November Smithmoor 22 Match

[Cody Smith]

Fellow Shooters and Supporters,
The first match of the 5th Smithmoor Winter 22 BPCR series is over and done and it was a good one! We were once again humbled by all the attendance and support we get. The first match of the season is always fun as there are many shooters we haven't gotten to see all summer, and there is usually some new faces and friends to meet. It was really fun, I know I enjoyed myself immensely.
We had 27 shooters make it out to shoot yesterday. We have capped the match entries at 30 and we were a little worried we would have to turn some folks down, but it all worked out. Thank you to everyone for letting us know you were coming. We have made a few changes in a bit of an experiment. If it is something we like, we will stick with it and maybe even be able to adopt something like it at the national level.
Our first big idea is the creation of the Grand Master Class. Several match directors have had a problem with the current classification system and several ideas have been discussed at the national level. Here at Smithmoor, we decided we are going to leave the score breakdowns alone, but add another class. To shoot in the Grand Master class you will need three scores of 34 or greater in a year, a single score of 37 or greater, or to have been a past national champion. I truly feel there is a division in the current master class and it bothers me that someone can clean all the prone targets and possibly not even be in the running for an award. We will test my idea and see how it works.
The other idea I am going to test is that a rung target with a full bullet strike will count. I really believe that in the big bore matches the idea of ringing the targets is a good one. There is an advantage to low recoiling rifles and this rule keeps the playing field fair. If you want to shoot a small gun, great, but you might ring a few. What are we to do in the 22 game?? Use a bigger bullet? Maybe more powder? Obviously we can't so ringing a target is basically just bad luck and I don't think that should work against shooters. Each shooter will be allowed one review per match. As long as their review is legit, they will get it back. If they call for a review and there is not a hit, they lose the ability to ask for a review the rest of the match. Hopefully this will combat excessive requests to review targets.
There were lots of great things that happened at the match. Some of the highlights were the father/son squad. We had one full squad of fathers that shot with sons. I thought it was pretty darn cool. We also shot a paper target for the fifth station. It was a 100 yard German Ring target. Kenny Wasserburger shot a super 244 in some nasty wind to win the paper match. Good Shooting Kenny! We had several ties and a few shootoffs to settle them. I love those and it is fun to see folks really trying hard to win. Luanda Taylor shot her very first match and shot a 27 to be placed in AAA! Wow! That is some good shooting! We had three brand new shooters, 5 new to us shooters, and 4 junior shooters. I thought those numbers were pretty cool.
As always, the food was great. Coralee made a giant roaster full of her famous ham and beans and several big pans of cornbread. I am not sure why something so simple tastes so good, but it does. Several folks also brought donuts, thank you!! Beverly Reed brought a big pan of apple spice cake to finish the feast off. Thank you to all that help with the food, it really adds to our match.
The weather was quite cold and windy with temps in the low 20's and a wind that pushed 25 mph most of the day. I thought the below scores were great despite the weather. I am always amazed that a 22 can be shot so accurately in the heavy wind. We had the stove in the shed cranking out the heat and it stayed quite comfortable inside the building.
I was quite pleased to give Carol McDowell a 1st place pin for her great score of 25 to win A class. Carol is my dear friend and I am so pleased to see her improve and shoot well. AA class went to veteran shooter Dick Farmer with a 28. It always makes me smile to see the Farmers make it to our matches. AAA was a tie between Mark Pachares and Jeff Woodring with 32's. It was late and cold, so they elected to do reverse animal count resulting in Mark coming out on top. Good shooting fellas! Our new master class had a three way tie with 32's between Coralee, Cecil, and Steve Anderson. Cecil won the shootoff by wacking 2 of the three chickens. Yahoo!! I love shootoffs!! I really enjoyed shooting with my Dad yesterday and he did a great job spotting in the wind. We wound up with a 35 and earning the match winner pin. Thanks Dad!
Coralee and I got a little discombobulated at the end of the awards ceremony and screwed up the certificates. I know it is no big deal, but I am sorry and we will have our ducks in a row next month and get those corrected certificates to those that earned them. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
In December, we move the 22 match to the third weekend to work around a couple of us wanting to go the Schuetzen Match in Butte Montana. So, we hope to see everyone back next month on December 15th.
Let's all take a moment to remember our Veterans. Thank you just doesn’t seem like enough, but it's the best I've got. A giant thank you goes out to all that have served and made such great sacrifices for all of us.
take care my friends,
Cody
Shooter Paper Chicken Pig Turkey Ram Total Place
Grand Master
Michael Rix 234 4 9 10 8 31
Cody Smith 234OH 6 10 9 10 35 MW

Master
Steve Anderson 235 4 10 9 9 32
Dick Hennebry 242 2 10 8 10 30
Cecil Sauer 188OH 5 10 9 8 32 1st
Coralee Smith 147 OH 4 10 9 9 32
Kenny Wasserburger 244 1 10 8 9 28 High Paper Target

AAA
JD Farmer 229 2 10 9 10 31
Mark Pachares 241 5 10 10 7 32 1st
Tom Reed 222 1 8 7 8 24
Weston Rix 237 1 10 6 8 25
Gary Smith 236 1 10 7 9 27
Mike Venard 229 1 10 6 2 19
Jeff Woodring 232 4 10 9 9 32
Luanda Taylor 212 0 10 7 10 27
AA
Dick Farmer 203 2 8 10 8 28 1st
Don McDowell 229 0 7 4 8 19
Gus Robertson 220 0 10 8 8 26

A/B
Phoebe Fogler 208 2 6 5 5 18
Steve Fogler 143 0 7 5 6 18
Ruthann Holmes 162 1 4 3 8 16
Keith Kelly 144 0 7 3 4 14
Carol McDowell 214 1 9 9 6 25 1st
Mike Roduner -- 0 8 6 7 21
Chase Sauer 0 6 8 3 17
Dan Epperson -- 0 1 0 1 2
Gary McLoughlin -- 1 4 0 3 8

[Don McDowell]

Thanks for the write up Cody. It was a fun match as usual.

[Cody Smith]

Thanks Don. As always, I was glad you were able to make it.

[Don McDowell]

I like what you're trying out on the master class. That high master thing I believe is long overdue in 22bpcr.
The 5th target is also a good thing to have , let's folks see just how well their rifles do group.

[Steve Anderson]

Indeed it is a great write up! Thanks for it and thanks for the use of your ranges! I think I like the split Master class, but wonder if the designation qualifiers is fair. Hard to know, but I the idea is a good one for sure. When I started this game never did I dream I'd make Master class. My goal was AAA, then things changed. My point is, I have no illusions of grandeur, just let me shoot as well as I can and hopefully turn in a good score. If I win, great. If I shoot a good score but don't win it's still great. I just want to be a good shot and a good shot more or less on call. Seems easy enough right?

[Fogman01]

I put this on the Shiloh forum but I think the thanks to Cody is worth posting twice:
Thanks for the great write up. Good job on that - and also all the thought you obviously have put into making the .22BPCR matches better.
The "ringing the targets" rule is also well thought out and justified. I think everyone who was there could see a lot of "rung" targets since they were clipped to rail due to the winds and the rule just makes perfect sense for .22 matches.
The paper target shoot is worth doing and is good teaching aid because it reminds the shooter that in order to do well at silhouettes you have to shoot well to begin with - and having to shoot a good group during the match requires that the shooter maintain focus on the basic shooting skills and not get "sloppy". I know I am still thinking about why I had so much trouble getting myself on the paper - I had just shot a test group with the Shaver insert and shot a 1 1/2" group at 100 yards just a few days before. So I'll go the range and work on it.
You and Cora Lee run a well-organized and executed match (with great food). It is definitely “wife quality”; I know my wife certainly enjoyed shooting with the crowd there. I was especially happy to see the father and son teams. That really made my day. Thanks for the emphasis on family. It pays big dividends. Years ago I shot with my daughter when she was a kid, and now she is taking me pheasant hunting next weekend - she loves it and so do I.