Under threatening skies all weekend, the inaugural annual Bayou Rifles Lapua Long Range Regional took place at Bayou Rifles’ Julliff Range south of Houston, TX. The three day event kicked off with the team matches. There were three divisions of teams, with Iron Sights Match Rifles, F-TR and F-Open each having a few teams. The morning started with calm winds and heavy overcast but that continued to change throughout the match and the winds picked up rapidly towards the end of the first match and kept up their dance during the second match. Thankfully the rain stayed away until the match was concluded, but then the skies opened up with a vengeance.
In Iron Sights, the winning team was Texas X’s with Ken Porter, Gary Henry, Tony Miller and Keith Stephens shooting in pairs. Their scores were 796-31X and 782-35X. In F-Open, the winning team was The Long Shots, with David Gosnell, Shawn Ahrens, Jeff Cochran and Ken Dickerman under the wind coaching of Michelle Gallagher. Their scores were 789-35X and 774-27X. In F-TR, the winning team was BRI-FTR with Johnny Ingram, Omar Alonzo, Ray Weaver and Don Diffey under the wind coaching of Denys Beauchemin. Their scores were 791-34X (which breaks the existing NRA National Record of 790-30X,) and 772-20X.
Saturday morning, the competitors assembled for the start of the individual matches and once again the south wind plagues the shooters and affected many scores later in the day. The skies were cloudy from horizon to horizon but the rain did not show up. The matches went quickly under the expert direction of Rick Stewart from the Palo Alto Rifle Club and the three-relay matches were concluded by 2:00PM and every one left the range ahead of the rain which never materialized that day.
The next morning, Sunday, saw the same conditions as the day before but there was some sunshine which belied the rain that was coming. After two full matches, the radar was showing a large cell holding the rifle range and the competitors in its sights so we called the match before the start of the third match. While the competitors were waiting for the final results with bated breath for some, the BRI Long Range match director and the instigator of this regional tournament doled out a veritable treasure trove of gifts and prizes to the delight of the assemblage of competitors. The prizes ranged from Shilen Barrels, Kelbly gift certificate, to Lapua brass and bullets and VV powder and sundry items in between.
After the last item was distributed, the winners were announced and rewarded with medals and prizes; more Lapua brass and products. Ray Weaver won the match in F-TR with a 965-30X. David Gosnell won the match in F-Open with a 973-33X. Keith Stephens won the match in Metallic Sights with a 978-36X. Congratulations to all the winners and indeed to everyone who showed up to shoot. Special thanks to Glenn Edgard for a superb job in the stats office and I also want to thank all the members of BRI who helped prepare for the match, run the match and pick up afterwards. After the awards were given, the competitors were taken to the cars using the trailers and a few hardy souls stayed behind to pick up and put away all the equipment. As I was locking the Long Range gate, the skies could no longer be contained and the rain came down.
I want to end by thanking all our sponsors and most of all Lapua, their support made this regional special because of the amount of fine Lapua Product we were able to hand out to every shooter present.
One of our member shooters told me back when I first got started shooting, everyone can shoot good at 0700 in the morning without a whisper of wind. The great shooters are the ones that hang in and win the matches when the wind is blowing left, right front and back and all directions at the same time. If that is true we gave the shooters what they needed to rise to the top because the wind was as tough as it gets.
Have a safe shooting year and we hope to see you next year at the 2016 Bayou Rifles Lapua Long Range Regional.
Don Diffey
Match Director
Bayou Rifles
In Iron Sights, the winning team was Texas X’s with Ken Porter, Gary Henry, Tony Miller and Keith Stephens shooting in pairs. Their scores were 796-31X and 782-35X. In F-Open, the winning team was The Long Shots, with David Gosnell, Shawn Ahrens, Jeff Cochran and Ken Dickerman under the wind coaching of Michelle Gallagher. Their scores were 789-35X and 774-27X. In F-TR, the winning team was BRI-FTR with Johnny Ingram, Omar Alonzo, Ray Weaver and Don Diffey under the wind coaching of Denys Beauchemin. Their scores were 791-34X (which breaks the existing NRA National Record of 790-30X,) and 772-20X.
Saturday morning, the competitors assembled for the start of the individual matches and once again the south wind plagues the shooters and affected many scores later in the day. The skies were cloudy from horizon to horizon but the rain did not show up. The matches went quickly under the expert direction of Rick Stewart from the Palo Alto Rifle Club and the three-relay matches were concluded by 2:00PM and every one left the range ahead of the rain which never materialized that day.
The next morning, Sunday, saw the same conditions as the day before but there was some sunshine which belied the rain that was coming. After two full matches, the radar was showing a large cell holding the rifle range and the competitors in its sights so we called the match before the start of the third match. While the competitors were waiting for the final results with bated breath for some, the BRI Long Range match director and the instigator of this regional tournament doled out a veritable treasure trove of gifts and prizes to the delight of the assemblage of competitors. The prizes ranged from Shilen Barrels, Kelbly gift certificate, to Lapua brass and bullets and VV powder and sundry items in between.
After the last item was distributed, the winners were announced and rewarded with medals and prizes; more Lapua brass and products. Ray Weaver won the match in F-TR with a 965-30X. David Gosnell won the match in F-Open with a 973-33X. Keith Stephens won the match in Metallic Sights with a 978-36X. Congratulations to all the winners and indeed to everyone who showed up to shoot. Special thanks to Glenn Edgard for a superb job in the stats office and I also want to thank all the members of BRI who helped prepare for the match, run the match and pick up afterwards. After the awards were given, the competitors were taken to the cars using the trailers and a few hardy souls stayed behind to pick up and put away all the equipment. As I was locking the Long Range gate, the skies could no longer be contained and the rain came down.
I want to end by thanking all our sponsors and most of all Lapua, their support made this regional special because of the amount of fine Lapua Product we were able to hand out to every shooter present.
One of our member shooters told me back when I first got started shooting, everyone can shoot good at 0700 in the morning without a whisper of wind. The great shooters are the ones that hang in and win the matches when the wind is blowing left, right front and back and all directions at the same time. If that is true we gave the shooters what they needed to rise to the top because the wind was as tough as it gets.
Have a safe shooting year and we hope to see you next year at the 2016 Bayou Rifles Lapua Long Range Regional.
Don Diffey
Match Director
Bayou Rifles
