I made the 900 mile trip from Deep East Texas to Kentucky last week to participate in what I think of as the "event" ... not only a competitive match but the introduction of both Vudoo's V22-S action and IvanHoe's custom package, i.e., rifle based on the V-22S, scope and rest. The event was attended by the title sponsors and Lapua provided ammo to the winners in addition to a really nice plaque.
First, the venue ... Kentucky, especially from Bowling Green to Somerset is spectacular. The range was about thirty minutes from Somerset and the last five miles were the most beautiful part of my drive. Switchbacks and elevation changes made it more like a road racing track not well suited for an F-150. Slow it down and enjoy the scenery ... keep your foot close to the break and remember never to go into one of those turns hot!!!
The Buck Creek Range was well thought out and had all the trappings necessary to put on a quality match. Benches were limited to twelve which was perfect for the 33 shooters who participated ... three relays and four cards.
Vudoo design engineer Mike Bush had a couple of V-22S actions that we could handle and he was often seen giving tours of the action, specifically the bolt and the innovations it contains. You can disassemble the bolt without tools. The V-22S will be shipped with multiple firing pin springs that allow a shooter to tune ignition to his liking. In addition to firing pin spring options, tension on the spring can be fine tuned by compressing the spring to further tune the action to achieve optimum group size, X-count or P.A.R. score. Pretty neat and consistent how a lot of the top-tier shooters are modifying their actions - but a lot easier (I think).
A full blown Vudoo V-22S action-based IvanHoe Shooting Equipment build with his beautiful one-piece rest was on display. It's truly a work of art and would make a beautiful display in an enthusiasts gun room. Ivan's stock has a very wide butt stock bottom end that rides in the rear of the rest. The display he was using was highly polished and would be the envy of any Harley rider's wet dream ... Bling, Bling, Bling. The wood in the stock was laminated and beautiful. There's pictures on the Hide and Rimfire Accuracy. It's truly amazing and was ready to shoot ... there's a bit of data posted on the forums and it would have been nice to see what Ivan could do with the rifle at the bench. He was a good host and a relentless match director so the rifle set idle. Maybe next time!!!
The Inaugural Match was professionally managed (as you might expect) and was fraught with unpredictable (but not high) winds and occasional rain showers that lasted no more the the length of a relay. Changing range conditions can easily be verified by looking at the scores - even the best shooters stumbled at bit on cards - I suspect these stumbles were caused by shifting range conditions ... all in a day's competition.
The support staff were superb ... they made all of us feel comfortable, put on a great meal, scored targets accurately and keep us safe from range errors. It's yet to be seen if the event ends up resulting in any spread of the plague - I sure hope not!!!
I can only speak for myself but I had a really good time ... I always enjoy the solitude of a cross country drive, I got to meet a lot of great people, shoot with guys whose skill level was far above mine - watch out for me next time cause I'm coming after you. I got to see the new product from Vudoo/Ivan and I had a lot to think about on my drive home.
I did pick up a couple packs of targets and have invited my gun club RFBR competitors to a "BP-150 Target and Sanction Evaluation" this weekend at our range in Lufkin (Angelina Rifle and Pistol Club). We'll be shooting on August 8, Saturday, beginning between 8 and 9am. Any shooters reading this post are welcome to saddle-up and join us. We've got a quorum committed to shooting already and will make this a fun shoot - but we will be scoring like competitors always do. Our primary mission is to evaluate the BP-150 as a potential sanctioning body for our 2021 season.
Norm Flynn