2012 West Tennessee Mid-Range Prone Regional Championship Results
March 24-25, 2012
Well, another Regional has come and gone here at Memphis Sport Shooting Association. What a weekend! The weather was beautiful and there was just enough wind on Sunday to keep you honest. We had a total of 49 shooters for the weekend split pretty evenly between F-Open, F-TR and Prone. For the first time, we ran the event in 4 relays, and while it extended the shooting time a little, I believe that the pits and line ran better than 3 relays of the past...
Saturday started with almost no wind at all and the Match #1 scores show it! Tim Thompson shot a 150-13x in F-Open and Ken Foster shot an incredible 150-14x in Prone. Ken shot out of competition because he shot with a scope as “practice for Sunday,†as he said. I had the pleasure of scoring for him and watching that 6mmBR Barnard/Eliseo shoot the X-ring like a laser beam! I really messed him up though by telling him that score would be a National Record on Sunday.... it got in his head. (Sorry Ken!) While a slight breeze and mirage picked up throughout the day, it wasn't enough to separate the competition much. The top 4-5 competitors were within 2 points of the lead at the end of the day, except for the F-Open category. Chris Anderson had a 4 shot lead with a perfect score of 450-30x in F-Open, Justin Price lead the F-TR category with 439-15x (he won't be a Sharpshooter for long!), and I held a slim 1 point lead in Prone.
Following the days official matches, we held our 2-man team fun match. Some of the teams were pickup teams, others planned to shoot together, but all of us had fun! I had the pleasure (?) of shooting with Ron Krelstein in the Match Rifle category. Ron's a great coach, but a terrible student! There was a huge wind reversal about mid string and I yelled "HOLD!" I saw him relax and then 2 seconds later, BANG. Wide 8 at 3 o'clock! DANG! He then turns and looks at me and smiles.... He said he couldn't stay in position forever! Anyway, despite Ron's blunder we held on to win the Match Rifle title with a 396-17x. The F-Open team title went to Jim Fowler and Chris Anderson with a 396-19x, the F-TR title went to Ronnie Ralston and Tom Jones with a 395-16x, and the Service Rifle team title was won by Luther Townsend and Jonny Easley with a great score of 365-4x. (Try shooting a short sight radius with a post front sight ALL DAY on a 600 yard or reduced target!)
Of course, the first day isn't complete without some famous Memphis BBQ! This year we had Hog Wild cater the event and the 'que was awesome! Better still was getting together with fellow shooters and making memories....
Sunday started as a mirror image of Saturday, but perhaps a few degrees warmer. However, by early morning it became obvious that the NNW wind was going to cause some problems and keep you on your toes. The MSSA range in notorious for a “swirl†that occurs within the range where the flags are pointing one way and the mirage is running opposite, and the NNW wind only made it worse. Folks who have shot here before may have had a little advantage...
Tim Thompson and David Decareaux made strong runs with 449's in F-Open, but couldn't overcome Chris Anderson's lead. At the end of the day, the F-Open Gold, Silver and Bronze went to Chris Anderson, David Decareaux and Jim Fowler, respectively. The leaders in the Prone category held pretty true to Saturday's standings with no one giving ground. I, Darrell Landolt and Bob Beckett finished Gold, Silver and Bronze. Probably the surprise of the tournament was in the F-TR category. While being in 5th place at the end of Saturday, and without winning a single match, Laura Perry just kept shooting very good, consistent scores. This lead to her winning the Gold by one X over Ronnie Ralston (Silver), followed one point behind by Dale Carpenter who picked up the Bronze.
Anyone reading the results file will notice that we have Match Rifle and Service Rifle categories. These are combined for the NRA Prone category, but separated out locally because we have a large number of service rifle shooters in the area. It helps to promote competition and encourages participation. We award the winner of the Service Rifle category with a special Service Rifle Winner plaque. For this year's regional, that award and title went to Aubrey Brock who finished with an outstanding 851-25x! Two straight long days staring at a post front sight... Wow! Great shooting Aubrey!
To conclude, I want to thank all the staff and folks at MSSA who helped set everything up and get the range ready for the event. A special thanks goes to Allen Stephenson who asked how he could help and agreed to be the Range Officer and run the match allowing me to shoot. Thanks Allen. We will be reviewing the scores against the National Records and submitting paperwork accordingly.
Finally, we'll be holding the Tennessee Mid-Range State Championships October 27-28, 2012. It will be a 20-shot per match event. Be on the lookout for the match bulletin. Also, after talking with Jim Fowler, we'll be holding a special barrel tossing contest with a very special prize. All proceeds of the event will go charity. More details will follow.
I hope to see you on a range somewhere soon! Be safe and shoot straight.
Doug
