Jay Christopherson
Not An Admin
The 2017 Northern Rockies LR F-Class Regional was shot this past weekend in Missoula, MT, at Deep Creek Range. This is a 3-day, long range regional F-Class match consisting of 2 individual days and 1 team day. The individual days are a 105-shot aggregate, consisting of a 45-shot Palma (800/900/1000) followed by a 20-shot x 1000 (Day 1) and a 40-shot x 1000 match (Day 2). The team match is a 45-shot per team member Palma match (800/900/1000).
This is the 4th year I have traveled to shoot this match and as always, it was an excellent match. Jamey Williams does an outstanding job of herding cats and ensuring that the match runs smoothly. Bob Evans ran the line and really did an excellent job of keeping everyone safe and the match moving. Having him there to run things really made a difference in freeing Jamey up a bit I thought.
I've attached the PDF results below, but here are the TL;DR results:
Individuals (1050.105X):
F-Open:
Team Matches (1800.180X):
So, let me just get this out of the way. Conditions were generally pretty good. Not perfect, but near to. There was enough change to push you out of the 10-ring if you were not careful, but overall, about as consistently good as you can expect. There was also some smoke haze, particularly on Friday and Saturday, that made seeing the target a challenge and looking at mirage was basically impossible. But, for all that, the wind was mostly very, very kind.
The FTR matches had some interesting side notes - Tom Hubbard, the 2nd place winner, had some equipment issues before the match started. He ended up borrowing another shooter's rifle and shooting his ammo out of it at 800 yards and things did not turn out well. For the rest of the match, he borrowed another shooter's rifle (closer to his rifle's chamber) and just about made it all the way back for the win. Some very impressive shooting there. Justin Covey, the winner, has only been shooting for two years and shot an impressive HM score. In fact, note that the two top FTR shooters both shot HM scores! Finally, John Van Santford, the 3rd MW, is normally a very accomplished sling shooter. This was his first match shooting FTR. I'm not sure if he'll be able to completely remove the taint, but I'm sure there might be some NW FTR shooters who are just as happy to see him go back to sling.
The F-Open matches were very close throughout - after Day 1, I believe there were 10 shooters within 5 points of each other and some very nice scores shot at the various stages. A whole lot of Master's (and an Expert and SS!) made a lot of ground into receiving their HM cards after this match. If your local 1000 yard range is not conducive to "leveling up" (i.e., Rattlesnake) your class, Deep Creek might be able to help you. ;-)
In the team matches, the "Washington F-Open" (formerly, Team High Life WA and no, not for the reason you think) team scored 1794-121X, which we believe is the pending National Record. The most recent current record, that I am aware of, is 1789-100X, set at the recent 2017 Berger Southwest Nationals. We were very excited when our shooting held up at 1000 yards to break the record.
As always, the match featured a catered BBQ dinner on Saturday along with a very nice prize table. The sponsors were very generous and the prize winners were very excited. We're all grateful when our matches feature great sponsorships. This match featured the following sponsors:
Thanks to @jameydan for a great match!
This is the 4th year I have traveled to shoot this match and as always, it was an excellent match. Jamey Williams does an outstanding job of herding cats and ensuring that the match runs smoothly. Bob Evans ran the line and really did an excellent job of keeping everyone safe and the match moving. Having him there to run things really made a difference in freeing Jamey up a bit I thought.
I've attached the PDF results below, but here are the TL;DR results:
Individuals (1050.105X):
F-Open:
- Jay Christopherson, 1047.62X, MW
- Tod Hendricks, 1043.61X, 2nd MW
- Jim Williams, 1041.51X, 3rd MW
- Justin Covey, 1030.48X, MW
- Tom Hubbard, 1030.41X, 2nd MW
- John Van Santford, 1027.36X, 3rd MW
Team Matches (1800.180X):
- F-Open - "Washington F-Open", 1794.121X
- Jay Christopherson, 449.33X
- Tod Hendricks, 448.28X
- David Oakes, 448.30X
- Monte Milanuk, 449.30X
- F-TR - "Misfits", 1751.50X
- John Van Santford, 436.14X
- Beverly Van Santford, 441.13X
- Phil Brackenbury, 436.12X
- Larry Bandaccari, 438.11X
So, let me just get this out of the way. Conditions were generally pretty good. Not perfect, but near to. There was enough change to push you out of the 10-ring if you were not careful, but overall, about as consistently good as you can expect. There was also some smoke haze, particularly on Friday and Saturday, that made seeing the target a challenge and looking at mirage was basically impossible. But, for all that, the wind was mostly very, very kind.
The FTR matches had some interesting side notes - Tom Hubbard, the 2nd place winner, had some equipment issues before the match started. He ended up borrowing another shooter's rifle and shooting his ammo out of it at 800 yards and things did not turn out well. For the rest of the match, he borrowed another shooter's rifle (closer to his rifle's chamber) and just about made it all the way back for the win. Some very impressive shooting there. Justin Covey, the winner, has only been shooting for two years and shot an impressive HM score. In fact, note that the two top FTR shooters both shot HM scores! Finally, John Van Santford, the 3rd MW, is normally a very accomplished sling shooter. This was his first match shooting FTR. I'm not sure if he'll be able to completely remove the taint, but I'm sure there might be some NW FTR shooters who are just as happy to see him go back to sling.

The F-Open matches were very close throughout - after Day 1, I believe there were 10 shooters within 5 points of each other and some very nice scores shot at the various stages. A whole lot of Master's (and an Expert and SS!) made a lot of ground into receiving their HM cards after this match. If your local 1000 yard range is not conducive to "leveling up" (i.e., Rattlesnake) your class, Deep Creek might be able to help you. ;-)
In the team matches, the "Washington F-Open" (formerly, Team High Life WA and no, not for the reason you think) team scored 1794-121X, which we believe is the pending National Record. The most recent current record, that I am aware of, is 1789-100X, set at the recent 2017 Berger Southwest Nationals. We were very excited when our shooting held up at 1000 yards to break the record.
As always, the match featured a catered BBQ dinner on Saturday along with a very nice prize table. The sponsors were very generous and the prize winners were very excited. We're all grateful when our matches feature great sponsorships. This match featured the following sponsors:
- Peterson Cartridge Company
- BAT Machine Co.
- Criterion Barrels, Inc
- Adam Macdonald- AutoTrickler
- Bartlein Barrels
- Elisio Stocks
- Sierra Bullets
- Creedmoor Sports
- AMP annealer
- LE Wilson
- Manners stocks
- Brux Barrels
- Starline Brass
- Sightron Scopes
- McMillian Stocks
- K & M precision
- Warhorse development
- US Tactical Supply
- Berger Bullets
- Hogue Stocks
- Pacific Tool and Gauge
- Western Powders
- Lilja Barrels
- BAT Actions
- Barnes Bullets
- Benchmark Barrels
- Big-Brass.com
- Brownells
- Broughton Barrels
- Bruno’s Shooter Supply
- Carl Boettger Scope Mounts
- Defiance machine
- Dillon Precision
- Holland’s Shooters Supply, Inc
- Krieger Barrels
- McGowen Precision Barrels
- Nightforce
- Savage Arms
- Shilen Barrels
- Sportsmans Warehouse - Missoula
- Stiller Actions
- Timney Triggers
- Wyoming Armory
- X-Caliber Barrels
Thanks to @jameydan for a great match!