Guns 2012-08.pdf - Jeffersonian

every brand on the market lay atop
expensive custom rifles. Dope was
displayed on the inside of Butler Creek
lens covers, on the side of stocks, in
handheld computers of various makes,
and on little pieces of paper. Shooters
constantly monitored the wind with
Kestrels and carried their squeeze bags
around like Linus’ blanket.
Young Man’s Game
The Shooter’s Bash is certainly a
young man’s game, but a handful of
the shooters were older than 45, some
of them much older. Dedication reigns
supreme with many of these riflemen,
as several of them were due at another
match early the next morning some 6
hours north.
At Rifles Only, owned and operated
by Jacob Bynum and his wife Lisa, the
watchword is safety, and it is preached
to the shooters ad infinitum. One or
more doctors (shooters as well) follow
the field with medical gear ready. Not
one incident occurred.
I don’t know how many staff worked
the match, but I counted nine at one
event while others were inside scoring,
preparing targets, and cleaning. It is a
premier event.
The match started at 8 a.m. and
finished around 9 p.m. the evening of
the first day. Shooters were called to
“Bring It In!” again at 8:30 a.m. the
second day. Shooting was at an end
about 4 p.m. the afternoon of the
second day, after which awards were
handed out to the top finishers, and
then the shooters hit the awards table.
Brisket, sausage, beans, et al finished
the day.
The Match
I watched with amazement as these
riflemen and pistoleros performed.
Crawling from level one to level
three of the mousetrap not only
takes conforming to strange body
contortions but also tests the shooter’s
skills on both the strong and weak
sides and the ability to hit small targets
standing.
From the tower they laid their pistols
and rifles on the deck with magazines
out. Given the command to begin, they
The shooters fire at the 400-
yard line at a small target.
This sort of stuff goes on
for 25 events over two days
and one night.
Equipment to Compete
Rifle, caliber .338 or less
Rifle ammo, 150 rounds
Rifle bipod
Scope allowing comeups to 1,000 yards.
Defense-type pistol
and retaining holster (no speed guns)
Pistol ammo, 70 rounds
Rangefinder
Backpack, vest or butt pack
Ear protection (muffs or plugs)
Eye protection
Water bottle
Optional Equipment
Wind, barometric pressure,
and temperature instrument
Ballistic software or ballistic card
Anti-cant devise
Insect repellent
Sunscreen
Knee and elbow pads
had to drop to their rifle in the prone
position, load a magazine, and engage
5 steel disks at 600 yards. They then
had to drop the magazine from the rifle,
load the pistol magazine and shoot at a
3" dot at the bottom of the tower. Then
remove the mag from the pistol, reload
the magazine in the rifle and shoot at 1"
dots at the bottom of the tower. That’s
straight down some 30'. Of course
the shooters had to reduce power on
their scopes and dial for such a short
distance. All this in 60 seconds.
Another event had the shooters on
the 100-yard line. They were told to
lay their ammo on the other side of a
berm. When the commence fire was
given, the shooter had to make his way
over the berm, pick up one round of
ammo, return to his rifle, assume the
prone position and fire at a 3/4" dot.
There were 25 such dots, and some
competitors moved over the hill to
retrieve a round and then back to their
rifle fast enough to fire all 25 times.
Over the hill and back, over the hill and
back, ad nauseam. Firing all 25 rounds
in the time allotted, meant running
about 600 yards total. The Rangers
made this event seem like child’s play.
Stan Owens uses a rather unconventional approach to accomplish the 400-yard
kneeling event. The barrel is so close to the 4x4, the can left a burn mark. Both
competitors did very well on this event. Stan was seventh overall in the 25 events.
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