The weather started out as a bit cool on Saturday the 12th of November but it warmed up to just about right for the match. We shot 8 stages with stage 1 being a cold bore shot after a march with equipment around the clubhouse. That is about a 100 yard walk. That tutned out to be the most difficult stage as only 5 of the 21 shooters got the 10 point score. The target was a 3" diameter aiming black at 200 yards.
Stage 2 was a Know Your Limits match with 5 aiming blacks from a 6" diameter down to a 2" diameter stepping down 1" at a time. The shooter loaded 5 rounds and had 30 seconds to shoot until he hit his limit. 5 shooters scored 1 point and 1 shooter scored 6.
Stage 3+4 were rapid fire matches from a barricade with strong and weak side shooting. They were 10 round shots in 70 seconds. You had to change magazines and you had to shoot at least 1 shot from each position to get a score. The targets were ovals that were 6" by 9" and you had to double tap each of the 5 aiming ovals. For the second stage we put the ovals from vertical to horizontal. I think the weak side shooting is
something the shooters need to work on. (LOL)
Stage 5 was a 10 round heartbreaker that the shooters fired at 10 balloons that were about 9" in diameter. You started out with 1 loaded round and 9 rounds at the back of the firing line about 20' away. The time limit was 2 minutes. You could fire from any position you liked. We had 1 shooter that broke all 10 balloons and he is 57 years old!
Stage 6 was a barricade match where the shooters moved from barricade to barricade along the firing line. The rule was 1 shot strong side and 1 shot weak side off each of 5 barricades. When moving from barricade to barricade the bolt of the rifle was to remain open. The time limit was 90 seconds. The targets were the 9" balloons and the high score was 6.
Stage 7 was the moving balloon targets. the exposure time is 5 seconds. the target has 3 balloons on it and if you hit the center balloon you get 5 points and if you hit either of the outside balloond you got a -2. The speed of the balloons is a standard walking pace. This has always been a tough match and of the 3 tries each shooter had only 3 hit 2 of the center balloons.
The final stage 8 was a swinging softball. We would move the softball 9" off center, and when the shooters were ready, let it swing. The shooters had 15 seconds to fire a shot. This was a bit easier than I thought it would be as 3 shooters hit the ball for both of the record shots and scored 20 points. 4 other shooters hit it on one of their two tries for 10 points. I think for the next match we will start the ball a bit further off center.
The shooting for all stages was done at 200 yards. The match winner was Vic Betzold who scored 75 out of a possible 100 points. Vic won $105 for his fine shooting. 2nd place and $52.50 went to Steve Bechtel who runs the matches at Mayberry. 3rd and $31.50 went to Mike Peters and 4th and $21 went to junior shooter C.J. James. C.J. helped run the August match so I let him shoot my rifle for this match. It was his first ever tournament and I think he did a real good job.
We had quite a few shooters that had never fired in a competition before. I try to set the match up so new guys can get their feet wet without being overwhelmed. I like to keep it hard enough so it is a challenge for all the shooters but also I don't try to intimidate anyone. If any of you guys are thinking about getting started in this type of competition and you live in the York Pa, Baltimore Md. area come on out and join us in 2012. We will be shooting a tournament in May and another in October.
I have some pictures from a digital camera and when I figure out how to post them I'll put them up. Thanks to all the shooters who came out and also to the folks who came out to run the match.
John Meade
Stage 2 was a Know Your Limits match with 5 aiming blacks from a 6" diameter down to a 2" diameter stepping down 1" at a time. The shooter loaded 5 rounds and had 30 seconds to shoot until he hit his limit. 5 shooters scored 1 point and 1 shooter scored 6.
Stage 3+4 were rapid fire matches from a barricade with strong and weak side shooting. They were 10 round shots in 70 seconds. You had to change magazines and you had to shoot at least 1 shot from each position to get a score. The targets were ovals that were 6" by 9" and you had to double tap each of the 5 aiming ovals. For the second stage we put the ovals from vertical to horizontal. I think the weak side shooting is
something the shooters need to work on. (LOL)
Stage 5 was a 10 round heartbreaker that the shooters fired at 10 balloons that were about 9" in diameter. You started out with 1 loaded round and 9 rounds at the back of the firing line about 20' away. The time limit was 2 minutes. You could fire from any position you liked. We had 1 shooter that broke all 10 balloons and he is 57 years old!
Stage 6 was a barricade match where the shooters moved from barricade to barricade along the firing line. The rule was 1 shot strong side and 1 shot weak side off each of 5 barricades. When moving from barricade to barricade the bolt of the rifle was to remain open. The time limit was 90 seconds. The targets were the 9" balloons and the high score was 6.
Stage 7 was the moving balloon targets. the exposure time is 5 seconds. the target has 3 balloons on it and if you hit the center balloon you get 5 points and if you hit either of the outside balloond you got a -2. The speed of the balloons is a standard walking pace. This has always been a tough match and of the 3 tries each shooter had only 3 hit 2 of the center balloons.
The final stage 8 was a swinging softball. We would move the softball 9" off center, and when the shooters were ready, let it swing. The shooters had 15 seconds to fire a shot. This was a bit easier than I thought it would be as 3 shooters hit the ball for both of the record shots and scored 20 points. 4 other shooters hit it on one of their two tries for 10 points. I think for the next match we will start the ball a bit further off center.
The shooting for all stages was done at 200 yards. The match winner was Vic Betzold who scored 75 out of a possible 100 points. Vic won $105 for his fine shooting. 2nd place and $52.50 went to Steve Bechtel who runs the matches at Mayberry. 3rd and $31.50 went to Mike Peters and 4th and $21 went to junior shooter C.J. James. C.J. helped run the August match so I let him shoot my rifle for this match. It was his first ever tournament and I think he did a real good job.
We had quite a few shooters that had never fired in a competition before. I try to set the match up so new guys can get their feet wet without being overwhelmed. I like to keep it hard enough so it is a challenge for all the shooters but also I don't try to intimidate anyone. If any of you guys are thinking about getting started in this type of competition and you live in the York Pa, Baltimore Md. area come on out and join us in 2012. We will be shooting a tournament in May and another in October.
I have some pictures from a digital camera and when I figure out how to post them I'll put them up. Thanks to all the shooters who came out and also to the folks who came out to run the match.
John Meade
