LR Shooting and Wind Reading Clinic, Matches - Missoula, MT

[jameydan]

Long Range Shooting and Wind Reading Clinic

Clinic Info: **** THE CLINIC IS STILL ACCEPTING SHOOTERS - as of 9/8/2011 ****

On Friday September 23rd, the All National Guard Marksmanship Team will be instructing a wind reading and long range shooting clinic held at the Deep Creek Range in Missoula, Montana. The clinic will be followed by two days of NRA long range matches. The matches will be held at 800, 900, and 1000yds.

The clinic is open to all shooters interested in improving their skills for competition, long range hunting, or marksmanship. The clinic begins with registration at the 1000yd pavilion at 10:00AM. The clinic will initially begin with classroom instruction (held at the range) followed by coached live fire at the 800 or 900yd firing line. The cost of the clinic is minimal as the All Guard Team provides this service free as part of their mission to improve marksmanship among citizens. The cost is $30 and all proceeds will benefit the Deep Creek Range.

The clinic is held on Friday, and if you are interested in participating but can not make it by the 10:00AM registration, contact me for arrangements for an alternative arrival time.

Bring your rifle (capable to being fired out to 1000yds), 50 rounds of ammo (No 168 grn 308WIN loads please), shooting gear, spotting scope or binoculars, clothing appropriate for the weather, and a lunch. We will have a short break around 12:00 for lunch.

Long Range Match info: **** THE LR AND F-CLASS REGIONAL IS SOLD OUT - as of 9/3/2011 ****
***** See post below for info ****

On Saturday the 24th, the long range matches begin with the NRA Montana Long Range and F-Class Regional. Shooting on Saturday and Sunday includes firing at 800, 900 and 1000yd firing lines. The suggested total ammo requirement for the matches is 150 rounds.

Because the matches sold out last year and there was a waiting list, PREREGISTRATION IS A MUST! Preregister by contacting me by email.

If you are interested in attending but concerned about gear, we MAY be able to help with loaner gear, including rifles and ammo. The ammo is sold at cost and is factory match 308 WIN. Contact me in advance for further info.

The Deep Creek Range is located 20 min from Missoula, MT. Use this google maps location to enter your location for directions: Google Maps

Hotel accommodations can be made on nearby N. Reserve St, and Camping is great at the range.


Weekend Schedule:
Friday, September 23rd: All Guard Clinic: 10:00 AM - ~5:00PM. Registration at the 1000yd line pavilion at 10:00AM
Saturday, September 24th: Matches start at 9:15AM. Registration is from 7:30 to 8:30AM at the target pits
Saturday, September 24th: No host BBQ at the camp ground after the matches.
Sunday, September 25th: Matches continue with shooters meeting at the target pits at 8:00AM

Fees:
Clinic and all matches: $75, Juniors 18 years old and under: $45
Clinic only: $30, Juniors 18 years old and under: $10
Matches, both days: $55, Juniors 18 years old and under: $40
Match, one day: $35, Juniors 18 years old and under: $20


Contact me at jameydan[at]gmail.com for more info.

Jamey Williams
Match Director
Deep Creek Range, Missoula, MT
Hellgate Civilian Shooters Association

 

[DrMike]

This looks fascinating. Were I anywhere near there, I'd no doubt be present.

 

[jameydan]

This looks fascinating. Were I anywhere near there, I'd no doubt be present.

I imagine Northern BC is up there aways from Missoula, but we do have a number of Canadians signed up already. Sell the matches to your wife/girlfriend, as a great place to come and shop tax free! :grin:

 

[SJB358]

This looks fascinating. Were I anywhere near there, I'd no doubt be present.

I imagine Northern BC is up there aways from Missoula, but we do have a number of Canadians signed up already. Sell the matches to your wife/girlfriend, as a great place to come and shop tax free! :grin:

Man, that may be an easy one even for me! Just getting the better half on board is half the battle! Scotty

 

[DrMike]

Missoula would be about 20 hours. Mama already does too much tax-free shopping while visiting family in the States on a regular basis. I'm not surprised that Canadians sign up; we do enjoy shooting up here. Do you plan for this be an annual or semi-annual event? I would be most interested at some point, perhaps even next year.

 

[jameydan]

Missoula would be about 20 hours. Mama already does too much tax-free shopping while visiting family in the States on a regular basis. I'm not surprised that Canadians sign up; we do enjoy shooting up here. Do you plan for this be an annual or semi-annual event? I would be most interested at some point, perhaps even next year.

DrMike,

This is at least the third year that there has been a long range weekend over the 3rd weekend of September. Before that I am not sure. The last two years have been NRA long range "regionals."

We also host matches over our Memorial Day weekend, and the third weekend in June. The matches in May and June are often fluid with some of the days for LR matches and some for XTC shooting. However, the September match will remain a LR regional exclusively.

If you want to be on my mailing list for info on the matches email me at jameydan[at]gmail.com or watch our several state schedule on http://www.mtrpa.org/phpBB2/matches2.php

Best,

JW

 

[nodak7mm]

Dang it, this year alone, I missed one in the MSP/STP area, missed another in Des Moines area and now this. Anybody out there considering going...... GO Attending a clinic like this will enhance your skills and abilitites far more than any computer forum or book ever will. The shooters and the coaches are generally nationally ranked and have 10x the experience to back up the knowledge they are sharing.

Thanks for posting JameyDan!!

Rod

 

[jameydan]

Attending a clinic like this will enhance your skills and abilitites far more than any computer forum or book ever will. The shooters and the coaches are generally nationally ranked and have 10x the experience to back up the knowledge they are sharing.

Thanks for posting JameyDan!!

Rod

Rod,

I could not agree more! The All Guard Team places a lot of their shooters in the top of the NRA and CMP matches - One of them is from your area. Their mission is not just to compete, but to also instruct, and they need to be good at that too. There is a lot to be learned from them.

 

[usmc 89]

dr mike if it helps with scheduling there is a non-formal match in potomac "about 30 min north of missoula" every month from april to october "july and august are questionable due to fire hazard" you can get on montana shooting sports association and get more info gary marbut is in charge of it. i shot that match last april. its a timed based on yardage event. if you want to work something out next year i will drive over and shoot it with you. average ranges are 300-650yards so its conducive to almost any chambering. i think there were 67 targets one shot per customer and its hit or miss scoring.

 

[DrMike]

Jeff,

Thanks for the intel. I'll have to engage in a little practise (after years of hunting by braille) and make the trek south of the border sometime soon.

 

[jameydan]

Marksmen,

The Missoula Long Range and F-Class Regional scheduled for this September 23-25th is sold out with 52 shooters and there is a waiting list forming. It is imperative if you are on the list to shoot and can not make it, let me know so we can free your spot up for another shooter. I am still taking names for the waiting list, so send me an email indicating you wish to be put on the list. The waiting list is fairly small and there are always cancellations, so consider emailing me to get on the waiting list.

The All national Guard Marksmanship Team Long Range Shooting clinic on Sept 23rd still has room for attendees. It is a great opportunity to receive some of the finest long range shooting instruction available. There are 34 attendees signed up with 10+ instructors. Email me for further info about the clinic.

Jamey Williams
jameydan[at]gmail.com

 

[usmc 89]

too bad the marine corps shooting instructors werent coming then you would have the finest instruction :lol:

 

[jameydan]

too bad the marine corps shooting instructors werent coming then you would have the finest instruction :lol:

Well there is likely to be one top USMCR shooter there, he often comes along with the All Guard Team.

 

[SJB358]

too bad the marine corps shooting instructors werent coming then you would have the finest instruction :lol:

Man! I was waiting for that! Scotty

 

[BeeTee]

That's a long way!

We attended that Friday; my son and a friend shooting their 300WSM hunting rifles, and myself as an observer. They each had good rifles - a Winchester M70 and a Remington 700, each equipped with tactical rails and 4-14x Nikon scopes with turrets. It was a great introduction to long range shooting and learning more about wind drift and drop - though wind wasn't much of a problem that day.

The clinic began with classroom instruction at the 1000 yard bench area. Basic instruction was given for reading the wind, shooting technique and rifle handling - all designed to produce the best long range accuracy and consistency.

Target scoring is important for both beginners and veterans of long range shooting. Here, we were instructed how to operate the target stands and place bullet strike indicators on target to allow shooters to see the impacts.

The shooters were split into two groups; one shot while the other worked in the pits operating/scoring the targets. I'd done this once before, but it's still entertaining. It's amazing to learn that you need to wear hearing protection 1000 yards away from the firing line due to the noise produced by supersonic bullets. No matter the bullet, it sounds a lot like a 22 mag.

The instruction period was followed by coached live fire at the 800yd firing line.

The last segment of the shoot was at 1000 yards. An All Guard instructor was posted at each station, as a shooting coach. Each of them used a quality spotting scope to allow seeing the bullet in flight, allowing them to provide instant feedback to the shooter for elevation or windage adjustments. What a great bunch of guys!

Many interesting rifles were present, including this long barreled Savage in 223. The owner told me his barrel has a 1:8 twist and he shot 80gr bullets.

Many thanks to the Deep Creek Range, Jamey Williams and the All National Guard Marksmanship Team for hosting a great day at the range.

Jim

 

[DrMike]

That looks like a ton of fun. I'm hoping to arrange my schedule so I can make a clinic at some point in the coming year or so.

 

[jameydan]

BeeTee,

Thanks for giving a post clinic report.

This was the second clinic offered by the All Guard Team in Missoula. Earlier this year they held another clinic that offered instruction in shooting from various positions, including sitting, standing, and prone. The clinic included live fire at 200, 300 and 600yds. Things went well at the first clinic and we received a lot of positive feedback, and requests for a long range clinic. Allen Spiker was kind enough to return this September with a portion of his rifle team for coaching and instruction on shooting long range. Thirty-nine civilians and about 15 military shooters attended the event. With the All National Guard shooters providing coaching, the ratio of 2 students to a coach was about right. While one student was shooting the other was able to observe the coaches instructions and suggestions.

The clinic attendees came from a very diverse background, including hunters, tactical shooters, competitive shooters, Army National Guard sniper teams, and Department of Energy marksmen. Some people were there to improve their wind reading skills so they can take long shots at antelope, others were hoping to gain some pointers to improve their paper punching skill, and still others were there to improve their capabilities in defending our nation.

After the clinic, many of the non-competitive shooters noted they would be back for some of the matches held in our region. As Allen noted, competing is a great way to sharpen your skills as a long range shooter and better understand the conditions that affect your bullet's flight to it's intended target - varmints, big game, X-Rings, or tactical targets. One of the ladies attending the clinic recieved some front page coverage in the local paper Saturday: http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_6558d5d0-e65a-11e0-ba3f-001cc4c03286.html

The All Guard Team provided this service free of charge to Hellgate Civilian Shooters (the local club) as part of their mission to improve marksmanship among civilians. The money the club raised at the clinic will fund shooting opportunities for juniors and new shooters in our area. The Guard team supplied a lot of man power for this event as well as helping with ammo and rifles when needed. I want to give a personal thanks to Allen and all of his fine soldiers for providing this opportunity for all of us.

Allen mentioned to me the possibility of running another long range clinic in Missoula over Memorial Day weekend 2012 - if there is enough interest. He suggested the possibility of making this LR clinic "advanced" with more time shooting and coaching. I will keep all posted about this potential clinc.

Long Range Regional Match Summary:

The Missoula LR and F-Class Regional was held the Saturday and Sunday after the clinic. 51 shooters participated in this 2-day match. This year we were fortunate to have fantastic conditions to shoot in. Because of the great conditions and great scores fired in this match many of the shooters will be moving up in their respective NRA classifications. Many of the competitors shot personal bests, and like a few times last year, we saw another National Record fall. Last year, Allen Spiker, Bob Evans and Nicole Hagedorn all established NRA National Records for their performances in the Montana LR and F-Class Regional. This year one more record has been eclipsed, with Allen Spiker shooting another record, scoring a 1088-48X (out of 1100 possible). This is a pending record for the long range regional aggregate and it passes the previous record by one X. Allen also won his rifle division - Palma rifle. Great shooting Allen!

There was some fantastic shooting Savage rifles at this match. Matt Waite of Billings, MT took top honors in the scoped class of sling shooters, and David Kynoch of St. Anthony, ID barely won his F-TR division. Both shooters use basically stock LR Savage rifles in 308 WIN. David has won his class the last few years at the Missoula regional. He took a gamble this past week however, when he re-barreled his rifle at the last minute. It paid off, as he squeaked by the second place shooter, Mike Anderson of Helena, MT - by one point.

We had some of the top Canadian shooters come down from both Alberta and B.C. and one of them, Scott Gaalaas (Calgary, AB), ran away with the win in the F-open class.

The weekend of shooting also included some fun down time with a BBQ on Saturday evening, and an awards ceremony on Sunday. The matches this year were sponsored by US Tactical Supply http://www.ustacticalsupply.com/ and Applied Ballistics http://www.appliedballisticsllc.com/ Both sponsors supplied fantastic prizes and we are certainly thankful for their participation in the matches. US tactical Supply gave away several hundred dollars of prizes including shooting mats, data books and clothing. Bryan and Jennifer Litz donated some of Bryan's in-depth and useful Applied Ballistics for Long Range Shooting books.

If you would like a copy of the match bulletin, email me at the address below.

This wrapped up a great season of shooting in Missoula, and in our region in general. If you are interested in receiving more info about future clinics and matches in Missoula, contact me by email to be put on my mailing list.

Best,

Jamey Williams
jameydan[at]gmail.com