Indiana State Junior High Power Championship

Our June match was remarkable for its beautiful weather, but the July match started out like a typical Camp Perry day.  There was a steady downpour at the appointed start time, so we waited a bit to start setup. The rain slacked up, we went downrange to set up targets and the downpour came back with a vengeance – drenching us as we set up targets.  But, by the time we finished, came back up and had our safety briefing – the rain had stopped.  By the time the second relay came to the line the sun was shining and it turned out to be a very nice day after all.

The second relay is just finishing their Offhand stage as the sun breaks out.

We had seven shooters turn out for the match – there were a number of schedule conflicts that kept the entries lower than expected and high gas prices also kept some shooters away from the match. We had an impressive showing of parents and grand-parents for the match; the ability to watch shooters in real-time on the Silver Mountain target system makes high power shooting a more viewer friendly activity as spectators can watch a shooter’s progress shoot-by-shot.

INDIANA JUNIORS
Larry (FWRR High Power RO), Madelyn, Emma, Colton, Marshall, Addysin and Kileen

Madelyn Schnelle, who recently went Distinguished, took the Indiana Junior State Championship for the second consecutive year with a 489-16X score for the 50-round National Match Course.  Emma Branson took second place with a 475-11X closely followed by Colton Eads with 473-10X.

Madelyn repeats as Indiana Junior High Power Champion

Class awards were:

High Master    Colton Eads                 473-10X

Expert             Marshall Rohrbach      467-  4X

Sharpshooter Kileen Shaffer              440-  3X            

Marksman      Emma Branson            475-11X

Stage awards were:

Offhand          Marshall Rohrbach        92-0X

Sitting Rapid   Madelyn Schnelle       100-4X

Prone Rapid    Emma Branson            99-2X

Slow Prone     Madelyn Schnelle       196-8X

Indiana Juniors and “Old Coots” Team Match

In the afternoon fun match, Juniors were teamed up with “old coot” shooters to form two-person teams. The team of Madelyn Schnelle and John Halter took the top spot with a team score of 197-5X. It should be noted that the high score in that match was shot by Colton Eads as his last match with us before he leaves for Texas A&M this fall – a 100-3X clean at 300-yards on the miserable MR-63 target.

Madelyn and John – Team Match Winners 197-5X

While the attention was on the shooters, the match was made a success by the folks who helped in the background.  Mike and Glenna Grannis acted as our Stat Office – doing their usual fantastic job of keeping all the numbers and dollars straight.  Mark Walters (assisted by Marty Didion) did a great job putting together a memorable lunch and our range crew had the place looking like one of the better golf courses – not a hayfield with a bunch of targets set up in it.  Thank you to everyone who stepped up and made it a great day.

Our next match is a 3 x 20 round Mid-Range tournament on July 30, so keep that on your calendar.

Mid-Summer Madness Matches; 17 – 19 June, 2022

After last year’s Midsummer Madness Tournament, I made the following comment:

 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.

Well, I decided to try again this summer and I believe we had a very successful weekend of shooting.

Friday Afternoon – June 17 —  50-Round NRA National Match Course

We started out of Friday afternoon with a 50-round match.  I had two fairly full relays with 15 shooters coming to the line – two more than last year.

As a contrast to last year, the weather was absolutely a delight Friday afternoon and continued that way throughout the weekend.  My Stat Office weather observer called it 82-degrees at 4:29 when the first shot went downrange, with a wind of 12 – 17 MPH from about 1 or 2 o’clock.  By the time we finished at 6:30, the wind had pretty much died down and it wasn’t much of a factor during the match.

The top three shooters in this match were:

Mark Richard             490-19X

Geoff Branson            488-22X

Mark Walters             486-11X

And, as a note – the fourth place finisher in the match was one of the Junior Girls we claim as our own, Miss Emma Branson with a 477-14X.  Emma is John Halter’s grand-daughter, a third generation  FWRR shooter.

Three Generation of FWRR Shooters; Geoff Branson, Emma Branson and John Halter

Saturday, June 18 – 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 at 8:08; it was an unbelievable 59-degrees at first shot with a very light north wind – again the wind had no effect on the match.  We shuffled folks into three relays which moved the match along quickly – shooting an 80-round, three relay match in just a little over 3-and- a half hours  The morning did warm up a bit, but when I left the range the truck reported only 76-degrees.   Jim Schieltz, a visitor from the Lima Sabers commented; “You need to cancel this match on account of weather – we can’t have a match on a day this nice – it has to be raining or boiling to hold a high power match”!

The Range Officer is never happy ...

The top three shooters in this match were:

Mike King                    785-27X

Mark Richard              784-24X

Mark Walters             771-28X

Sunday Morning, June 19 —  Mid-Range Tournament

Sunday dawned clear and even cooler than Saturday; cooler, 55-degrees and no wind or breeze to speak of.  The Sunday morning session was, technically, a Tournament within a tournament since it consisted of three, 60-round matches.  17 shooters came to shoot and we worked them into a three relay format.  Once we came close to the end of the first relay and firing points came open, we moved into infiltration firing which made the match go very smoothly.  We shot all three matches as “any-sight” matches and several competitors shot at least one match with iron sights

This match saw some fantastic shooting with the top five competitors separated by only 5-points:

Geoff Branson            599-36X           (Yes, he actually only dropped ONE point)

Ron Dague                  596-29X           (Ron Creedmoored Mark Walters who finished third)

Mark Walters             596-23X

Mike King                    595-29X

Emma Branson           594-26X           (Junior Girl)

Sunday Afternoon; Mike Gingher M1A Memorial Match

This was the final match of the weekend and five shooters stayed to see just who was going to take the bragging rights for the Aggregate Score for the weekend tournament.

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.

The Mike Gingher M1A Memorial Match results were:

Mark Walters             363-1X

Mark Richard              340-4X

Ron Dague                  330-3X

The Mid-Summer Madness Tournament scores turned out as follows:

Four Match Aggregate First:              Mark Walters             2216-35X

Four Match Aggregate Second:         Mark Richard             2201-72X

Four Match Aggregate Third:            Ron Dague                  2119-47X

Match Fourth:                                      Mike Habel                2050-41X        

Match Fifth:                                        Geoff Branson              1851-82X

Match Sixth:                                       Mike King                      1806-69X

Match Seventh:                                  John Halter                  1740-34X

High Junior Match Score        Emma Branson, Mid-Range   594-26X

High Junior Aggregate                        Kileen Shaffer              1703-32X

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!!!

Rifle Range Mowing Dates

Our volunteer mowing crew has conferred and they have set up a proposed schedule for dates that the rifle ranges will be closed for mowing. 

Note – these are proposed dates and the actual dates may change if the weather interferes, if it is too wet to mow on a planned date or if volunteers available to mow have to change their schedule.

All dates are on Wednesdays:

June 1 …. June 8 …. June 15 …. June 22 …. June 29

July 13 …. July 27

August 10 ….. August 24

September 7 …. September 21

October 5 …. October 19

November 2 … (Then snow next week?)

If there any questions, please contact Marty Didion at:  Martindidion4@gmail.com

2022 State Match Registration Form

REGISTRATION FORM

2022 Indiana State Junior High Power Championship

July 16, 2022 at the Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club

15715 Rupert Road; Harlan, IN

(See the Match Program for details)

Name: ________________________________  Age (As of 31 Dec 2022):  _______

Address:________________________________

 City: ____________________        State: IN           ZIP: __________

Club Affiliation: __________________  NRA Classification_____________________

Email:  __________________________

For Junior Participants; Lunch is free. I want a free lunch:  ___ YES          ___NO

Additional lunches for parents, sponsors and spectators @ $10.00/each;   # ______

For Junior Participants; an event T-shirt is free.    Size (S, M, L, XL, XXL)  _________

Additional T-shirts for parents, sponsors and spectators @ $11.00/each:

Small _____   Medium _____   Large _____   X-Large _____   XX-Large _____

For additional information, contact Larry Beardsley at FWRRHPDirector@aol.com

2022 Junior High Power State Championship – Match Program

Date:  Saturday, July 16, 2022                            

Sponsor: Indiana State Rifle and Pistol Association

Location: Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club Range, 15715 Rupert Road, Harlan, IN  46743   Google: “15715 Rupert Road, Harlan IN” for detailed directions.

Contact Information:  For additional information, contact the FWRR High Power Match Director, Larry Beardsley, at FWRRHPdirector@aol.com.

Open To: NRA or ISRPA membership not required.  All competitors must have a Release of Liability Agreement on file with FWRR, or must complete the Release at registration. Competitors must sign the Liability Release and a Parent, Guardian or an Authorized Adult must witness the signature.  An Authorized Adult must have signed Parental or Guardian consent to sign the Release of Liability.

Entry Fee: $30.00, payable at Statistics Office on Match day.  Cash or checks only please; no credit cards can be processed. 

                        (Match fees may be reduced by grants or sponsorships)

Ammunition:  Any safe ammunition permitted – No tracers or incendiary rounds.             

Time:  Registration opens at 7:30 and closes at 8:30.  First shot – promptly at 9:00 A.M.  Lunch will be available – free to competitors and may be purchased for $10.00 by non-competitors.

Pre-Registration:  Pre-registrations are encouraged.  Register at FWRRHPDirector@aol.com.  Walk-in registrations will be accepted up to a range capacity of 28 competitors.  Adults may fire as “Out of Competition” shooters if range capacity allows.  Parents and sponsors of Competitors will be given preference for “Out of Competition” slots.

Course of Fire:  NRA 50-Round National Match Course.  The 600-yard stage will be fired at 300-yards on the MR-63 reduced target.

Rules:   2022 NRA High Power Rules will apply.  Match and Service rifles will be permitted. NRA Classifications will be used.  A Match Jury will be empaneled. 

Per NRA Rule 19.4.1, Coaching will be allowed for Junior shooters who have not established an NRA or CMP classification, or who are classified as NRA or CMP Marksman.

Targets:  The matches will be shot on Silver Mountain Electronic Targets.  Competitors are required to provide their own display device (Tablet, IPhone, IPad) or similar device.  Competitors are responsible for having enough battery capacity in their devices to support the operating time required for a match.

                        If, in the judgment of the Range Officer, a competitor is shooting in a manner that endangers the range equipment, that competitor will be withdrawn from the match and their match fees refunded.

Match Structure:  NRA Registered Match

Match 1– 200yds, slow fire, standing, 2 convertible sighters and 10 shots for record

Match 2 – 200yds, rapid fire, sitting, 2 sighters and 10 shots for record, 63 seconds

Match 3 – 300yds, rapid fire, prone, 2 sighters and 10 shots for record, 73 seconds

Match 4 – Simulated 600yds, slow fire, prone, 2 convertible sighters and 20 shots for record

Match 5– Course Aggregate: Matches 1-4.  Match 5 winner will be the Indiana Junior State Champion, subject to residency requirement.

Awards:   Match Winners:  An award will be presented to the winner of each Match.

Classification Winner:  The high scoring competitor in each Classification will be presented an award.  Classifications will be combined until a minimum of three Competitors are represented in each Classification.

Residency:  Indiana Junior State Champion must be an Indiana resident.

June Newsletter

June 2022 FWRRC NEWSLETTER

FWRR Club Meeting

The next meeting of the Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver Club will be held on Monday, June 6, 2022. Meeting Place: VFW Post 857, located at 2202 West Main Street in Fort Wayne. Meeting Time: 7:00 p.m. Agenda: Standard meeting format. Food and drink are available at very reasonable prices before and after the meeting.

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

Cleanup Day Report

Cleanup Day was held on April 23, 2022. Attendance was extremely poor, despite the fact that it was a sunny and warm day. Only twelve members participated. Nine members participated before and after Cleanup Day, to stage material, to perform preliminary work, and to accomplish tasks not completed or not started on Cleanup Day.

The tasks that were completed included the following:

1.Graveling and grading the Pistol Pit parking area and range roads. 4 triaxle loads of gravel were put down. Thanks go to Lynn Rosswurn. Lynn spent two full days on his tractor to accomplish this major undertaking.
2.Installing a gutter, pipe, a base, and a tank for a cistern system that will provide water for lawn chemical mixing and watering. Most of the work was performed before and after Cleanup Day. Jim Sweeney led this project, supported by Marty Didion, Tom Fortman, and John Halter.
3.Repairing the 300-yard number board frame and installing the new number boards that were painted by Dave Fritz.
4.Trimming overhanging branches along the north road.
5.Repairing and adding improvements to the outhouse. This effort included replacing a door, rehanging doors, installing fencing, and graveling the entry area. This project was led by Jim Johnston who was supported by Craig Ross and Clyde Ford.

Two planned projects were not started: Removal of the porta-jon in the 300-yard Pit and installation of a drain at the 100-yard firing line on the 300-yard portion of the Main Range. Installation of the drain may require the range to be shut down on a weekend because most member volunteers are available only on weekends.

The following individuals participated in Cleanup Day activities: Craig Bartsch, Larry Beardsley, Bruce Bunting, Aaron Kohler, Dennie Mc Nabb, Gene Pelter, Terry Thoma, Rick Schwaiger, Ted Smeltzer and Ted’s son, David. Ted’s son, David, is a non-member. This list does not include the individuals whose names are listed elsewhere above. Please forgive any unintentional omissions.

It is worthy of note that the members who participated in Cleanup Day projects ranged in age from 53 to 77. Fourteen of the member participants were retired persons. It is understood that younger members may have family obligations that must take precedence; nevertheless, the burden of maintaining the facility is a responsibility that should be taken seriously if the club is to continue to exist and facilities are to be maintained and improved. More participation by younger members in meetings, maintenance activities, committees, etc. will provide those members with the historical background and experience that are key to assuming future leadership roles. For that reason, willingness to be an active club member and to work as a team member should be among the major factors considered when referring a person for membership.

Membership Status

As of May 20th, the number of members in good standing is 366.

Junior Program

The Club’s Junior Program is alive and well, thanks to the efforts of Larry Beardsley, Mike and Glenna Grannis, and Mark Walters. A number of High Power shooters are also very involved in developing our Juniors. It’s exciting to see the young people’s enthusiasm. Some really fine scores are being turned in. Please check the Club’s website for more information concerning the Junior Program.

Newsletter Delivery

Approximately 80% of the membership receives the newsletter via e-mail. Those members who have e-mail accounts and who currently opt for postal delivery are asked to consider receiving the newsletter via e-mail next year. Doing so will save printing expenses (newsletter and mailing labels), postage, envelope cost, the time and fuel spent traveling to/from the printer, and the manual labor associated with stuffing, labeling, stamping, and mailing envelopes. Just send an Email to martindidion4@gmail.com and CC: billmac099@yahoo.com with “Newsletter Delivery” in the subject line.

Maintenance Activities

Thanks go to Ted Smeltzer and John Halter for servicing and thoroughly cleaning the John Deere lawn mowers.

A Note to the Mowing Crew

Darrel Fish procured a gasoline blower for use in dusting off the mowers and concrete areas. The blower will be stored with the string trimmer. Both machines require a 50:1 fuel/oil mixture.

Reminders

Clay targets are only to be shot from the hut at the south end of the 25/50/100-yard portion of the Main Range. Take care to ensure that clay targets, wads, and shot land on club property.

Water obtained from the hand pump and the cistern are not potable.

Please make certain to close the outhouse doors (it keeps them from blowing open and getting damaged) and to lower the toilet seat covers (that makes things a bit more pleasant if you need the facility).

Sad News

It has come to the Club’s attention that two members have recently passed away: Jim Crawford and Dave Gessner Sr. Both men were historically strong club supporters.

Jim participated in both small-bore and high-power rifle competitions. He held several small-bore records and was always among the top competitors at high-power matches. In years past, one could always count on seeing Jim trimming the branches along the north road on Cleanup Days.

Dave enjoyed high-power, service-rifle competition and was a regular attendee at Camp Perry. Dave has traditionally been an extremely generous supporter of the club and the Club’s Junior Program.

Mowing Schedule

The 2022 Mowing Schedule will be made available on the Club’s website https://fwrrclub.org/ . 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. It is recommended that members check the website for updates.

For Sale

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

CMP Games Match; May 14, 2022

After a rain-out of the match scheduled for April (or was it a snow-out?) we caught a great day for the CMP Games Match.  No wind, lots of sun but not so much as to burn us up or melt us down.  17 shooters turned out and shot 25 matches (several folks shot two or more rifles).

In a CMP Games Match, we have a category for just about any rifle you want to shoot and yesterday was no exception.  We had five shooters with As-issued M1 Garands and four of those shooters fired Silver Medal scores:

Mark Walters     276-3X

Ron Dague          273-4X

John Halter         273-4X

Jeff Beierke         271-3X

Three shooters fired Unlimited Garands, three shooters brought 1903 or 1903A3 Springfields, and there were three entries with M1917 “Enfield pattern” bolt rifles.  And, rounding out the old rifle entries – Mark Walters brought out an M1 Carbine and fired one of the top three Offhand scores of the day (91-0X) with it! 

Never underestimate an old man with an M1 Carbine; 91-0X Offhand at 200-yards!

Mark Walters also shot a Silver medal score with a borrowed 1903A3 Springfield and Jeff Beierke shot a 269-2X with the M1917 for a Bronze medal.

Three shooters entered in the Modern Military category and all three qualified with medal scores:

Aaron Kohler      280-6X (Silver) … with a 100-4X clean in the prone rapid stage

Jess Jessup          275-7X (Bronze)

Gary Mabis          274-3X (Bronze)

Gary Mabis, Dave Lovitt and Mia on the low end of the line

The unlimited Modern Military class had the most shooters, and with the scoped rifles at 200-yards, the competition was intense!

When the smoke cleared and the Cease Fire was called, results were:

Marshall Rohrbach (Junior)           291- 7X  (Silver)  (High score of any category for the day!)

Marshall is all business as he works on his 291-7X

Jim Jackson                                       289-11X (Silver)

Gary Mabis                                        286- 7X  (Silver)

Kileen Shaffer                                   279-10X (Bronze)

But – the competition for bragging rights in Unlimited Modern Military was most intense in the Slow Prone stage.  There was just no room for a mistake in that bunch:

Kileen Shaffer (Junior)                    100-7X (Creedmored them!)

“I can do this”.. The Junior motto.
And she did…..

Jim Jackson                                       100-6X

Gary Mabis                                        100-5X

Colton Eads (Junior)                        100-5X

Colton and his trademark floppy hat

Marshall Rohrbach (Junior)            99-3X (Drop one point and come in fifth, a tough crowd indeed!)

It looks like young eyes help a lot!

Mike Grannis from the Stat Office waits for Addysin and Kileen to finish scorecards

Our next match will be the Midsummer Madness weekend in June; a 50-round match on Friday afternoon – June 17th, a 50/80 Match on Saturday,  June 18th  and a Mid-Range and M1A Match on Sunday, June 19th. It will be a full weekend of shooting to celebrate the start of summer.   Mark your calendars and shoot as many sessions as you can!

Ongoing Projects – Range Facility Improvement

It was noted that several projects would be ongoing even though Work Day was formally over. One of the jobs that did not get dome was the repair of the doors on the uhhh, facility – OK, the outhouse.

The high winds in early March ripped the doors off of both sides of the outhouse, leaving the facility open to the weather and full view of anyone who happened by. After Work Day a crew was able to complete the repairs and to make improvements to the facility.

Our Improved Facilities

Not only were the doors repaired, a fence was added in front. This is not just a privacy fence, it will help protect the doors from the winds that sweep across the open area at the range. A gravel pad was also added at the doorways, hopefully helping to keep mud and grass out of the offices.

The gravel pad will keep some mud and grass out of the units

AND, a bit of country etiquette; as a courtesy to the next user, pick up and throw away any loose paper that might be littering the area before you leave and – just like at home – close the lid. BUT, none of this will, work if the doors are not securely latched after you finish your business. Please make sure the doors close and that the latch ‘clicks’ in place as you depart.

Work Day; Saturday April 26

Saturday, April 26 was the formal Work Day for the Spring of 2022.  A number of projects were undertaken and the results of those projects will improve the quality of our range for all of our members.

Prior to Saturday, a lot of work had been done in adding crushed stone to the entry driveway and leveling it to take out the potholes and washed out places.  Getting into the range is a lot more pleasant now.  As part of Work Day, all of the graveled driveway and parking areas were scarified, graded and leveled.  It was a task that just went on in the background as the John Deere just went up and down the drives, but it paid a great benefit in accessibility to the areas on the range.  I did not get the name of the gentleman who did the gravel work (or even a picture of him on the tractor)   – but a huge Thank You from all of us for your effort!

Weed control is always an ongoing task at the range and spraying weeds requires water to mix the herbicides.  Until now we have needed to bring water to the range to fill the tank on the sprayer (the well has so much rust and scale that it clogs the strainers and nozzles in the sprayer).  It was decided to build a system to catch rainwater to use for spraying.  What we were building was a cistern and gutter system a lot like what our great-grandparents used on many farms back in the early 20th century!

The cistern that will store rainwater
Some climb, some measure and some cut. It takes several people to hang gutters.

Another project we had the material and people to finish was installing the set of new number boards on the 200/300 yard range. The old ones had gone ‘way past their use-by date and new ones were needed.  Dave Fritz, a longtime member from up around South Bend painted us a new set of numbers (he also painted the previous set as well). A couple of posts were replaced and new mounting rails replaced the weathered ones.  The new numbers can be removed for winter storage and they look very nice.

Aaron and Craig set the rails and supports for the new number boards
The finished project adds to the appearance of our range.

There are several ongoing projects that will be done as time goes on and it may be necessary to close the range to allow this work to be completed.  We will try to give several days notice when range closures are needed, so keep an eye on the website for updates.

UPDATE: May 5

We have had a rainy spell since work day and the cistern is working well. It has filled to overflowing and we have plenty of water for weed control. I would not recommend using the water for other purposes for a while because there might still be traces of Glysophate (Round-Up) in the plastic container.

Full to the brim

CMP GAMES MATCH SATURDAY – MAY 14, 2022

Our High Power season will kick off with the CMP Games Match on Saturday, May 14th.

This match is sometimes called the Garand Match or the GSM Match, is a 30 round for record (and up to 5 sighters) fired from 200 yards. It consists of up to 5 sighting shots fired from any position, then 10 slow fire Prone shots for record, 10 shots Rapid Prone and 10 shots Offhand.

There are categories for just about any rifle you care to bring to the match; M1 Garand (Service and Match), 1903 Springfields, 1917 Enfields, Foreign Military, M1 Carbine, Modern Military, Match rifles and Sporters.  This is a re-entry match – you can bring several rifles and shoot in different categories if you wish.

Registration and setup will open about 6:30 AM and will close at 7:30AM.  The safety briefing for Relays 1 and 2 will be at the 200-yard line at 7:45 and the first shot will go down range promptly at 8:00 AM.

The Match fee is $20 for FWRR members and members of affiliated Clubs and $25 for others.  For re-entry matches, a reduction of $5 per match will apply for each additional match.

We have to keep the lawyers happy.  This is a CMP Match; shooters will be required to execute a 2022 CMP Release of Liability Form.  Junior Shooters will need to have a parent execute a release for them.

Pre-registration is strongly recommended.  I will try to give shooters the relay and firing point they request, but earlier reservations have a better chance of getting their choices.  When making reservations, let me know what rifle (or rifles) you plan to shoot – it makes organizing relays a bit easier.

Registration requests, questions or comments should be sent to FWRRHPDirector@aol.com.