – and in fact they are shooting well above their classifications.

In the Sharpshooter Class, Junior boy Colton Eads from FWRR is in the lead with a 474-4X and Junior Girl Emma Branson (shot at Wildcat Valley) is top Marksman with a 465-8X.  Congratulations to both of these upcoming Junior shooters!

As of sunset on September 4th, here are the overall first place leaders:

High Master               Mike King                    FWRR                           493-25X

Master                        Paul Ellerseck            Wildcat Valley             488-15X

Expert                         Mike (Doc) Habel       FWRR                          468-  8X

Sharpshooter             Colton Eads                FWRR                          474-  4X  Junior Boy

Marksman                  Emma Branson           Wildcat Valley              465-  8X  Junior Girl

But, as Yogi Berra said; “It ain’t over until it’s over”.  There are still scheduled matches at FWRR and Wildcat Valley and it’s not too late for everyone else to put together a match and get into the competition.  There is money to be won – so jump in!

Saturday was the Indiana State Junior High Power Championship at the FWRR Range.  We had worked on this since March or April and it was like waiting for Christmas when you were a kid.  You want it to hurry up and get here, but there is always that little nagging doubt that you might not get what you wanted – or in this case things just might not turn out as well as you hoped.

Not to worry!  This was a day to remember.  The three relays for the match filled up early and we kept getting more and more Juniors registering.  Our last Juniors joined the match Friday evening about 6:00 when Dad found a way to get a day off work so he could bring them. Since they were driving up from French Lick – way down in southern Indiana, it wasn’t a quick trip either.

We had eleven Juniors in all from as far south as French Lick;  Lafayette; Maumee,  Ohio; McCordsville and of course our Ft, Wayne Juniors.  If I recall correctly, none of them are old enough to drive as yet (most are 14 or 15) and one of our FWRR Juniors just turned thirteen.  This group is a great building base for a statewide Junior High Power program.

The day was perfect for shooting.  As the week went on, the weather prospects improved steadily and by Saturday morning conditions were perfect.  We had a First Shot Ceremony where Sue Mogle, the Indiana State Rifle and Pistol Association VP for High Power fired our first shot.  It gave us a hint of what the day could bring when her offhand shot from 200-yards showed up as an X on Target 6!

We shot a National Match Course in three relays.  Since ten of the eleven shooters were Marksmen (some shooting their first match) we allowed coaching for Marksmen – the one young lady who is shooting at a CMP Master Classification level had to rely on herself.  The match went very well – the most important thing was that the Juniors had fun.  The Juniors were supported by a large group of parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters as well as several shooters who just stopped by to see how the match was going.

There were seventeen “Old Folks” shooting as well – they had fun too, but the day was about the Juniors. 

After the match, lunch was served.  Michelle and Mark Walters acted as our caterers and laid out a spread of burgers, chicken, hot dogs, mac and cheese and just about anything you could have asked for to go with it.  If you went home hungry, it was your own fault.

We closed out the day with a quick Blind Draw Team Match where the Juniors drew team partners out of a hat and they drew a coach from the mix as well.  The Garand Course match fired on the MR 52 target (600-yard target reduced for 200-yards) proved to be a challenge.

By the end of the day, we were exhausted but on such a high that we didn’t realize it until we slowed down and sat for a while.  Our visitors had nothing but praise for our range.  Several visitors commented that it looked more like a golf course than a typical rifle range and a shooter from Wildcat Valley said; “These are the nicest firing points I’ve ever shot on.  I’ve played on worse putting greens.”  Even the Porta-Pots were bragged about!  Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to make the range particularly nice for the day.

Junior State Championship Match results are:

State Junior High Power Champion:             Madelyn Schnelle       489-23X

Classification Winners:

Master                                                            Madelyn Schnelle       489-23X

Marksman                                                      Robert Stevens           466-14X

Match Winners:

Offhand                                                          Marshall Rohrbach    95-1X  

Sitting Rapid                                                   Alex Becker                 95-3X

Prone Rapid                                                    Logan Becker              96-1X

Prone                                                              Emma Branson           182-6X

The top six “Old Folks” results were:

Mike King                    488-13X

Mark Walters             481-19X

Pete Yarbro                480-13X

Eric Becker                 479-  7X

Randy Jahn                 477-16X

Geoff Branson             473-  8X

Just to brag on the Juniors a bit; Madelyn Schnelle outshot Mike King by a point and ‘way out “X-ed” him.  Marshall Creedmored Mike in his offhand stage, 95-1X vs, 95-0X.  Mike had a pretty good day – but the Juniors came with their Game On!

Here is a link to a LOT of pictures from Saturday.  Thanks to Sue Mogle for capturing all the action.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FDenVrQ1FkaP7bW16

Our next match will be a Mid-range match on July 24th. The match will not start until 11 AM (Registration opens at 9:45) – a deliberate late start so folks who have to come in from elsewhere won’t need to get up at oh-dark-thirty to get here for the event.

See you then!

      If I ever again suggest that we shoot four matches on three consecutive days – somebody call the head doctor and have me checked for mental stability.  Well, maybe not – by next summer I may decide to try it again.  Shooting Mid-Summer Madness on three consecutive days gives me a whole new appreciation of what it takes to shoot every day for a month at Camp Perry or Camp Atterbury.

I would call the three-day tournament a success.  There was a great response, a lot of people registered and until the hottest weather we had seen in a long time complicated things we were looking at a really big match.  Over the three days a number of shooters wisely recognized their physical limits and decided to stay out of the hot and oppressively humid conditions.  I think it was a good call – I don’t want to have to call EMS and use my first aids skills (such as they are) treating heat stroke or something worse.

Friday Afternoon – June 11  50-Round NRA National Match Course

We started out of Friday afternoon with a 50-round match.  I had two full relays (16 people) signed up and we ended up with 13 shooters coming to the line in two relays.

As generous as I might want to try to be – Friday afternoon was probably the most brutal set of conditions I have experienced at the FWRR range.  There was no wind at all, direct afternoon sun, and along with a temperature of at least 88-degrees, the humidity had to be in the 90% range as well.  After the Offhand stage, one shooter wisely called it quits and went to sit in an air conditioned truck.

But, the good news was that we had all three of our active Junior shooters on hand and all three of them soldiered through the oppressive heat and humidity.  I assured them that it wasn’t always this miserable and that things would be better most days.

The top three shooters in this match were:

Mike King        491-12X

Mark Richard  465-11X

Kris Hartwig    463-  6X

Congratulations to Kris – this was his first top-three finish up there with the heavy hitters.

Saturday, June 12 – CMP/NRA 50-80 Match

The Saturday match was sanctioned by both the CMP and NRA.  The NRA match could be shot as either a 50 or 80-round match, the CMP match was an 80-round match.

We started promptly at 8:03; it was about 70-degrees with no wind when the first two relays went to the line.  As the morning went on, it got warmer – but it never got back to the conditions of Friday afternoon.  We had 19 shooters, enough for two, two relay sessions- a very good turnout.

The match was routine – but we did have some unusual spectators during the first relay’s 300-yard slow fire stage.  About halfway through the stage, two speckled fawns pranced out from behind the 200-yard practice berm and frolicked around the low end of the range while we shot over their heads.  The SNAP of supersonic bullets going over their heads didn’t seem to bother them in the least and after a while they moved back behind the practice berm, none the worse for their experience.

As for weather again; we finished up at 86-degrees and about 83% humidity with a light wind (about 4 MPH) that made things almost bearable.

Two of our Junior shooters came back for this match and Colton Eads shot enough rounds over the two matches to get his initial NRA Classification as a Sharpshooter.  Congratulations Colton, good work!

The top three shooters in this match were:

Mike King                    784-27X

Mark Richard              774-21X

Mark Walters             768-24X

Sunday Morning, June 13  Mid-Range Tournament

Sunday dawned clear and cooler, 73-degrees but still with humidity in the high 80% range.  The Sunday morning session was, technically, a Tournament since it consisted of three, 60-round matches.  We shot all three matches as “any-sight” matches and all competitors, except Norbert Norden, used scoped rifles.  Again we had a good turnout, eleven shooters across two relays.  There was some shooter attrition from Saturday – enough was enough.

We shot the match as a block time match.  Each relay had three hours to complete their match; shooters were allowed to figure out for themselves what order and how many shots to take between breaks.  Some shooters shot 20-rounds at a time; others shot 40 rounds and then took a shade break.  It worked well – we finished the first relay in about two-hours and about the same for the second relay.  It helped move things right along!

The top three shooters Mid-Range shooters were:

Mike King                    598-35X

Mark Richard              594-31X

Ron Dague            594-24X

Sunday Afternoon; Mike Gingher M1A Memorial Match

By the time we came to the final match of the Mid-Summer Madness Weekend, the weather had taken its toll.  We had 10 shooters originally sign up for the match, but by shooting time we were down to four hardy souls who wanted to shoot just one more match to have a shot at the Aggregate score for the four match weekend.

This is a match we have named for Mike Gingher, a long time FWRR member and a very prominent figure in the High Power shooting sport.  He was a long time armorer for the USMC Reserve National Team and a fixture at Camp Perry National Matches as a Coach and armorer.

It was only fitting that two of the four shooters in the Mike Gingher Memorial Match were shooting Gingher Guns.  Mike King shot a National Match M1 that Mike built for Larry Beardsley about 1999 and Mark Walters shot a Gingher double-lugged M1A for the match.

The Mike Gingher M1A Memorial Match results were:

Mark Richard              437-6X

Mark Walters             435-3X

Mike King                    432-4X

All three of these shooters were shooting “wooden guns”, a match requirement.  Gary Mabis shot an “other gun” (an AR service rifle) as an out-of-competition competitor and fired a 451-9X match.

By the time we finished the M1A Match, the weather had finally broken; the temperature was only about 82-degrees and the humidity had dropped to 47%.  A breeze had sprung up and Gary Mabis commented; “It almost feels cold right now!”

The Mid-Summer Match scores turned out as follows:

Four Match Aggregate First:              Mike King                    2305-78X

Four Match Aggregate Second:         Mark Richard              2270-69X

Four Match Aggregate Third:            Mark Walters             2251-72X

Match Fourth:                                     Kris Hartwig                1761-28X

Match Fifth:                                        Mike Habel                 1700-28X

Match Sixth:                                       Gary Mabis                 1654-29X

Match Seventh:                                  Ron Dague                  1301-35X

First Junior:                                         Colton Eads                1106-13X

Again – I must thank Mike and Glenna Grannis for their help as my Statistical Office and Finance Office.   There is absolutely NO WAY I could run a match this size without their help to keep scores and money straight.  XXX and OOO to Mike and Glenna!!!

Our next Match will be the Indiana Junior State Championship on July 10.  Keep an eye out for sign-up details.

High Power practice last night, May 27th, had a great turn-out.  We had all eight of our Silver Mountain Targets in operation, Jim and Mark brought their own SMT setups for a total of ten targets in operation and we still had to pair fire on one target because we had 11 shooters show up!

And, with all of that –  we still finished up a full practice by 6:00.  Great job guys!

Just a reminder – the practice on June 3 is primarily a Junior practice. We will be giving special attention to our Juniors and the pace of things will be a lot different to meet their needs.