This past Memorial Day weekend, the Deep Creek Range in Missoula hosted the Ironman High Power tournament with 3 days of rifle shooting plus 2 days of pistol matches at the nearby pistol range.
Forty-Four rifle shooters and 9 teams attended despite the ugly forecast leading up to the matches. It turns out the weatherman was wrong yet again. There was a brief rain on one relay and the rest of the weekend was great. There was definitely a "calm" in the air and three more NRA national records fell in a few categories. Many shooters fired scores over their typical classification and many fired their personal bests.
Match Bulletin (results)
XTC and 600yd F-Class
The rifle matches got underway on Saturday with a 1000 point XTC match with F-class shooters later joining in at the 600yd line for two matches there. 27 shooters fired in the XTC match with Allen Spiker, Philomath, OR, pulling out the win in the XTC match with a 986-45X. In the 600yd F-Class matches, 10 F-classers showed up with Jim O'Neill, Bozeman, MT, shooting a 398-24X in F-Open. LTC Don Erpenbach, Helena, MT fired a 399-27X in F-TR which included a 200-14X, a pending service category national record.
Mid Range Matches - 300-500-600yds
Sunday brought more great weather and a few more pending national records. Mike Anderson, Helena, MT, fired a super 200-17X at 300yds in the Senior category, and Erpenbach continued with more outstanding scores at the 500yd line and for the entire mid range course of fire. He will likely earn 2 more national records in the service category.
In the sling matches, Spiker fired a 597-35X out X'ing the second closest competitor by 2X's. In F-open, O'Neill again took the win and in F-TR Mike Anderson fired the winning aggregate score.
Long Range Matches - 2 x 1000yds
The winds finally picked up in time for Memorial Day's long range matches and gave all a reason to hold over or spin their knobs. Jeff Reed, Livingston, MT, took the F-Open win with a 384-6X and Randell Vansant, Spokane, WA, fired a 372-6X in F-TR. The sling division was, yet again, won by Spiker.
The Ironman Award
This award is given to 2 shooters each year, one F-class the other in the Sling division. It is an aggregate of the scores fired all weekend. It notes the achievement of the best shooters at all yard lines and positions. Allen Spiker takes it this year after shooting great scores in the XTC, MR and LR matches. Chas Bales, Valier, MT, takes the Ironman award in F-class. The F-classers have a chance to pad their aggregate by participating in the XTC matches, during which Bales fired his F-TR rifle in standing, sitting rapid fire and prone matches! The Ironman award includes bragging rights and an extra $50 award.
First Shot Counts Award
This year we tallied all the first sighter shots scores and determined a winner in F-class and sling divisions. This award is meant to recognize those that get their first round on target where it counts the most. It is actually a little surprising how many 5's, 6's and misses are fired in the sighters. F-TR shooter,Dean Brown, Spokane, WA, fired a 60-0X out of a possible 70-7X . The winner in the sling division fired a 97-2X out of 100-10X. The shooters earning this award also take home an additional financial prize for their marksmanship.
Team matches
Team matches continue to be a staple of the Missoula competitions as we believe they are a great way to help shooters improve their skills and they are a lot of fun. 9 teams participated over the weekend firing team matches at 600 and 1000yds.
Pistol Matches
The pistol matches were fairly well attended with approximately 20 shooters and there were enough shooters present for one leg in the Service and 22 EIC matches.
Future Matches
Email me for info on these matches (no PM's please) jameydan [at] gmail dotcom Further info is also available at mtrpa.org under "match schedules".
Forty-Four rifle shooters and 9 teams attended despite the ugly forecast leading up to the matches. It turns out the weatherman was wrong yet again. There was a brief rain on one relay and the rest of the weekend was great. There was definitely a "calm" in the air and three more NRA national records fell in a few categories. Many shooters fired scores over their typical classification and many fired their personal bests.
Match Bulletin (results)
XTC and 600yd F-Class
The rifle matches got underway on Saturday with a 1000 point XTC match with F-class shooters later joining in at the 600yd line for two matches there. 27 shooters fired in the XTC match with Allen Spiker, Philomath, OR, pulling out the win in the XTC match with a 986-45X. In the 600yd F-Class matches, 10 F-classers showed up with Jim O'Neill, Bozeman, MT, shooting a 398-24X in F-Open. LTC Don Erpenbach, Helena, MT fired a 399-27X in F-TR which included a 200-14X, a pending service category national record.
Mid Range Matches - 300-500-600yds
Sunday brought more great weather and a few more pending national records. Mike Anderson, Helena, MT, fired a super 200-17X at 300yds in the Senior category, and Erpenbach continued with more outstanding scores at the 500yd line and for the entire mid range course of fire. He will likely earn 2 more national records in the service category.
In the sling matches, Spiker fired a 597-35X out X'ing the second closest competitor by 2X's. In F-open, O'Neill again took the win and in F-TR Mike Anderson fired the winning aggregate score.
Long Range Matches - 2 x 1000yds
The winds finally picked up in time for Memorial Day's long range matches and gave all a reason to hold over or spin their knobs. Jeff Reed, Livingston, MT, took the F-Open win with a 384-6X and Randell Vansant, Spokane, WA, fired a 372-6X in F-TR. The sling division was, yet again, won by Spiker.
The Ironman Award
This award is given to 2 shooters each year, one F-class the other in the Sling division. It is an aggregate of the scores fired all weekend. It notes the achievement of the best shooters at all yard lines and positions. Allen Spiker takes it this year after shooting great scores in the XTC, MR and LR matches. Chas Bales, Valier, MT, takes the Ironman award in F-class. The F-classers have a chance to pad their aggregate by participating in the XTC matches, during which Bales fired his F-TR rifle in standing, sitting rapid fire and prone matches! The Ironman award includes bragging rights and an extra $50 award.
First Shot Counts Award
This year we tallied all the first sighter shots scores and determined a winner in F-class and sling divisions. This award is meant to recognize those that get their first round on target where it counts the most. It is actually a little surprising how many 5's, 6's and misses are fired in the sighters. F-TR shooter,Dean Brown, Spokane, WA, fired a 60-0X out of a possible 70-7X . The winner in the sling division fired a 97-2X out of 100-10X. The shooters earning this award also take home an additional financial prize for their marksmanship.
Team matches
Team matches continue to be a staple of the Missoula competitions as we believe they are a great way to help shooters improve their skills and they are a lot of fun. 9 teams participated over the weekend firing team matches at 600 and 1000yds.
Pistol Matches
The pistol matches were fairly well attended with approximately 20 shooters and there were enough shooters present for one leg in the Service and 22 EIC matches.
Future Matches
Email me for info on these matches (no PM's please) jameydan [at] gmail dotcom Further info is also available at mtrpa.org under "match schedules".
Montana State Service Rifle Tournament and Leg match This tournament is coming up at the end of June and we are expecting a good turn out and enough shooters for 2 legs in the EIC match. All shooters are welcome including those wanting to fire match rifles.
Northern Rockies Long Range Tournament
This Tournament will continue to be fired over two weekends in September. Individual and team matches fired at 800-900-1000yds. These matches are approaching a sell out.
Northern Rockies Long Range Tournament
This Tournament will continue to be fired over two weekends in September. Individual and team matches fired at 800-900-1000yds. These matches are approaching a sell out.
