Smithmoor March BPCR Write-up

[jackrabbit]

Fellow Shooters,

You ever have one of those days where it just feels great to be alive? Yep, yesterday was one of those days for me, and I suspect for many of the other shooters at the Smithmoor Range. The best word I can come up with to describe the weather is magnificent. The temperatures rose up into the 70's with only a mild, switchy breeze all day. It felt good to just soak it up. This was also the first match in which the new range covering was appreciated. It is really going to be nice come this summer. We are really proud of our facilities here in Carpenter. The berms are needing a bit of maintenance and I started to do that earlier this month. I just barely got started when the motor went out of the dozer. It is currently getting overhauled, so we will just have to deal with the berms until it is fixed. They are not really that bad, they are just not perfect.

We had 14 riflemen and women make it out to shoot this month. 14-16 shooters is a nice number to have make it out as it allows for four relays. This leaves plenty of help on the line for spotting and setting targets, yet the match goes fairly quickly so we can afford the extra time it takes to take a break for lunch. Speaking of lunch, Momma Lorraine brought out a chicken tortellini soup with dinner rolls, and fresh homemade cookies and chocolate cake. It sure hit the spot. I enjoy the break to visit and relax a bit before getting back to shooting.

We had several shooters using or trying out the new bore wipes this month. Buffalo Arms started making and selling a version that seems to be working out well. A couple of guys were also using some that they had put together at home. Although this is not a new idea and more than a couple of shooters have used this method for years, it seems to be gaining popularity. The quest for excellence continues..... For now, I am still sticking with my old one wet patch routine. I thought I would also mention Don McDowell breaking out the Montana X-Treme bore solvent. They have one specific product called their "Cowboy Blend" that is specifically for removing lead and carbon fouling. It was rather shocking how much lead it quickly and easily took out of some of the guy's barrels.

I don't know what to say about the conditions. They were excellent, but it still left for some tricky shooting. The breeze would sometimes gust to 8-10 mph for just a bit, and then switch. The mirage was also a little stiff, especially after lunch. It made spotting hits tough and lead to the downfall of a couple shooter's score. It should not have been too hard to have shot in, but it left many of us scratching our heads. This was a match where the spotting job would make the difference between shooting well and just, well, shooting. About the time I was really wondering what was going on, Bryan Youngberg laid down and drilled 10 rams like it was no big deal. I was impressed! Good shooting Bryan! I was also pleased to see there was a three way tie for high chicken shooter this month. Brian Mallin, Kevin Finney, and myself all shot four chickens. I fear some of my disciples in the way of the chicken slayer are catching me and I am going to have to step up my game! I like to see folks shooting chickens well, good job guys! Also of note was Carol McDowell shooting her nearly new C.Sharps Highwall. She shot 8 pigs from the sitting position and earned a 5 pig pen. She was very happy and it was fun to see her have some success. Jack Odor struggled this month. He has had two rifles he was working with and it looks like he is going to go with the other one. Also, I wanted to thank Jack for not choking me for the bad spotting job....lol We didn't do too bad until rams. It was some tricky conditions and I seemed to always be just a bit behind with my calls. The term "train wreck" comes to mind.

This month we had two up and coming shooters take first and second in the AA and A class. I was very proud to see Brian Mallin take first place this month with a 22. Jim Rodebaugh took second place this month with a 19. Jim has been working very hard to improve his shooting and I am glad to see some of his effort start to pay off. In master/AAA class, Bryan Youngberg and I had a good time ribbing each other as we battled it out for first place. After I was done shooting, I got to looking at the scoreboard and realized Joe Kapler was likely to swoop in and kill 9 or 10 rams to take the Match Winner pin. Usually he gets quite a few rams, but the stiff mirage and changing breeze got the best of him and his spotter. Joe still shot a good score of 27 to be second in the master/AAA class. Bryan and I ended up tying and had to settle it in a shoot-off. We had four minutes for sighters and 3 shots at three chickens for score. I got lucky and was able to prevail, 2 chickens to 0. It is always an honor to shoot against such talented shooters as Bryan. Bryan is truly a class act and we sincerely appreciate all of his support and friendship. I also wanted to thank Lee Wolff for the excellent job spotting for me this month. Lee is always fun to shoot with and is an excellent riflemen and spotter. Thank you Lee!

We will be holding our monthly Historic Target Rifle match next Saturday here at Cody's Shooting Shed, as well as we will hopefully have good weather so we call all shoot down at Watkins on April 1st (no joke...ha ha) Our Grand Finale for our Winter 22 Series is planned and ready to go on April 8th. It promises to be a great match and is filled up.
take care, Cody Smith


Shooter Chicken Pig Turkey Ram Total Place
Master/AAA
Jack Odor 1 10 6 3 20
Cody Smith 4 10 8 7 29 MW
Lee Wolff 1 10 5 7 23
Joe Kapler 2 10 9 6 27 2nd
JD Farmer 3 7 4 0 14 (broken gun)
March Pachares 2 8 8 8 26
Bryan Youngberg 1 9 9 10 29 1st

AA/A
Brian Mallin 4 9 4 5 22 1st
Jim Rodebaugh 2 7 6 4 19 2nd
Greg Bybee 2 6 4 4 16
Gary Smith 1 2 4 1 8
Don McDowell 2 2 1 1 6
Carol McDowell 1 8 5 1 15
Kevin Finney 4 3 3 3 13