| Date | Location | Offhand | Sitting | Rapid Prone | Slow Prone | Aggregate | |
| 3/10/01 | Sycamore | 92-0 | 99-2 | 99-2 | 188-4 | 478-8 | 95.6% |
| 4/8/01 | Bonfield | 93-3 | 99-5 | 94-2 | 195-8 | 481-18 | 96.2% |
| 4/19/01 | Racine | 189-1 | 190-3 | - | - | 379-4 | 94.8% |
| 4/21/01 | Bonfield | 172-0 | 196-9 | 190-1 | 188-6 | 746-16 | 93.3% |
| 4/22/01 | Bonfield | 86-2 | 99-4 | 99-4 | 190-3 | 474-13 | 94.8% |
| 4/26/01 | Racine | - | - | 192-4 | 186-4 | 378-8 | 94.5% |
| 5/3/01 | Racine | 96-0 | 98-3 | 92-0 | - | 286-3 | 95.3% |
| 5/6/01 | Bonfield | 98-2 | 99-0 | 96-2 | 195-8 | 488-12 | 97.6% |
| 5/10/01 | Racine | 95-3 | 100-4 | 99-3 | 186-5 | 480-15 | 96.0% |
| 5/12/01 | Sycamore | 93-0 | 99-5 | 98-3 | 191-3 | 481-11 | 96.2% |
| 5/17/01 | Racine | 93-1 | 99-3 | 96-2 | 191-7 | 479-13 | 95.8% |
| 5/19/01 | Milan | 187-7 | 196-3 | 194-4 | 195-5 | 772-19 | 96.5% |
| 5/24/01 | Racine | 93-0 | 96-4 | 94-1 | 186-3 | 469-8 | 93.8% |
| 5/26/01 | Lodi | 94-0 | 93-2 | 99-2 | 191-9 | 477-13 | 95.4% |
| 5/27/01 | Lodi | 191-6 | 197-6 | 195-3 | 372-6 | 955-21 | 95.5% |
| 6/2/01 | Milan | 190-5 | 195-4 | 193-2 | 190-5 | 768-16 | 96.0% |
| 6/7/01 | Racine | 95-1 | 95-3 | 98-2 | 192-1 | 480-7 | 96.0% |
| 6/9/01 | Sycamore | 93-2 | 98-1 | 98-1 | 196-4 | 485-8 | 97.0% |
| 6/10/01 | Bonfield | 97-3 | 100-9 | 95-0 | 192-7 | 484-19 | 96.8% |
| 6/14/01 | Racine | 93-1 | 100-2 | 99-3 | 190-4 | 482-10 | 96.4% |
| 6/21/01 | Racine | 94-1 | 100-8 | 99-0 | 189-4 | 482-13 | 96.4% |
| 6/23/01 | Lodi | 91-1 | 99-1 | 95-2 | 193-4 | 478-8 | 95.6% |
| 6/24/01 | Lodi | 187-2 | 198-8 | 191-3 | 199-7 | 775-20 | 96.9% |
| 6/28/01 | Racine | 93-2 | 99-3 | 100-3 | 193-6 | 485-14 | 97.0% |
| 7/5/01 | Racine | 91-0 | 95-0 | 98-5 | 197-12 | 481-17 | 96.2% |
| 7/7/01 | Racine | 195-3 | 192-3 | 195-5 | 193-7 | 775-18 | 96.9% |
| 7/8/01 | Racine | 98-1 | 96-0 | 97-2 | 193-7 | 484-10 | 96.8% |
| 7/8/01 | Racine | 96-1 | 96-3 | 98-3 | 189-5 | 479-12 | 95.8% |
| 7/12/01 | Racine | 90-1 | 93-0 | 99-3 | 195-7 | 477-11 | 95.4% |
| 7/14/01 | Sycamore | 97-0 | 95-2 | 100-4 | 196-7 | 488-13 | 97.6% |
| 7/15/01 | Bonfield | 96-2 | 100-1 | 95-3 | 194-4 | 485-10 | 97.0% |
| 7/19/01 | Racine | 91-2 | 97-1 | 98-3 | 191-5 | 477-11 | 95.4% |
| 7/21/01 | Lodi | 192-6 | 200-9 | 184-2 | 185-3 | 761-20 | 95.1% |
| 7/28/01 | Milan | 182-1 | 196-4 | 200-7 | 195-5 | 773-17 | 96.6% |
| 7/31/01 | Camp Perry | 95-0 | - | 98-4 | 98-3 | 291-7 | 97.0% |
| 8/1/01 | Camp Perry | 95-1 | 98-2 | 99-4 | 192-7 | 484-14 | 96.8% |
| 8/3/01 | Camp Perry | 92-2 | 98-4 | 100-5 | 196-7 | 486-18 | 97.2% |
| 8/5/01 | Camp Perry | 96-3 | 98-4 | 99-6 | 179-2 | 472-15 | 94.4% |
| 8/7/01 | Camp Perry | 188-2 | 195-6 | 195-6 | 197-6 | 775-20 | 96.9% |
| 8/8/01 | Camp Perry | 190-2 | 196-7 | 196-3 | 197-8 | 779-20 | 97.4% |
| 8/9/01 | Camp Perry | 188-4 | 189-4 | 199-6 | 191-7 | 767-21 | 95.9% |
| 8/11/01 | Sycamore | 94-1 | 97-2 | 98-5 | 194-5 | 483-13 | 96.6% |
| 8/23/01 | Racine | 95-4 | 97-3 | 96-0 | 195-7 | 483-14 | 96.6% |
| 8/26/01 | Bristol | 93-0 | 97-2 | 100-5 | 191-2 | 481-9 | 96.2% |
| 8/30/01 | Racine | 93-1 | 96-6 | 99-4 | 196-11 | 484-22 | 96.8% |
| 9/1/01 | Milan | 188-3 | 193-4 | 196-6 | 197-8 | 774-21 | 96.8% |
| 9/2/01 | Milan | 190-2 | 198-4 | 198-4 | 196-5 | 782-15 | 97.8% |
| 9/3/01 | Milan | 95-2 | 96-2 | 98-2 | 195-7 | 484-13 | 96.8% |
| 9/6/01 | Racine | 86-0 | 99-0 | 97-1 | 191-6 | 473-7 | 94.6% |
| 9/9/01 | Racine | 94-2 | 92-0 | 96-3 | 193-3 | 475-8 | 95.0% |
| 9/29/01 | Bonfield | 195-4 | 200-6 | 198-3 | 199-7 | 792-20 | 99.0% |
| 9/30/01 | Bonfield | 188-2 | 195-4 | 194-5 | 193-7 | 770-18 | 96.3% |
Having been seduced by the dark side, I will now campaign an AR-15 in service rifle competition. Those of you that followed me through last year's season saw my scores slowly improve and get into master range a few times. Unfortunately, inconsistent slow prone scores kept my aggregate match scores below what they could have been. At the very end of last year I shot an AR borrowed from another shooter. This trial run showed me that shooting a National Match Course every week, in addition to all my weekend matches was really paying off.
For the brief time that I have shot an AR I now see all the benefits that people have told me about. The M1A has taught me a good position for the rapids. The AR now allows me to take maximum advantage of that tight hold.
As with last year, I hope to shoot in a Thursday afternoon league that will shoot a 50 NMC every week. I have found that this league was a fantastic place to try different positions and other subtleties to see if they work. It has really allowed me to refine my shooting.
I am using this 100yd clinic to get my positions down and get some kind of zero for my new rifle. Unfortunately, it was a cold day and I spent more time shivering instead of shooting. Offhand 92-0x, Sitting 99-2x, Rapid Prone 99-2x, Slow Prone 188-4x, Aggregate 478-8x.
We had a good turnout for the first real match of the season. An all service rifle match. This was the first time I had shot my new AR at 300 yards and my lack of a decent zero showed in my rapid prone score. Offhand 93-3x, Sitting 99-5x, Rapid Prone 94-2x, Slow Prone 195-8x, Aggregate 481-18x. I finally got the hang of slow prone and was clean through the first 14 shots until my eyes started to get tired. All in all it was a good start to the season.
The first night of our Thursday afternoon highpower league. Since we are limited by daylight, we will start the league shooting half of an 80 round course each week. Today was a bit windy but offhand was OK. Unfortunately I got sloppy in my first sitting string. Offhand 189-1x, Sitting 190-3x.
Woolard Brothers memorial individual match. A VERY windy day. It made standing a real struggle. One thing I noticed is because the front sight was wobbling so much, I started to jerk the trigger in an effort to break the shot during the very short time the sights were on target. Offhand 172-0x, Sitting 196-9x, Rapid Prone 190-1x, Slow Prone 188-6x, Aggregate 746-16x. The highest standing score in the match was a 181. I don't think anyone shot above their card.
Four-Man Team match. Because of the morning rain delay the match was shortened to a 50 round match. I was having a fairly decent standing until I crossfired on the next target. That made me feel like I was a novice competing in my first highpower match. Offhand 86-2x, Sitting 99-4x, Rapid Prone 99-4x, Slow Prone 190-3x, Aggregate 474-13x.
Continuation of the Thursday afternoon league and the remaining half of an 80 round match. This was the first time I shot my upper at 600 yds. and I wanted to get a decent zero. Rapid Prone 192-4x, Slow Prone 186-4x. I tried to outsmart the wind by adding some clicks as I dropped into position for rapid prone but I just ended up going too far. Live and learn.
Our first try of the season to shoot a 50 round course on Thursday. A mist came in off of lake Michigan so we did not get to shoot at 600 yds. Offhand 96-0x, Sitting 98-3x, Rapid Prone 92-0x. Once again I tried to monkey with my temporary zero so I ended up too high with eight nines between 11 and 1 o'clock.
50 round American Legion Cook County Rifle League match. Offhand 98-2x, Sitting 99-0x, Rapid Prone 96-2x, Slow Prone 195-8x, Aggregate 488-12x. Certainly a good day with almost no wind and a great offhand. I had "floaters" in my eye a couple of times in rapid prone and had to wait a couple of seconds to clear them out. Because of this I think I shot a little bit too fast. Here is a picture of the 300 yard line at Kankakee.
Thursday evening league. It started fairly clear but there was a heavy overcast for the first ten shots in slow prone. I dropped 12 points in the first ten shots and two points in the last ten. Offhand 95-3x, Sitting 100-4x, Rapid Prone 99-3x, Slow Prone 186-5x, Aggregate 480-15x. It was nice to clean sitting again and being centered up for rapid prone. I think I am getting my zeros finalized.
A 100 yd. reduced course of fire during a service rifle clinic for newer shooters. Sometimes it's nice to go back to the range that you started shooting highpower at years ago. Offhand 93-0x, Sitting 99-5x, Rapid Prone 98-3x, Slow Prone 191-3x, Aggregate 481-11x. I find it hard to get a good natural point of aim in prone on concrete.
A good turnout for our Thursday night league, 14 shooters. Trigger control was a problem today. Offhand 93-1x, Sitting 99-3x, Rapid Prone 96-2x, Slow Prone 191-7x, Aggregate 479-13x. Can you see the targets from 600 yds? These shooters are preparing to shoot slow prone.
The Otis Memorial match at Milan, IL. I stepped up to the line a little nervous and it was hard to keep my focus in offhand. For the rest of the match I just felt like I was coasting. Offhand 187-7x, Sitting 196-3x, Rapid Prone 194-4x, Slow Prone 195-5x, Aggregate 772-19x. My expectations for the match were rather high but I shot a score that is on par with the way I have been shooting recently.
Paul Poe Memorial at Milan. This is a four gun 600 but since I need the slow prone practice I shot my service rifle. 191-6x, 192-5x, 185-2x, 197-8x, Aggregate 765-21x. At the suggestion of the person that was scoring me, I made a small change after my third string that really helped a lot. It would have been nice to fire another string to confirm that I can shoot better but I guess I'll have to wait until Thursday. By the way, an Iowa shooter won this match with a 799!
I guess everyone is entitled to a bad day every now and then. At the end of the night I found that what I thought was my windage zero was really 1 1/4 min. to the right. As a consequence, I kept shooting to the right and didn't know why. This was not my only problem, but it didn't help. Offhand 93-0x, Sitting 96-4x, Rapid Prone 94-1x, Slow Prone 186-3x, Aggregate 469-8x. As far as slow prone, I finished with five clicks of elevation more than my zero. Who knows what happened there.
The Triple Crown Regional Championship at Lodi, WI. Today is the 50NMC 4-Man team. It's amazing how different it is to shoot with a true team as opposed to four individual shooters. I learned a lot. I tried a different hold and position in sitting and ended up dropping shots out at five o'clock. In the end our team, I.S.R.A. Gold, was second overall and we were the high service rifle team. Offhand 94-0x, Sitting 93-2x, Rapid Prone 99-2x, Slow Prone 191-9x, Aggregate 477-13x.
Today would be the 100 round Individual Regional Championship. For this match we would start at the 600 yard line and move forward. I lost a lot of points in the first slow prone stage to elevation. My second prone was better and things improved during the rest of the match. Offhand 191-6x, Sitting 197-6x, Rapid Prone 195-3x, Slow Prone 181-3x, Slow Prone 191-3x, Aggregate 955-21x. My score was good enough for top Expert and I got a credit towards entry fees at Camp Perry.
Each year during the Triple Crown I shoot my one and only Palma match. Last year I shot my M1A but this year I decided to try a bolt gun. This was the first time that I shot a bolt gun in highpower competition. There was some wind but my biggest problem was elevation 800 yards 137-1x, 900 yards 138-2x, 1000 yards 128-4x, Aggregate 403-7x. I did better last year with my M1A.
The Illinois State Highpower Championship. Started off well in offhand but lost more points during the rapids than I would have liked. Offhand 190-5x, Rapid Sitting 195-4x, Rapid Prone 193-2x, Slow Prone 190-5x, Aggregate 768-16x. I suppose it was a decent score but I would have liked to shoot a high master aggregate. John Holliger won it with a 784.
I have been trying to shoot four gun 600 matches to improve my slow prone scores. Today was not a windy day but the light changed after the first relay. I tried real hard to keep the top of the front sight post as sharp as I could. 191-1x, 195-3x, 198-9x, 190-4x, Aggregate 774-17x. While not an exceptional score, it was good enough for high service rifle.
Not too much to say about today. I've been real disappointed with my sitting position recently. I seem to be getting a lot of pulse and I'm not as stable as I used to be. Offhand 95-1x, Sitting 95-3x, Rapid Prone 98-2x, Slow Prone 192-1x, Aggregate 480-7x.
A service rifle clinic on a 100 yd. reduced range. A decent overall score for me. The rapids were nothing to write home about but they were consistent and I didn't lose too many points there. Offhand 93-2x, Sitting 98-1x, Rapid Prone 98-1x, Slow Prone 196-4x, Aggregate 485-8x. I was surprised how well I did in slow prone considering that I shot on concrete and there were no pits to give shot feedback.
A good day at 200 yds. Everything just seemed to come together in sitting. The string seemed fair but not that great. My score was good enough to break the league record at that range by two x's. I wasn't able to carry my momentum through to the prone positions. My rapid prone was very loose with five nines all over the place. Offhand 97-3x, Sitting 100-9x, Rapid Prone 95-0x, Slow Prone 192-7x, Aggregate 484-19x.
Another Thursday afternoon. For some reason I was shooting to the left all day. I kept putting on right windage but there was very little wind. This is one of those things that make you second guess your zeros. Even so, I was able to clean sitting again. Offhand 93-1x, Sitting 100-2x, Rapid Prone 99-3x, Slow Prone 190-4x, Aggregate 482-10x.
I wanted to get zeros for my wife's upper. My sitting position seems to have gotten better. I am now spending more time getting my position squared away after I sit down and after the magazine change. Slow prone was another exercise in frustration. At least I know what I'm doing wrong. It's front sight focus. When I know that I'm focusing on the front sight the shots come up in the ten ring. Now it's just a matter of keeping that concentration throughout the whole string. Offhand 94-1x, Sitting 100-8x, Rapid Prone 99-0x, Slow Prone 189-4x, Aggregate 482-13x.
The Wisconsin Highpower Championship team match day. My overall score was a little below what I have been shooting so I felt like I let the team down. We wound up only seven points under the winning team but they were all high masters and shot match rifles. Offhand 91-1x, Sitting 99-1x, Rapid Prone 95-2x, Slow Prone 193-4x, Aggregate 478-8x.
Wisconsin Highpower Championship Individual match. There were 99 shooters for this match with five relays. I was amazed how many people shoot highpower in Wisconsin and the number of out of state shooters such as myself. We started at 600 yards and moved forward. In slow prone, I tried to get my sight picture and squeeze the shot of quickly. With a good rhythm and clear sight focus it seemed to work. One of my rapid prone strings had seven nines up high and in offhand I kept shooting nine after nine. I had wanted to shoot a high master score but missed it by one point. Offhand 187-2x, Sitting 198-8x, Rapid Prone 191-3x, Slow Prone 199-7x, Aggregate 775-20x.
Shooting my wife's upper again. I was finally able to clean rapid prone due to a good, solid position. In offhand I experimented with a different hold but bad trigger control caused me to throw out three eights. I just made a high master aggregate. Offhand 93-2x, Sitting 99-3x, Rapid Prone 100-3x, Slow Prone 193-6x, Aggregate 485-14x. Things seem to be getting squared away and I hope to be just getting into my stride by the end of July.
Boy, I thought the 200 yd. line was where I did my best shooting. In standing the shots kept breaking when I didn't want them and in sitting I had a good group up at twelve o'clock. Slow prone was real good with a great x-count. It's as if I traded good scores at 200 for good scores at 600. The 490 will just have to wait until next time. Offhand 91-0x, Sitting 95-0x, Rapid Prone 98-5x, Slow Prone 197-12x, Aggregate 481-17x. This weekend is the Wisconsin Service Rifle Championship. Even though I'm not a Wisconsin resident I want to do well, especially in the Leg match on Sunday.
Changing my offhand hold this past week is really paying off. I felt steady and was able to concentrate on my trigger control. My score was good enough to be match winner in standing. I lost more points than I wanted to in the rapids but overall it was a pretty good day. Offhand 195-3x, Sitting 192-3x, Rapid Prone 195-5x, Slow Prone 193-7x, Aggregate 775-18x.
We shot the four-man team match this morning. To expedite the match it was decided to not shoot sighters or alibis. Because we started so early in the morning, and because the range faces east, the sun was in my eyes and it was hard for me to see the top of the sight post. Offhand 98-1x, Sitting 96-0x, Rapid Prone 97-2x, Slow Prone 193-7x, Aggregate 484-10x.
In the afternoon we would shoot the match that I came here to shoot, the Leg match. This weekend, my zeros have been quite different than from Thursday evenings and I was sweating it out because of this, and also because of the high heat and humidity. Offhand was pretty good with one eight. Sitting let me down a little with four nines out to the right and I was able to lessen the damage in rapid prone. By the time I went to shoot my 600 I was ten points down and, at that point, was the high non-distinguished shooter. For some reason slow prone did not feel right. I lost more points to elevation than windage and was only able to squeak by to get the last leg and my first six points. Offhand 96-1x, Sitting 96-3x, Rapid Prone 98-3x, Slow Prone 189-5x, Aggregate 479-12x. I thought that I had my slow prone squared away. I was real disappointed because I knew that I could have done better if I had put in more effort in slow prone and took the time to get comfortable before I started shooting. My next opportunity to get leg points will be in the N.T.I. at Camp Perry.
A miserable 200 yard score with a six in offhand. I have been able to focus better in slow prone and rapid prone felt tight and consistent. My motivation level was not where it should have been at the start of the match and that may have contributed to my problems. With the National Matches just around the corner it's time to start getting focused and shoot more consistently. Offhand 90-1x, Sitting 93-0x, Rapid Prone 99-3x, Slow Prone 195-7x, Aggregate 477-11x.
100 yd. reduced match. I'm starting to iron out my problems in slow prone. I am starting to be able to tell when my rapid prone string is good because of the way the rifle sounds and recoils when it fires. Offhand 97-0x, Sitting 95-2x, Rapid Prone 100-4x, Slow Prone 196-7x, Aggregate 488-13x.
Very hot and humid in Kankakee. The 96 in offhand was done the hard way, with two eights to the right. I choked up on the hand guard in sitting and was able to clean it again. In rapid prone I had five nines at about 10:30. My position did not feel very comfortable. Offhand 96-2x, Sitting 100-1x, Rapid Prone 95-3x, Slow Prone 194-4x, Aggregate 485-10x. I guess shooting high master scores at this point in the season is pretty good. Only a couple of matches left before Camp Perry.
I think the long drive on Thursdays and the construction on the roads is eroding my motivation. This was another night where I just didn't feel motivated to shoot. I shot without sighters just to see how I would end up and to confirm where my zeros were. Offhand 91-2x, Sitting 97-1x, Rapid Prone 98-3x, Slow Prone 191-5x, Aggregate 477-11x. Same aggregate that I shot last Thursday. Maybe it's a pattern.
Miserably hot and humid in Lodi, WI. 200 yds. was good but after I came out of the pits to shoot 300 the heat was withering. My front sight post was waving back and forth for the rapids. At 600 the wind started out coming towards me. After the first ten shots it started to switch back and forth across the range. I dropped one point in the first ten shots and fourteen on the last ten. I saw the mirage move back and forth but I didn't think it was that strong. Also, because it was so hot I just wanted to finish and get off the line. Offhand 192-6x, Sitting 200-9x, Rapid Prone 184-2x, Slow Prone 185-3x, Aggregate 761-20x.
A registered pre-Perry match at Milan, IL. In offhand it seemed like all I could shoot were nines. Sitting was fair but I was able to double clean 300 rapid for the first time ever. Offhand 182-1x, Sitting 196-4x, Rapid Prone 200-7x, Slow Prone 195-5x, Aggregate 773-17x.
The President's Rifle Match. Great weather, a good day to shoot a good score. Offhand went OK even though I couldn't shoot a single X. At 300 I put on one minute right but I probably should have had 1 1/2. Two nines fell out on the left. I made a good wind guess for slow prone with my first shot being a nine. I corrected and finished up pretty well. My score was good enough for 45th place overall out of 1280 shooters. Offhand 95-0x, Rapid Prone 98-4x, Slow Prone 98-3x, Aggregate 291-7x.
National Trophy Individual Rifle Match. Nice and clear and my sights were set on a gold or silver leg. I finally got in the X ring in offhand. Sitting and rapid prone were pretty good. At 600 I was caught out by the wind a couple of times and I shot a seven out the top because I looked at the sights for too long. My score got me a silver leg so now I have 14 points to go. Offhand 95-1x, Sitting 98-2x, Rapid Prone 99-4x, Slow Prone 192-7x, Aggregate 484-14x.
National Trophy Team Rifle Match. This year I was the new shooter on the Illinois Gold 6-man team. My focus was to do well and help my team to the high civilian award. This caused a lot of nervousness in offhand and I didn't perform very well there. I came back strong in rapid prone and did well in slow prone. Unfortunately, our team came in second in the civilian category. New York beat us by five points. Offhand 92-2x, Sitting 98-4x, Rapid Prone 100-5x, Slow Prone 196-7x, Aggregate 486-18x.
Rumbold Trophy Team Match. Things were going well until slow prone. I cross-fired my first shot for record as well as having some elevation problems. It was a real shame since another team member, John Holliger, shot a 498. Offhand 96-3x, Sitting 98-4x, Rapid Prone 99-6x, Slow Prone 179-2x, Aggregate 472-15x.
The first day of the Highpower Championship. Offhand was so-so but I did not feel that I performed my best in the rapids. I feel that I was lacking goals to shoot for this week. Offhand 188-2x, Sitting 195-6x, Rapid Prone 195-6x.
The second day of the Highpower Championship. I now have a goal to try to shoot for, a high master score for the entire championship. This should elevate my performance to what it should be. Offhand 190-2x, Sitting 196-7x, Slow Prone 197-6x.
The third day of the Highpower Championship. I had an alibi because of primers falling out of my cases. Even so I should have been able to shrug it off and shoot well in sitting but I ended up doing rather poorly. Rapid prone was pretty good and slow prone was great. Sitting 189-4x, Rapid Prone 196-3x, Slow Prone 197-8x.
The fourth day of the Highpower Championship. Another "blah" offhand match. Rapid prone was real good. For slow prone I thought I would try to shoot real fast to avoid any wind changes. When I shot a seven after only a few shots I knew I would have to change my strategy. As I was contemplating what to do, I saw the mirage change direction in my scope. From then on I would go back to my no-wind zero between shots and put on whatever windage I thought was appropriate for that amount of mirage. My last string of ten was a 99. Offhand 188-4x, Rapid Prone 199-6x, Slow Prone 191-7x, Aggregate 2321-61x. I missed my high master goal by seven points but I came away from Camp Perry with the satisfaction that I shot pretty well overall.
After driving home five hours from Camp Perry what do I do the next day? I shoot some more at a 100 yd. reduced match. My performance did not feel very good especially in offhand. Maybe I've done too much shooting. Is there such a thing? Offhand 94-1x, Sitting 97-2x, Rapid Prone 98-5x, Slow Prone 194-5x, Aggregate 483-13x.
Back to the Thursday night league. Because I've been having pressure problems with my primary upper I have decided to start using my secondary one. My zeros for this upper are fair but not great. Offhand went OK with one eight that was on call. Sitting gave me problems because of the pulse I am getting. In rapid prone my elbow was in a low spot in the ground. I should have adjusted accordingly but I thought I could work around it. I was wrong. Even so, I was out to the left too much. At 600 yds. the light was up and it was down, and so were my shots. When the sun came out and the targets were bright, my shots were high. When the clouds came over and the targets were dark my shots were low. One was even in the eight ring at six o'clock. All in all it was a fair performance but not what I'm truly capable of. Offhand 95-4x, Sitting 97-3x, Rapid Prone 96-0x, Slow Prone 195-7x, Aggregate 483-14x.
Decided to try a 200 yd. reduced match because there was nothing else going on. This range had no pits so it was real difficult to see your shots, even with a spotting scope. The lack of feedback hurt and I was shooting at least a minute low from my regular 200 yd. zero. Offhand 93-0x, Sitting 97-2x, Rapid Prone 100-5x, Slow Prone 191-2x, Aggregate 481-9x.
I've been playing with a slightly modified sitting position to try to get rid of the heavy pulse I had. It seemed to work. Too bad I took too long to get the shots off and I shot the last one as the target was dropping for a seven out the top. Rapid prone went well and I had a real good X count at 600. I am still trying to bring my standing up to where it used to be. Offhand 93-1x, Sitting 96-6x, Rapid Prone 99-4x, Slow Prone 196-11x, Aggregate 484-22x.
The individual match of the Illinois Service Rifle Championship. Offhand had a seven. My second string of sitting was out at four o'clock. I finished up fifth or sixth out of the Illinois residents. Offhand 188-3x, Sitting 193-4x, Rapid Prone 196-6x, Slow Prone 197-8x, Aggregate 774-21x.
This is the team match day. I shot with my dad, my uncle and my cousin. Standing had another seven. Do I sense a pattern here? Both rapids were good, and slow prone went OK. I finished up with a new personal best score. I have to work on my x-count though. Offhand 190-2x, Sitting 198-4x, Rapid Prone 198-4x, Slow Prone 196-5x, Aggregate 782-15x.
Leg match. Going into this match I still need 14 Leg points to go Distinguished. The five points I dropped in offhand were on two eights and a nine. Sitting was a little low but I was able to come back in rapid prone. Slow prone was on par for me. I ended up getting the ten point leg and now only have four more points to go. Offhand 95-2x, Sitting 96-2x, Rapid Prone 98-2x, Slow Prone 195-7x, Aggregate 484-13x.
Dark and windy. Even though the wind gusted up to only about ten m.p.h., it was still enough to wave me around in offhand. In addition to this, because of the dark, my elevation zeros were off all night. It was still not the performance that I had expected. Offhand 86-0x, Sitting 99-0x, Rapid Prone 97-1x, Slow Prone 191-6x, Aggregate 473-7x.
This was my final leg match of the year and I needed four points to get my Distinguished Rifleman badge. The weather was awful with a drizzling rain and dark overcast skies. I stumbled through offhand while trying to see through the mist. I know that I tend to shoot low when it's dark but I had no idea that my rapid sitting group would be just off the ten ring at six o'clock for a loss of eight points. I corrected for rapid prone but I was still low. By the time we went to the 600 yard line the rain had started to fall harder. Looking through the aperture it was very difficult to even see the sighting black on the target. Because there was such a heavy mist, the target looked no different than the background. I just aimed at the gray fuzzy splotch and fired away. Amazingly enough, I started to shoot tens. I couldn't believe that I could shoot a ten when I could barely see the target. Offhand 94-2x, Sitting 92-0x, Rapid Prone 96-3x, Slow Prone 193-3x, Aggregate 475-8x. This score was good enough to get me a ten point leg and a gold medal for having the highest score overall. This finally put me over the top with 36 distinguished points to leg out and earn the badge.
I have taken a break from shooting for a couple of weeks. Today is the Illinois Reduced Course Championship. For offhand I tried canting the rifle into my face a bit. This seemed to shrink my wobble area. Everything seemed to work well, especially slow prone. I was focused and I felt I had a good performance. A really good day. Offhand 195-4x, Sitting 200-6x, Rapid Prone 198-3x, Slow Prone 199-7x, Aggregate 792-20x.
This is the team match day. I didn't feel as comfortable as yesterday. In rapid prone I got on the trigger a little too early and shot one before I brought the post up towards the target. It turned out to be a six down low. I didn't adapt myself to my firing point very well in slow prone and was sliding backwards for the whole string. Offhand 188-2x, Sitting 195-4x, Rapid Prone 194-5x, Slow Prone 193-7x, Aggregate 770-18x.
Well, the season has finally come to an end. At the beginning of the year I was just trying to adjust myself to shooting a new rifle. At that early stage my aggregate scores were in the 96% range with some good performances cropping up occasionally. Now, I may get a high master card depending on how the latest scores are sent in.
I've been able to accomplish a lot this year. My scores have dramatically risen from last year. This has allowed me to make the President's 100 and go distinguished in four leg matches with a gold medal in one of them. I was good enough to make the top Illinois service rifle team at Camp Perry. We ended up the 2nd civilian team in both the N.T.T. and the N.T.I.T. In the N.R.A. Highpower Championship my aggregate score was 2321-61x. Good enough for 102nd out of all highpower competitors. The year culminated with my winning the 2001 Illinois Short Course Championship with a 792-20x.
The time and effort that I've spent to train and shoot better has really paid off this year. I was driving 90 miles one way every Thursday to shoot a 50 round match for practice. Just about every weekend found me at one match or another, usually for the whole weekend. I fired a total of about 3600 rounds during the season through two separate upper receivers. I now go into the winter satisfied with what I've been able to accomplish in 2001 and looking forward to what I can do in 2002.
