On a cool, sunny Saturday morning, we had five (5) shooters compete in the second Winter League Match of 2021. Of the five (5), there were three (3) F-Open Shooters, one (1) each of F-TR and Palma Rifle.
The high shooter in F-Open was Marcel Bollinger with a 390-19X, High F-TR was Charley Hayes with a 389-11X, and high Palma rifle was Leo Cebula with a 193-8X with a damaged rifle.
We had seven (7) shooters this morning. A good turnout for a day that started at about 16 degrees F. Surprisingly, the sling shooters outnumbered the F-Class shooters. That doesn’t happen very often.
We had four (4) categories represented, with just a couple shooters in each. High (and only) Any Rifle was Matt Wieczorek with a 395-18, High F-Open was Tony Dekelaita with a 390-12, High Palma Rifle was Ray Gross with a 395-21, and high Service Rifle was Jason Quayle with a 358-2.
In notable performances, Matt Wieczorek had the only clean for the day in his second string, a 200-10.
Winners: (l to r) Derek Stratelak, Marcel Bollinger, Ray Gross, Matt Wieczorak, Scott Burr with their Winnings (bottle of Prosecco) in front of the Tent. Note the snow, we were happy it wasn’t falling while we were shooting.
We truly thread the needle. On Wednesday, December 30, in the year of COVID, we saw snow and low temperatures. On Thursday, December 31 we had dry conditions, little wind, and temperatures outside hovering around 30 F. Moreover, in the tent it was easily over 40 maybe even higher. As I type this report on January 1, 2021 I watch the sleet falling. So, we definitely were able to thread the needle for our New Years Eve match.
When Ray and I arrived at the range at about 8:45 AM, we were pretty lonely, but at about 9:00 AM cars and trucks started arriving. Order lines (or squadding lines) often follow a poisson distribution. Which is to say it is random with clumps. Normally, I see a single “clump”. For this match we experienced about three clumps. Which is to say we had a lot of entries. Seventeen (17) to be exact. This was the largest New Year’s Eve match in our history.
For demographics, we had: seven (7) F-Open, four (4) F-TR, three (3) Palma Rifle, two (2) Service Rifle, and one (1) lonely Any Rifle shooter. The high competitors were: Marcel Bollinger, F-Open 400-28; Scott Burr, F-TR 399-23; Ray Gross, Palma Rifle 397-23; Derek Stratelak, Service Rifle 379-12; and Matt Wieczorak, Any Rifle 391-13.
Good shot showing firing through a short culvert to keep the heat from our propane heater in the tent. It also reduces the numbness on the trigger hand.
It appears we will thread the needle. There is poor weather on Wednesday the 30th, and poor weather expected on Friday, January 1, 2021. But just cold on Thursday the 31st.
So, we will shoot. The tent is up, and a heater is available. So come on out, and kiss the year of COVID Good-Bye!
The match is a 2×600 with unlimited sighters. Each category high score will receive a bottle of sparkling wine (Prosecco). So come on out!
At the action of the Board of Directors of the Midland County Sportsman’s Club and in observance of Governor Whitmer’s executive order on COVID-19 the club is CLOSED until March 31, 2020.
As a result this match is canceled. If the club reopens in April, we will conduct the three Winter League matches (4th, 11th, 25th) planned.
Once again we had seven (7) shooters come out for a Winter Mid-Range Prone match. The weather was better than the last one by about 6 degrees F. Moreover, we noticed no COVID-19 virus beastie’s in the area. We did however, shake hands by banging elbows.
The conditions were very good for shooting with just a little drift noticeable. The high F-Open was Mike Ruhlman with a 390-15X. He was closely chased by Tony Dekelaita with a 388-11X. High Palma Rifle shooter was Ray Gross with a 399-28X. Leo Cebula was chasing Ray until he fired a shot on Ray’s target. Then it was time to test loads with the 85.5 Bergers. Velocity looked good, but can’t seem to get two of them to hit the same hole.
Notably, we had two new shooters, Dave Monette, and his son Jake. They fired F-Open for their first match. I suspect we will see a singular improvement when they come up for their second shoot.
This is the first results for the Winter Mid-Range League you will find. We tried to shoot once previously, but were snowed out (couldn’t see the targets).
Today we had seven (7) shooters. Frankly, we had a good time. The temperature outside was about 28 F. Inside we guesstimate it was in the 50’s F. No cold hands, stocking hats unnecessary, no shivering. Just a pleasure to shoot inside.
However, outside the winds of February were switchy enough to cause sling shooters to fire eights. The high F-Open was Tony Dekelaita with a 391-10X, High F-TR was Tom Fisher with a 377-8X, and high Palma Rifle was Ray Gross with a 393-21X.
Well, we tried. Under normal circumstances we would have started shooting at 9:00 AM. However, because this is the Winter Mid-Range we started at 10:00. Unfortunately, by 10:00 AM the snow had started, and after just a few shots, the targets were no longer visible. We waited until after 11:00 AM, and from the weather maps things were not going to get better.
