QUICK REMINDERS FOR  MAY 2026

SHOOT SCHEDULES:

Sunday, May 31, 2026 - PETITCODIAC - RIMFIRE BR

Sunday, June 7 - C.F. OPEN + SPORTER, Hgun C.F. 

Sunday, June 21 - MINTO -Annual Rimfire Team Shoot - R.F. OPEN at 100yd

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2026 CLUB RECORDS/ GUN SHOW DATES/ NEW BRUNSWICK CLEAN TARGET RECORDS/ CONTACT INFORMATION

MAY 24, 2026 - MINTO - RIMFIRE BR - OPEN/SPORTER

Thanks to Dale H. for sending the following results and to both Barb J. and Darryl K. for some of the pictures.

Our day in Minto started out with a temperature of about 2C on the way to the range but ended up at a warm 23C at the end of the match. A bit cool for May, but luckily we had a Semi-annual meeting scheduled before the rimfire match was to begin. By the time we started shooting the temperature was reasonable. The day was sunny, which was very welcome given the cool and grey spring before today.

As is usual, and so not unexpected, the wind in Minto was crazy. It was all over the place - coming from all directions although mostly from the left at about 9:00 o'clock and secondly from the 12:00 o'clock direction. In addition we had to deal with significant strong switches from the right at 3:00 o'clock and 5:00 o'clock. Quite a lot to keep track of during a relay of about 20 minutes. In addition, although there were periods of relative calm, the wind was forceful and peeked at at least 30km/hr in gusts. It is small wonder that no clean matches were shot today. 

Congrats go to Gerald D. who won the Open class and also shot the only clean target sheet of the entire match. Also to Darryl K. who came in second in the Open class. In the Sporter class, congrats to Wayne LeB. who placed first and to Volker T. who placed second. All things considered, some pretty good scores were shot today.

PEOPLE TO THANK:

Match Director – David C.

Scorer and Verifier – John M. and Dale H.

Range Officers – Wayne K., Darryl K. and Volker T.

Treats – Barb J. (Cookies), David C.  (Coffee and Cookies)

Target Changers – Barb J., David C., Bruce B. and Dale H.

Pictures – Barb J., Bert deV. and Darryl K.

 

RESULTS – OPEN CLASS RIMFIRE:

Shooter                     Targets                  Total

Gerald D. 198/3X    200/3X       398/6X

Darryl K. 199/5X    198/7X       397/12X

Bert deV. 198/7X    198/6X       396/13X

Dale H. 197/12X    198/10X     395/22X

Barb J. 197/7X    198/6X       395/13X

Bruce B. 192/2X    196/3X       388/5X

David C. 194/6X    193/4X       387/10X

George M. 196/4X    191/3X       387/7X

Norbert S. 192/6X    192/4X       384/10X

Wayne K. 179/3X    197/6X       376/9X

John McC. 198/7X    170/1X      368/8X

RESULTS – SPORTER CLASS RIMFIRE:

Shooter                  Targets                     Total

Wayne LeB. 199/4X    199/6X       398/10X

Volker T. 199/3X    197/7X       396/10X

Bert deV. 195/6X    198/5X       393/11X

Richard M. 197/5X    194/4X       391/9X

Danny G. 192/0X    191/7X       383/7X

John McC. 192/5X    168/1X       360/6X

MAY 17, 2026 - PETITCODIAC - CENTERFIRE BR

Thanks to Darryl K. for sending the results and pics and to Dan G. for the write up.

"We only had seven shooters but that’s kinda the norm these days I guess.   It was a lovely day with the temperature hovering around 25C degrees.  The wind was moderate but twitchy, shifting very quickly - you had to be careful, lol !   Still some decent scores shot."  

Congrats go to Dan G. who shot a 300/22X and to John McC. with a 300/18X.

PEOPLE TO THANK :

Match Director - Dan G.

Scorer - Dan G.

Score Verifier - John McC.

Range Officers - 

Target Changers - Tony L.,

Treats - Dan G.

Photos - Darryl K.

RESULTS - CENTERFIRE BENCHREST:

Dan G. -   100/6X       100/9X       100/7X = 300/22X (30BR)

John McC. - 100/2X     100/8X     100/4X = 300/18X (30BR)

Malcolm McA. - 100/3X    100/5X    98/4X = 298/12X (6mmBR)

Becky McC. - 100/2X      99/2X      99/1X = 298/5X (6mmBR)

Darryl K. -   98/2X      98/4X      100/5X = 296/11X (6mmBR)

Matt A. -   97/3X      99/3X      100/3X = 296/9X (6 X 45)

Tony L. -  93/0X      98/2X      96/1X = 287/3X (6mmBR)

MAY 12, 2026 - MINTO - RANGE OFFICER TRAINING COURSE

It turned out to be a pretty nice day for our Range Officer Training Course. The weather cooperated in that it was overcast but did not rain. It was a bit windy and a bit cool for May in New Brunswick - about 12C.

The trainer was Steven Stewart, the range development person and trainer, of the Royal New Brunswick Rifle Association. Steven leaned on his vast experience locally, provincially and nationally as a shooter and range officer to instruct us, in a relaxed way, to carry out the main function of a Range Officer, which is "to help the shooter or competitor enjoy and complete the shoot safely".

The group of trainees were 5 members of the Minto Gun Club. More had been expected but could not make it for various reasons. 

Steven spent about an hour talking about the steps involved in organising a successful shoot and the role of Range Officers. Considering the trend in today's shooting world, he used many good examples of how we need to be sensitive to the needs of our aging shooters and competitors. More specifically, hearing difficulties (especially with ear defenders), visual difficulties and short term memory problems need to be taken into account when issuing range commands. A good deal of patience is often required.

It became clear that range officer and range commands are specific to the type of shooting that is being done. However, general commands include 

1. a range/course of fire briefing, 

2. a command to go to the firing line, 

3. a command to set up equipment, 

4. a command to bring the firearm to the firing line, 

5. a command to make ready, 

6. to ascertain all shooters are ready, 

7. a command to fire, 

8. to make sure all shooters have completed the course of fire, 

9. a command to cease firing (or to stop in a dangerous situation), 

10. to make sure all firearms are unloaded and are clear,

11. a command to rack the firearms. 

The range officer is further responsible for the safety of all persons going forward to the targets by ensuring that no firearms are transported to the firing line/benches.

A very important principle is to issue commands clearly, simply, loudly and to make sure shooters know what it is you want them to do.

MAY 10, 2026 - MINTO - CENTERFIRE BR - OPEN/SPORTER

It was a rather miserable day for a shoot in Minto. The temperature started out at a cool 10C and by the end of the match it had increased to a whopping 12C. In addition, it was overcast and it rained off and on throughout the day. Of course, we endured the famous Minto winds which ranged from 0km/hr to maybe 30km/hr and from the 9:00 o'clock direction predominantly, to from any other direction especially those you least expect.

Thanks to Wayne K., the clubhouse was nice and warm as he had started a fire long before the rest of the shooters had arrived. Come to think of it, for most of the shoots I've been to in the last 10 years, Wayne has had a fire going in the stove and the clubhouse has been warm and cozy. Many thanks Wayne, for doing this for us.

PEOPLE TO THANK:

Match director - Bert deV.

Scorers and verifiers - David C. and Bert deV.

Range Officers - Don M. and Wayne K.

Target Changers - David C., Guy H. and Conrad L.

Coffee and cookies - David C.

RESULTS - CENTERFIRE BR - OPEN CLASS:

Bert deV. - 99/5X     100/5X     100/7X = 299/17X (22BR)

David C. - 98/4X     99/3X     100/6X = 297/15X (30 BR)

Don M. - 97/1X     97/1X     100/4X = 294/6X (30BR)  

RESULTS - CENTERFIRE BR - SPORTER CLASS:

Guy H. - 50/4X     49/3X     47/1X = 146/8X (223 Win)

Bert deV. - 46/0X     47/1X     47/3X = 140/4X (308 Win)

Wayne K. - 46/0X     44/0X     46/1X = 136/1X (223 Win)

Conrad L. - 35/1X     44/0X     49/2X = 128/3X (223 Win)

MAY 3, 2026 - PETITCODIAC - RIMFIRE BR

Many thanks to Volker T. for the results and write-up, and to Darryl K. for the pics.

Today was a better day than the last shoot at Petticodiac when stands were blowing over. Skies were overcast and the winds from the SE and SW were light with instances of almost no wind. The temperature stayed around 8-9C. Shooters tried to take advantage of that condition and as a result, there were 6 clean match scores shot. The X count was the deciding factor. In addition there were 16 clean target sheets shot. WOW!

Congratulations are due to Gerald D. who shot the winning score of 500/33X. Congrats also to Dale H. with a score of 500/26X, Bruce B. with 500/22X, Chris S. with 500/20X, John McC. with 500/20X and Grant H. with 500/18X

PEOPLE TO THANK:

Match director: Volker T.

Scorer: Volker T.

Score verifier: Dan G.

Range Officers: Chris S. and Grant H.

Targets changers: Chris S., Dan G., Grant H. and John McC.

Sweets: Bruce B. and Dan G.

Photos: Darryl K.

RESULTS - RIMFIRE BR:

Shooter   Target Sheet #1  Target Sheet #2   Total

Gerald D.        250/20X              250/13X     = 500/33X

Dale H.            250/10X              250/16X     = 500/26X

Bruce B.         250/11X              250/11X      = 500/22X

Chris S.          250/12X              250/8X        = 500/20X

John McC.      250/10X              250/10X      = 500/20X

Grant H.          250/8X                250/10X      = 500/18X

Wayne LeB.    249/14X              250/14X      = 499/28X

John M.           248/10X              250/16X      = 498/26X

Darryl K.         246/8X                 250/8X        = 496/16X

Richard M.      242/5X                250/6X         = 492/11X

Dan G.             237/4X                244/6X         = 481/10X

Kevin C.          227/0X                236/0X         = 463/0X

APRIL 25, 2026 - "CANT" - WHAT IT DOES TO THE POINT OF IMPACT

Many of us have experienced the frustration of missing the X ring even when all conditions and the shot release appeared to be perfect. 

"What else is new", you may say. Well, not all misses are your fault or due to misjudging the wind. Some may be due to a small unseen and unexpected equipment problem.

The misses I'm talking about are less common in situations where a front rest with levelling adjustments is used as in benchrest shooting and very much more common when a soft bag front rest or no front rest at all is used. 

This may, in part be due to something called "CANT".

Cant is essentially holding the rifle, at the time it is fired, (and thus the sights), off the vertical plane in which it was zeroed. 

Scopes and other sights are zeroed so that the crosshairs are in true vertical and horizontal planes. You do this so that elevation adjustments move truly vertically and so that windage adjustments move truly horizontally. In other words, it is important for accuracy, that in trying to move your point of impact vertically, the cross hairs move only up or down and not left and right at the same time. The same would be true of a windage adjustment where you want the cross hairs to move horizontally and not at all vertically.

A scope is mounted an inch or more above the bore of a rifle and so it cannot be in the same plane as the bore of the rifle. If the rifle is canted slightly to one side, it may rotate around the bore but not around the bore and the scope at the same time. When the rifle is canted, and you are ready to fire, you place the sights on your point of aim but your rifle is canted and so the point of impact and the point of aim are no longer aligned. What happens is that canting the rifle changes the point of impact shown in the cross hairs. While the rifle may appear to be perfectly zeroed, the cross hairs may actually point to a spot above or below, and left or right, of the actual point of impact. In good, lower light conditions, you might be able to see this with a laser bore sighter at shorter ranges.

The effect is noticable in short range shooting but in long range shooting, the effect is multiplied and dramatic. For example, at 1000yds, a .30 caliber bullet, fired from a rifle canted only 6 degrees will miss the point of aim by about 55 inches. Even on a short range the same 6 degree cant at 100 yds can result in a 1/2 inch miss. Double everything for a 12 degree cant. These numbers would change depending on the caliber, the distance you are shooting, the characteristics of the bullet, the height of the scope above the bore and other factors.

Six degrees is equivalent to one minute on the face of a clock. This is so small that without reference lines, an average person/shooter cannot see the difference between a vertical hold and a canted hold.

There is a relatively inexpensive way to provide a reference and to correct for cant. Try a properly installed levelling bubble in an anti-cant accessory which allows you to bring the rifle to a true vertical hold identical to what you did when zeroing. Level the bubble before you shoot and you have elliminated errors due to cant.

APRIL 26, 2026 - MINTO - RIMFIRE BENCHREST - OPEN AND SPORTER CLASS

Many thanks to Dale H. for sending these results. Many thanks also to Darryl K. and Barb J. for sending many fine pics.

It is Springtime in New Brunswick - finally! You could tell from the temperatures, (which ranged from 1C in the morning to about 20C at the end of the match), and the constant sunshine. You could also tell from the number of happy, energized shooters that came to Minto from all around the southern parts of the province. 

Unfortunately, you could also tell by the mixed-up, switching, (mostly from 12:00 to 3:00 o'clock but also from 6:00 and 9:00 o'clock,  ), and blustery winds, (anywhere from 0 to 30km/hr added to periods of no movement of the flags). Winds that buffeted the shooters and the projectiles as soon as they left the comfort of the barrel. Often they did hit where they were aimed, but missed when it counted the most. This resulted in only 3 clean target sheets shot at this match, no clean match scores and a sense of resignation that mother nature got the best of us today. We did give it a good try though.

After all the shooting was over and everyone was in the clubhouse, the first order of business was the presentation of a shooting award from last year to Gerald D. for excellence in pistol shooting.

PEOPLE TO THANK:

Match Director – David C.

Scorer and Verifier – John M., Dale H.

Range Officers – Bert deV., Wayne K., Conrad L.

Treats – Barb J. (Cookies), David C.  (Coffee and Cookies)

Target Changers – Barb J., George M., Dan B., Bruce B., Dale H. and David C.

Pictures – Barb J., Darryl K. and Bert deV.

RESULTS – OPEN CLASS RIMFIRE BR:

Shooter                  Targets                 Total 

Bert deV. 200/7X    197/7X       397/14X

Barb J. 199/5X    198/5X       397/10X

Dale H. 200/7X    196/7X       396/14X

Darryl K. 195/4X    198/6X       393/10X

Wayne K.  196/5X    196/8X       392/13X

George M. 199/8X    190/1X       389/9X

Guy H. 194/8X    193/5X       387/13X

John Mc. 198/7X    185/6X      383/13X

Norbert S. 191/1X    192/5X       383/6X

Bruce B. 187/4X    195/3X       382/7X

Gerald D. 187/2X    193/3X       380/5X

David C. 186/5X    194/3X       380/8X

RESULTS – SPORTER CLASS RIMFIRE BR:

Shooter                  Targets                     Total

Wayne LeB. 199/1X    200/9X       399/10X

Richard M. 196/7X    199/8X       395/15X

Dan B. 198/6X    195/2X       393/8X

Bert deV. 197/7X    192/3X       389/10X

John Mc. 193/3X    191/2X       384/5X

Conrad L. 197/3X    183/3X       380/6X

Gerry J. 186/3X    174/1X       360/4X

APRIL 19, 2026 - PETITCODIAC - CENTERFIRE BR

Thanks to Darryl K. for sending the results and pics and to Dan G. for the write-up.

The Centerfire shoot on Sunday was attended by eight shooters….nine actually. Two were new guys that shared what ammo they had between them to experience Benchrest shooting.   Subsequently, their score really wasn’t recordable but they did enjoy themselves. One shooter had to withdraw because of a rifle/ scope issue…..she’ll be back as soon as the old man fixes this issue. It was a pretty nice day with moderate winds and not intolerable temperatures. Scores were not what they could have been probably, but a number of shooters took the opportunity of an early preliminary match to try a new load. I’m sure the scores will improve dramatically before we get very far into the season. Overall it was a great day and no one left for home discouraged.  

PEOPLE TO THANK:

Match Director - Dan G.

Scorer - Dan G.

Score Verifier - John McC.

Range Officer - Dan G.

Target Changers - Tony L., John McC., Malcolm McA. and Matt A.

Treats - Dan G.

Pics - Darryl K.

RESULTS - CENTERFIRE BR FOR SCORE:

Darryl K. - 99/5X     100/4X     100/7X = 299/16X (6mmBR)

Dan G. -  100/6X     100/3X     99/6X = 299/15X (  )

Matt A. - 98/2X     100/3X     100/2X = 298/7X (6mmBR)

Malcolm McA. - 99/4X     98/4X     100/3X = 297/11X (30BR)

John McC. - 98/3X     99/2X     97/3X = 294/8X (6mmBR)

Tony L. - 90/0X     86/0X     92/0X = 268/0X (6mmBR)

Kayelyn A. - DNF

Alex B. - DNF