Here are the old issues of Right on Target 2006

Dang!! Shooting season is over, at least for the Southeastern New Mexico Hi Power League. I was just starting to get the hang of this game. It has felt good to shoot and be able to concentrate. Being able to focus on what one is doing certainly is a plus. On to the matches.

Roswell in October was a gorgeous day. We had light wind in our face, fishtailing back and forth from about 11:00 to 1:00. I shot the best offhand I have shot in years and it set the stage for the day. I was match winner with a 791-31X capped off with a 200-12X at 600 yds. The ole Winchester is a working just real fine. Sorry to toot my horn so much, it just felt so good! That was a personal best! Mike Irish is going to fool around and get his Master card back if he is not careful. The bad news, for us at least, is Mike is going to be leaving next month to go oversees and work for awhile. We hate to lose him, but he is bored being retired. Scores as follows:

The morning started very cold at Capitan the next weekend. It was 22 degrees when I got up Saturday morning. Weather.com said the wind was to be light and variable with the temps being in the high 50’s. Goes to show you not to believe everything you read on the internet! The temperature did make it into the high 50’s but it was pretty breezy nearly all day long. Winds running in the 12 mph range with gusts to 15. There were several highlights though, with the first one being Joe Heath. He showed up!! Joe is looking good and we were glad to see him. Thanks to new shooters, new to us that is, Dan and Tracy Sales for coming down. They shot long range with us back in the summer and it was nice to see them come and shoot across the course. It’s a long drive for them from the Gallup area and we were glad they could make it. But I think the real highlight should go to Danny White. Danny purchased an AR15 service rifle a couple of months ago, he was tired of the beating he was taking shooting the Garand. Well Danny shot a 708-6X this past Saturday, the first time he has ever broken 700! Congratulations Danny!! I was match winner; Mike Irish again took the expert/master class. And then the last highlight of the day goes to Tom Higdon. Now understand that Tom’s class is a sharpshooter. Tom shot a 754-9 to win the combined class. If you don’t know for sure, that is a master class score. I don’t think Tom is going to be a sharpshooter next year!! Good shooting Tom! Scores as follows:

Larry Kimpell came up on Friday before the Capitan match and got some more block laid. We had 6 yds of concrete show up at 1:30 Saturday afternoon after the match and poured the wall full. It sure is looking good. If you get this electronically, I have attached a couple of pictures to the email. We cooked brats and had some beer after we got thru working on the wall. It was very enjoyable sitting around shooting the bull. We should do that again. We really appreciate all the work Larry has done. With any luck at all, we can shoot on the little end at our first match next year in May. It will be necessary to have a few work days in the spring, so make up your mind now that you can be there to help. We will have target frames to build, paint and repair. Number boards to set up, repair and paint. Target carries to dig out, and targets to build and repair. We will also need to fill in the catwalk area of the new wall with dirt and rock. We may need to rent a piece of equipment big enough to do the back filling as well.

I have applied for an NRA grant to repair the roof on the target shed. So hopefully, we will have that to do next summer as well. One good long day with 8 or 10 people and we can knock that out.

I haven’t set anything in stone yet, but the annual meeting should be scheduled for Jan. 27, 2007. It should be at the Lincoln County fairgrounds and we will have a meal catered as before. As far as I know, we don’t have anything earth shattering to act on. We will need to raise a little more money to finish the pit wall. And maybe someone has a good idea for a fund raiser. I get tired of asking for donations. If there is something that you would like to get on the agenda, please let me know. I will be sending out meeting notices around Christmas time.

Rule 14.3.1 discusses the duties of the scorekeeper. It is a lengthy rule and I won’t rewrite it here. But briefly, it states that upon assuming the duties of scorekeeper, an individual becomes an official of the match. Rapid fire strings is one place the scorekeeper becomes very involved in the match. The rule book states that under no circumstances should the scorekeeper watch the target thru his spotting scope. It should be turned away. Or you can stand up, away from your scope so you can’t see thru it. This is so you can’t coach, or be accused of coaching the shooter. You are required to very carefully count the number of shots that your shooter fires and notify the range officer immediately if it is not what was required. You also note any irregularities, such as stoppages and malfunctions and if the competitor tries to clear said problems. This information is invaluable to the range officials when determining if an alibi is in order, a refire or any other remedy that may be required. In slow fire you of course record the score of each shot, and you should make certain that the target is operated properly so as to avoid a shooter getting charged with a miss when he shouldn’t have.

Please acquire a rule book and study it. I believe there will be a new one printed this next year.

Speaking of rules and changes, there is discussion in the hi power community about changing the rapid fire rules to where a shooter stays sitting or prone and doing away with shooters stand. Briefly I will try and cover a few of the points. There is a web site, http://www.nationalmatch.us that has a considerable discussion on the matter. You will have to register to get to the forums, but it is free and it goes into much more depth.

A lot of the discussion centers around the fact that national champion David Tubb, since his knee replacement, has applied for a disability card allowing him to stay in position. Since David is most capable of being a match winner, the question is whether or not it is fair to the other competitors for him to have this advantage. There are also some safety concerns involved and discussion as to whether or not a rule change would help keep more older shooters shooting. I encourage you to go read the discussion. It is written by some very knowledgeable people and some very valid points are covered. The rules committee will appreciate any input that you have concerning this rule and all others, next year when they meet.

I hope that everyone has a good winter. Do some dry firing this winter and make plans to support our sport with you attendance next year. Drive and hunt safe and I hope to see everyone at the annual meeting.

Favor Center

Club President Bill Rodolph

END OF OCTOBER ISSUE

Top    Back to Club News

We sure had a low turnout for the Roswell match on the 16^th. Only 6 shooters. There would have been more, but it is my understanding that a shooter from Lubbock left his ammo in Lubbock and was too embarrassed to come on out. Everyone knows, if you do this long enough, your gonna forget something. We have all done it, been there and purchased the tee shirt. For future reference, if you forget something, come on out anyway, equipment can be borrowed and if common ammo is left behind, there is a good chance someone has what you need!! At the regional last month, there was a new shooter that came to shoot the leg match. He promptly got his car stuck in the mud. He was so embarrassed, that when we got his car out, he left. I would really like to encourage you to understand that that sort of thing happens pretty regular. From flat tires, to dead batteries to keys locked in the car. If the vehicle is in the way, we can usually move it so we can continue shooting. We have actually shot over my truck on the 300 yard line and we were shooting from the 600 yard line. Again, we have all been there, so folks, please don’t be embarrassed.

On to the shoot at Roswell. It was pretty breezy when we shot offhand and the wind got a little lighter as we moved back, but not a lot. I was match winner with a 772-21. Starting to feel like I am getting back in shooting shape with some trigger time. I shot a 199-8 at 600 yards. And I can’t explain my lone nine. Dave Crider won the expert class and Bill Dilley won the sharpshooter/marksman class. It’s good to have Dave back out shooting again. Scores to follow:

I know there were shooters who didn’t come to Capitan on the 23^rd because there were some weather reports saying that the wind was going to blow hard. Guess what, y’all screwed up. It was a great day to shoot!! Weather.com was saying 5 to 10 mph and that’s what we had. I am not suggesting that they are always right, as a matter of fact; this may be the first time they have got the forecast correct! It was pretty cool to start out and we had a light wind in offhand, but it didn’t seem to be a bother. We had 12 shooters for the match and some first time highlights. Tom Higdon shot his first ever 10 shot clean in the sitting match. Way to go Tom. I shot my first ever 20 shot clean in a rapid fire match, shooting a 200-8 in the sitting match as well. Got the ole Winchester working good! I was match winner, Dave Crider again won the expert class. Tom Higdon won the sharpshooter class and Jack Partridge won the unclassified class. Tom and Jack will be moving up next year! I would like to thank all the people who drive long distances to come shoot with us and would like to encourage them to come down to El Paso and shoot this coming weekend in the Rudy Buehling match. I will attach the pertinent information for that match to this email if you get this electronically. Scores to follow:

The weather has really slowed us down on the pit wall. Larry tells me he is leaning towards trying to come up and work on the first full weekend of October which is the 7th. I will keep you informed. We will need people to come out and help. I have applied for an NRA grant to reroof the target shed. We won’t know anything for several months, but we should be able to get some help from them.

I said in the last edition that I had some concerns that I wanted to address. This is the first one. Sportsmanship and target service. It is the responsibility of all competitors to give the best target service that they can. It is also the responsibility of all competitors to realize that fast/slow or indifferent service is part of the match conditions that you have to deal with. It has been brought to my attention that in years past, some competitors have taken it upon themselves to royally chew out another competitor for their poor target service. This in turn has caused some shooters not to return and that saddens me greatly! People sometimes drive long distances and spend considerable money to come and shoot. It is a vacation for them. I certainly don’t like to go on vacation and have a poor time. So please, don’t ruin a match for someone else.

Rule 10.14 addresses slow target operation. READ IT. It also says that normal target operation will be about 15 to 18 seconds. I can show a person how to give good service and we even cover this in our clinic. But, if you have a problem with your service as a shooter, it is your responsibility to bring it to the attention of the line officer. He will give extra time if he deems it necessary. It is not your responsibility to find the offending person and proceed to chew him out. And I really don’t want to hear of it happening again. We need people to come and support our sport, and I think you all know why. If you can’t be a good sport and competitor………………………………….Enough said?

I still have club sweatshirts for sale. 3 large and 5 extra large. $20.00 ea. We also have club patches. They are about 3" square, embroidered and cost $8.00 ea.

See ya on the range,

Club President Bill Rodolph

END OF SEPTEMBER ISSUE

Top    Back to Club News

We sure have had a lot of rain. Roswell was very humid and muggy, but not too hot. We had an 8 to 10 mph wind all day long from 11:00. It was gusty enough to really screw with you in offhand. We only had 8 shooters show for the match on the 19^th. It was a good day to shoot except for that nagging breeze in offhand. I was match winner with a 765-18. I sure like the way this 6XC cartridge shoots, but I had trouble with the fully fired formed brass feeding in my Winchester. Will have to work on that. Steve Wright won the Expert class with a 743-15 and Rod Phillippi won the combined sharpshooter/marksmen class with a 685-7. Scores as follows:

The 4^th weekend at Capitan was our regional hi power match. We had a super turnout! 15 shooters came out on Friday morning for the any/any match. George Morgan of the All Guard Team was match winner with a fine 197-10, shooting a 6.5/284.

Friday afternoon we shot a 50 shot team match and the All Guard Team beat up on the rest of us. We had 5 teams shoot. The rains came during the 300 yard stage of the match and one relay got a 70 second drenching. We joke about how the weather or wind comes up when the line office says shooters stand, but that is exactly what happened. It rained hard for 70 seconds then was done!

We had 48 shooters for the Regional match on Saturday. We ran 4 relays. It will sure be nice when we get the low end of the pits done. Again the rains came during the 300 yard stage, but this time I was shooting. It rained pretty hard but it was the best group I have shot in a while at 300 yards. We had to cancel the match after that string and since not everyone had shot 300 yards, we had to go back and figure winners after the 200 yard line. Jonathon Thornton was the gold medal winner, Claude Trahan the silver and J. R. Treharne took home the bronze. Claude and J. R. are with the All Guard Team. I would be more than glad to send complete results to those that are interested. Of course those that participated will get a bulletin in the mail.

Sunday was a beautiful day for the leg match. We had 30 shooters total with 22 being non distinguished, so we were able to give two legs. Alan Williams got the 8 point leg, and Sean Edwards took home the 6 point leg. All Guard Shooter Rodney Jenkins was match winner with a 488-14, a new range record for a leg match.

I think a good time was had by all, I hope the rain we had doesn’t put people off from coming again next year. We had a good cookout with no food left over. I did bring home a few diet Coors though. Won’t buy so many next year.

I would like to offer special thanks to Walt Garfield for being the Chief Range officer on Saturday and to Paul Myers for being pit officer on Saturday and Sunday. Ray Grado and Steve Jones were cooks for the cookout. Stats were done by Tammy Myers, Shalene Layher and our secretary, Dan Egan. And lastly I would like to thank J. D. Roehrig, a club member, for making our awards on such short notice. I heard nothing but positive comments on the glass etching that he made. I also need to recognize Coy Dictson of the Chavez Canyon Ranch for the loan of equipment to work on our pit wall, grade roads and firing lines.

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, congratulations go out to Ron Zerr. Ron was second at Nationals this year!! Way to go Ron! Very steady shooting, I don’t think that Ron won an individual match, but stayed consistent the whole week. Ron did shoot a 499 in the team match. That’s pretty damn good too!

Club member and hi power shooter Virginia McLemore shoots smallbore prone. She was hi woman in the smallbore prone, iron sight match at Perry this year. That is excellent shooting! There are some hard holding ladies in smallbore around the country and Virginia beat them all in the iron sight match.

The state has offered our club the opportunity to take over the state hi power championship next year. We would be in charge of it all and get all of the profits. I would like some input from members. Also would like to know how you felt about the 1,000 point aggregate we shot this year. Do you want to keep that format? I think that we have already settled on the 3^rd weekend of July in 2007. I would also appreciate your thoughts on this matter. Should the state champion be a resident? Or should they at least be a member of the NMSSA? I think that a participant in the state match should be a member of the NMSSA, but does not have to be a resident of NM. Your input would be appreciated.

Larry Kimpell was going to work on the pit wall during the regional, but the rain caused a lot of problems. Hopefully it is going to start to dry out soon and we can get back on it. Larry is thinking about working on it at our next match. Plan on staying and helping.

We have had some issues, problems and concerns crop up over the year, but I will address those later in the year. Hope to see everyone at our next match and be safe in your travels and hunting trips.

Club President Bill Rodolph

END OF AUGUST ISSUE

Top    Back to Club News

We had 8 people show up for our last long range match of the year. I would like to welcome 2 new shooters that are new to us, for coming down from Zuni, NM to shoot with us. They are Harold and Tracie Sales. Tracie is fairly new to the sport, but Harold is a master long range shooter and won the match rifle class. Welcome to Capitan.

It was a chamber of commerce day. Really very pretty. Light wind until the last relay at 1,000 yds in the Palma match when the storm showed up. We only got the Palma match in; the any/any got rained out. John Dink was hot in F class and on pace to set a new range record had he not been on that last relay at 1,000. He shot a 150-15X at 800 yds with a 223 improved. Good shooting rifle. He was shooting the new 80gr Amax with a case stuffed full of H4350SC. I was surprised he could get enough powder in it.

Thanks to all who came and shot long range with us this year. All though turn outs were a little light, I think we will try and do it again next year. Maybe some more folks will show an interest. Scores as follows:

MATCH RIFLE

F-CLASS

We had a great day to shoot in Roswell on the 15^th. The wind was light all day long and not much of a factor, although it would jump up and bite you if you weren’t paying attention. 12 shooters showed up to brave the heat, myself included. I was smarter this time, had plenty of water and kept a towel soaked in ice water on my neck and head most of the day. It really helped. I finally shot close to where I should be and won the match with a 765-16. Didn’t have much in the way of zeros. I had rebarreled my rifle a few months ago, but didn’t like the way the action was working. So I have now reactioned (I wonder if that’s a word) the gun and things seem much better. Two highlights for the day. Steve Wright shot his first ever master score with a 755-12 and junior John White shot a 743-10. Steve has switched to using Berger bullets in his 600 yard load and I guess he has found something that really shoots. He has picked up 15 points or so at 600 yards. John White is just a kid that doesn’t have a clue yet, what his potential is!! Scores as follows:

The 2006 state championships are in the book. I think we had a great match and a great weekend. The weather cooperated on Saturday and Sunday, but blew like hell on Friday afternoon, blowing out the team match. Saturday was a chamber of commerce day. It was a great day to shoot. We had 37 shooters for the state championship match. Ron Zerr won the 1,000 point aggregate with a 993 and is the new state champion. Wes Schumaker (sp?) is the state service rifle champion. Complete results will be available at http://www.nmrifleshooting.com. Mark Yarbrough won the leg match and Steve Jones got his first leg points. There were only 15 non distinguished shooters, so only one leg was given. I would sure like to encourage people to shoot the leg matches. We should have more people than that. We want the CMP to continue to let us hold leg matches. And with the two state championships combined we lost one leg match. It would help more shooters get points if we had a bigger turnout. Gene Klein won the palma match on Friday morning with a 433-20. We had 12 long range shooters for the match, not a bad turnout.

Dale Barry lost his glasses on Sunday at the range. If you happened to pick up a pair of glasses………………

The regional that we sponsor is coming up on August 25, 26 and 27. I am not going to mail out programs. I have attached a program to this email. If you know of someone who needs a program, please let me know or print it out for them. We will have a work day at the range the Sunday before the regional which is the 20^th. Start at maybe 10:00 AM.

Larry Kimpell worked all weekend on the pit wall instead of shooting and got a real good start. I will attach a picture for those of you that are receiving this via email. We are so grateful to Larry and Dianne for all the work they have done. Thanks seem so inadequate.

We have the new club patches. They are the logo reproduced in an approx. 3" square. Looks pretty decent and cost $8.00. See ya soon, Bill Rodolph

Club President Bill Rodolph

END OF JULY ISSUE

Top    Back to Club News

We had 7 shooters show up for our second long range match of the year. The weather was pretty good for the Palma match as evidenced by a new range record shot by Andrew McCourt in F class. Andrew turned in an excellent 450-24 in the Palma match. Way to go Andrew!! Things got tougher in the any/any match with John Dink winning the any/any with a score of 189-4. Wind was up and down, pretty much full value from 9:00 for the most part. Scores to follow.

1. Andrew McCourt 450-24
2. John dink 448-25
3. Hans Prinz 427-113
4. Dick Holland 420-84
5. Shale Layher 406-15
Match Rifle
1. Dick Vivian 415-13
2. Steve Jones 380-7

1. John Dink 189-4
2. Andrew McCourt 188-6
3. Donny Pitts 184-4
4. Dick Holland 181-3
5. Shale Layher 164-1
6. Hans Prinz DNF
Match Rifle
1. Dick Vivian 176-3
2. Steve Jones 166-5

1. Mike Irish 176-7

June 17, 2006 we were back in Roswell for an across the course match. Special thanks go to Dave Crider for running the match. Both myself and Jerry King were out of town.
7 shooters braved the heat, 5 adults and 2 juniors. Light wind at 200 yards dying down at 300 and a little switchy at 600 yards. The lighter the wind, the hotter it got. I may be glad I didn't make that match! Adrian Morley was match winner with a 773-19. Good shooting Adrian. Adrian is taking his two grandsons', Kyle and Wesley Ganaway to Camp Perry this year. Walt Garfield has switched over to the dark side of bolt gunning with a Tubb 2000. He finally got to shoot it this match. Looks as if he may be getting the hang of it pretty quickly. Match scores:

Capitan, NM, June 24, 2006. What a fabulous day we had here. I don't think the wind ever gusted to 10 mph all day long. Ron Zerr called me on his way home from the regional at Raton and said they got blown out and called the match after 200 yds. Interesting how different the weather can be from place to place. We had 16 shooters come out and 4 were juniors. It's nice to see a good turnout of juniors. Larry Kimpell was match winner, Rick Gage won the expert class, Jack Partridge won the sharpshooter class and John White was hi junior. All winners donated their winnings back to the range fund. Paul Myers finally came and shot. He is back in the states and maybe has his act together. Hope to see more of him. Scores:

Work is progressing on the pit wall. On Friday afternoon, Larry and Dianne Kimpell, Paul and Tammy Myers, came up and met the concrete people. They poured the block we had stacked, full of concrete. Now it is in Larry's hands to build the actual wall. No schedule set, but I am sure he would like some help. I will let you know when we need some.

We are still running a little short on funds to finish the wall. We have had donations trickling in and I thank those persons very much. We still probably need about $1,000.00. I am not sure how much mortar and concrete it is going to take to finish. With the target carriers in the way, we have to rent a "grout pump" to pump the concrete. It sure is nice, but adds to the cost. If you would like to make a donation, send it to me and I will see that it gets to the right fund.

Don't forget that July 21st thru 23rd is the State Hi Power Championships. The program is available on our website, and on New Mexico Rifle Shooting, www.nmrifleshooting.com . Saturday's state championship match will be a 100 shot, 1,000 point match. There will be two 600 yard matches and no, you don't shoot all 40 shots in one time period.

August 25th thru 27th is the Regional that we sponsor and that program is available at our website as well. Good shooting and safe traveling this summer.

Bill Rodolph, President

END OF JUNE ISSUE

Top    Back to Club News

We had a great turnout for the clinic the end of April. There were 37 people, 10 of whom were juniors, braved the cool temperatures Saturday morning. When the clouds cleared off the Capitan Mountains in the background were snow covered. It was cool and breezy for the most part, but conditions were bearable. We didn’t shoot 600 yds on Saturday afternoon opting to wait until Sunday morning hoping for better conditions. We almost got lucky. The first relay had great conditions for about their first 5 minutes of shooting, then the typical Capitan wind kicked in. A great time was had by all and we had a good cookout Saturday afternoon. There was no food left. We made about $700.00 on the clinic and I put it all in the range fund. Thanks to all for coming, it appeared to be a resounding success!!

We had a great day for our first long range match of the year. It was dead calm, right up to when we started shooting! The wind ran from 0 mph to probably 12 mph, up and down all day long. Direction changed from 9:00 to 2:00 more than once, but was predominately from about 11:00. It made for a very tricky day. We had a total of 10 shooters. We lost one Palma shooter after the Palma match, and gained a new F class shooter for the any/any match. Donnie Pitts, a Capitan local and gunsmith, brought out a 6.5/284 he had built and did remarkably well in the any/any match. His scope didn’t have enough elevation to make the trip so he held the lower part of the duplex reticule on a rock up on the impact berm. To his credit, he never shot a miss. Junior Shale Layer also got hooked. He used my 22-250 and placed 3^rd, on his own (he did better without my coaching!), in the any/any match.

Thanks to all who came made the trip to Capitan for the match and I hope we see more out in June. Scores to follow.

1. John Van Marter, MW 436-22
2. Andrew McCourt 432-23
3. John Dink 416-13
4. Hans Prinz 414-13
5. Shale Layer, Jr. 408-12
6. Rod Current 361-5

PALMA RIFLE

1. Dick Vivian, MW 393-6
2. Mike Irish 388-6
3. Steve Jones 319-4

ANY/ANY MATCH

1. Andrew McCourt, MW 192-5
2. John Van Marter 189-4
3. Shale Layher 182-5
4. Donnie Pitts 182-3
5. Hans Prinz 180-6
6. Steve Jones 177-2
7. John Dink 164-2
8. Rod Current 135-1

1. Mike Irish 176-7

May 20^th found us back in Roswell shooting across the course. The day started out windy but calmed down as we moved back. It just got real tricky at 600 yards, switching directions almost constantly. I guess I have turned into a real wuss since moving to the mountains. The temperature got to 104 degrees and I came close to passing out on the 600 yard line. Not used to that kind of heat yet!! No one shot very well and it wasn’t really a great day. I won the match and Mike Irish won the combined expert class. We had two juniors and a total of 8 shooters. Pretty low turnout. I guess gas prices are kicking everyone’s butt! Scores to follow:

We had 17 shooters for the May 27^th match at Capitan. A really good turnout. We had 4 shooters come from Silver City, see y’all, you really can car pool!! The wind blew up the shooters pant leg all day long running 15 to 25 mph. A tough day for all. Ron Zerr was match winner, Jonathon Thornton won a combined high master/master/unclassified class; expert went to Tyler Webb, Bob Yost took the sharpshooter class and Tom Higdon won the marksman class. Tom may be fixin to get moved up at least one class in our league, he is shooting real well. I would like to thank new member Bill Midkiff for coming to the match and pulling a target for us. Squading was uneven and Bill pitched in and helped us out. Thanks very much. Hope we see you next month with a rifle in your hands. We had a new shooter this month, Don Stallman, who gave the old college try with a Swiss K31 straight pull rifle. Once he got the hang of it, he did pretty well. We hope that Don comes back for more punishment soon!! Scores to follow.

Work has started on the pit wall. If you get this letter electronically, I have attached a picture. Everyone stayed after the match and pitched in to get things started. Larry Kimpell, Paul Myers and myself continued on Sunday to the point in the picture. Just a few odds and ends and we are ready to pour the foundation. Many thanks to Jack Partridge for furnishing water and beer for the work party.

Like I stated above, work has finally begun on the pit wall. It felt good to finally get some work accomplished. It does look as though we are going to be a little short on funds to finish. I haven’t checked concrete prices yet, but that is where the problem will be. Anyone familiar with construction knows that the last year or a little more has seen some very volatile concrete prices. Anyone wishing to make a donation to the range fund is more than welcome to do so. Send it to me and I will see that it gets in the right account. We are going to have to replace the target shed roof soon as well. Ron and I worked on it a while on Friday afternoon, but I fear our efforts were minimal at best.

For those of you who don’t know, there is a back way onto the range. There is a gate in the back fence and access is from the Capitan Gap road. The rancher has been leaving it open so the cattle could go back and forth. We had an instance last week with a member on the range shooting and someone, we guess; out driving around found their way onto the range. They drove to the front gate which was locked and had to turn around and go back out the back way. Our member just stood and watched with an AR in his hand. The trespassers were probably hoping they wouldn’t get shot! Anyway, if it happens to you, just be cool and if the opportunity arises to talk with the trespassers, explain they really shouldn’t be on the range, that they drove by a 2 signs explaining the situation.

The program for the State High Power Championship is available online at our website, http://www.capitanhipower.com Please be aware that the championship has changed from a 2 day, 130 shot aggregate, to a one day 100 shot match. There will be two, 600 yard matches.

That’s all I have for now, have a great summer and a safe one. See you on the range,

Bill Rodolph, President

END OF MAY ISSUE

Top    Back to Club News

Guess what? We had a match in Roswell on the 15^th and the wind blew!! Blinkity blank horrible!! Well, maybe we got that out of our system. I think I can speak for everyone when I say, no one shot well. I would like to thank Dale Barry and Joe Heath for coming over from El Paso. Sorry I couldn’t provide a better day. Joe Heath was high senior and I won the match, but I’m sure not proud of it. Scores as follows:

Rod was having gun troubles and pulled out. We found that Shale Layher has learned to count since last month and managed to get the proper number of rounds in his magazine. I have rebarreled to 6XC and have done no load development and had minimal zeros. It does look as though it is going to shoot. That’s about it for highlights. It was not a good day.

The range will be closed May 2^nd and 3^rd. The Marines are bringing up about 20 men who need to qualify before going overseas.

Progress on the pit wall has slowed to nothing. We need a backhoe. I guess the village of Capitan isn’t going to be able to help us. We have an excellent operator in Walt Garfield. Walt operates equipment for a living, so all we need is a piece of equipment. If you can help us out, it would be greatly appreciated.

Our clinic is the last weekend of this month (April), the 29^th and 30^th. We have a lot of new people signed up. As a reminder, ammo and entry fees for juniors is being taken care of by the CMP, so if you have a junior, make sure and get him signed up. I am asking for you to let me know if you are coming so I can buy enough food. I would like to have a work session on Friday evening before the clinic. Say about 6:00 PM.

I guess that’s all I have, so keep ‘em in the center and see you on the range.

Bill Rodolph, President

END OF APRIL ISSUE

Top    Back to Club News

It should be pointed out that Dennis Garcia is a junior and this was his first match ever. Danny White had him shooting an M1 and Dennis is left handed. He was sure having hell loading that thing!!

Don’t forget that next month, we have the clinic on the 5^th weekend of April. Those dates are the 29^th and 30^th of April. The clinic is in Capitan. I can send an announcement to anyone who would like one.

Last month I told you about a man by the name of Bill Midkiff that has a tricked out AR15 match rifle for sale. He also has an M1 that has been match tuned by Mike Henke of Los Alamos. I know Mike well and he does excellent work. Contact Bill Midkiff for more info. 505 336-2095

Jerry King has, maybe, a brand new Creedmore shooting coat that they shipped wrong. He was instructed to sell it for $200.00. It is a size 44 heavy cordura coat. Jerry may have already shipped it back to Creedmore, but if you are interested, contact Jerry. 505 622-0507. If he has already shipped it back, you could probably contact Creedmore.

Jerry also has a friend in Nebraska that has an M1A for sale. Here are the details:

Jerry Block in NE has an M1A for sale about 200-300 shots on barrel just broke in, rear lugged, McMillian stock, TRW bolt, and rest is Springfield parts, asking $1800.00. Phone number: 402-532-2925. If you are interested, contact him direct. If you need a dealer for a transfer, I will be glad to help.

We are getting close to starting on the pit wall, but local politics in Capitan are slowing us down. They just had an election and everything is topsy turvy. We were going to use a backhoe from them, but now we are on hold. If you have a backhoe we can use for a couple of days, please let me know.

A little news of one of our members, Ron Zerr. Some of you may know that Ron also shoots smallbore prone. Ron just returned from the Western Wildcat matches in Phoenix and shot very well. He was 3^rd overall, just 2 points behind the winner, Steve Goff, 1 point behind second place Bill Meek and 2 points ahead of Matt Emmons, after 4 days of shooting and 640 rounds for record. If you read about the smallbore nationals any at all you will know that is very tall company. He also shot a 1600 on the last day of the matches.

Ron is also manufacturing a tall boy front sight system. Really nice. CNC machined aluminum, anodized and they accept the 22mm front sight accessories. Contact Ron if you are interested. $90.00 then you start adding the accessories.

Guess that’s it for now, we start long range matches in May and across the course at Capitan in May as well. I need a head count on the clinic so I know how much food to buy.

Keep em in the center,

Bill Rodolph

END OF MARCH ISSUE

Top    Back to Club News

Just a few brief thoughts this month. Attached is the announcement for the clinic, scheduled the last weekend in April. This year, on Sunday, Adrian is going to run a class on rattle battle. Also, the fee for juniors and ammo for juniors will be paid by the state CMP coordinator. BRING A JUNIOR!!!

A reminder that I am putting together a powder and primer order. Prices will be wholesale, but final price will depend on how much is ordered. I will be doing that in the next 10 days or so. Please let me know if you want in on it. Larry Kimpell of the Franklin Mountain Gun Club is putting together a Sierra bullet order. Contact Larry,

E-mail Address(es): mkimpel1@elp.rr.com if you would like to get in on that deal.

I need people to volunteer to run matches. Please contact me to run a league match.

We ran short of XL sweatshirts at the meeting. I ordered and have in stock, 2 XL’s of each color, in addition to the larges that I had left over. Let me know if you want one.

The combination to the gate will change on March 1. Since this letter goes out to members and non members alike, I won’t publish it here, but if you have already forgotten what the new gate combo will be, contact me.

There is a gunsmith in Ruidoso who does excellent stock work. He moved here from Los Alamos a few years ago. His name is Bill Midkiff. Back in 1998, he thought he wanted to take up the hi power game and had an AR match rifle built by High Performance International in Wisconsin. A fellow by the name of Mike Bykowski. Anyway, Bill would like to sell his rifle. It has been shot once. It is all new:

He also has a complete 22LR match rifle upper with front sight riser and 8" bloop tube. This has never been shot.
Bill would like $1,425.00 for it. Contact Bill Midkiff direct @ 505 336-2095

END OF FEBUARY ISSUE

Top    Back to Club News

The annual meeting of the Capitan Hi Power Shooting Club was held on Saturday, Jan. 28^th, 2006. We had a really good turn out of 42 people. Dan Egan, our secretary, gave us a positive financial report, showing we had made a little money this past year.

We discussed and approved building approx. 150 LF of new pit retaining wall where the old wall had collapsed and has been dug out. We are going to go back with a concrete block wall. Larry Kimpell will be the job superintendent. When we get flanged up and ready to go, we will need lots of bodies/labor to help get this thing done. We will try and schedule work days around matches, ie after a match or the days before and after so people won’t have to make extra trips. Please keep in mind we are going to need some help to get this done.

Dues for annual members is now $30.00 per year, juniors remained at $5.00 per year. The membership year will run from March 1 thru Feb. 28 of the following year. If you did not renew at the old rate, your renewal is now $30.00 and is due NOW! Please send your renewal to Dan Egan, PO Box 214, Lincoln, NM 88338.

We are going to have 3 approved long range matches this year in addition to our regular league. I have attached the programs for each. If you would like for me to mail them to you, just let me know. We will be hosting the NM Hi Power Championships this year at Capitan, in July. They are going to combine the match rifle and service rifle championships into one match, but will give a service rifle champion award. I have talked with Mark Yarborough and they may look at making the State Championship match a 100 shot match (2 stages at 600 yds.) in lieu of the 130 shots that it has been in the past. Nothing in concrete yet, but it is a possibility. The match will be the 4^th weekend in July, normally the Capitan club match weekend. There are 5 weekends in July, so don’t get to thinking the last weekend. That is not the case!!!

Let me remind you that you need to sign up to run a match this year. That worked well last year and I want to do it again. Jerry will need some help in Roswell to, if you can help out, let him know.

I will put together a powder and primer order soon. If you would like to get in on it, let me hear from you. It will be wholesale pricing on the powder and depending on how much is ordered, the freight could be very little. Final price is determined by how much is ordered.

We will be running a clinic again this year. It will be the 5^th weekend in April. Adrian, Ron and myself, would like some input on what we cover. If you have specific needs or ideas, let one of us know.

We have a new vice president this time around. It is Paul Myers. Paul is back from Korea and hopes he doesn’t get sent elsewhere in the world for a few years. Steve Jones remains on the board as a member at large. Jerry King was ready to step down from the board and have a little less responsibility.

We have 5 sweatshirts left; one large red, 2 large green, one large navy blue and one medium green. First come first serve.

We have a volunteer working on a web site. He has done a really great job. When it is actually on line, I will let you know. We still have to get a domain name and a web host. But it shouldn’t be too long.

Jim Martin in Las Cruces has the following for sale:

Several years ago, I was thrown off of a horse and I broke 3 vertebra in my back. I thought that with physical therapy I would be able to shoot service rifle again. I’m lucky that I can still wiggle my toes, but I can’t hold my positions any longer and I can’t do pit service. Consequently, I’m giving up service rifle, but I’ll keep shooting something. I’m sorry to let this rifle go, but it doesn’t do anyone any good in the back of my safe.

Colt AR-15 Sporter Match HBAR (preban if that means anything any more).
HBAR 1/7 twist barrel
Derrick Martin at Accuracy Speaks did a "Service Rifle Package" which includes:
- Free float tube
- Custom front post (.050)
- Custom rear sight (1/4 minute for wind and ½ minute for elevation)
- Jewell 2 stage trigger (you’re gonna love this trigger)
B. Jones hooded rear sight and lens system with inserts (.036, .042, .046, .051, and .055)
Brownell’s "Competitor Plus" leather sling
Rear butt stock weight
Accu-Wedge
I have $1800 in cash in this rifle, but I’ll let it go for $1500.
If you buy the rifle, I’ll throw in:
Hard case
Creedmore shooting jacket .
Shooting glove
500 Sierra Match King 69 gr. bullets
Chamber safety block with flag and a couple of magazines
If you don’t want the whole rifle, I’ll sell just the upper (with free float tube, sights, bolt and carrier) for $800

These prices are negotiable so contact Jim T. Martin eljuez@comcast.net or 505-640-4904.

Thanks, Jim Martin

The club’s web site is up and running!! www.capitanhipower.com Check it out!! We owe a large debt of gratitude to Michael LaChance for all of his work on it. Now before you start making a load of suggestions, we still have much to do and much to add, so be patient.

That’s all I can think of for now, but feel like I am leaving something out. I will keep you posted and up to date as things happen.

Favor center,

Bill Rodolph, President

Capitan Hi Power Shooting Club

END OF JANUARY ISSUE

Top    Back to Club News