Joe C
Student of the 1911.
Greetings All!
Well, my first long range match is in the books. As some of you know, I spent the last year shooting mid-range here in Nebraski and Iowa with local friends and my Gregory built .240NMC. It has been a great time learning to read the wind and enjoying the sport.
This past winter my friend and shooting partner, Herb, asked me if I would like to go shoot a big LR match. I asked him which one and when he said the SW Berger matches I said YES. It doesn't take too much to keep me from having to shovel snow and freeze outside testing pistols. So, driving to Phoenix in February seemed like a great idea.
With the help of my friend Bob "Da Viper" Pastor I built a new rifle in .260AI (ya, I know it isn't a big 7 or 30) and got ready to go...
It was a great trip with Herb and I driving all the way from Nebraski to Ben Avery in about 20 hours, only stopping for gas and dinner. Upon arriving we were greeted by hot air balloons and warm weather.
I had a great week meeting many new friends like Steve Blair, Erik Cortina, Larry B. (Congrats by the way Larry!), Kenny Adams, Brian Litz, Cal and Kevin from Canada EH!, David from Seattle, Jay Chris, Dermot from Ireland, and so many others, as well as seeing old friends like Shiraz once again.
My very first shot at LR on the 800 yard line was made with a new rifle, clean cold bore...it was a dead center pinwheel X...imagine my surprise. LOL!
Here are a few pics from the trip. I hope you enjoy them. I don't focus too much on scores (except when I'm joking and joshin' with friends) but I sure do enjoy taking a break from working on my creations and shooting rifles! That being said, I was happy with my first shoot and even happier to beat Erik on Saturday with my pink rifle that he laughed at when he saw it. LOL! All in fun man...all in fun!
One of the many balloons that greeted us:
Lots of shooters on the line!
Shooting on Saturday, first relay, winds as calm as a stone...but not so much as the last relay of the day...HA!
The two spindles I shot out on Saturday morning at 1000. One on the right was a 10 and a 10 and it was hit a few times previously in my string. I saw it fall out as I watched the shot through my scope. The one on the left was an X and an X. I dropped my head after the shot to reload and my spotter said, "You just shot the spindle out AGAIN!" It was cool enough to me as a rookie that I had to get a pic...
My second ever 1000 yard target from Saturday morning. I had two 9's at 12:00 and one at 6:00, one 8 at 6:00 and the shots to the right were all sighters. All the rest were right down the middle, and man was I happy!
The scenery was great at the range. I never get tired of the mountains of the SW.
Sure did look like a long way to 1000 yards on that first day...
Finally, a great thanks to my friend and shooting partner Herb for driving most of the way (he never really got tired), my lovely Heidi for saying, "Yes...go.", my friend Bob "Da Viper" Pastor for building me the coolest rest on the line and helping me build "Pinky", my friend Gord Ogg for all the long phone calls about shooting and .260AI loads, Bob C for making me some awesome bullets and all of you that were there that made the trip so fun and enjoyable for this frozen pistolsmith!
Well, my first long range match is in the books. As some of you know, I spent the last year shooting mid-range here in Nebraski and Iowa with local friends and my Gregory built .240NMC. It has been a great time learning to read the wind and enjoying the sport.
This past winter my friend and shooting partner, Herb, asked me if I would like to go shoot a big LR match. I asked him which one and when he said the SW Berger matches I said YES. It doesn't take too much to keep me from having to shovel snow and freeze outside testing pistols. So, driving to Phoenix in February seemed like a great idea.
With the help of my friend Bob "Da Viper" Pastor I built a new rifle in .260AI (ya, I know it isn't a big 7 or 30) and got ready to go...
It was a great trip with Herb and I driving all the way from Nebraski to Ben Avery in about 20 hours, only stopping for gas and dinner. Upon arriving we were greeted by hot air balloons and warm weather.
I had a great week meeting many new friends like Steve Blair, Erik Cortina, Larry B. (Congrats by the way Larry!), Kenny Adams, Brian Litz, Cal and Kevin from Canada EH!, David from Seattle, Jay Chris, Dermot from Ireland, and so many others, as well as seeing old friends like Shiraz once again.
My very first shot at LR on the 800 yard line was made with a new rifle, clean cold bore...it was a dead center pinwheel X...imagine my surprise. LOL!
Here are a few pics from the trip. I hope you enjoy them. I don't focus too much on scores (except when I'm joking and joshin' with friends) but I sure do enjoy taking a break from working on my creations and shooting rifles! That being said, I was happy with my first shoot and even happier to beat Erik on Saturday with my pink rifle that he laughed at when he saw it. LOL! All in fun man...all in fun!
One of the many balloons that greeted us:
Lots of shooters on the line!
Shooting on Saturday, first relay, winds as calm as a stone...but not so much as the last relay of the day...HA!
The two spindles I shot out on Saturday morning at 1000. One on the right was a 10 and a 10 and it was hit a few times previously in my string. I saw it fall out as I watched the shot through my scope. The one on the left was an X and an X. I dropped my head after the shot to reload and my spotter said, "You just shot the spindle out AGAIN!" It was cool enough to me as a rookie that I had to get a pic...
My second ever 1000 yard target from Saturday morning. I had two 9's at 12:00 and one at 6:00, one 8 at 6:00 and the shots to the right were all sighters. All the rest were right down the middle, and man was I happy!
The scenery was great at the range. I never get tired of the mountains of the SW.
Sure did look like a long way to 1000 yards on that first day...
Finally, a great thanks to my friend and shooting partner Herb for driving most of the way (he never really got tired), my lovely Heidi for saying, "Yes...go.", my friend Bob "Da Viper" Pastor for building me the coolest rest on the line and helping me build "Pinky", my friend Gord Ogg for all the long phone calls about shooting and .260AI loads, Bob C for making me some awesome bullets and all of you that were there that made the trip so fun and enjoyable for this frozen pistolsmith!
