Nine (9) competitors came out for the second Suburban Mid-Range Prone league match of 2025. A dark overcast day with only a hint of wind made for an easy day for some.
In F-Open the winner was Marcel Bollinger with a 599-38X chased by Todd Thie with a 599-36X. Outstanding shooting to both.
In F-TR our resident grand-grand senior, Pete Church took the day with a 587-25X, followed by Leo Cebula with a 583-20X.
On a damp, windy day ten (10) competitors came out for the first Suburban Mid-Range Prone League Match of 2025. When we started it was noted that rain was likely by 2:00 PM. Some fast shooters were able to stay dry; however, the final relay of stage 3 got some rain. Not a gully-washer, but enough that your clothes felt damp and your equipment had raindrops on it.
Oh, yeah, it was windy. Not a tornado, but windy. Trying to follow the flags was difficult. Moreover, they didn’t seem to be truthful. Mirage? Not on a day like today. Maybe some were able to see barrel mirage, but down range it just never got warm enough with cool winds and overcast.
Enough complaining…. We had six (6) F-Open shooters. The high competitor was Cruz Stoneburner with a 593-24X, followed by Nick Nadenoff with a 592-26X, and Seth Stoneburner with a 592-18X.
For F-TR there were four (4) competitors led by Richard Dixon with a 583-18X and Mike Boughner with a 581-21X.
For a twenty second external ballistics chat, I noted that Mike Ruhlman’s F-Open 284 Winchester had down range velocity with a 184 gr bullets just over 400 fps faster than my 185 gr bullets out of my 308 Winchester. I didn’t realize the margin was so great….
As I observed in my missive about the Suburban Mid-Range Prone Match 4 it would be the last match I’d wear shorts to this year. I was right. This morning it was a crisp 39 degrees F, with frost on the grass. It wasn’t quite to the point of calling it damn cold, but it felt like you needed gloves. Admittedly, you really didn’t need them, but they would have been nice. That notwithstanding it was calm, like really calm. The mirage moved a little, but not much. We had some really good scores as a result.
In F-Open, Marcel Bollinger fired a 600-38X. There was a crowd following him. Seth Stoneburner and Randy Budde posted 598 with 36X and 31X respectively. They were followed by Cruz Stoneburner and Ed Peter who posted a 597s with 40X and 36X respectively. Notable was Cruz first stage a 200-17X. It was calm.
In F-TR, Leo Cebula led the few with a 589-22X. He talked himself out of a 590 by firing a “9” on his last shot.
This was the last Suburban Mid-Range Prone Match of 2024. However, there are two remaining matches: 2024 Halloween BSA Charity Match on October 25, 2024 and the 2024 Annual Foul Weather on November 30, 2024. Additionally, there is always the prospect of a New Year’s Eve Match. Watch this spot for details.
Eight (8) intrepid competitors braved the rain and cool weather to shoot in the first Suburban Mid-Range Prone League match for 2024.
The weather started out as a light drizzle with almost no wind. We put our rain tents out. As such, we were damp, but not wet. There were several good scores in the first match, but no cleans. As the day progressed the conditions became more and more difficult.
The high F-Open was Seth Stoneburner with a 592-30, he was followed by Dave Strycharz with a 592-25, and Marcel Bollinger with a 590-22.
F-TR and Target Rifle had only one competitor each.
On what many thought was going to be a rainy day, four (4) competitors fired the 2023 Halloween BSA Charity Match. We put up our rain pop-ups, and ran four (4) targets in the air. It didn’t rain at all. It may have rained around us, but we didn’t even need the pop-ups. Just a gentle day to shoot.
With only four (4) shooters, we ran a single relay, and completed before 11:00 AM. The results are below:
Solomon Diving contributed $300, MCSC provided $80 ($20/competitor), and another competitor kicked in another $20. So, the Venture Crew walked away with $400. Additionally, Pierce Engineering has committed to providing an additional $300 to the Venture Crew.
Bret Solomon handing contributions of $400 to the Venture Crew.
Next match will be the Annual Foul Weather Rifle match on November 25, 2023. Program is: 2023 Annual Foul Weather
On a mostly rainy day, ten (10) motivated competitors fired the third match of the Suburban Mid-Range Prone league. It was still raining at 9:00 AM, so we waited for a let off. At 9:10 AM we decided to go. The rain held off while both relays finished and only started again around noon. Only two persons were finishing up when those rain drops started.
I will for reporting roll Any Rifle and Palma Rifle together. Peter Church firing an iron sight Palma rifle posted the high score with a 594-31X. High F-TR was Leo Cebula with a 579-11X. High Junior was Leo’s grandson, Reece Pippin with a 576-21X.
Of particular note was Peter Church’s first stage was a 200-15X with an iron sighted Palma Rifle. Not bad at 84 years old.
On a really pleasant day we held the 2022 Halloween BSA Charity Match at the Midland County Sportsman’s Club. We had ten (10) shooters. With the help of donations from Solomon Diving and Pierce Engineering we were able to raise $700 for Venturing Crew 7772.
Bret Solomon, of Solomon Diving presents a check and cash to Venturing Crew 7772.
The winning F-Open Shooter was Nick Nadenoff with a 600-39X. 600s with Any Rifles or F-Class are rare occurrences. Congratulations to Nick on fine performance. Second in F-Open was Mike Ruhlman with a 595-26X, third was Bret Solomon with a 594-26X.
In F-TR William Gravatt was winning shooter with a 582-21X, besting Leo Cebula with a 577-17X, and Jeremy Jahr with a 550-10X.
Roger Franklin was the sole Service Rifle Shooter, so he was high Any Rifle with a 577-13X
We had one new shooter Oliver Barnes, a Junior who fired a 539-3 in his first match. We hope to see him back again.
The next match for 2022 will be the Annual Foul Weather Rifle Match on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. A great opportunity to get away from the in-laws or other relatives that are causing tension over the holidays. Come home refreshed and ready for Christmas….
Saturday, September 3, 2022 was a calm sunny day, that turned challenging as the morning continued to noon. Twenty-four (24) competitors competed for the Michigan Championships.
For this match, we combined Palma, Service and Any Rifle shooters into a single category. The match winner was Gary Duda using a Palma Rifle with a score of 596-27. He was trailed by John Luitnik with a 593-19 and Peter Church with a 592-33.
Of note, Jason Quayle firing a service rifle briefly had a 200-8 in his first string. Unfortunately, his target was configured for a .30 bullet, however, he was using a 223 Remington. Given the few thousandths difference between the a .308 and a .224 I did not expect to see a change, but one close round converted to a “9” as a result of a change. Jason’s 199-8 was still his highest 600 yard score. Good job, Jason!
In F-Class the F-open winner was Dave Monette with a 599-36, followed by Marcel Bollinger with a 598-35, and Don Hicks with a 597-36. For F-TR Jim Grissom was high in a small turnout with a 591-22.
The next match at Midland will be the 4th of the Suburban Mid-Range prone league on September 17, 2022. Program is: 2022 Suburban Mid-Range Prone League
On a cool rainy Saturday in October, the Midland Sportsman’s Club conducted their annual Halloween BSA Charity match. We have eleven (11) shooters who actually fired, and a few others who were almost rans, but chickened out with the rain.
Truthfully, we ended up not getting wet (unless you knelt in the wet grass), and had relatively calm conditions. Conditions so calm that Bret Solomon fired an F-Open score of 600-53X, which equalled the F-Open record (which Bret holds) for a 3×600. Needless to say, Bret was high F-Open. He was chased by Dave Monette with a 599-46X.
A notable achievement was her first clean. Marisa Tundo fired her first F-Open clean target on Saturday.
Marisa Tundo’s clean.
In the F-TR Category, Tom Fisher fired a 599-33X, second was Dale Lucy with a 596-29X.
For the sling shooters, we had three. I know I shot a legal Palma Rifle, but wasn’t sure about the other two. At any rate I was high with a 586-29X, followed by Mike Quillinan with a 585-24X.
In terms of contributions to the Explorer Crew, we had contributions from Solomon Diving (Bret Solomon) and Pierce Engineering (John Pierce) as well as unsolicited contributions from Mike Ruhlman, and John Luitink. Adding to that the MCSC contribution of $10/competitor the Crew left with $740.00.
Bret Solomon presenting checks from Solomon Diving and Pierce Engineering to the members of the Explorer Crew.
Its that time of the year where we move indoors. Look at the “Snow Country” matches (indoor F-Class and sling with .22RF Rifles), this year’s program: 2021-2022 Snow Country English Match Series.
The next match at Midland is tentatively scheduled for November 27, 2021 (the Saturday after Thanksgiving). We will watch the weather closely that date and decide whether to run the match or not. Program is: 2021 Annual Foul Weather.
Eleven (11) shooters came out for the last Mid-Range Prone League match of 2021. After a lengthy delay due to fog, the match commenced.
We had a sprinkling of every category for this match. High (and only) Any rifle was Peter Church with a 596-35. High F-Open was Kelley Neeley with a 594-26. High (and only) F-TR was Ed Gostomski with a 593-29. High (and only) Palma Rifle Shooter was Ray Gross with a 599-31. Lastly, high service rifle shooter was Kyle Matzelle with a 575-15.
