Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club

The long awaited Range Warning System is in its first operational stages.  The warning and control station at center line of the 100-yard covered range is operational as of Friday, October 6.  You are encouraged to use this station if you are using the 100-yard covered firing line.

Until the full system is operational – the RANGE HOT sign on the north covered firing line sign shall continue to be used.

Operation is simple of the system is simple.  It is intended to alert all shooters on the firing line that the line is about to go COLD (everybody put down their guns and leave them alone while anyone is downrange – Range Rule 1)

At center line there are two warning devices – they are fire alarm strobe/siren alarm stations. There is a control switch directly below the alarms.  This switch is a three position switch;  UP – CENTER and DOWN.

When it is desired to make the firing line COLD – the switch shall be put in its UP position. In this position the strobe lights on the warning station will begin to flash (one facing north, one facing south) and the warning horns will sound.  (There are horns in each of the devices on the station and even though the horns sound intermittently, when both are active, it is a continuous alarm sound).

THE ALARM IS LOUD – you can hear it even with your ear protection on!

Once the alarm has sounded and everyone has put down their firearms, the switch should be placed in the DOWN position.  In this position, the annoying alarm horns are silenced, but the strobe lights continue to flash, providing a visual indication that there are people downrange and the range is COLD!  The sign on the north covered firing line should be lowered, further indicating that the firing line is COLD!

SO long as shooters are downrange, the strobe light must be energized.  If the strobe is flashing, someone is downrange somewhere.  When all shooters have returned to the firing line, the RANGE HOT sign at the north covered position should be raised and the switch may be returned to the UP position, giving another blast from the warning horns.  This is an “ALL CLEAR” blast.  The announcement should be made “THE LINE IS HOT”.  The switch should then be returned to the center OFF position, the line is HOT!

Over the next several weeks, as time and weather allow, two additional control stations will be added to the 100-yard covered firing points and an additional set of alarm and control stations will be installed on the north covered firing line. Labels are being prepared for the switch boxes that indicate “HORN & STROBE – OFF and STROBE switch positions.

BE SAFE OUT THERE!

FWRR Club Meeting 

The next meeting of the Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club will be held on Monday, October 2, 2023.  Meeting Place: VFW Post 857, located at 2202 West Main Street in Fort Wayne.  Meeting  Time: 7:00 p.m.  Food and drink will be available at very reasonable prices before and after the meeting. 

Meeting Agenda:  Standard meeting  format.  Please make an effort to attend meetings, as a quorum is required to conduct club business.  Sincere thanks to members who take the time to attend meetings and to support the club in so many other ways.  Being a member of a club involves more than paying dues and using facilities.

Maintenance Activities 

Earth work has been completed on the west side of the ditch.  The mound at 75 – yards on the 100 yard range was removed, as was the low-level extension at the north end of the 100 yard impact bunker,.  The mound was originally put in place to catch pistol bullets that were fired at 25 yard targets.  The mound proved to be ineffective in achieving its intended objective and caused drainage problems.

 The extension of the 100 yard impact bunker, which was installed for .22 Bench Rest (BR) matches, is no longer needed because .22 BR matches no longer fired.  Earth from the mound and extension was redistributed to improve surface water flow. Also, the 100 yard firing mound on the 300 yard range was extended and leveled.  Grass seed (200 lbs), triple 19 fertilizer (100 lbs), and straw were applied..  More work on the east side of the ditch and in the Pistol Pit will be accomplished later this year. 

Ted Smeltzer headed up this project.  Ted was assisted by his son, David (a non-member), Martin Didion, Robin Liechty, and Jim Sweeney.  Robin provided the equipment and fuel that was needed to blow straw.  Please thank these gentlemen for their work.  

New Members 

Please welcome the following individuals who inducted as full members at the August 2023 meeting: Brian Bremer, Gregory Bultemeier, and Bradd Shull. 

Reminders 

AERIAL TARGETS MAY NO LONGER BE SHOT ON FWRRC PROPERTY.  This change was made primarily due to lack of an adequate shot-fall safety zone. 

BEFORE DRIVING DOWN RANGE TO THE 200 AND 300 YARD TARGET HOLDERS, CHECK THE RANGE STATUS SIGN.  Be aware that the range status sign is not visible from the 300 yard firing line from some vehicles. 

Doors to the outhouse are being left open.  Please close the door after you use the facility. 

Do not drive on freshly seeded areas. 

Someone has used the 4’ x 4’ target backers in Bays 4 & 5 as shotgun pattern boards. —an inconsiderate and improper act. Shotguns are fired in the Pistol Pit only during sanctioned matches and at targets designated for that purpose.

Discipline Reports 

ACPDL (Allen County Practical Defense League) 

Matches will be held on October 7th,, November 4th, and 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) 

USPSA matches are held on the third Sunday, April – October.  Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. and shooting commences at 10:00 a.m.  FWRRC membership is not a requirement.  

High-power (HP) 

The Leonard Johnson Memorial Match and a 300-yard Prone Match will be held on will be held on October 14th  and October 28th, respectively.  Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. and match start time is 9:00 a.m   

Winter Offhand Matches are scheduled for the second Saturday, November through March.  The first Winter Offhand Match is scheduled for November 11th.  Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. and match start time is 9:00 a.m 

Practices matches are typically held on Thursday afternoons at 4:30 p.m., May through October.  The Main Range is closed at 3:00 p.m. on practice days to permit mowing firing points and setting up targets.  Pistol Bays 4 and 5 will be open during HP practice sessions. 

Cowboy Action 

Cowboy Action matches are scheduled for the fourth Saturday, May through October.  The next match will be held on October 27th.  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’s 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).  

Range Mowing and Maintance/Improvement Activities

Mowing 

The 2023 Mowing Schedule is posted on the FWRRC website.  Dates are tentative, depending on weather and ground conditions.  Mowing times vary according to volunteer availability.  Efforts will be made to provide mowing times and change dates  on the website (https://fwrrclub.org/)  .  The Main Range is closed during mowing and other range maintenance activities but Pistol Bays 4 and 5 will remain open.  It is recommended that members check the website for updates before traveling to the range. 

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

Maintance /Improvement Activities 

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 in the September/October time frame.  This work will be performed when weather and ground conditions permit.  Dates and times will also depend on the availability of the contractor who will perform the work.  Pistol Bays 4 & 5 will be open while work on the Main Range is being performed. Pistol Bays 4 and 5 will will be closed when the berm is being extended.  An effort will be made to post range closings on the FWRRC website.  Please check the website (https://fwrrclub.org/)  for updates before traveling to the range.

2024 Range Activity Schedule 

Discipline Leads should be prepared to submit their proposed schedules for the 2024 season to Program Manager, Ryan Brammer, at the December 2023 meeting. 

For Sale

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.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

On Saturday, October 14^th, we will shoot the annual Leonard Johnson Memorial Match, the Toughest Team Match in the USA.  Leonard Johnson was a FWRR member who was a collegiate small bore champion, an enthusiastic FWRR supporter and a skilled gunsmith and machinist.

What makes this match  so tough?  The match starts out at 200-yards with a .22 rimfire stage fired on the MR-42 Reduced target (yes, I really meant 200-yards).  Two man teams will fire 20 rounds for record from each shooter.  It has been said that shooting a .22 rimfire at 200-yards is much like shooting center-fire at 1000-yards (especially if there is any crosswind!)

Then, the teams move back to 300-yards and swap their .22 rimfire rifles for their choice of center-fire rifle.  Then, each team  team will fire another 20-rounds per shooter – but they will still shoot at the MR-42 200-yard reduced target.

No pre-registration is required, we will squad at registration – just like the old days! The first shot will be at 9:00.  Registration and setup will open about 7:45.  This will be a walk and paste match, our electronic targets will not register the sub-sonic .22- rimfire rounds, so come join us for an old fashioned day of shooting, walking and pit pulling!

The ISRPA Full Course State Championship is in the books, and man what a nail biter! Mike King and Madelyn Schnelle battled back and forth for 2 days, both shooting incredible scores.

In the end, the battle for the Winged Lady Trophy was settled by X-count.  On Saturday, Mike King took top slot with a 790-25X – bettering Madelyn’s 785-31X.  But on Sunday the scores were reversed with Mike shooting the 785 with a 34X and Madelyn posting the 790 with 23X. Mike took the Bob Ireland Winged Lady with a 1575-59X to Madelyn’s 1575-54X; a Creedmoor decision!

FWRR was well represented at the top of the standings, with Miss Emma Branson taking third place with a 1523-25X, Geoff Branson finishing with a 1515-40X  as top Master shooter and Mark Richard with a 1510-46X (very impressive X-count!)

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Emma Branson led the FWRR Juniors with a third place 1523-25X, followed by Kileen Shaffer with a two-day aggregate of 1463-24X; Marshall Rohrbach with 1384-24X, Addiysn Shull with 1371-9X and Tayt Shaffer – shooting his first 80-round matches – with 1249-13X.

And, thanks to all of the parents who gave up their weekend to bring the Juniors to the State Match – without you, it could not have happened!

The mowing crew be cutting grass today beginning at 11:00. With the mowing area reduced because of the seeded and strawed areas, we’ll likely be finished by 1:30.

Please adjust your range plans accordingly.

The Main Range will be closed from approximately 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m on Monday, August 28th to allow seeding, fertilizing and blowing straw on the areas where recent earth moving has been done.

Please keep this in consideration as you plan on using the range.

  The Pistol Pit will remain open. 

Here is an overview of some of the range improvements being done this week:

Members are asked not to drive over areas that have been graded, seeded and strawed until further notice.

Additional work will be done to correct drainage issues at the north end of the covered 100-yard firing line targets as well as work west of the 300-yard high power firing points

UPDATE:

About noon I received a call to come take a look at the work on the 100-yard high power firing line.

I was extremely pleased with the improvements. The north end of the line was raised about 2 feet – leveling the line across the firing positions. The flat top of the line was widened out – giving shooters about three or more feet of surface to lay on. At the south (low end) of the line the shooting berm was extended about 6 feet; giving an additional firing position at the low end to ease the crowding we had when we tried to put 8 shooters on the line.

Finally, the drainage issues have been addressed – the north end has a swale that will allow water to drain away from the west side (front) of the firing line. Some additional swale work remains to be done in the next day or two at the south end to cut a drainage there to move water from the 200-yard target stand area.

And – a great mystery has been solved. Years ago we had a wind flag at the end of the 200-yard berm, but we lost the pipe that the flagstaff fit into. Well – the missing pipe was found today- buried about a foot deep!

Members are asked not to drive over areas that have been graded, seeded and strawed until further notice.

The following article will show up as an ISRPA Newsletter later this week. I’m sharing it with FWRR members to show our FWRR folks who participated at the state match.

The ISRPA article starts here:

The Triple Crown series of matches for the ISRPA High Power Championship opened up on Saturday, August 19 with nineteen shooters at the Wildcat Valley Rifle and Pistol Club.  It was a beautiful day for a match and the question was which shooter was going to be the next name on the Wildcat 300 yard Reduced State Championship trophy?  Would Madelyn Schnelle repeat her 2022 championship, would Mike King edge her out of the top slot or – would Jeannie Redicker or Bob Winding be at the top of their game and win this first leg of the championship series?

Saturday 19 August was a beautiful day for the Wildcat 300-yard Reduced Course State Championship

It became evident at 200 yard Offhand that Madelyn had come to shoot as she posted a 196-4X personal best for the stage. 

Kileen keeps score as Madelyn Schnelle shoots on her way to a 196-4X, personal best Offhand score

Mike King shot a 190 and Jeannie Redicker posted a 189 in Offhand.  Jeannie made up some ground at 200 Sitting with a 199-6X; Mike and Madelyn both shot 198’s.   Dave Schnelle and Greg Burget showed that Old Guys can still rule as both of them cleaned the 200 Sitting stage with 200-8X and 200-6X scores respectively.  As the shooters moved back to the 300-yard line, Madelyn was at the top of the Wailing Wall chart with a 394-10X. Mike was trailing with a 388-19X, Creedmooring Jeannie with her 388-13X.

Madelyn Schnelle mentors Kileen Shaffer at the 200-yard Rapid Prone line

Mike made up a little ground at 300 Prone Rapid where he shot a 200-11X clean.  Jeannie Creedmoored Madelyn at that stage with a 198-6X to Madelyn’s 198-5X.  As the match moved to the simulated 600-yard stage, match results were still not settled.  Madelyn was in front with a 592-15X, Mike trailed with 588-30X (an impressive X-count) and Jeannie was in striking distance with a 586-21X score.

But, at the simulated 600-yard stage Madelyn showed that she was the person to beat on this day.  She dropped one point at the 600-yard simulated stage with a 199-7X.  Jeannie followed with a 197-7X and Mike was down one point down from the ladies with a 196-3X.

Jeannie Redicker working on a 197-7X at simulated 600-yard prone

The question was settled; Madelyn had repeated her 2022 300-Yard State Championship, taking the 2023 Championship and CMP Gold Medal with an impressive 791-22X – dropping only 9 points across the whole match.  FWRR’s Mike King took the Silver Medal with a 784-33X and Jeannie Redicker was the Bronze medalist with 783-26X.

The First Expert award for the day went to another FWRR member, Gary Mabis, a Buckeye visitor, with a 761-22X.  High Junior for the day was Miss Emma Branson, also from FWRR, with a 736-15X.  FWRR’s contingent was rounded out by Tayt Shaffer, 12-years old – the most junior Junior, who shot his first State match on Saturday.

Madelyn, Mike and Tayt shoot Offhand

Wildcat Valley 300-Yard State Match Winners;

Mike King, Silver Medal; Madelyn Schnelle, State Champion, Gold Medal; Jeannie Redicker, Bronze Medal; Emma Branson, First Junior and Gary Mabis, First Expert

NOTE: Mike King, Emma Branson and Gary Mabis are FWRR members

Thanks to Lou Famiano and Larry Beardsley who were our “stats” people and kept up with the scoreboard as we shot – and they could not have done their jobs without their scorecard runner, Miss Reese Shaffer.

Young legs run up and down the range a lot faster than “Old Guys”.  Thanks Reese!

What is next on the High Power calendar?  On August 25 and 26, ISRPA will hold a two day Regional Match Course tournament at Camp Atterbury – this is a chance to shoot across the course out to 600-yards and is an excellent tune-up for the State Championship and Governors’ Cup Matches.

The next match of the ISRPA State Championship series is the 100-yard reduced course State Match on September 9th at the Fall Creek Conservation Club.  The series concludes on Saturday and Sunday, 16 and 17 September, with a 2-day full course State Championship at Camp Atterbury.  Saturday will be the State Championship Match and Sunday will be the Governor’s Cup Match – a 1600 point aggregate for the weekend. 

The main range will be closed on Wednesday, August 23 for continuing drainage work. The pistol pits will be open during this work.

There will be additional closures as the summer goes on.

Please plan your range utilization accordingly.

The Main Range will be closed for drainage work Friday, August 18th.  The Pistol Pits will remain open.

Please make your range plans accordingly.