Yaupon Creek Silhouette Association

Creedmoor Match Apr 20, 2002

by Tom Berwick

We only had 4 competitors for today's match which made for an easy match. LeRoy Tanner and I shot the 800, 900 and 1000 yard targets first and then switch spotting postions with O. J. Riddles and Gary Krutilek. We had a fairly strong south wind which continued to get heavier as the day wore on. Actually, it would have been pretty warm out there without the wind. Termperatures climbed from the mid 70's at the start of the match to mid to upper 80's by the early afternoon. Since the wind velocity was switching quite a bit and mainly heading at our shooting position, there were a few shots which sailed high and then low.

I was sailing along pretty well until the very last shot on the 900 yard target. When I shut the block, the hammer followed. In addition to missing everything in the county, my rifle recoiled off of my cross sticks with the barrel hitting the concrete, then the front sight, and, apparently the rear sight. The rifle shot all over the place at 1000 yards and we discovered that both the front and rear sight were loose. So, it's back to Montana Vintage Arms for a tune-up.

LeRoy Tanner discovered that bad ammo can ruin your day. Apparently, the large bullet he was using at 800 yards was not stabilizing at the current loading parameters. As a result, he missed the 800 yard entirely but did have the distinction of hitting the 1000 yard target somehow with one of those rounds. I was cleaning my rifle when LeRoy started shooting and could hear the helicoptering sound from behind the firing line. Fortunately, LeRoy had a different bullet loaded on every thing else and he was able to hit the 900 and 1000 yard target with some regularity.

Then came our 2 hot shots. Gary Krutilek was first up at 800 yards and that target gave him a more trouble than he anticipated. When O.J. started at 800 yards, he finished by grooving 3 of the last 4 the X ring. Both O. J. and Gary finished well on the 900 & 1000 yard targets taking the top 2 spots in the match.

This is a fun, laid back type of match and we'd like to have more folks participate in June when I anticipate we'll have our next go at the big squares.

Until the next match,
Hold Center,
Tom Berwick

Competitor 800 Yd 900 Yd 1000 Yd Total
O. J. Riddles 82-3x 62 52 196-3x
Gary Krutilek 66 60 60 186
Tom Berwick 60 64 12 136
LeRoy Tanner 0 42-1x 46 88-1x