Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club

Well guys (and girls), about once a year I have to fuss about things.  As Safety Officer, range housekeeping does contribute to range safety.  We do not have trash service at the range. We do not have a janitor to come around and clean up behind us. We have to clean up after ourselves.

I did a trash haul at the range yesterday. Both trash cans were full to overflowing.  We keep trash cans at the range for casual trash that wanders onto the range, not as community garbage cans.  The can over by the concrete benches looked like it had been used to dispose of trash from a picnic; food wrappers, plastic drink bottles, yogurt containers and – I’m not making this up – a dirty baby diaper.

Over at the 100-yard line the can was full of shot up targets, more drink bottles, potato chip bags and food wrappers.

If you come to the range, bring a Wal-Mart bag of something like that to throw away your trash.  If you bring targets or cardboard backers, take them back home with you.  Don’t leave them “in case someone else might need them”.

As an example, someone had built a nice target holder with a wooden frame to hold targets.  But – the frame was shot up and instead of taking the backer and frame back home, the person just laid it down beside the trash can for someone else to dispose of it.

Let’s talk about sandbag etiquette for a minute.

 We try to keep sandbags on the range for people who want to use them for sighting in or supported shooting. Building sandbags isn’t fun.  We get them from the county highway department and we have to fill them ourselves.  Each one weighs close to 35-pounds and loading them and unloading them gets to be work quickly. 

Sandbags are a thin plastic material that can be damaged and easily destroyed.  One way to destroy a sandbag is to rest the muzzle of your rifle on the bag when you are firing.  The muzzle blast blows away that plastic and lets all of the filling of the bag spill out.  Don’t rest the muzzle of a firearm on a sandbag; rest the fore-end instead.

Another way to destroy a sandbag is to rest a Picatinnny rail on it.  The serrations tear up the bag with the same result – the innards become outarrds. If you have a rail, lay a towel or a carpet square on the bag to protect the bag.

And, in case the string on the bag breaks, don’t just throw the bag on the table or lay it down on the floor for the sand to spill out everywhere.  Sit it up out of the weather and we’ll get a new string on it or we’ll slip it in another bag.  If a bag does spill, there is a broom and dustpan out on the apron to sweep up the spilled sand.

And, just one last comment – if a sandbag does spill its guts – throw it away, that is a valid use of the range trashcans.

Shooters:

We have Bad News and Good News:

The Bad News – The weekend matches at Camp Atterbury have been cancelled … .

The Good News – We’re going to shoot anyway!

Since the Camp Atterbury matches were cancelled and we lost a FWRR Shooting Legend this week, we have decided to have a Wild Bill Simon Memorial Pop-Up Match this weekend.

On Saturday, August 24 there will be a 3 x 20 Prone Match at the FWRR Range.  We will shoot a prone match, three stages of 20 shots each from the 300-yard line.  This is an any-sight match, so iron sights or scopes are OK.  Unlimited sighters are allowed in a 28-minute block time (three minute prep, five minutes for sighters and 20-minutes for 20 shots for record).

Registration opens at 8:00 and first shot is 8:30.  Since this not a CMP or NRA Match, just a club match, Match fees are $10.00 (a real bargain). 

The 100-yard range will be open during this match if other shooters want to come out and use that range – just co-ordinate Cease Fires between the two activities,

Saturday 17 August dawned as a clear, sunny day that turned out to be neither too hot, too cold, nor too windy – another perfect day for a High Power match after an iffy forecast for the earlier part of the week.

Fifteen shooters came to the line and the first shot went downrange at 7:58 – two minutes early.  Thanks to all shooters for being prompt and letting the match get started on time.  Everything went very smoothly and we finished up a two relay, 80-round Regional Match by 11:15.  Everything was put away and cleaned up by noon – about the time that the dark rain clouds rolled in.

The match saw some really great scores posted; of the fifteen shooters, seven shot NRA and CMP Master or higher scores.

Mike King took the top place with a 786-25X score, dropping only one point in the rapid fire stages.  Mark Walters followed up with a 769-15X and third place was taken by a visitor, Shawn Agne with 767-21X.  Tom Collins and Gary Mabis battled for the fourth and fifth spots, both posting 766 scores – but Tom Creedmoored Gary with a 21X count to Gary’s 17X score.

Marshall Rohrbach took top Junior with a 762-22X score, well into Master score range for both CMP and NRA .  Marshall cleaned the 300-yard Slow Prone stage with a 200-7X score. Marshall did this the hard way; shooting a 9 crossfire in Offhand and getting only 9 shots off during Sitting Rapid.

A brief Thank You note:  Jim Jackson enabled FWRR obtaining a number of iPads that we used in Saturday’s match.  Thank you, Jim.

Upcoming events for High Power shooters include:

September 7                                   300 Yard Indiana Championship – Wildcat 

September 12 (Thursday) yard NMC                                                4:30

September 21-22                      Atterbury Governor’s Cup – State Championship

September 21              Leonard Johnson Match                               9:00

This is going to be a quick story – Camp Perry is looming and there are way too many things that need to get done.

Saturday was a beautiful day, moderate temperatures and just barely enough wind to make the American Flags on the target stands wiggle a bit.  We had a modern record for attendance – three relays, 20 shooters and 23 matches shot (three re-entry shooters).

As usual, the top three match shooters were a 3-M Club, but there was a new “M” in the club this time.

Mike King took top slot with a 787-39X; that’s one “M”.  Mark Richard took second place with a 781-32X; that is the second “M”; no real surprises so far.  But, the third “M” was a different name in the 3-M Club – Marshall Rohrbach.  Marshall is one of our Juniors and has been coming on strong this year.  On Saturday Marshall shot a Master score of 774-19X, congratulations to Marshall.

We are off to Camp Perry this week; several FWRR shooters are shooting the CMP 2400 matches this week and the CMP Team match on Thursday. The Juniors are in the Small Arms Firing School, the USMC Advanced High Power Clinic and the CMP Advanced High Power Clinic.  FWRR looks to be well represented in the President’s 100, the National Trophy Individual Matches, The Hearst Doubles and the National Junior Team Matches.

The range mowing schedule is posted on the website at https://fwrrclub.org/index.php/2024/07/22/range-mowing-schedule

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 for updates before traveling to the range.

Mowing dates that are scheduled to occur before the October meeting are:

July 24

August 7

August 21

September 4

September 18

October 2

Dates are tentative, depending on weather and ground conditions.  Mowing times vary according to volunteer availability. 

FWRR Club Meeting

The next meeting of the Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club will be held on Monday, August 5, 2024.  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. 

Maintenance Activities and Facility Improvements

High winds caused a cottonwood tree at the south end of the 100 yard covered firing line to be blown over.   Minor damage was done to the building’s sheet metal and gutters.   Thanks go to Tom Fortman and Jim Sweeney for their repair and cleanup efforts..

Work to install the new range status signaling system was completed in late June.  Instructions for the use of the system have been posted.  This effort was led by Larry Beardsley.  Jim Sweeney installed the conduit; Michael Grannis and Greg McClure assisted Larry with the installation.

A battery charger was purchased and is stored in the cabinet that is accessible to the mowing crew.

Mowing Schedule

The 2024 Mowing Schedule is available on the club’s website at https://fwrrclub.org/index.php/2024/07/22/range-mowing-schedule .

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 for updates before traveling to the range.

Mowing dates that are scheduled to occur before the October meeting are: 7/24, 8/7, 8/21, 9/4, 9/18 and 10/2. Dates are tentative, depending on weather and ground conditions.   Mowing times vary according to volunteer availability. 

Driving Off Road

It is no longer permissible for any member to drive off road to the 100 yard target frames. 

Soil conditions permitting, it is permissible to drive on the grass downrange (west) of the 100 yard firing mound on the 300 yard range to access the 200 yard target frames. (Do not drive across the 100 yard firing mound.) It is permissible to park and drive on the grass in other areas, soil conditions permitting.

Operations Note

Users of the Club Cadet mower are asked to remember to remove the key from the mower’s ignition switch after use.

Discipline Reports

ACPDL (Allen County Practical Defense League)

ACPDL matches will be held on 8/3. 9/7, and 10/5.

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 following USPSA matches and practice sessions will be held in the August-September timeframe.

Matches: 8/18 and 9/15. Match start time is 9:00 a.m.  Practice Sessions: 8/1, 9/5 and 10/3. Practice session start time is 5:00 p.m.

High-power (HP)

The following matches and practice sessions will be held in the July-September timeframe:

• 50/80 Matches: 8/17, 8:00 a.m. start time. 
• Junior Practice Sessions: 8/6 and 9/5, 4:30 p.m. start time.
• Open Practice Sessions: Thursdays, 4:30 p.m.
• The Main Range closes to informal practice at 3:00 p.m. prior to HP practice sessions. 

The pistol bays remain open for scheduled and informal practice sessions.  As is always the case, informal practice is limited to Bays 4 and 5.

The Junior State High Power Rifle Championship was held at our range on June 8^th.  Madelyn Schnelle won the championship for the fourth consecutive year with an outstanding score of 790-33x, dropping only 10 points.  Madelyn represented the Wildcat Valley Rifle and Pistol Club which is located in Brookston, IN, just north of Lafayette.

The winner of the “Count the Bullets in the Jar” fundraiser was Mike King. Mike’s guess of 338 bullets was just one bullet over the count.  

Mike is the winner of a nicely-restored, Winchester, Model 94 rifle in caliber .30-30. This event was aimed at funding the purchase of three spotting scope stands and mounting heads for use by our Juniors.

Cowboy Action

Cowboy Action Matches will be held on 8/10 and 9/14. 

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)

PCSL matches will be held on 7/28, 8/25 and 9/22. 

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 Robert DiDomenico, Alex Morales, Douglas Schroeder, John C. Sullivan and Tyrone Wilson.

These gentlemen were inducted as full members at the June, 2024 meeting.

Also, please welcome returning member Tim Momper.

For Sale

• Jaggi Shooting Glasses Frame with extra nose piece, lenses, blinders and case: $125.00. 8 round M1 clips:  $1.50 each.  Contact Marty Didion at  martindidion4@gmail.com

• Champion’s Choice, Cordura Shooting Jacket. 52” chest, right hand. New –never worn. $200.00.

NRA Leather Shooting Jacket. 48” chest, right hand. Used one season. $225.00.

Contact Jim Kinne at jkinne7@comcast.net

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. 

 

 

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We had a blow down at the range in the storms in the last couple of days. The Cottonwood tree at the south end of the 100-yard shelter blew down and did some damage to the corner of the roof and the rain gutters. Everything is functional, just a mess to cleanup.

It’s official now – the Indiana Junior High Championship Trophy has been updated to show that Madelyn Schnelle repeated, for the fourth time, as Indiana Junior High Power Champion. As the nameplates show, 2024 was her best score yet – dropping only 10 points across an 80-shot match.

The range signaling system is complete – the work at center line on the north pavilion was completed on Thursday, 27 June. All six switch stations are active and all four horns and strobes are working. Instructions for use of the system are posted on the door to the 100-yard building – please use the system to call a CEASE FIRE and to show when people are downrange. Revisions to the Range Rules will be forthcoming with instructions on when and how the system is to be used.

Thanks to Mike Grannis and Greg McClure for their help in putting the system together.

Well, it took two years, but it was worth it.

Geoff started his Distinguished Rifleman journey in June of 2022, earning 6 Distinguished points in the infamous boat match (the day the boat ran up on the rocks at Viale range).  He earned 10 points at the Camp Perry NTI matches in 2022 and 2023.  But, pursuit of Distinguished can be frustrating.  Geoff took First Leather several times at other matches – and at Camp Atterbury last weekend he missed the cut by several points while his daughter Miss Emma took home her first eight points.  But Camp Perry has been his happy place for leg points. 

Geoff started the match Sunday with 26 leg points and he already had his hard points – it was still just a matter of cranking out those last four points – but still not an easy task.  As Geoff and Emma started the walk down Viale Range on Sunday morning, it was raining lightly.  But, by the time they reached the 200 yard line, the rain had stopped completely.  In Geoff’s own words; “Right then I knew God was on my side today.  It wasn’t an easy day – wind conditions were right at our backs all day making Offhand a real challenge for most everyone.”

For the day, Geoff shot a 475-14X, good for second place of Non-Distinguished shooters and eleventh overall in the match and 8 leg points – giving him a total of 34 points; four more than he needed to close out Distinguished Rifleman!  In an impromptu ceremony after the match, Mike King presented Geoff with a Distinguished Rifleman hat pin to commemorate the occasion.  Depending on how quickly scores are processed, Geoff will probably be formally recognized at a Distinguished Rifleman Ceremony at the 2024 National Matches.

Geoff acknowledges that without the encouragement and support of his father-in-law, long time FWRR member John Halter, he would have never grown to love and appreciate this sport! 

Now Miss Emma – it’s your turn to take up the Distinguished Rifleman challenge!

On Saturday, June 15, Emma Branson  won the ISRPA EIC Match at Camp Atterbury with a score of 479-12x beating 30 other competitors. She was awarded 8 distinguished points, her first, and she will receive a Bronze EIC Medal as well as a gold CMP regional medal for her win. This win counts as her “hard” leg (a win of 8 or 10 points).  A shooter must achieve 30 points to become distinguished – one of which must be a hard leg.

Emma shot strings of 91-1X Offhand; 99-4X Rapid Sitting, 97-3X Rapid Prone and 192-4X Slow Prone.  Interestingly – none of these scores was a stage winner, but her consistency across the course took top honors for the day. Emma was two points ahead of fellow FWRR member Mike King who shot a 479-14X.

Congratulations Emma on an outstanding job, great way to begin your journey to becoming Distinguished!

As the Indiana Junior State Championship match opened, the question was; “Will Madelyn repeat as State Champion for a fourth time, or will someone upset her?”  Competition is intense for the top spot.  Madelyn has been working and hasn’t shot for a month. Emma is shooting Master scores and Marshall is always there at the top; Logan is consistently a strong contender. Will this be the year when the Madelyn’s winning series is broken?

Nope – not this year!

Saturday, June 8 was a beautiful day for a State Championship – nine Junior shooters from across Indiana gathered at the Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club for the Fourth Annual State Championship. The day had comfortable temperatures, beautiful light and although there was a pretty good breeze at times – it was not a factor in most of the match.

Once the match got underway, it was apparent that Madelyn was the champion to beat.  One of the sayings of high power shooters is that you can’t win a match in the Offhand stage, you can lose it there – but Madelyn dominated Offhand with a 193-5X, 10 points ahead of Logan Becker.  In Sitting Rapid, Logan gained one point against Madelyn, but as the match moved back to 300-yards – Logan trailed by 9 points.

In the Prone Rapid fire string, Logan and Madelyn went head to head with both posting 198 scores; Logan with a 198-8X to Madelyn’s 198-4X. But at the Slow Prone stage, Madelyn took command again posting a 200-14X clean score for a match aggregate of 790-33X; dropping only 10 points across the whole match.

Awards:

Madelyn Schnelle                   State Champion; Gold Medal          790 – 33X

Logan Becker                          Silver Medal                                        776 – 20X

Emma Branson                       Bronze Medal                                      764 – 11X

First High Master                   Madelyn Schnelle                              790 – 33X

First Expert                             Emma Branson                                   764 – 11X

First Sharpshooter                 Mia King                                              752 –   7X

First Marksman                      Tayt Shaffer                                         613 –   5X

First Offhand                          Madelyn Schnelle                               193 –   5X

First Sitting Rapid                   Madelyn Schnelle                             199 – 10X

First Prone Rapid                   Logan Becker                                      198 –   8X

First Slow Prone                     Madelyn Schnelle                              200 – 14X

Incidentally, there was an “Old Guy” match being shot along with the Junior State Championship.  Mike King, a consistent ISRPA State Champion contender, was shooting on the same firing point as Madelyn and as the day went on, they were head to head for high match aggregate.  The contest went down to the last shot in the Slow Prone Stage.  Madelyn had finished with 790-33X, but Mike was at 780-34X.  If Mike shot another 10, he would have bragging rights for the day– but he missed a slight wind shift and his last shot was a 9! 

WIN, MADELYN!

In the afternoon, there was a Garand Match where many of the Juniors shot the Classic rifles.  It was a great close to a great day of shooting.