NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
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John Whidden
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NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
Any info or scores available from the match? I did read there are only 90 prone shooters.
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Hap Rocketto
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:30 am
- Location: Rhode Island
Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
2017 NRA National Smallbore Prone Rifle Championships
Metallic Sights
It was rather a surreal experience for any shooter with several years of National Smallbore Championship experience. It was the first single relay match since the 1948 Championships at Quantico which were by invitation only. On the positive side, you didn’t have to move your gear on the negative side you didn’t have to move your gear.
With approximately 90 entries the match staff re-squadded the competitors and allowed a 30 minute break between matches resulting in the shooters heading home for showers and dinner about 1PM.
George Norton, the first person to win the Iron Man competition and be presented the Wigger Trophy, won the Meter Match with a 400-35X Dan Pempel, an Air Force shooter Creedmoored the Army’s Mike McPhail for second when both posted 400-33Xs.
Pempel shot a 400-29X and found himself in second again, ironically on a tie breaker with Nancy Tompkins. Steve Angeli and Kerry Spurgin went to the rule book for third with Angeli coming out on top in a 27X tie.
Hank Gray nailed 32Xs in a 400 point effort for the 100 yard win while Ron Wigger came in second shooting a 400-30X. Norton found his way back into the money with the last of the clean scores, a 400-26X.
Gray’s rush to the finish line at 100 yards gave him an eight X edge over Norton for the Aggregate win, 1199-98 to 1199-90. McPhail, who had piled up Xs at a phenomenal rate-102 out of a possible 120, was third shooting an 1198.
Day two began with the weather radar glowing red and, after consultation with local experts, the Match Director declared a three hour rain delay to start of the match. As if on cue the heavens opened and lightning and thunder filled the air just at the stroke of nine. By noon the storm had blown itself out and the shooters were on the line to finish the metallic sight aggregate.
Olympian Mike McPhail fought it out with Army team mate Hank Gray for honors in the opening Meter Match. Both shot a 400-37X with McPhail prevailing on the tie breaker. Defending National Champion Mark Del Cotto was third with 400-36X.
The Dewar was another hard fought contest that ended up with the Stat Office going to the Rule Book to give George Norton the win as he and Del Cotto tied with tens and 35Xs. Gray, Eric Uptagrafft, and McPhail were knotted at 400-33X with the rules deciding in Gray’s favor for third place.
McPhail shot a 400-36 at 100 yards to wrap up another win. Ed Foley, Norton, and Uptagrafft all shot 400-33Xs with Foley in second, Norton in third, and Uptagrafft out of the money.
Gray emerged as the Metallic Sight Champion with a near perfect 2399-201X. McPhail was second, 2398-209X, and Norton, 2398-190X third.
A Competitors’ Meeting followed the match and it was very productive. Lones Wigger spoke to a possible return to Camp Perry citing that the ranges have been greatly altered since smallbore was last there, firing lines torn up for example. The only available firing line is the Vaile 200 yard line, which is not covered, and would require the competitors to man haul their gear 800 yards from the parking lot.
Many other suggestions were raised concerning smallbore, in general, and the National Championship, in particular. The Members of the Smallbore Committee and Staff present took copious notes, asked questions, and solicited ideas.
Day three will open the anysight championship with the Dewar, and possibly the Randle, to be fired in the afternoon.
Metallic Sights
It was rather a surreal experience for any shooter with several years of National Smallbore Championship experience. It was the first single relay match since the 1948 Championships at Quantico which were by invitation only. On the positive side, you didn’t have to move your gear on the negative side you didn’t have to move your gear.
With approximately 90 entries the match staff re-squadded the competitors and allowed a 30 minute break between matches resulting in the shooters heading home for showers and dinner about 1PM.
George Norton, the first person to win the Iron Man competition and be presented the Wigger Trophy, won the Meter Match with a 400-35X Dan Pempel, an Air Force shooter Creedmoored the Army’s Mike McPhail for second when both posted 400-33Xs.
Pempel shot a 400-29X and found himself in second again, ironically on a tie breaker with Nancy Tompkins. Steve Angeli and Kerry Spurgin went to the rule book for third with Angeli coming out on top in a 27X tie.
Hank Gray nailed 32Xs in a 400 point effort for the 100 yard win while Ron Wigger came in second shooting a 400-30X. Norton found his way back into the money with the last of the clean scores, a 400-26X.
Gray’s rush to the finish line at 100 yards gave him an eight X edge over Norton for the Aggregate win, 1199-98 to 1199-90. McPhail, who had piled up Xs at a phenomenal rate-102 out of a possible 120, was third shooting an 1198.
Day two began with the weather radar glowing red and, after consultation with local experts, the Match Director declared a three hour rain delay to start of the match. As if on cue the heavens opened and lightning and thunder filled the air just at the stroke of nine. By noon the storm had blown itself out and the shooters were on the line to finish the metallic sight aggregate.
Olympian Mike McPhail fought it out with Army team mate Hank Gray for honors in the opening Meter Match. Both shot a 400-37X with McPhail prevailing on the tie breaker. Defending National Champion Mark Del Cotto was third with 400-36X.
The Dewar was another hard fought contest that ended up with the Stat Office going to the Rule Book to give George Norton the win as he and Del Cotto tied with tens and 35Xs. Gray, Eric Uptagrafft, and McPhail were knotted at 400-33X with the rules deciding in Gray’s favor for third place.
McPhail shot a 400-36 at 100 yards to wrap up another win. Ed Foley, Norton, and Uptagrafft all shot 400-33Xs with Foley in second, Norton in third, and Uptagrafft out of the money.
Gray emerged as the Metallic Sight Champion with a near perfect 2399-201X. McPhail was second, 2398-209X, and Norton, 2398-190X third.
A Competitors’ Meeting followed the match and it was very productive. Lones Wigger spoke to a possible return to Camp Perry citing that the ranges have been greatly altered since smallbore was last there, firing lines torn up for example. The only available firing line is the Vaile 200 yard line, which is not covered, and would require the competitors to man haul their gear 800 yards from the parking lot.
Many other suggestions were raised concerning smallbore, in general, and the National Championship, in particular. The Members of the Smallbore Committee and Staff present took copious notes, asked questions, and solicited ideas.
Day three will open the anysight championship with the Dewar, and possibly the Randle, to be fired in the afternoon.
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mgdietrich
- Posts: 69
- Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:35 am
- Location: United States
Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
http://competitions.nra.org/championshi ... ships.aspx
John:
Day one was some switchy winds with changing mirage. Day two was a rain delay until noon (well done by NRA to make the call to delay) and gentle winds. AMU owns the top 4 spots going into scope.
Numbers are down, as we are able to shoot the match with 1 relay.
Morgen
John:
Day one was some switchy winds with changing mirage. Day two was a rain delay until noon (well done by NRA to make the call to delay) and gentle winds. AMU owns the top 4 spots going into scope.
Numbers are down, as we are able to shoot the match with 1 relay.
Morgen
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Hap Rocketto
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:30 am
- Location: Rhode Island
Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals Report Day 3
After the stormed tossed last day of metallic sights the shooters arrived at the range to find it hot, humid, and still.
With scopes replacing metallic sights and the wind barely fluttering the flags it was soon pretty evident that this would be a day that would be decided by Xs. Mark Del Cotto set the pace, and the tone of the day, with a perfect 400-40X. Right on his heels were Kerry Spurgin and Mike McPhail who slid into second and third respectively with a 400-39Xs.
Dan Pempel, of the Air Force posted a 400-38Xfor a win in the Dewar. A pair of 400-37Xs scores pitted Jimmie Fordham and McPhail for second and third with Fordham getting the nod for the silver.
Individual competition for the day ended with Kevin Nguyen, from the AMU, blasting out a 400-38X at 100 yards. Ron Wigger and team mates McPhail and George Norton all shot 400-37Xs and had to have the final places settled by the Rule. Wigger was awarded second, McPhail third and Norton was on the outside looking in.
There were no less than 13 perfect scores fired! McPhail prevailed missing the X ring only seven times for an astounding 1200-113X, just a few Xs short of the National Record. Hank Gray, hanging on to his overall aggregate lead, posted 110 X with his perfect score for second on the day. Eric Uptagrafft was just an X short of Gray shooting a 1200-109X.
After individual competition ended the Dewar Trophy and Randle Cup International Postal Matches were shot. Kevin Nevius, assisted by wind coach Shawn Carpenter, cleaned the 50 meter international target with 15 Xs and had a 196-10X at 100 yards to record the highest score for US Dewar team and earn the Edward Crossman Plaque. Ginger McLemore was presented the “Fast Freddy” Scielzo plaque by Jim Miller of the US Dewar Shooters Club, for being the most senior shooter on the team.
Randle results were not available at press time.
Day four of the tournament features the last day of any sights and team matches.
With scopes replacing metallic sights and the wind barely fluttering the flags it was soon pretty evident that this would be a day that would be decided by Xs. Mark Del Cotto set the pace, and the tone of the day, with a perfect 400-40X. Right on his heels were Kerry Spurgin and Mike McPhail who slid into second and third respectively with a 400-39Xs.
Dan Pempel, of the Air Force posted a 400-38Xfor a win in the Dewar. A pair of 400-37Xs scores pitted Jimmie Fordham and McPhail for second and third with Fordham getting the nod for the silver.
Individual competition for the day ended with Kevin Nguyen, from the AMU, blasting out a 400-38X at 100 yards. Ron Wigger and team mates McPhail and George Norton all shot 400-37Xs and had to have the final places settled by the Rule. Wigger was awarded second, McPhail third and Norton was on the outside looking in.
There were no less than 13 perfect scores fired! McPhail prevailed missing the X ring only seven times for an astounding 1200-113X, just a few Xs short of the National Record. Hank Gray, hanging on to his overall aggregate lead, posted 110 X with his perfect score for second on the day. Eric Uptagrafft was just an X short of Gray shooting a 1200-109X.
After individual competition ended the Dewar Trophy and Randle Cup International Postal Matches were shot. Kevin Nevius, assisted by wind coach Shawn Carpenter, cleaned the 50 meter international target with 15 Xs and had a 196-10X at 100 yards to record the highest score for US Dewar team and earn the Edward Crossman Plaque. Ginger McLemore was presented the “Fast Freddy” Scielzo plaque by Jim Miller of the US Dewar Shooters Club, for being the most senior shooter on the team.
Randle results were not available at press time.
Day four of the tournament features the last day of any sights and team matches.
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USA Shooting
- Posts: 702
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Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
Hap - I miss Precision Shooting Magazine just because of your articles and match reports. Glad to see you posting here. Very informative.
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Hap Rocketto
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:30 am
- Location: Rhode Island
Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals Report Day 4 and Final Results
The Randle Team scores show that Erin McNeil’s 400-33X is the winner of the Eleanor Dunn Award. She led the team to a 3978-252X aggregate as the anchor to a lot of brand new Randle Team Alumnae who will carry on the tradition of this fine international postal event.
When the competitors went to the line on the final day of the individual competition they faced hot humid conditions and very dark and threatening sky.
There was virtually no wind in the Meter Match which was won by Mark Del Cotto’s near perfect 400-39X. Del Cotto’s victory came on a tie breaker with Michele Makucevich. Army Team mates Mike McPhail and Kevin Nguyen both shot 400-38Xs with McPhail Creedmooring his fellow soldier for third place.
Junior Erick Hazelton punched out 38X while shooting a 400 for the Dewar win. Joe Graf and Cameron Keating were knotted at 400-38X and took home second and third respectively.
As the final 100 Yard Match began the sky darkened ominously. McPhail and Gray dueled it out for the win, with McPhail prevailing when his 400-37X outranged Gray’s Pat Sunderman made it a sweep for the Army when he posted a 400-36X.
No sooner had the last shot been fired then a slight drizzle turned into a hard rain. Considering weather reports, the Match Director postponed the Team Matches until tomorrow when they will be fired before the Mentor Match.
Gray went clean on the day, one of 11 1200s, with a 1200-108X for the win. Dan Pempel and Del Cotto added still another tie to the day when they found themselves knotted up at 1200-106X. NRA Rules dictated that Pempel was second and Del Cotto third.
Gray, the newly minted 2017 Metallic Sight Champion did not falter during the second two days and took the Any Sight Aggregate with a 2400-218X, Del Cotto and Eric Uptagrafft tied in both number of points and Xs with a pair of 1400-106Xs with Del Cotto winning this the breaker and earning the second step on the podium.
Both the metallic and any sight champion laurels adorning Hank Gray’s forehead were removed to make way for the champion’s crown. A superb four day effort saw him shoot 419 Xs, 60 tens, and one nine for a 4799-419X. He was hotly pursued by second place finisher Mike McPhail who was two points behind with an outstanding X count of 438. George Norton tied McPhail on Points but fell behind on Xs accumulating 397 which gave him the bronze.
With only team events to follow the individual phase of the 2017 National Smallbore Rifle Prone Championships have ended.
When the competitors went to the line on the final day of the individual competition they faced hot humid conditions and very dark and threatening sky.
There was virtually no wind in the Meter Match which was won by Mark Del Cotto’s near perfect 400-39X. Del Cotto’s victory came on a tie breaker with Michele Makucevich. Army Team mates Mike McPhail and Kevin Nguyen both shot 400-38Xs with McPhail Creedmooring his fellow soldier for third place.
Junior Erick Hazelton punched out 38X while shooting a 400 for the Dewar win. Joe Graf and Cameron Keating were knotted at 400-38X and took home second and third respectively.
As the final 100 Yard Match began the sky darkened ominously. McPhail and Gray dueled it out for the win, with McPhail prevailing when his 400-37X outranged Gray’s Pat Sunderman made it a sweep for the Army when he posted a 400-36X.
No sooner had the last shot been fired then a slight drizzle turned into a hard rain. Considering weather reports, the Match Director postponed the Team Matches until tomorrow when they will be fired before the Mentor Match.
Gray went clean on the day, one of 11 1200s, with a 1200-108X for the win. Dan Pempel and Del Cotto added still another tie to the day when they found themselves knotted up at 1200-106X. NRA Rules dictated that Pempel was second and Del Cotto third.
Gray, the newly minted 2017 Metallic Sight Champion did not falter during the second two days and took the Any Sight Aggregate with a 2400-218X, Del Cotto and Eric Uptagrafft tied in both number of points and Xs with a pair of 1400-106Xs with Del Cotto winning this the breaker and earning the second step on the podium.
Both the metallic and any sight champion laurels adorning Hank Gray’s forehead were removed to make way for the champion’s crown. A superb four day effort saw him shoot 419 Xs, 60 tens, and one nine for a 4799-419X. He was hotly pursued by second place finisher Mike McPhail who was two points behind with an outstanding X count of 438. George Norton tied McPhail on Points but fell behind on Xs accumulating 397 which gave him the bronze.
With only team events to follow the individual phase of the 2017 National Smallbore Rifle Prone Championships have ended.
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Hap Rocketto
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:30 am
- Location: Rhode Island
Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
Colleagues,
I made a post earlier reporting Lones Wigger's comments at an Ad Hoc Smallbore Committee Meeting held at Bristol.
Wig stated that, "the ranges have been greatly altered since smallbore was last there, firing lines torn up for example." I was quieried about that observation as a fellow Targetalk member who noted that he had recently been to Perry and noted that, "The range was set up for pistol, and other than being soggy, looked fine to my untrained eye."
I promised a reply and stopped at Perry on my way home from Bristol to see for myself.
Wig's use of the term 'torn up' did not exactly describe what I saw. However he was dead on bout the altered state of the firing line. Where there once was a flat surface on Rodriquez, from which we shot, there is now a berm about four feet high. It has steep sides and is crowned on top rather than pitched back or flat. It's width is about six feet.
It is not wide enough to be comfortable for a tall shooter to lay out gear and shoot prone. The berm height requires that one shoot down hill at targets posted at 50 yards, 50 meters, or 100 yards. When shooting standing a competitor, being four feet above ground level, is extremely vulnerable to any winds which affects performance and safety. There is, again, not much room to safely set up an off hand stand.
The fact that there is no room for a block and/or range officer to walk behind the line and observe the match raises serious control and safety issues.
There seems to be no practical way to erect a cover.
I took a series of photographs with my fellow travelers in several positions which illustrates these problems but, unfortunately, I have no way to post them.
In short the new firing line conformation, in my opinion, unsuitable and unsafe for smallbore prone and/or position shooting.
Best,
Hap
I made a post earlier reporting Lones Wigger's comments at an Ad Hoc Smallbore Committee Meeting held at Bristol.
Wig stated that, "the ranges have been greatly altered since smallbore was last there, firing lines torn up for example." I was quieried about that observation as a fellow Targetalk member who noted that he had recently been to Perry and noted that, "The range was set up for pistol, and other than being soggy, looked fine to my untrained eye."
I promised a reply and stopped at Perry on my way home from Bristol to see for myself.
Wig's use of the term 'torn up' did not exactly describe what I saw. However he was dead on bout the altered state of the firing line. Where there once was a flat surface on Rodriquez, from which we shot, there is now a berm about four feet high. It has steep sides and is crowned on top rather than pitched back or flat. It's width is about six feet.
It is not wide enough to be comfortable for a tall shooter to lay out gear and shoot prone. The berm height requires that one shoot down hill at targets posted at 50 yards, 50 meters, or 100 yards. When shooting standing a competitor, being four feet above ground level, is extremely vulnerable to any winds which affects performance and safety. There is, again, not much room to safely set up an off hand stand.
The fact that there is no room for a block and/or range officer to walk behind the line and observe the match raises serious control and safety issues.
There seems to be no practical way to erect a cover.
I took a series of photographs with my fellow travelers in several positions which illustrates these problems but, unfortunately, I have no way to post them.
In short the new firing line conformation, in my opinion, unsuitable and unsafe for smallbore prone and/or position shooting.
Best,
Hap
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Hap Rocketto
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:30 am
- Location: Rhode Island
Re: NRA Smallbore Day One Conventional Position
The first day of the 2017 NRA National Smallbore Conventional Position Rifle Championships opened with 120 shots in three positions with metallic sights.
Army’s Patrick Sunderman, who had a solid prone performance in that championship, opened with the tournament with a 400-38X. Mike McPhail, perhaps one of the best prone shooters in world, followed up 400-37X and, in perfect descending order, civilian Daniel Martz closed out the top three with his 400-36X.
Moving into standing young Malori Brown, an intermediate junior held hard shooting a 397-18X Army shooters Erin McNeil and Sunderland and junior Jared Desrosiers, who has his eye set in joining the pair at the AMU, battled it down to Xs when they all posted 396s on their feet. McNeil prevailed by five Xs, 25 to 20. Sunderman’s 17X left him in fourth.
McPhail shot his second perfect score of the day, 400-30X, to win the kneeling match. Sunderman was second just an X behind the winner. Desrosiers was again in the money with a third place score of 399-29X.
Final results have Patrick Sunderman winning the National Smallbore Conventional Position Metallic Sight Championship with a score of 1596-114X. Mike McPhail is second at 1595-124X. Jared Desrosiers out Xed Antonio Gross, 1594-109X to 1594-104, for third.
The paper team match saw an Army runaway as they carded a 4766-338X to have a 30 point pad on the second place Coast to Coast Team’s 4736-267X effort. The Illinois State Association was third with a 4679-210X
Army’s Patrick Sunderman, who had a solid prone performance in that championship, opened with the tournament with a 400-38X. Mike McPhail, perhaps one of the best prone shooters in world, followed up 400-37X and, in perfect descending order, civilian Daniel Martz closed out the top three with his 400-36X.
Moving into standing young Malori Brown, an intermediate junior held hard shooting a 397-18X Army shooters Erin McNeil and Sunderland and junior Jared Desrosiers, who has his eye set in joining the pair at the AMU, battled it down to Xs when they all posted 396s on their feet. McNeil prevailed by five Xs, 25 to 20. Sunderman’s 17X left him in fourth.
McPhail shot his second perfect score of the day, 400-30X, to win the kneeling match. Sunderman was second just an X behind the winner. Desrosiers was again in the money with a third place score of 399-29X.
Final results have Patrick Sunderman winning the National Smallbore Conventional Position Metallic Sight Championship with a score of 1596-114X. Mike McPhail is second at 1595-124X. Jared Desrosiers out Xed Antonio Gross, 1594-109X to 1594-104, for third.
The paper team match saw an Army runaway as they carded a 4766-338X to have a 30 point pad on the second place Coast to Coast Team’s 4736-267X effort. The Illinois State Association was third with a 4679-210X
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mgdietrich
- Posts: 69
- Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:35 am
- Location: United States
Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
Hap: Thanks for stopping at Perry to verify the changes.
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Hap Rocketto
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:30 am
- Location: Rhode Island
NRA Smallbore Nationals Report Conventional Position Report
Emporia State University’s Megan Hilbish Creedmoored Olympian Mike McPhail for the win in the opening prone match of the Any Sight National Championship when both shot 400-237X. Dan Martz, Bill Marciniak, and Antonio Gross were knotted up at 400-35X and a reading of the rules gave the third place finish to Martz.
Former Iron man George Norton’s 398-25X standing gave him the standing match victory ahead of Army team mate McPhail who posted a 397-20X. Intermediate Junior Sharpshooter Richard Clark bested Patrick Sunderman for third when their 396-19X scores went to the Rule Book for a decision.
Hilbish, who was just three points off the winner in standing, came back strong and posted the only 400 Kneeling. Her 400-28X bested second place Sunderman, 399-32X, and Gross, 399-27X.
Winning two of the three any sight matches guaranteed the any sight title to Hilbish, 1195X, who just scraped by silver medalist Sunderman, 1195-83X. Norton and McPhail both had 1195s but Norton had 81Xs, just one X ahead of McPhail to take third.
Sunderman’s consistent performance over two days paid off as his 2391-167X aggregate score earned him the Conventional Position title. McPhail, who has had to make a transition from prone to position because of the dropping of the prone event form the Olympics, shows that he is multifaceted, coming within of a point of winning the tile. Had he tied Sunderman on points his Xs,168, would have pushed him ahead of his team mate. Norton rounded out the top three shooting a 2388-169X.
Competition resumes tomorrow with two days of Metric Position.
Former Iron man George Norton’s 398-25X standing gave him the standing match victory ahead of Army team mate McPhail who posted a 397-20X. Intermediate Junior Sharpshooter Richard Clark bested Patrick Sunderman for third when their 396-19X scores went to the Rule Book for a decision.
Hilbish, who was just three points off the winner in standing, came back strong and posted the only 400 Kneeling. Her 400-28X bested second place Sunderman, 399-32X, and Gross, 399-27X.
Winning two of the three any sight matches guaranteed the any sight title to Hilbish, 1195X, who just scraped by silver medalist Sunderman, 1195-83X. Norton and McPhail both had 1195s but Norton had 81Xs, just one X ahead of McPhail to take third.
Sunderman’s consistent performance over two days paid off as his 2391-167X aggregate score earned him the Conventional Position title. McPhail, who has had to make a transition from prone to position because of the dropping of the prone event form the Olympics, shows that he is multifaceted, coming within of a point of winning the tile. Had he tied Sunderman on points his Xs,168, would have pushed him ahead of his team mate. Norton rounded out the top three shooting a 2388-169X.
Competition resumes tomorrow with two days of Metric Position.
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Hap Rocketto
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:30 am
- Location: Rhode Island
Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
2017 NRA National Smallbore Prone Rifle Championships
Day One-Metric Position Championship-Metallic Sights
The 2017 NRA National Smallbore Rifle Championships entered it penultimate day with the start of the Metric Position Championship under partly cloudy skies.
George Norton, making a play to recapture the Iron Man Trophy, lead off the match with a 396-24X prone. Mike McPhail, who is returning to position shooting, had a very good 24X count as he put together a score of 394 for second. Erin McNeil, yet another Army shooter, slid into third just behind McPhail, and ahead of Dan Martz’s 392-17X with a 393-19X.
In a match heavily laden with young shooters junior Antonio Gross broke the adult steak of wins in the second match when he posted a 378-9X standing. Norton kept the pressure on shooting a 376-8X for second. McNeil picked up her second third place finish of the day with a 374-10X effort. Martz and McPhail were very much in the running after both scored 373-11Xs on their feet.
Norton led the pack with a 772 over the first two matches, enjoying a five point lead over McPhail and McNeil going into kneeling. Martz and Gross were not far behind with a 765 and 764 respectively.
At the elite level kneeling scores are often as good as prone but today would not be one of those days. Bill Beard, a veteran of the ’84 Olympics, was top gun in the match with a 385-14X. Jared Desrosiers had the same X count but a 383 score for second place and Gross was in third, shooting a 383-14X.
Despite a last minute lunge to the finish line by the civilians and juniors the Army shooters had built up enough points early on and they ended up sweeping the Metallic Sight Championship. In descending order, it was Norton, 1149-39X, McPhail, 1148-54X, and McNeil, 1147-43X who out Xed Gross, 1147-43X, for third.
The 2017 championships will close tomorrow with the Any Sight title on the line and the Iron Man will be decided as well.
Day One-Metric Position Championship-Metallic Sights
The 2017 NRA National Smallbore Rifle Championships entered it penultimate day with the start of the Metric Position Championship under partly cloudy skies.
George Norton, making a play to recapture the Iron Man Trophy, lead off the match with a 396-24X prone. Mike McPhail, who is returning to position shooting, had a very good 24X count as he put together a score of 394 for second. Erin McNeil, yet another Army shooter, slid into third just behind McPhail, and ahead of Dan Martz’s 392-17X with a 393-19X.
In a match heavily laden with young shooters junior Antonio Gross broke the adult steak of wins in the second match when he posted a 378-9X standing. Norton kept the pressure on shooting a 376-8X for second. McNeil picked up her second third place finish of the day with a 374-10X effort. Martz and McPhail were very much in the running after both scored 373-11Xs on their feet.
Norton led the pack with a 772 over the first two matches, enjoying a five point lead over McPhail and McNeil going into kneeling. Martz and Gross were not far behind with a 765 and 764 respectively.
At the elite level kneeling scores are often as good as prone but today would not be one of those days. Bill Beard, a veteran of the ’84 Olympics, was top gun in the match with a 385-14X. Jared Desrosiers had the same X count but a 383 score for second place and Gross was in third, shooting a 383-14X.
Despite a last minute lunge to the finish line by the civilians and juniors the Army shooters had built up enough points early on and they ended up sweeping the Metallic Sight Championship. In descending order, it was Norton, 1149-39X, McPhail, 1148-54X, and McNeil, 1147-43X who out Xed Gross, 1147-43X, for third.
The 2017 championships will close tomorrow with the Any Sight title on the line and the Iron Man will be decided as well.
Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
George Norton and Mike McPhail are tied on points for the IronMan Trophy going into the last day with McPhail having a 70x (!!!!) lead. Points will probably end up making the difference.
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Hap Rocketto
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- Location: Rhode Island
Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
The 2017 National Smallbore Rifle Champions moved into the last day. While the Any Sight Championship was in the fore in the back of everyone’s mind was the Iron Man.
McPhail, one of the best prone shooters in the world, opened the match with a winning prone with a score of 399-30X. Dan Pempel, 396-23X, was three points back with Dan Martz right ion his tail shooting a 395-26X.
Standing saw civilian Megan Hilbish win with a commanding score of 384-16X. Patrick Sunderman and Norton nearly needed a Rule Book review to decide second and third when both shot 379s. Sunderman notched 15Xs to Norton’s 11 for silver.
The final 40 shots of nine days of competition would be kneeling and Sunderman came through with a 388-19X for the win. Behind him was Norton and McPhail each with a 386-16X. The Rule Book went McPhail’s way and he was second and Norton third.
Norton, 1160-48X, won the day, a slim point ahead of McPhail’s 1159-51X. Sunderman slid into third with an 1154-55X. When the two days were totaled McPhail took the Any Sight title three points ahead of Norton, 4707-273X to 4708-256X. Sunderman rounded out the top three with a 4685-259.
The final prone match, 40 shots on the metric target with any sights, was the deciding factor in the Iron Man competition when McPhail beat Norton by four points. Over eight days McPhail shot a 9504-711X, Norton a 9501-655X, and Sunderman a 9478-640X.
The last shot of the any sight metric position championship marked the end of the 2017 Smallbore Championships. The targets frames have been stacked away for 50 weeks until next July when smallbore shooters will again converge upon the Wa-Ke’-De Range.
McPhail, one of the best prone shooters in the world, opened the match with a winning prone with a score of 399-30X. Dan Pempel, 396-23X, was three points back with Dan Martz right ion his tail shooting a 395-26X.
Standing saw civilian Megan Hilbish win with a commanding score of 384-16X. Patrick Sunderman and Norton nearly needed a Rule Book review to decide second and third when both shot 379s. Sunderman notched 15Xs to Norton’s 11 for silver.
The final 40 shots of nine days of competition would be kneeling and Sunderman came through with a 388-19X for the win. Behind him was Norton and McPhail each with a 386-16X. The Rule Book went McPhail’s way and he was second and Norton third.
Norton, 1160-48X, won the day, a slim point ahead of McPhail’s 1159-51X. Sunderman slid into third with an 1154-55X. When the two days were totaled McPhail took the Any Sight title three points ahead of Norton, 4707-273X to 4708-256X. Sunderman rounded out the top three with a 4685-259.
The final prone match, 40 shots on the metric target with any sights, was the deciding factor in the Iron Man competition when McPhail beat Norton by four points. Over eight days McPhail shot a 9504-711X, Norton a 9501-655X, and Sunderman a 9478-640X.
The last shot of the any sight metric position championship marked the end of the 2017 Smallbore Championships. The targets frames have been stacked away for 50 weeks until next July when smallbore shooters will again converge upon the Wa-Ke’-De Range.
Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
Hap, thanks for your extensive coverage and report of the match. It was a good one, and I'm still surprised I took home the overall 3p top junior and civilian spots. The first day of metric offhand went surpringly well, but the second day any sight match was tough. For the first stage of offhand I shot irons, but the lighting was terrible so I frantically put my scope on to shoot the second target and the two kneeling stages. I think next year I'll shoot with a scope for all three positions on the any sight day, and I might shoot the iron man. I'm also happy to report that my teammate Abigail Benson took the national 3p overall title in the expert classification category.
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Hap Rocketto
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:30 am
- Location: Rhode Island
Re: NRA Smallbore Nationals report?
Congratulations to you and thanks for the kind words on my scribbling.