December Smithmoor 22's

[jackrabbit]

Fellow Shooters,

Holy mackerel did we ever have a nice day to shoot yesterday! Several times during the day I found myself shaking my head in amazement at how nice it was. The wind flags barely fluttered all day and most relays were shot with no wind adjustment. The temperature was in the 40's and we had the wood stove burning about as hot as we could get it. Coralee brought out a big pot of beef, barley, and vegetable stew and Tom Reed brought a super sour cream lemon cake down with him. We had plenty this month and everyone seemed to get their fill. It was pretty dang good, I know I had three bowls! 14 shooters made it out to shoot yesterday with some some good scores being shot and two of our riflemen moved up in class. Nothing pleases me more to see folks improving and shooting well on our range.

As shooters know that have attended the matches, I like to share a patriotic story from history before the match begins and after the safety meeting. In the past I found stories of events that were amazing and history changing. This year I wanted to concentrate on individual American Heros, especially ones you may not have heard of before. It is amazing how many great untold stories are out there. This month I shared the story of Rick Rescorla who was British born and transferred citizenship to the US to fight in the Vietnam war. He performed many heroic feats in Vietnam and concluded his life of service while trying to protect and save people in the attacks of September 11, 2001. I enjoyed sharing it and hopefully folks enjoyed hearing it.

This month we had the outstanding rifleman Michael Rix come out on top for our match winner with a 33. Good Shooting Michael!! On the last relay of the day, I dropped a ram to come in first master. Joe Kapler shot a respectable 28 from the sitting position to win AAA class. Joe is one of the quiet guys behind the scenes that helps out a lot at the Watkins matches. He is a great guy and I am glad to see him shoot well and be a part of our matches. More good news this month was Hayden Farmer moving up a class. Hayden shot a 27 which is two classes above his normal A class. This bumped him up to AA class, and he ended up winning it with a 27. Good shooting Hayden! Weston Rix, a junior shooter, was back this month and shot well again to win A class. Good Job Weston! He sure has some talent and I bet we will see him battling it out with his Dad, Michael, for match winner before long. Other events of note are JD Farmer was our high chicken shooter this month. I had a pin for him, but forgot to mention it during the awards ceremony. I will get it to you next month, JD. Also, Jim Rodebaugh has struggled over the last year trying to get gear that would work. He found a winning combination this month and shot a 31 in his first match with a scope to classify him in Master Class. I have a feeling we are going to have to watch out for Jim over the rest of the 22 season.

The weather is not looking good for a big bore match next Saturday at Smithmoor West, but we will see how the week plays out. Watch for updates. The next 22 match will be on January14th, 2017. We have had several calls and questions about whether the 22 matches will be canceled due to weather. Unless there is a major crisis (earthquake, terrorist attack in Carpenter, biblical flood, etc..) the 22 matches will occur. It may be such that roads are closed and very few people can attend, but plan on them will going on. Also big news is Jim Rodebaugh is donating a custom made knife to be given away at the Rocky Mountain Regional 22 match in June! Jim is one of only a few Master Bladesmiths in the world. He produces about 60 knives a year, and let me tell you they are very nice, expensive, and coveted by collectors. This donation is huge and very much appreciated. The only way to win it is to be a competitor at the Rocky Mountain Regionals! Get your entries in early, we are sure to fill up. Along with this super donation, Jim is going to hold a "hammer in" at his shop in Carpenter at 1:00 pm on Friday January 13th. This is the day before next month's 22 match so if you are coming from a long way, you can come to the hammer in, stay in a hotel and shoot the next day. It will be worth it. A "hammer in" is a quick tutorial of knife making in which a bladesmith goes through the process in 3-5 hours. The really cool thing is Jim will be forging the Damascus blade that will become the work of art knife that will be given away at the Rocky Mountain Regional 22 Match. If you have any interest in knife making, forging, or metal tempering, make time to come. This is truly a great opportunity and a very generous offer from Jim. I hope to see you there. Email or call for any questions.
take care, Cody



Shooter Chicken Pig Turkey Ram Total Place
Master
Michael Rix 3 10 10 10 10 33 MW
Cody Smith 3 10 10 9 32 1st Master
Dick Hennebry 1 10 10 10 31
Jim Rodebaugh 3 10 8 10 31

AAA
JD Farmer 4 10 4 8 26 High Chicken
Tom Reed 2 9 8 6 25
Coralee Smith 2 8 8 2 20
Joe Kapler 0 9 10 9 28 1st
Robert Garibay 0 9 10 8 27

AA
Dick Farmer 3 9 6 5 23
Gary Smith 2 6 6 9 23
Hayden Farmer 1 10 6 10 27 1st

A
Weston Rix 0 8 5 7 20 1st
Ceph Jones 0 8 1 5 14

[cw50-70]

Cody, do you ever have the 22 matches on other than the 2nd Saturday of the month?

[jackrabbit]

Our 22 matches were designed for a way to have a chance to shoot in the winter. There were a couple of years where it seemed that we didn't shoot October through May and that is a long time to go without shooting! Too long! The winter series is ran November through April, with the April match being the championship and spots reserved to those that have made it to at least some of the monthly matches. I didn't want to run matches here in the summer mostly because there are a lot of other good places to shoot in the summer time and I did not want to conflict with them. Also, as a farmer, the summers are stinking busy, and it is hard to have time to put them on. So to answer your question, no. Hopefully you can make it sometime, if not in the winter, maybe in Cheyenne during the summer.
take care, Cody

[40-65rl]

Smithmoor Ranges and the Cheyenne Rifle and Pistol Club have a gentleman's agreement about matches. Smithmoor has .22 BPCR matches November through April, that shooting shed is great in the winter time. The Cheyenne Rifle and Pistol Club starts up in May. They will on the fourth Saturday of the month, pending CRPC approval next month. Additional matches in 2017 will be in June, August, September and October. No match in July due to nationals and Cheyenne Frontier Days. The 2017 Rocky Mountain Regional .22 BPCR Championships are now at the Smithmoor range off County Road 204 near Carpenter WY on June 9, 10 and 11. Flyer and entry form will be posted about January 1, 2017. If you are considering entry to these championships be aware there are 48 slots open and they usually fill within a week. At least that has been the case for the last 5 years. With the move to the Smithmoor range I expect the interest to be even better than before. If you find yourself in or near Cheyenne on that fourth Saturday everyone is welcome to shoot at the Cheyenne range.
Dick