DECEMBER 13, 2015 MINTO CHRISTMAS SHOOT - RESULTS

The 2015 Annual Christmas Shoot took place last Sunday with 23 shooters arriving from far and wide, (Moncton, Sussex, Maugerville, Fredericton, Oromocto, Durham Bridge, Minto, Grand Lake area, and all points in between). It was good to see some shooters who have been unable to shoot with us very much this year - welcome back guys.

Those of us, who got up before the sun, thought we had a great weather day in store. As the sun went higher in the sky though, it seemed to get colder (thank
goodness for a warm stove in the clubhouse and George M. (who fed it so well) and the winds were pretty challenging for all but the last relay. The tails on the wind indicators were snapping horizontally while the daisy wheels spun so fast I'm sure, by the end of the day, we had a full season of wear on the bearings - at least 40-50km/hr at times. Other times it would calm down and you think you had a window of opportunity only to find that when you pulled the trigger, the wind had completely reversed and your  bullet hole is now neatly touching the 9 ring on the opposite side. Oy vay! 

We all had a lot of fun though - shooting together, chatting, and eating a wonderful gourmet lunch. Thanks to Dave C. for being the Match director and organizing all the different relays for .22 rimfire shooters and a bunch of us who shot centerfire. Thanks to Matt McA. for doing a great scoring job on some pretty difficult targets and to Don M. for assisting. Thanks also to all those who looked after the firing line - Terry McN., Barb J. and Grant P. Sr. Thanks to all those who changed the targets and prevented them from blowing away - Dave C., George M., John McC., Barb J. and Terry McN.
It would not have been a Christmas Shoot without all the good food. Barb J. brought Banana bread for during the shoot and mincemeat pies for dessert. Dorothy and John McC. brought chocolate chip muffins. Dave C. brought his famous home made brown rolls and a big pot of Chili. Grant P. Jr. brought the Timbits while Wayne brought his delectable baked beans. Was that some shooting we heard in the corner? . . . No, I guess not . . . just Don and Ronnie polishing off the beans!! 

RESULTS - .22 RIMFIRE - OPEN CLASS:
Rimfire shooters had a mix of challenging targets at 50 yards. First a standard centerfire 100yd target with 10 bulls. Any Xs shot were used to break ties. Then a LARGE crow with 7 tiny bulls on and around it. Next came a Squirrel target with 5 small bulls on and around it, and finally a nasty rat with 7 small bulls on and around it. You could score a ten (1/4 minute), a nine, an eight or nothing. The top shooter won a turkey, second place won a ham and third place won a box of wonderful chocolates.




Volker T. - 288/4X
Sandy MacL. - 286/3X
Darryl K. - 283/1X
Barb J. - 273/2X
Don My. - 266/2X
Bert deV. - 266/2X
Cecil H. - 263/3X
Guy H. - 263/2X
Mack MacD. - 260/5X
Wayne K. - 260/2X
John McC. - 257/6X
Terry McN. - 246/5X
Carl J. - 244/3X
George M - 243/2X
Dan G. - 238/2X
Matt McA. - 237/0X
Dave C. - 228/2X



RESULTS - .22 RIMFIRE - SPORTER CLASS:
The Sporter Class shooters shot on all the same targets as the Open Class shooters without the benefit of mechanical rests, target rifles and high-power scopes. The first place shooter won a turkey while the second place shooter won a ham.

Grant P. Jr. - 163/0X
Grant P. Sr. - 129/0X



RESULTS - CENTERFIRE - OPEN CLASS:
Centerfire shooters had fewer targets than rimfire shooters and shot at 20 traditional bulls and also squinted at the rat with the 7 tiny bulls - remember? for a total of 27 counting shots. The Rat was photocopied and a bit grey so was quite hard to see. One shooter was told to "just shoot in the middle" where the final bull was located, and shot it dead center. The top shooter won a turkey, the second place won a ham and the third place shooter a box of chocolates.

Don Mu. - 267/12X
Bert deV. - 265/13X
John McC. - 251/5X
Gus C. - 248/6X
Wayne K. - 242/4X
Dan G. - 238/13X
Ron M. - 223/3X
Claude B. - 222/5X

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALL THE GANG AT THE MINTO SHOOTING CLUB - SEE YOU NEXT YEAR.

DECEMBER 1, 2015 - MINTO FUN SHOOT - RESULTS

The "fun Shoot" in Minto appears to have been a lot of fun! Thanks to Grant P. Jr. for sending the picture:

Left to Right in back: Grant P. Sr., Volker T., John McC.
Left to Right in front: Mrs. P. Sr., Dan G.

DECEMBER 6, 2015 - PETITCODIAC ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SHOOT - RESULTS

The Annual Christmas Shoot in Petitcodiac was held yesterday with 24 shooters attending - eager for fun and salivating for a great meal.
The day started with a beautiful drive down the TCH towards Moncton. Temperatures started
at about 5 above and during the day, went up to 8-10 degrees. Some shooters, (hardy fellas) took off their jackets and were comfortable while others (us older guys) stayed huddling near the stove. The sun was welcomed by all - even though, during the first relay, the glare off the snow was a little difficult on the eyes. Winds were very mild with the smoke from the wood stove drifting lazily down the range. At least one shooter who had put up flags, ended up not looking at them at all.
The event was under the direction of Match Director Volker Topf who also scored with Dan G and John McC. providing the verification. 
Targets were set up and changed by John McC., Dan G., Logan G. and Brian P. The ROs for the day were Dan G., Darryl
K. and Bert deV. Barb J. brought a plate of her delicious treats for all to enjoy during the shooting. Many thanks for all your help folks.

We began the shoot with 5 random shots on a blank piece of paper which was scored by using a template - this was the "Lucky Target". Bruce B., who was trying out his new rifle, was the "Lucky" shooter who won the turkey. Said "Dead-eye" Bruce: "I can shoot a blank piece of paper any day!" - and this without any sighter shots!
The second target was composed of black squares with white bulls in the centre. They became progressively smaller and gained more points. A shooter could fire all his shots on any of the bulls, but if any shot hit/touched the black square, all shots in that target were void. A middle of the road risk strategy
was adopted by most shooters although high risk small targets were the undoing of several while low risk large targets just didn't have enough points to win. Congrats to Terry McN. who took home the turkey.

Here are the Results of this target:
Terry McN. - 25
Dan G. - 24
Sandy MacL. - 22
Cecil H. - 22
Shelly C. - 19
Dave C. - 19
Tony L. - 18
Norbert S. - 17
Don M. - 16
Brian P. - 16
Bert deV. - 15
Darryl K. - 12
Barb J. - 11
John M. - 10
Bruce B. - 10
Carl J. - 5
Volker T. - 5
John C. - 4
George M. - 4
Tom N. - 1
John McC. - 0
Gerard D. - 0
Logan G. - 0
Matt McA. - 0

After shooting these squares, we all went to the club house for lunch which had been prepared by Beverly T. and Joanne K. - many many thanks from all of us. Thanks also to Terry McN. who brought baked beans, Shelly C. for the desserts and Dorothy McC. for the delectable cream puffs and the dinner rolls. Those who had indulged a little too much, did not shoot so well in the afternoon - but all enjoyed the good food, the camaraderie and the shooting.
The afternoon shooting began with a traditional 6-bull BR target - unlimited sighters and 2 shots for score. Some very good scores were posted with 4 guys shooting a perfect 100. Congrats to Cecil H. who won the turkey - (did little ol' Cecil have a hard time lifting that beast??)



Here are the Results of this target:
Cecil H. - 100/9X
Dan G. - 100/8X
Norbert S. - 100/8X
Don M. - 100/8X
John C. - 99/9X
Sandy MacL. - 99/8X
Terry McN. - 99/8X
Volker T. - 99/7X
Darryl K. - 99/7X
Dave C. - 99/6X
Bert deV. - 99/6X
John McC. - 99/5X
Logan G. - 99/5X
Matt McA. - 98/6X
George M. - 98/6X
Ton N. - 98/5X
John M. - 98/5X
Brian P. - 97/7X
Gerard D. - 97/5X
Bruce B. - 96/5X
Shelly C. - 96/2X
Barb J. - 96/2X
Tony L. - 93/1X
Carl J. - 57/3X

Our final target was by far the most difficult. It was a target that had 5 crows of different sizes sitting on a fence and another 7 very very small flying crows. We could shoot 10 rounds at any of these - one per crow. Some of us lost count of our shots and did not do so well. A few shot extremely well - plinking off the flying crows one by one. Congrats to Terry McN. who shot a 70 on this target, but since he could not lug home more than 1 turkey, second place Volker T. took home the bird.

Here are the Results of this target:
Terry McN. - 70
Volker T. - 61
John McC. - 55
Gerard D. - 49
Tom N. - 43
Dave C. - 42
Cecil H. - 41
Dan G. - 41
Norbert S. - 40
Sandy MacL. - 39
Matt McA. - 39
Darryl K. - 39
John C. - 39
John M. - 35
Carl J. - 33
George M. - 31
Barb J. - 31
Bruce B. - 29
Bert deV. - 26
Don M. - 24
Logan G. - 22
Shelly C. - 21
Brian P. - 17
Tony L. - 8



 After this was all done we packed up and headed back to the club house for presentations of some Petitcodiac Annual Awards and the awards for this shoot. (Please see the PSC website for the local club awards that are not associated with Benchrest Shooting). Additionally, John C. had organized the annual prize draw for those who will not be feasting on "roast beast" this year. This is always fun as no-one goes home empty handed!
Awards were presented to Petitcodiac BR Team members for both 2014 and 2015 team wins. Congrats to all the team members for a couple of years of fine shooting in the Team Match.

FROM ALL THE GANG AT THE PETITCODIAC SPORTSMAN'S CLUB A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND WE HOPE TO SEE YOU IN 2016.

DECEMBER 8, 2015 - ED SHILEN PASSED AWAY

Ed Shilen, founder of Shilen Rifles Inc. and legendary barrel maker, has passed away. This is sad news - we are all diminished. Ed was a great innovator who was always willing to help other shooters. Ed's good friend Butch Lambert reported the news: "Mikel Shilen called a while ago and told me that Ed has passed away. No services will be held. Ed was a great friend and very helpful to me. He was one of the icons of our sport."

Ed Shilen at a rimfire benchrest match. 

(Photo courtesy Frederick Jamison)