Saturday Activities at Dalton Range (Bois d’Arc MO) and Aim-Rite Range (Miller MO)
| Date | Time | Range | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 16 | 8:00 am | Dalton Range | Fun Shoot |
| Mar. 1 | 9:00 am | Aim-Rite Range | Work Day |
| Mar. 8 | 8:00 am | Dalton Range | Beginners Clinic |
| Mar. 9 | 1:00 pm | Aim-Rite Range | 30 Round Match |
| Mar. 15 | 8:00 am | Dalton Range | Beginners 30 Round Match |
| Apr. 12 | 8:00 am | Dalton Range | Any Rifle Match |
| Apr. 19 | 1:00 pm | Aim-Rite Range | 30 Round Match |
| May. 10 | 8:00 am | Dalton Range | JCG Match $$$ |
| May. 24 | 8:00 am | Dalton Range | Springfield Match $$$ |
| Jun. 7 | 8:00 am | Dalton Range | Vintage Springfield Match $$$ |
| Jun. 28 | 10:00 am | Aim-Rite Range | 30 Round Match and Club Picnic |
| Jul. 19 | 8:00 am | Dalton Range | Carbine Match $$$ |
| Aug. 16 | 8:00 am | Dalton Range | Rimfire Sporter Match |
| Sep. 13 | 8:00 am | Dalton Range | Any Rifle Match |
| Oct. 18 | 8:00 am | Dalton Range | JCG Match $$$ |
It’s a new year, and we’re about to embark on one of the busiest shooting schedules in recent history. As you can see from the schedule, we have nine registered matches this year, which may not be surprising to you, but it sure is a change from the way we have done things in the past.
We are all creatures of our personal history, and the history of the Osage Orange Sharpshooters is that we only dipped our toes into competitive shooting a little bit at a time. Our first matches (in 1998) were just club affairs, sometimes attended by only 5 or 6 people. It was a couple of years before we even thought about sending in registration papers to the CMP. Club tradition began with the idea of charging little or nothing to shoot in a match. Nobody was interested in winning prizes, and we all just wanted to see how well we could shoot. It’s called ‘friendly competition.’
In the early years, we only gave prizes at the end of the year based on accumulated scores. After a couple of years we added the Spring and Fall John C. Garand Matches, which required a more formal registration and awards schedule. In the past few years, the CMP has initiated the Springfield, Rimfire Sporter, Military Vintage Bolt Rifle, and Carbine matches, all of which are of interest to Osage Orange members, so it is only natural that we should have some of these too. So now we have a full plate of matches to report to the CMP, and of course we always registered our Beginner’s Clinic and Match. As long as we do all that, I have also registered our April and September matches.
Now, you wonder, why all this emphasis on registering matches? Don’t we just want ‘friendly competition?’ Well, sure, but economics always intervenes. As you probably have noticed, the CMP has raised ammunition prices. But clubs get a discount on ammunition, and when we register a match we get an additional allocation of ammunition at more deeply discounted price. So we will be able to continue to sell ammunition to club members for personal use at $0.25 per round for the foreseeable future. (For reference, CMP member prices are about $0.265 per round and club prices are about $0.23 per round.
(Finally, as long as we’re on the subject of ammunition prices, let me repeat a long-standing offer: if you want a case or more of ammunition, we will be happy to order it for you at club price-it takes a bit more planning and paperwork, but it’s a good way to do it if you’re planning on laying in a supply of ammo.)
So even though the schedule looks to be mostly the same as in past years, from a match-director’s point of view it is quite different. Every formal match will be listed on the CMP’s web site, and it will require that we report our scores to the CMP. Of course, those wonderful score cards will be used for all these matches, and that will give us the opportunity, once again, to learn how to fill out paperwork completely.
At last year’s dinner meeting, we discussed some options and problems with our web site. These issues have not gone away. (Fortunately they have not gotten worse, either.) As a general statement, our web site badly needs some repair and extension. It needs to be a bit more responsive. If you have any expertise in web development, or any experience at all with web software, please let me know.
I have a number of still rather vague ideas on our situation with the web. If you have some concepts or energy you can contribute, please speak up. You will not be given the task of doing the work (a favorite bureaucratic ploy), but I’d certainly like to hear your ideas.
Note from Swampy…. Guys, I have thoroughly enjoyed maintaining the OOS website over the years and still do… unfortunately, with the way my life is now since taking over the JLK Bullets and then becoming a single parent at the ripe old age of 52 I just don’t have time to maintain it like I used to do. The website is a great addition for our club and I think it should be kept up better than I’ve been able to do over the last 2 years. The issue of the scores in particular is sticky one. While I don’t mind taking a few minutes a half dozen times a year to post Bill’s newsletter to the group the old table that I used to post scores on is very slow and cumbersome to update. Don’t have time….. Earlier in ‘07 Bill and I tried NUMEROUS different formats and tables that would allow me to do a straight “cut & paste” to an html page, but nothing worked. They all had some rather severe formatting and display issues when I posted them to the website. After a while I just gave up.
Now may be the time for the club to discuss having somebody else run the site. This might bring in some new blood and new software that might work a lot better than mine, and probably spiff up the looks fo the site as well.
Best,
Swampy…… back to Bill
A brand new member of the Osage Orange Sharpshooters should receive a decal (sticker) and a patch with the Osage Orange Sharpshooters logo. We have additional stickers available for $1 each, and we ran out of patches this year. We still have not replaced our inventory of patches but we will do so in the next few months. Is anyone acquainted with a company that does this kind of work?
If you joined the Sharpshooters in the past couple of years and did not receive a patch and a decal/sticker as part of your first membership, please let me know at one of our events so we can make good on the promise.
Many of us have OOS-logo shirts and hats purchased when some members put together a deal with businesses they knew. At this point in time, there are no planned purchases of hats or shirts. The original suppliers of these are out of business. If anyone has some connections or experience in this area, I believe there is some interest in getting hats, T-shirts, other shirts manufactured. Please bring any ideas you have to the meeting on January 5.
This is a good time to plan your shooting schedule for the coming year. In particular, it is never too early to begin planning for Camp Perry. As in past years, a number of us will attend the National Trophy Matches July 26-August 2. I would like to encourage anyone and everyone in the club to think about going. You’ll be with friends, and it’s an experience you’ll never forget. Except for the travel, it’s not a particularly expensive vacation, you can pick which matches you wish to shoot, and if you plan ahead you can even go fishing or go to an amusement park. Les Welch is our Camp Perry coordinator, and he has a mind like an elephant. If you just mention to him, anytime, that you are interested in going, he’ll keep track of you.
Also please think about attending the other NRA highpower matches in our neighborhood. In particular, the Bucksnort Shooting Club in Marshall, Missouri always hosts the Regional, the Championship, and the Mid-range Championship on the same weekends each year (first weekend in May, last weekend in May (or first weekend in June if Memorial Day intervenes), and the first weekend in October. We usually have a pretty good contingent of OOS members attend, and you are cordially invited. We’ll try to get an email announcement out when the entry forms arrive in March or April.
The Joplin Rifle and Pistol Club hosts highpower matches the 3rd Sunday of every month at 9am, and many of us shoot there (starting in March). Joplin will also host 3 John C. Garand Matches (April 26, July 12, October 11) and 4 smallbore prone matches this year, so that’s a lot of opportunity to shoot an still sleep in your own bed at night. Les Welch runs all these matches, and it’s all pretty low key. Please come.
Smallbore Prone Matches
Since I broached the subject, let’s take a brief look at smallbore prone shooting. It is the very best practice you can possibly have for highpower competition. Remember, 50-60% or our JCG match is shot prone, so that is the position you should practice most. Smallbore prone is good because it is familiar (similar to highpower), you can shoot a lot of it because you don’t get beat up by recoil, it is demanding of accuracy-so you don’t just spray and pray, and you can fairly reasonably get a rifle that will allow you to score well at the club level.
Basically it’s the same as highpower prone shooting except more civilized. You shoot from a covered shooting structure, on concrete (so be sure to bring an extra pad or rug for your elbow). Targets are shot at 50 or 100 yards and 50 meters. The target scoring rings are quite challenging, with the 100 yard target being the easiest, except that wind and mirage can play hob with the bullet on the way to the target. You shoot 20-shot strings with unlimited sighting shots; you may return to shooting sighters anytime you want (you have a separate sighting target). All that limits you is time.
All the equipment you have may be used. A good smallbore prone rifle costs about as much as a good used car, so most of us won’t have one, but the CMP rifles such as the H&R M-12, the Remington 40x, and even the Kimber 82 will work just fine. With some experimentation on ammunition, you should be able to make the Mossberg M44 competitive.
You will want your rifle to group into the size of a nickel at 50 yards. At 100 yards, the MR-31 target we use in NRA highpower is very similar to the smallbore target. Take a look at the MR-31 at one of our matches for some ideas. Even try this: at 100 yards, your .22 should be able to hold the X-ring on the SR-1 target that we shoot with Garands and Springfields. If you have a rifle that will do that, you are ready to win the matches in Joplin.
Do you have such a rifle? I have an H&R M12 along with a 40x, so one of those is available to loan out. The club owns 3 Mossberg M44s, so that’s 3 more rifles that can be borrowed. See? There’s no reason not to participate. Watch for more announcements on the Joplin smallbore prone matches.
Entries open at 8:30 Match starts at 9:30
1600 point aggregate
Any questions?? Contact… Bill Corcoran (417) 862-861 or send me an email