January Smithmoor Match Write-up

[Cody Smith]

Fellow Shooters,

Wow! What wind! Although I think it blew much worse in other places in Wyoming today, we still had strong north and west winds today. The wind was steady and some surprisingly high scores were shot. The shooting shed worked great and we all stayed pretty comfortable while firing from inside. For the first hour or two the wind was mostly from the north and the temporary hay bale wind breaks kept the turkeys and rams from blowing over. As the day went on, the wind shifted to more from the west and we were unable to keep them up. The last third of the match the turkeys and rams were shot on the swingers. We didn't seem to have a problem with the chickens or pigs.

We had 18 riflemen and women come out to test their skills today. We broke the classes into master and AAA for iron sight, scope, and modern rifle, and the same for AA, A, and B shooters. This way we would six divisions to award a winner to. Myself and Bryan Youngberg battled it out iron sight master/AAA winner. I managed a few more chickens for the win. Steve Anderson is getting the game figured out and scored a 21 for the AA and under iron class. The one and only Mr. Michael Jackson shot a 31 to win the master/AAA scope class with Coralee Smith shooting a 22 to win the AA and under scope class. The modern rifle class was made up of only AA/A/and B shooters and the winner was the Cal-Graf princess, Miss Kimber Purdum with a 22. She was very pleased with her win, as was her Dad, Travis, who she beat.

We have been very pleased with the number of new shooters who been able to make it out. This month we had Bryan Cushing and his brother Shawn, Lee Henderscheid, and Jeff D. We also had a couple of spectators that will hopefully shoot next month. All of them shot quite well and I think will be back with a vengeance to win.

Coralee's folks, Tom and Bev Reed generously donated genuine Wyoming leg of lamb sandwiches for lunch, and my mom, Lorraine Smith, provided a fantastic macaroni salad to go along with it. Thanks so much for your support!

I thought today was a great day and a great match. It appeared a good time was enjoyed by all. Thanks to all that have supported this match by showing up to shoot!
Hold center,
Cody L. Smith


Please remember to support our sponsors:
Travis and Dawn Purdum of Cal-Graf Design
Bryan Youngberg

Shooter Class Chicken Pig Turkey Ram Total
Iron Sight Master and AAA
Bryan Youngberg Master 1 10 9 10 30
Cody Smith Master 5 10 10 10 35 W

AA/A/B
Dave Clark 2 6 2 2 12
Jim Rodebaugh 0 2 2 4 8
Tom Reed 2 4 3 1 10
Steve Anderson 2 7 6 6 21 W

Scope Master and AAA
Robert G. 3 10 9 8 30
Michael Jackson 2 10 10 9 31 W
Dick Hennebry 1 10 8 8 27
Tom Wengh 1 7 8 6 22

AA/A/and B
Coralee Smith 0 9 7 6 22 W
Jeff D. 0 8 6 7 21
Gary Smith 0 8 3 5 16

Modern Rifle Class AA/A/and B
Travis Purdum 1 1 9 9 20
Kimber Purdum 0 9 8 5 22 W
Shawn Cushing 0 8 1 4 13
Bryan Cushing 1 0 4 7 12

[Don McDowell]

Fantastic turnout Cody.

[Steve Anderson]

Cody that was a fantastic performance from you. Wow! Steve

[Cody Smith]

Cody that was a fantastic performance from you. Wow! Steve

You will be there before long with the rate you have been improving! I like that as I can run faster with someone chasing me.
take care, Cody

[Steve Anderson]

I've been using a aperture front sight. What is a common insert for most shooters? Was sort of wandering if the crosswire might be better. I suppose everyone has their own idea of what works best, and I need to experiment some. Can't wait to get the Stevens up and running...Steve

[Don McDowell]

Steve I like that open crosshair on sillouettes.

[Cody Smith]

Steve, I think the vast majority of silhouette shooters are using an aperture front. I have tried most of the ones on the card that came with my MVA sights and have ended up with the aperture. Like Don says, the open cross hairs will also work, but I could never make any type of post, pin head, or closed cross hairs work for me. Some of the guys even have apertures that are shaped like the animals. Robert Garribay has a set and really likes them. I have not tried them.
Take care, Cody

[Don McDowell]

When I shoot that open crosshair on the sillouettes I basically only use the left hand horizontal wire, just put the point halfway up on the animals chest/butt depending on which way it's facing

[Steve Anderson]

Hadn't considered the open crosshair. Interesting idea though. In the end here, I'll do some experimenting. On my dingers, up on my range, I have used and like the crosshair. These targets however are designed to be hit. Read larger in size.
Cody, I'm with you on the post and such. I can't seem to get a sight picture that doesn't give considerable vertical issues. The thirst for being the ultimate Silhouette Sniper continues. Steve

[bryany]

Steve, I use the animal inserts in my MVA front sight and have for years. I think you need to try different size apertures on each animal/distance to find what your eye sees the clearest. I don't believe most folks shoot the same front sight across the course with lots of different opinions. The easiest mistake to make is to use too small an insert on a given target. I like to see a good amount of light around the target and spend my time centering the target in the insert. Opening the rear eye cup to make the best of existing light is the other thing to keep in mind. After a while, I've got a pretty consistent sight plan for a given rifle and match.

I know of a few folks who swear by a pin head or post for Chickens. Some of them do very will with it as well. I think you need to try different things and see how your eye likes it.

Bryan