February 28, 2016 - MINTO CF BR - RESULTS

Well here it is - the end of February. Winter is on it's last legs - although a lot can still happen - this is New Brunswick after all and we have had heavy storms into April in years past.
We've gone through some pretty weird winter weather in the last few days. A deep freeze, rain, snow, ice pellets, thunder and lightning and day-time temperatures to +9C and another deep freeze. The Nashwaak river is high but open for about 1/2 of it's course to my place and my backyard has had a good deal of flooding (ice now). Interesting to say the least. You might recall the saying about the East Coast - "If you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes".

Today, for our match in Minto, the weather was quite nice. It was overcast but nothing came out of the sky. It was cool but
nothing like our last match here. It was windy - from 0 to about 25km/hr - the wind came from 9:00 o'clock when we were sighting in our rifles. Just before the first relay it switched to 2:00 o'clock and depending on the relay, it would switch back and forth between these extremes. Hard to keep track of and harder yet to get a shot off before it would switch again. Despite this, we had a superb display of shooting by Luke C. who recorded a 300/10X and enters the exalted Minto Hall of Fame. Congratulations go to Luke - even more so since he hasn't been shooting for quite a while. 
Fourteen shooters attended this match from Salisbury, Sussex, Minto, Durham Bridge and Oromocto, Grand Lake and other lesser known centers of shooting excellence. We welcome Roger L. who came shooting for the first time and who shot well indeed with his hunting rifle.
The Match Director today was Wayne K. who also did the scoring while Don M. was the score verifier. Scoring was tricky today as we were experimenting with overlays that would make a .224 and .243 bullet hole the same diameter as a 30 caliber bullet hole. The targets were set and replaced by Terry McN., Roger L., Dave C., Luke C., John McC. and Gus C. The ROs for today were Norbert S., Darryl K. and Bert deV. Roger provided everyone with a hot cup of coffee from Tim H. - a welcome treat for all. Many thanks to all who pitched in.


RESULTS - OPEN CLASS:
Luke C. - 300/10X (22BR)
Bert deV. - 299/14X (6mmBR)
Dave C. - 299/5X (.223 Rem)
Terry McN. - 296/12X (6mmBR)
Don M. - 296/8X (30BR)
Dan G. - 295/6X (6mmPPC)
Gus C. - 294/9X (.223 Rem)
John McC. - 293/8X (.223 Rem)
Tony L. - 293/5X (.223 Rem)
Darryl K. - 292/2X (.223 Rem)
Norbert S. - 288/1X (.223 Rem)
Guy H. - 284/3X (6mmBR)
Roger L. - 283/5X (22-250 Rem)
Sandy McC. - 265/1X (.222 Rem)

RESULTS - SPORTER CLASS:
Bert deV. - 146/3X (.222 Rem)
Wayne K. - 145/3X (.223 Rem)
Dan G. - 145/2X (223 Rem)
Terry McN. - 139/2X (22-250 Rem)
John McC. - 139/1X (.223 Rem)
Volker T. - 139/0X (.223 Rem)
Roger L. - 134/1X (22-250 Rem)

FEBRUARY 21, 2016 - PETITCODIAC - CENTERFIRE BR - RESULTS

Sunday was a gorgeous day for shooting a match in Petitcodiac. The drive down was marked by fog in low lying areas, gradually increasing temperatures and good company. The closer we got to the range, the less snow was evident - in short it felt like
an early spring day.

At the range the fog had cleared but the sky remained overcast throughout the entire match. There was almost no snow on the ground so the targets were clearly visible without glare. The temperature remained above 0
- I would guess about 5 or 6 C. What was really super was that there was no wind - absolutely no wind for most of the match - a rare thing at Petitcodiac. It took us a few rounds to get used to this condition - we're so used to shooting with tricky winds. Sadly, even though the opportunity was there, only one shooter was able to shoot a perfect match - congrats to John M. who enters the exalted Petitcodiac 300 Club.

We also want to extend a warm welcome to Nick D. who came to observe and who shot a few rounds at the end of the match - showed us how to do it too!



A lot of people helped out to make this match a good one:
Registration and finances: John C.
Match Director and Scoring: Dan G.
Score and stats verification: John McC.
Changing/posting Targets: John McC., Bert deV., Dave C., Bruce B., Darryl K., Tom N., Logan G.
Range Officers: Bruce B., Darryl K., Brian P., Bert deV., Tom N.
Vittles and Treats: Dan G., Dorothy/John McC., Shelly C./Tony L.
Many thanks to all of you - without this work a match just isn't possible.



RESULTS:
John M. - 300/9X   (.222)
Dan G. - 299/22X   (6PPC)
Darryl K. - 297/11X   (.223)
Dave C. - 296/9X   (.223)
Terry McN. - 296/9X   (6BR)
Brian P. - 296/6X   (6BR)
Bruce B. - 295/11X   (222)
Bert deV. - 294/12X   (6BR)
Logan G. - 294/10X   (.222)
John McC. - 292/7X   (.223)
George C. - 291/7X   (6BR)
Tony L. - 291/6X   (6BR)
Don M. - 290/6X   (6BR)
Norbert S. - 289/6X   (.223)
Tom N. - 289/3X   (.223)
John C. - 277/5X   (.223)
Wayne K. - 266/0X   (.223)

FEBRUARY 14, 2016 - MINTO - 22BR - RESULTS

The 22 BR match in Minto last Sunday was all about the wood-stove. We might have perished without it. Thanks George M. for keeping us warm.
It was simply the raw-est, coldest, most miserable day for a benchrest shoot in living memory - and the scores reflected this. We drove to the range with -19C which was not as cold as the day before in Lake George but the temperature did not increase a whole lot from start to finish. The sun was as bright as the day before with all the glare on the snow making it hard to see the targets at times - yes we were cranking the parallax adjustment and doing a lot of blinking while shooting.
It was the wind that was the real killer. It blew mostly from up range right into the shooting building with its wide open ports. It took about 5 shots before our fingers were white and numb and sometimes we didn't know we had pulled the trigger - at times before we were ready. This produced some lucky but mostly disastrous results. You have never seen so many grown shooters with red faces and tears in their eyes and frost on their whiskers and white fingers - even though they wore their heaviest winter clothes. The main concern was to get off the firing line as quickly as possible to hover around the stove until we had to do it again. When the wind was not blowing into our faces, it would switch from left to right unpredictably at different places on the range. Our shots often cut the paper 2-4 inches from where we expected to hit.
This cold affected our equipment as well - 2 shooters could not get their rifles to zero, some scopes did not respond to adjustments and the rests required the services of a body-builder with a pipe-wrench to adjust.
Today, Matt McA. was the Match Director and the scorer with Don M. verifying scores and addition. Dave C., John McC. and Bert deV. were the Range Officers while John McC., George M., Dave C. and Wayne K. changed the targets. The good treats were provided  by Barb J. who also brought a birthday cake for Carl J. and Cecil H - congrats guys. Many thanks to all for pitching in today.

RESULTS - OPEN CLASS:
Bert deV. - 382/5X
Barb J. - 366/7X
Cecil H. - 365/6X
John McC. - 362/5X
George M. - 356/3X
Mack MacD. - 350/3X
Guy H. - 347/4X
Don M. - 335/4X
Don McI. - 335/3X
Carl J. - 264/0X
Matt McA. - DNC

RESULTS - SPORTER CLASS:
Bert deV. - 366/6X
John McC. - 364/6X
Don M. - 306/3X
Wayne K. - 203/0X
Dave C. - DNC 

FEBRUARY 13, 2016 - LAKE GEORGE GUN CLUB - 22BR - RESULTS

AMAZING!

FANTASTIC!

INCREDIBLE!

Those a just a few of the words that come to mind when describing the 22BR shoot in Lake George last Saturday. What deserved such hyperbole ? Well, I'll tell you. First of all, the weather. It started out at -29C early in the morning when we drove to the range. The temperature had risen to about -18C when we started the match and rose to a balmy -12C by the time we had finished it. What saved us was that there was almost no perceptible wind, except very close to the target stands. The sun was very bright and reflected off the snow with a blinding glare and also caused a reflection inside the scope. 

Despite all this - the first set of 20 counting bulls shot produced 7 perfect targets - yes seven out of 12 shooters did not lose even one point for the first target. The top 3 shooters ended up shooting a perfect match and entered the Lake George 400 club. Congrats to John Mc., Terry McN. and Bert deV. Pretty amazing - something I've not seen since I started shooting. 

RESULTS - OPEN CLASS:

John McC. - 400/21X

Terry McN. - 400/16X

Bert deV. - 400/15X

Cecil H. - 399/24X

Don M. - 399/20X

George M. - 399/17X

Barb J. - 398/12X

Guy H. - 397/15X

Dave C. - 397/14X

Bruce B. - 393/7X

Carl J. - 388/12X

Bill H. - 388/9X

RESULTS - SPORTER CLASS:

Bert deV. - 394/14X
Bruce B. - 393/24X
Dave C. - 389/22X
Terry McN. - 385/18X
Wayne K. - 380/10X
Reid A. - 372/8X
Bill H. - 370/9X

Many people worked to make this a very enjoyable match. Firstly, our thanks go to Terry McN. who was the Match Director, set targets, and cooked up the hot dogs. Next, thanks to Bruce B. who took the registrations and was an RO. Next, thanks to Wayne K. who scored and put up with shooters looking over his shoulders and to Don M. who verified the scores. Next, thanks to John Mc. who changed targets and served as RO. Next, thanks to George M. who changed targets. Thanks also to Dave C. and Bill H. who served as ROs. Finally, last but not least, thanks to Barb who provided the treats and served as RO.

FEBRUARY 7, 2016 - PETITCODIAC 22BR - RESULTS

Yesterday, and during the night New Brunswick received the biggest dump of snow so far this winter. Yesterday's match in Lake George had to be cancelled as that range was inaccessible, (for those reading this and who want to shoot at
Lake George, the match has been rescheduled for this Saturday - February 13th). 
This morning at Petitcodiac, when we arrived at the range, some fellows were hard at work clearing paths on the range so that the target stands could be put up and so we could reach the targets. Thank goodness it was still very cold (about -12C) and the snow was still powdery and light.

When we arrived the stove had been lit and was belching out a lot of smoke and good heat. This became the popular spot all day as the stove was
regularly fed with good New Brunswick wood. The range continued to be hazy at times as the smoke wafted down range with the prevailing wind which was out of the north-west.


Speaking of the wind - today you had to read it correctly or be very lucky indeed - or both -  to make a good score. The wind ranged between 15 and 25 km/hr with gusts well in excess of that. At one point the target stands blew over and targets headed down range with John and Darryl in hot pursuit. Some of us were neither good at reading the wind today and obviously were not very lucky as our scores proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The Match Director today was Dan G. who also did the scoring. John McC. was a very busy man today what with verifying scores and retrieving/putting up targets for most of the match. Tony L., Tom N., Bruce B. and Dan G. helped with changing the targets. The ROs were Darryl K., Carl J. and Bruce B. Thanks for your work today fellows. Treats were supplied in abundance by Shelly C., Barb J., Dorothy McC. and Dan G. This was much appreciated by all - one shooter, after looking at his last target (and tossing it into the stove), was heard to say "Well, at least I had some great treats today". How true.
Now the results.

RESULTS - 22BR:

Darryl K. - 497/20X

Dave C. - 496/19X

John McC. - 494/13X

Don M. - 493/13X

Cecil H. - 493/12X

Barb J. - 492/8X

Dan G. - 491/15X

Terry McN. - 491/13X

Bruce B. - 489/9X

John M. - 486/12X

Carl J. - 484/19X

Bert deV. - 483/15X

George M. - 481/12X

John C. - 481/9X

Gerard D. - 481/8X

Matt McA. - 480/11X

Norbert S. - 477/5X

Logan G. - 471/7X

Shelly C. - 459/8X

Tony L. - 448/6X

Tom N. - 446/10X