Results Rayners 2014 Spring Sniper Match

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Gunny Sergeant
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Minuteman
Sep 3, 2009
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East side of Ohio
Would have posted this late last night but blew a tire on my trailer hauling the 4 wheeler home and ruined the wheel so it took a while to get that repaired. Carolyn did have the scores tallied a few hours after the match was over which is incredible for a match of this size and complexity. Sorry for the delay in getting them here for all to see.

A few shooters shot on Friday which turned out to be one of the roughest shooting conditions I've ever shot in. It rained and rained and then rained more, some stages had 4 inches or more of water where we had to shoot from. The mud was deep enough to have first rate mud wrestling matches in, elbows and bi-pods would slowly sink as you were trying to set up the shot. Stopped for lunch and the rain stopped, after lunch the winds decided to visit Rayners with steady 20 to 25 mph with gusts of 40 and over. The tri-pods for the spotting scopes were being blown over and it was actually hard to walk in some areas due to the wind gusts. On the last stage with only a couple of shooters to go we all looked all looked up and saw this white/grey wall of water coming across the hill and fields. This wall of rain swept thru so heavy you couldn't see thru it.

Iron Man Mike Cooper decided "what the Hell" and started his Woods Run in the middle of it, we could barely see the targets thru the the spotting scopes but he somehow hit 3 of the 4 steel plates. Whenever anyone mentions tough shooting conditions ask any one of the competitors who shot on Friday for sympathy. I finally gave up after 8 stages and went back to RO'ing, yup, I wussed out but my bolt was sticking, I was soaked and had mud in places I may never find. Even though it's always fun shooting I didn't find that fun :), must be getting old I guess. To say I was impressed by how well the others did on Friday is an understatement, they are true competitors and I give them all a lot of credit, true competitors to say the least.

Anyway, on to Saturday and Sunday. Started out cold on Saturday with some wind. Finally warmed up a bit later in the afternoon but still made each shooter work for their hits. Sunday started off a lot warmer but still had shifting wind which is typical for Rayners. Looking back I wish I had taken my video camera to film everyone shooting the "Under the Jeep" stage. Posting that in fast forward to show to show all the shooting trying to get the right position to shoot their two targets would have been great. For those that shot it they know what I'm meaning. First target was just a bit too low to be seen over the crown of the hill so you had to either have a really tall bipod but not too tall or you couldn't see under the Jeep. A couple shooters cobbed together a little tripod made from pieces of limbs, other thru backpacks down, then flipped them over, then stood them up, then tossed them aside, then regrab them and try another direction. Some stacked sand bags, others tried standing their rolled up shooting mats on end, a couple just shot somewhere in the general direction just to be able to move on up to the easier to see target. You had to be there to see it to appreciate it, was pretty comical observing but frustrating being the shooter. I got lucky with a backpack under my pod which worked out just right first try.

It was a real pleasure to be allowed to help with this match along with all the other Range Officers, the Ladies and Gentlemen competitors were all a pleasure to watch shoot their stages. Even when a shooter struggled with a difficult stage the shooters showed real sportsmanship and their love for this difficult sport. The other Range Officers were a pleasure to work with and did whatever it took to make the shooters feel comfortable and helped when we could to keep the match running smoothly.

Thanks to Tom and Carolyn for allowing everyone to come and enjoy their piece of Heaven and use their facilities for our passion. As usual the food was great and thanks to all those that made that possible. If you enjoyed this match you better schedule ahead of time for the Fall Match, I'm sure it's nearly full so get your butt in gear and get signed up.

Now on to the results after all this babble. The breakdown for the stages will be posted on Rayners Range website as soon as possible.

Rayner’s Spring Sniper Challenge
April 4, 5 & 6, 2014

1. Ken Sanoski
2. Dave Moore
3. Zack Purvis
4. Jeff Preston
5. Chris Michael
6. Mark Patrick
7. Doug Dearinger
8. Dusty Gerdau
9. Brandon Burdett
10. Russ Ring
11. Zac Coffing
12. Kurt Poeppelman
13. John Jordan
14. Allen Jaworski
15. Carl Busse *
16. Jeff Raymond
17. Jim Wolf
18. Kurt Miller
19. Matt Totin
20. Merritt Roseberry
21. Margaret Jordan **
22. Derrek Morehead
23. Bryan Goodwin
24. Michael Bass
25. Mark Conner
26. Gary Conner
27. Corey Smith
28. Wayne Schoene
29. Scott Ritzheimer
30. Steve Michniak
31. Mike Cooper
32. Craig Wickham
33. Shawn Strawser
34. Matt Fraley
35. Nick Bogdanski
36. James Rowe
37. Walt Axtell
38. Dennis Howard
39. Ben Hodkinson
40. Eric Shafer
41. Craig Nolty
42. Doug Kriemeim
43. Wayne Powell
44. Josey Rayner
45. Dave Rancourt
46. Mike Busse
47. Kirt Lyon
48. Tom Butler
49. Jeremy Bales
50. Aaron Daggerhart
51. Jesse Roberts
52. Chris Childs
53. Kyle Wells
54. Conner Goodwin *
55. Eric Smith
56. John Hauser
57. Dan Hooks
58. Joe O’Brien
59. Brian White
60. Dennis Kirkpatrick (DNF, I wussed out early in the fun)
61. Chris Kirkpatrick (DNF, slid off Barn steps and fell on his back)
62. Dennis Wells
63. Lon Jenkins

* Junior / ** Lady

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Great match, and course. I've shot in all of the ones the past 3 years and I think this was the best course of them all. Just wish I had shot better.
A big thanks to Rayners for this fine event.
 
Considering my last and first sniper match I came in 49 out of 51, I will take 38 out of 63! Especially considering it was a new gun with no dope, I am a happy guy! Carol and Tom always treat everyone like part of the family, and in the end, they always put on one of the best matches you will find anywhere! Looking forward to some of the monthly matches, get my gun lined out, and be back for fall! We sure do appreciate you guys and everything you do for us!
 
#5 deserves a shit ton of credit. Shooting Friday in those conditions and placing up there is quite a feat. Nice job Chris. Congrats to the top dog as well for a job well done.
 
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I would like to maybe see it broke down by Zodiac sign in the future, so I can refer to my Horoscope for my DOPE before the match.
 
Update for the match, Carolyn sorted and marked which shooter shot on each day. I was there all three days and talking to a couple of others we all think Saturday and Sunday were equal days based on conditions. Neither had a distinct advantage, Saturday started off cooler than Sunday, both days had their calm periods with wind which shifted directions and speed but neither of which was any different than our normal match day conditions.

Carolyn, to help with being more specific next year could you also add a line for "camo patterns" so you can sort that also?

Here is the updated score list, if you want to see how you did on each stage and cross reference to other shooters on the same stage but different days you will be able to do that on the Rayners website when it gets posted.

Rayner’s Spring Sniper Challenge
April 4, 5 & 6, 2014


1. Ken Sanoski
2. *Dave Moore
3. *Zack Purvis
4. Jeff Preston
5. #Chris Michael
6. Mark Patrick
7. *Doug Dearinger
8. *Dusty Gerdau
9. *Brandon Burdett
10. *Russ Ring
11. Zac Coffing
12. *Kurt Poeppelman
13. *John Jordan
14. Allen Jaworski
15. Carl Busse *
16. *Jeff Raymond
17. Jim Wolf
18. *Kurt Miller
19. Matt Totin
20. *Merritt Roseberry
21. *Margaret Jordan **
22. Derrek Morehead
23. Bryan Goodwin
24. *Michael Bass
25. *Mark Conner
26. *Gary Conner
27. Corey Smith
28. Wayne Schoene
29. *Scott Ritzheimer
30. Steve Michniak
31. #Mike Cooper
32. #Craig Wickham
33. Shawn Strawser
34. Matt Fraley
35. *Nick Bogdanski
36. *James Rowe
37. *Walt Axtell
38. Dennis Howard
39. Ben Hodkinson
40. Eric Shafer
41. *Craig Nolty
42. *Doug Kriemeim
43. *Wayne Powell
44. #Josey Rayner
45. #Dave Rancourt
46. Mike Busse
47. Kirt Lyon
48. Tom Butler
49. #Jeremy Bales
50. Aaron Daggerhart
51. Jesse Roberts
52. #Chris Childs
53. *Kyle Wells
54. Conner Goodwin *
55. *Eric Smith
56. John Hauser
57. Dan Hooks
58. #Joe O’Brien
59. # Brian White
60. #Dennis Kirkpatrick (DNF, I wussed out early in the fun)
61. # Chris Kirkpatrick (DNF, slid off Barn steps and fell on his back)
62. #Dennis Wells
63. Lon Jenkins

* after Junior / ** Lady / # Friday / * before Sat.

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I would like to maybe see it broke down by Zodiac sign in the future, so I can refer to my Horoscope for my DOPE before the match.

Sunday conditions were brutal! This bright light coming from the sky, ABSOLUTELY NO WIND, I THOUGHT THE EARTH STOPPED!, and the ground was dry as....dirt!... Next time I will check my farmers almanac! :)
 
I knew this would get interesting , but one sure way to know who shot what and when , is come on out and work all three days and take notes , they can always use the help !!
 
That was a great match. I loved the amount of com stock stages and the fact it put the element of speed and precision into the entire mix. Also the amount of odd shooting positions and well thought out target placement made sure that all skill sets were tested. This really was a tactical match and not just a long range precision match. The crew at Rayners went above and beyond just setting up steel to shoot at. Thank you
 
That was a great match. I loved the amount of com stock stages and the fact it put the element of speed and precision into the entire mix. Also the amount of odd shooting positions and well thought out target placement made sure that all skill sets were tested. This really was a tactical match and not just a long range precision match. The crew at Rayners went above and beyond just setting up steel to shoot at. Thank you

I was impressed at all the new stuff, I got to come to last years April match but not fall, and this year was almost completely different for me. Cover from Jeep, Tower, and a few others I didnt see coming and really enjoyed them.

Big shout out to Connor Goodwin, the young man shot good for his first match, he has great potential so stick with it man! Keep rubbing that 1,000yd hit in ya dads eye buddy!
 
sounds like it was a great match, as always! i WONT be missing the fall one.
and good job ken (who ever you are :)). some of the shot's i heard about sounded like a
real challenge, hope he has some of them in the fall. see you guys in may.
 
IMG_20140407_171116.jpg

target list...

the unknown was 500 lazed, those of you that hit it, what did you mill it at? those that didnt, what did you mil it at?

As for the "unseen" target... .. it was a X" size target that you could see at 618y, 59" below that, and BEHIND the hill was a unseen target the same size... your job was to "do the math" and hit it..

the solution was use your mildot master in reverse... thankyou
you set your distance at 618y mark
then look at 59"
your answer is 2.5 mil / 8.5moa "ish"

so dial your distance then hold under 2.5/8.5 and shoot...
 
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Great sniper match. Had a good time and learned a lot.

Milled the unknown at 520 and hit high by about 3 inch from what spotter could tell

Looking forward to seeing everyone in the Fall
 
I ranged it at 500 and hit above it, close enough that it went through the loop above that it was welded to. About 3 guys in our squad hit it with 490 dope
 
Thanks for running an awesome, safe, and challenging match. Some of the stages were incredibly creative. This was my first sniper / tactical match, and I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. Glad that I registered for the fall match already, I overheard that it was full by Sunday afternoon.

For the unknown distance target, I milled the 10.25 width plate at 0.55 mil (which I just calculated works out to 517 yards), but without being allowed a calculator I used my backup table which gave 555 yards and 463 yards for a 0.5 / 0.6 mil, 10" target - did a rough average, called it 500 and let it fly. Was AMAZED that I hit on the first round on that short of a target at that distance. At first I was sure that the target was going to be the man-sil next to the jeep/apc, and that the bar dimensions were just being given for ranging purposes - wrong, shoot the little teeny bar.

For the hidden target I was all metric, so I did a rough conversion of yards to meters by multiplying by 0.9, then multiplying the 59" by 2.54 to convert to cm. Then divided these to covert to mils. Subtracted from my 618 yard dope, got a hit on the second shot, after figuring out that I held of a full mil for wind instead of the half mil I wanted to use because I missed the half tic on the reticle. Kinda wondering how many other times I did that during the day.

Other lessons learned. I could kick myself for not recording a 25 yard zero for the card stage. I was terrified that it was going to be a repeat of the cold bore stage, and I just wouldn't find my card and not get a shot off. Turned out that wasn't a problem (although I almost shot the 8 of clubs instead of the 8 of spades, since they were right next to each other). The problem was that the sight offset from the 50 yard zero was still too much, and I hit 1/4" right below my card, DOH! And I know this from shooting ARs at close range, but thought I was being slick enough dialing on the 50 yard zero.

Also - flip up scope covers are handy, IF you remember to flip them up before the stage starts. I must have started 8 stages with the covers closed, including half or more of the comstock stages. Duh.

For the under the jeep stage, I placed my rifle bipod on top of my back, which took me forever to get settled, but I hit on the closer target. I should have used my brain a little and tossed the pack away to go long, but stayed up there in the contorted position. Thinking required.

Thanks to all of the other guys on my squad, along with the RO's, for tolerating my questions and letting me check out your gear. Looking forward to the fall match already.
 
I did math on the unseen for a 2nd shot hit.

1 mil at 100yds = 3.6",
1 mil at 618yds = 3.6" x 6.18 = 22.248".

Unseen target 57" low,

57" / 22.248" = take 2.56 mils off your dope.

59" / 22.248" = 2.65 mils

I thought they said 57", close enough, ha!

MF


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for running an awesome, safe, and challenging match. Some of the stages were incredibly creative. This was my first sniper / tactical match, and I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. Glad that I registered for the fall match already, I overheard that it was full by Sunday afternoon.

For the unknown distance target, I milled the 10.25 width plate at 0.55 mil (which I just calculated works out to 517 yards), but without being allowed a calculator I used my backup table which gave 555 yards and 463 yards for a 0.5 / 0.6 mil, 10" target - did a rough average, called it 500 and let it fly. Was AMAZED that I hit on the first round on that short of a target at that distance. At first I was sure that the target was going to be the man-sil next to the jeep/apc, and that the bar dimensions were just being given for ranging purposes - wrong, shoot the little teeny bar.

For the hidden target I was all metric, so I did a rough conversion of yards to meters by multiplying by 0.9, then multiplying the 59" by 2.54 to convert to cm. Then divided these to covert to mils. Subtracted from my 618 yard dope, got a hit on the second shot, after figuring out that I held of a full mil for wind instead of the half mil I wanted to use because I missed the half tic on the reticle. Kinda wondering how many other times I did that during the day.

Other lessons learned. I could kick myself for not recording a 25 yard zero for the card stage. I was terrified that it was going to be a repeat of the cold bore stage, and I just wouldn't find my card and not get a shot off. Turned out that wasn't a problem (although I almost shot the 8 of clubs instead of the 8 of spades, since they were right next to each other). The problem was that the sight offset from the 50 yard zero was still too much, and I hit 1/4" right below my card, DOH! And I know this from shooting ARs at close range, but thought I was being slick enough dialing on the 50 yard zero.

Also - flip up scope covers are handy, IF you remember to flip them up before the stage starts. I must have started 8 stages with the covers closed, including half or more of the comstock stages. Duh.

For the under the jeep stage, I placed my rifle bipod on top of my back, which took me forever to get settled, but I hit on the closer target. I should have used my brain a little and tossed the pack away to go long, but stayed up there in the contorted position. Thinking required.

Thanks to all of the other guys on my squad, along with the RO's, for tolerating my questions and letting me check out your gear. Looking forward to the fall match already.

clear scope caps are a good option :) and they are nice in the rain! so this was your first
precision rifle type match, you got spoiled rate off the bat, i have shot a few other match's
and they are all usually pretty good but the match they do at rayner's is damn hard to improve on.
and the 3 i have shot have all been fantastic, and can't wait till the fall one also.
hope to see ya at the monthly shoot's to
 
Does anyone recall actual height of the silhouette target at right side of unknown distance stage? I measured it at exactly 2 mils and was thinking it was 1 meter tall which would put it at 500 meters, I missed both shots. I didn't mil measure the length of short target bar. Perhaps the silhouette was 36" tall?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
My video, third from bottom, I was struck in the back of the head by Mark with a sand bag! Mine busted half way through the day and I guess I shouldn't have said "Wish I got a bag off somebody", because I got one! Took me a second to stop laughing and hit the 2nd target, everyone got a good laugh though! The laughs and good times like Rayners is always sure to have, is 90% of the reason I even come out and play!