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Competition
2008 Iron Man Regional Metallic Silhouette Rifle Championship
All the details can be downloaded here (260k .doc file). There is a limit on the number of participants allowed. You may want to send your entry in sooner than later.
2008 NYPENN Regional Silhouette Championship
The Broome County Sportsmen's Association (near Binghamton NY) will host the 2008 NYPENN Regional Silhouette Championship, featuring smallbore competition on Saturday, August 30th and air rifle competition on Sunday, August 31st. Match details can be found on the BCSA Silhouette web site here and programs with registration form can be downloaded here.
Texas State Smallbore Rifle Silhouette Championship
The Austin Rifle Club is proud to host the Texas State Smallbore Silhouette Championships. We have a word document with all the details. Austin Rifle Club information is available here. Contact David Hailes for additional match information.
2007 Conard Cup
Break out your rain gear, the 2007 Conard Cup is scheduled for April 28th and 29th. Entry form and additional information is available in this Word Document.
Winnsboro Schedule Posted
The Winnsboro Gun Club 2007 match schedule has been posted to it's own page. Check it out here. This schedule includes the Southern National Smallbore Rifle Silhouette Championships and The Southern National Sporter, Target & Open Air Rifle Championships.
2006 Conard Cup Results
Although I was not able to compete in this years Conard Cup I did find time to visit Sunday's action. Hopefully Shooter Mike will have an article available soon. Until then, here are the 2006 Conard Cup results.
So you think you've had a bad day at the silhouette range?
Contributed byWith the possible exception of a few shooters in Master class, few of us are happy with every score we turn in. Most of us are looking for improvement. Some days just don't go our way and we find ourselves unable to improve or even watching our scores slip a bit. On occasion some of us might have an outright awful day. Here is a recollection of mine.
Firstly, I didn't actually have a bad day. I had a great day. I wasn't at the office. The sun was poking through the clouds. There was a good turnout for the match. Lots of good conversation between relays. I got some good input from one of the master class shooters. When the day was over I still had a positive outlook on the sport and was particularly excited about having a concrete game plan on how to improve the weak points of my game.
So here is my true story about how a good day, going silhouette shooting with my friends, turned into a terrible day for my scorecard.
A certain amount of trouble was expected. I had made a pledge to shoot only when ready. My scores had been dipping as of late and I was looking for a way to break my bad habit of listening to the clock. I wanted to make every shot count instead of making sure to get 5 shots downrange. Only after I could make every shot a good one would I work up to making all five within 2.5 minutes. If that meant only three of four bullets went downrange, well, that's the price of improvement.
I had also changed my stance a bit. Again, with my scores taking a dip, this seemed the time to make a minor change. My current position held my neck a little too kinked. I knew that I needed my head more upright. The only way to accomplish this within the 1.5 inch scope height limitation was to position the rifle higher. This caused my cheek weld to deteriorate into a chin weld. Not good. The fact I was changing my stance which I had been using for a year was the biggest problem. I practiced my modified stance at home but my presentation was quite mechanical due to lack of familiarity.
On Saturday morning I took 30 minutes to shoot 15 rounds in practice. The first 10 were my first attempt at sighting in offhand. It was difficult but seemed to work. I adjusted both elevation and windage. This didn't completely surprise me. My sight-in during the previous match had been cut short. I had notes reminding me to check the zero. These sighting shots were taking forever. Partly because it took so long to get into position and partly because, if I couldn't break the shot in that 6 to 8 second window, I stopped and started over. But I was sticking to my guns of not breaking the shot until the sight picture was pretty.
Some back ground is in order. I am a lowly A shooter. The NRA silhouette score book says that an 'A' Class shooter should be hitting between 22 and 30 targets during a 60 round match. And that's what I am usually capable of.
So practice ended. I sat by the fire. When one of our local Master class shooters came by I asked him about the 'bringing the rifle up to your head, not your head down to the rifle' concept. He said 'yep, that's the way to go'. He picked up my rifle and told me my cheek piece was too low (which I had surmised) and that my rifle was a tad too short for him. I am taller than him which meant it was way to short for me. He handed my a few butt stock pads just as they called my relay to the line. I had just enough time to use a long piece of masking to fix the foam in place. I shouldered my longer rifle for the first time on the first animal of my match to find that the foam had broken my Sightron scope. Not really. The artificially longer stock had moved the scope far enough to change my view through the scope. I now had a precise dot sitting inside a fuzzy tunnel. It was functional, but barely. I decided I could get through the day. I shot only 8 shots at 15 pigs, but got 5 of them. I could live with that.
Next was turkeys. Turkeys are tough. I shot 8 bullets at 15 turkeys and got 2 of them. Not great. But two shots went off while I was only preloading the trigger. Both were surprises that occurred before I had settled down. Both missed. I looked at the 2 for 6 _intended_ shots and wasn't too displeased. Did I mention turkeys are tough.
I generally do well on rams. Not this day. Again, I took 8 shots. Only 2 rams fell. Worse yet, two of the missed ram shots felt like winners to me. I took my time, was patient, and broke well into the animal without pulling the rifle. I was beginning to doubt myself. I know a lot can happen out to 100 meters, but this rifle and and ammunition combination had usually done it's part when I did mine, even on the rams. I was starting to become hyper critical of the trigger that had just surprised me twice on the turkeys. On any certain shot it felt like the well tuned Anschutz Trigger that attracted me to this rifle. On the next it felt like it had excess takeup combined with 22 ammo filth in the mechanism. I rationalized that my poor score and other challenges were getting the better of my wits.
By this point I was feeling a little dopey. I went to the range with my bold new plan and had 9 out of a possible 45. I was looking for some chicken luck to validate the amount of room I was taking up at the range. Last chance. We were called to the line. I gazed down to my rifle. I looked up to the chickens. I looked down to my rifle. Oh damn!! My scope rings were working their way off the front of my sloped riser. I thought "What should I do now?" My front ring was hanging just over half way off. I had shot 3/4 of the match. The math indicated it would make it to the end of the match. And sadly, it did. It may have been better for my ego had I just walked away and exclaimed 'Broken Gun, Broken Gun!'. But I stuck to my game plan. I end up taking ten shots but scored only one chicken. I never have liked those little chickens. I tallied up my score, which I could do on my fingers, turned in my scorecard, and forgot about it.
I left the range in a positive mood. Wanting to take charge of the items that failed me this day, I decided to take a look at the trigger upon my arrival home. Cleaning the filth out of my trigger should have been a quick and easy fix. Pushing the pin that had backed halfway out was even quicker. Yet another lesson learned. At this point all I could do was chuckle at my own incompetence.
So it really was a comedy of silhouette errors. I had a plan that, despite the long term improvement, would likely put a dent in my immediate scores. Only shortly before this match had I realized my rifle's comb was not as high as it should have been. A stance change without much practice had forced me to use a fair amount of conscious thought to get into position. A last minute length of pull adjustment helped my rifle fit my body, but the distracting sight picture surely cost more than the fit gained. And what can I say about poor rifle maintenance?
And believe it or not, I am probably more enthused about my Smallbore Silhouette future than ever before. Why? Because I have a road map of items that all lead to improvement. Changing the fit of my rifle and holding it higher for less neck strain will eventually pay off in a more solid stance. I know my presentation is clunky, but like the first time I built my stance, I can practice it until it feels second nature. I have a scope issue. Much better to be staring at the problem than wondering why the zero is wandering. Trigger maintenance can now be scheduled and added to the 'confident it is right' list in my head. And I tested my resolve to stick to a game plan despite the fact that the wheels appeared to be falling off. And that was the goal going in.
At the end of that day I summed it up like this. I may have made bad choices, my hardware wasn't up to snuff, and I posted a low score. I learned from my experience. And a bad day at the range is better than any day at the office. But the best part about shooting a really bad score; I am almost guaranteed some improvement at next month's match.
Conard Confessions
Contributed byThis was my first Conard Cup experience and it was a truly enjoyable time had by all. Nearly 100 shooters wrangled for top honors. Approximately 1/3 were Masters, 1/3 were AAA and the rest were AA & A shooters. It was a superb environment to learn from the best. People came from Canada to Mexico, Texas to Montana and every other western state to compete on a truly inviting range where an enduring legend, Conard Bernhardt, practiced his remarkable skills. In fact, Conard still holds the record for number of consecutive hits (aka the Long Run event) on Chickens (120) and Pigs (179).
The equipment was pretty standard among the shooters. Anschutz 54's and
Leupold 6.5-20x's were very common in the racks. Each top-rate contender
had a Kowa scope on a tripod with a spotter to call their shots. It was art
in motion.
Each shooter was assigned a starting relay (1-5) and position to begin the first match. There was a 45 minute wait between relays and you "added an animal" to each match for your next starting position. It all went rather smoothly.
The camaraderie was unbelievable. Squads and teams developed with shooters helping and encouraging each other through their relays. Playful competition coupled with silent curses were present but never prominent for fear of upsetting any shooter's streak. It wasn't superstition but careful observance of "the zone" one must maintain to perform their best, which was all the while peppered with self-deprecating humor about shots that were hit and shots that were missed.
The shoot-off's were spectacular. Watching sudden-death matches between Master Class shooters wielding hunter-rifles as they knock turkeys over again and again built the anticipation. It was truly exhilarating to watch until there was only one shooter standing.
All in all it was a classic good time. If you were a Master or AAA shooter - it's the place you go to test your skills and compete for great goodies. If you were a developing shooter, you had the chance to stand up against the good ones, compare and contrast your abilities and learn from the best. It had something for everyone and everyone enjoyed.
Fourteenth Annual CONARD BERNHARDT CUP CHAMPIONSHIP Results
This years Conard Cup was a record setter. Cathy Winstead reclaimed the record by scoring 149 out of 160. She also shot a perfect 40 along the way. This breaks Agustin Sanchez Jr.'s old record of 147/160.
The full results are available. Sorry for the large file size.
2005 Canadian Rifle Silhouette Championships
Can't get enough of the Pacific Northwest? Want an excuse to visit when it isn't raining? Located about 5 hours north of Seattle, the Heffley Creek Gun Club Range in Kamloops, B.C. is hosting the 2005 Canadian Rifle Silhouette Championships. The smallbore competition will run July 31 through August 2. Highpower will take place August 4th through 6th. All the details here.