TargetTalk

.....good a.m. from Seattle, my first Post. Can anyone direct me to any list of equipment, rifle manufacturers medal winners used in the recent Olympics? Know Anschutz has had a long legacy in the winner's circle, but would like to see what others are using......thanks!

For the mens's prone:

1) Matthew emmons used a wood stocked 2013 with a lilja barrel and tube.

2) Christian Lusch, Feiwerkbau 2602

3) Sergei Martynov, Anschutz 1913

4) Stephan Gonci, Feinwerkbau 2602.

5) Marco De Niccolo, Anschutz 2213 (not too sure here!)

6) Maik Eckhardt, Walther KK200/300 in an MEC Concept stock

7) Mike Babb, Diana 820F, with Anschutz sights, stainless barrel and tube, and a gemini butt.

8) Apologies but I cannot spell the gentleman's name, he did use an Anschutz.

Tim S

Exeter UK

Matt Emmons didn't use his regular Anschutz rifle. Here's why.

I shot with Matt Emmons at the Western Wildcat 6400 prone match last March in Arizona. He won the grand aggregate with a 3200 in the iron agg. and a 3197 in the any agg. After he returned to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado and got ready to go to Atlanta (?) for the finals, he went into the locked gun room, picked up his rifle and headed for Georgia.

On his first trip to the range, Matt had problems chambering the first round. He finally got it chambered but it didn't shoot well. He had similar problems for his first few shots and accuracy was horrible. A close inspection of his barrel showed something had been jammed into the breech end and the first shot may well have carried steel down the bore which further ruined it. Someone had vandalized his free rifle at the Olympic Training Center. The only people who have access to the vault are the shooters and coaches.

His rifle was sent back to Niel Johnson's shop in Co. Springs but couldn't be fixed soon enough. So Matt borrowed a barreled action from a friend on his Alaskan college team.

Needless to say, Matt was quite upset. But his frowns turned to smiles when he found out the borrowed hardware shot better than his own. So he wins the prone gold and would have won the 3P gold had he not pulled a boner on his last shot.

Lones Wigger told me about this vandalizing act at a prone match early last May. I shoot with Lones regularly and his office is at the OTC. To this date I don't think anybody knows who vandalized Matt Emmon's rifle except the person who did it.

I did not think to ask Matt about it when I saw him at OTC last week.

but your version of the sequence of events has the damage detected AFTER what likely was an airplane flight.

This leaves open the possibility of a TSA agent, for reasons of either maliciousnous or incompetence, performing the damage to the rifle.

A possibility, that after watching TSA mis-handle MY rifle on my trips to Benning last year, I consider MORE likely than anyone at OTC being involved.

However, this is just my supposition based on very limited knowledge, this theory may be totally discounted if there was no plane trips, hence TSA handling, between the last known good performance of the rifle(s) and the first detection of the problem.

just my $0.02

Poole
http://arizona.rifleshooting.com/

As the father of a Federal Air Marshal, I'm wondering why Pool singled out a TSA person as possibly tampering with Emmons' rifle when other company's people also handled the luggage. Oh well, fretting fathers are a dime a dozen......

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, er...discussion...I'm remembering what Lones Wigger told me last spring about Matt's rifle issues. At last measurement, my memory was somewhere in the low 90's which means I'm no longer classified as a master but instead an expert. It's hard to remember all the details about a sad story. I'll ask Wig if any new info's available when I shoot with him Tuesday evening.

i guess i was using the term TSA to refer to everyone in the sequence of transport and inspection. But they are the only ones legally entitled to ask for the key to open the case. I did not mean to offend anyone.

If you hear more info that is available for public consumption, let us know.

Poole

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Good Luck!