2012 Texas State SMALLBORE Rifle Silhouette Championships

[nomad]

The 2012 TX State Smallbore Rifle and Smallbore Hunting Rifle Silhouette Championships will be held the first Saturday in March at the Haltom City Rifle and Pistol Club in Haltom City, TX -- just east of Fort Worth.
Entry forms and information can be obtained on the Tx State Rifle Association website ( https://www.tsra.com/images/stories/mat ... ouette.pdf ) or contact me via PM through this site.
The range will be opened for a sight-in/rifle certification/practice session as soon after Noon on Friday, March 2nd, as we can get the range set up -- and remain open until sunset. The match schedule will be one 60 round Standard Rifle match and one 60 round Hunting Rifle match on Saturday, March 3rd. There will be a catered lunch and competitors' meeting on Saturday, following completion of the morning match, before we begin the afternoon match.
The matches will be shot on RESETTABLE target banks.
Everyone is welcome -- come on out and start the season with us!

Ernie Kuney

[Jason]

Thanks for posting this, Ernie. The use of resettable targets for smallbore has come up at a range I shoot at, but none of us had any experience with resettables other than air rifle targets. It has come up again lately due to our long-time target setter growing up and having a real job. How do you guys like those? I don't want to hijack this thread if no one else is interested, so feel free to reply in a private message if you have time. Thanks!

[nomad]

Jason,

I don't mind using this thread for a bit -- it might help others wondering about resets and, if it gets carried away, I'll re-post about the match.

Resets have both advantages and disadvantages.

Pro:
Safety -- there is very little down-range time during the match or practice periods.
Convenience.
Operational time -- we regularly run 3 relay, 60 shot matches in about 2 hours. (And the practice/sight-in sessions are a snap.)
Limited alibi down time. IOW, if the wind's blowing targets over or you experience multiple falls, it isn't necessary to issue a range alibi. Just pull the cord and keep shooting.


Cons:
The banks need some maintenance and they must be carefully tuned initially.
It takes more time to set the range up for a match -- if you have to remove stands to protect them from the clowns who want to shoot them with .338 RUMs when no one's looking -- and it's difficult for one man to do it. (Even on decent wheels, the ram banks are heavy to move.)

We get complaints about targets -- NOT many -- that don't fall after minor ("Krylon") 'hits'. Of course, the complainers seem to forget that they often see turned targets that don't fall on free-standing set-ups.

I would rather shoot free-standing targets. But I think that the advantages of resets make them the better choice.

TXCharlie on this board built ours. If you want more information, he'll happily provide it.

[durant7]

One other advantage, or at least difference when compared to free standing targets. Spotters have a MUCH easier time calling hits. No more turkeys spinning like a top when the tip of the tail is hit...or was it the breast? It takes some practice (and glass) to see the bullet trail going in. Having the turkey remain facing as they fall almost eliminates the need for a spotter. And chickens, go down in a hurry but you at least have a look as they fall.

JD

[Wirenut1212]

Are they legal for your grandslam stuff with the NRA? Are yours steel or the cast type?

[TXCharlie]

1. Yes
2. Some are cast, most are steel.

[chango2013]

Ernie
sent you a PM

[nomad]

Gabriel,

I replied to your PM.
Send me what you need and I'll get the paperwork out to you.

Regards
Ernie

[nomad]

We're approaching a full boat for the upcoming match. (I have 4 slots left at this time.)
If anyone is interested and hasn't yet sent an entry, please get it to me ASAP.

Ernie

[edgehit]

Ernie,
I sent you checks and entry for 2 shooters today. Where did the last month go?

[GregG]

Ernie,

Do you have space for one more?

Greg Gudenburr

[nomad]

Greg,

When I initially posted, I had 44 entries and planned to close out at 48. We've already blown past 54 competitors. We're either going to add another relay...or figure out where on the range we can plant another 4 banks.
Fortunately, the resettables allow some flexibility.

Come on up. I'll mark you for slot 55.

If anyone else wants to come out and play, we now -- in the 'new' configuration -- have 9 slots to fill. lol
We can NOT handle more than 64.

Ernie

[GregG]

Thanks that is very good news for AAA no one has to worry about being last in AAA now......

[edgehit]

Ernie,
That was a great match! And we could not have had better weather and a large turnout by our fellow shooters. Many thanks to you, Charlie, Rene, Sandy, and others who put it all together and ran it like professionals.

[nomad]

Awwww...blush!

Thanks.

We ran 59 competitors through 2 60 shot matches. 4 relays per match.
Began with a short sighting period followed by the opening ceremonies and announcements.
Had a catered lunch between the matches.
Held 2 awards ceremonies and a competitors' meeting where we nominated match directors for the next 2 years.
Broke the range down, moved all the resettable stands to the storage area and cleaned up the entire firing area.

All in about 11 hours.

What made it work was:
(1.) The help of TxCharlie, who really did more work than I did. (And he's the guy who made all our reset banks.)
(2.) 3 very good stat ladies in the office.
And
(3.) A great bunch of competitors who paid attention, were where they needed to be when their relays were called, didn't delay when clearing the line, got down-range and back quickly when we repainted, never brought up a single squabble and followed safety procedures and self-policed the line without any conflict. (I didn't have to make a single safety call all day.)

All in all, a good match in nice weather with good friends. (OK, it's Texas. There were some sneaky wind conditions.) Lots of junior shooters who shot well, several excellent women competitors and even a few newbies in the mix -- who were well mentored by the 'old hands'.

The match winner's 108/120 wasn't too shabby either!

Now if only that darned CD player hadn't failed in the middle of the National Anthems, it would have been almost perfect... LOL