Another Rayners match is in the history books. I know my son and myself had a great time helping RO and also the first time either one of us have shot a Tactical match. We've shot our LR pistols at the LR steel plate matches so even shooting prone with a rifle is new to us but we had a great time and learned a lot shooting from awkward and uncomfortable positions. It was our first but definitely won't be our last. Was not used to looking and seeing what might be in the way between the muzzle and the target and that can cost dearly. Amazing you can clearly see the target and have so much blocking the bullet from getting there. Those dang tree limbs and Jeep grill bars on a few stages swallowed up quite a few points for me but it's something I'll pay attention to next time.
Saturday definitely had better conditions with less wind but on at least one stage Sunday shooters had it a lot easier. On Friday for staff shooters on the mover stage the target was a blur going by, Saturday it slowed nearly half speed and on Sunday it was nearly crawling although most still thought it was fast each day. Some of the stages were moved to different positions from previous years which made some a bit easier but others harder with some really uncomfortable shooting positions. I think shooting off the rock pile for me was the worst. Tom was laughing as I tried about 47 different bi-pod positions with heights, angle in front of, behind, on top of, beside and different levels of those rocks. Then couldn't figure out how to get comfortable behind the gun, either too high, too low or weird bent leg, body positioning, finally got the hits but had to look pretty clumsy doing it. Tom's really devious in finding challenging positions to shoot from and also targets that challenge everyone. If a target looked easy, there was usually something that was going to bite you and make it harder than it initially looked.
This is the fourth Sniper Match we've helped RO with Tom and the others and each one is as challenging and diverse and the previous one. Many thanks to Tom and Carolyn for allowing us to use their farm and for putting on such a great match. Also like to thank the other RO's who put in a lot of time to help make this match happen. Included and forgive me if I leave someone out or forget a last name but this includes my son Chris, Brian White, Chris Rensi from Skull Monkey gear, Dan Wolf, Dave Calipare, Ed Gudgel, Carl Busse, Mike Cooper, Terry Vineyard, Rebecca Vineyard, Jessie Rayner and Bob Breeden. Everyone can thank Wendy Staker and Mitzi Vineyard for the great food we all stuffed our faces with all weekend. It was Doug Dearinger's duty to stir the Chili Friday night, I was supposed to do it Saturday night but a little burnt on the bottom just adds flavor, not saying we didn't do our duty but not saying we did either. I thought it tasted pretty good and didn't hear any complaints.
I'd also like to say that I learned a LOT from watching the other shooters on how to do it correctly and also how not to do it. It was a pleasure to be around such a great group of competitors, we've not seen the cliquishness that others talk about at matches and if someone had a problem there was always someone ready to help. Hope everyone enjoyed the match and maybe see some of you at the regular matches this summer.
Here is a list of the stages.
1. Cold Bore - Really really really small letter posted on cardboard you were given at signup and you had to try and find and hit yours on your first shot with a very short time limit.
2. Breaking Bottles - Small bottles filled with colored liquid you had to hit while swaying in the wind at 150+ yards.
3. Runner - Steel plate moving left to right shot while viewing thru a small window as it came into view and whizzed by. Was in overdrive on Friday, slowed a lot on Saturday and must of been tired on Sunday but was a challenge no matter how fast it was.
4. Hook & Ring - Steel hook and oval ring that is definitely a lot harder to hit than you'd imagine. Not much target to shoot at and sometimes it was still swinging from the previous shooter. Faster you hit them the better it counts on your score.
5. Through the Logs - Shooting distant targets shooting thru a couple hollow logs, quite a few hit the bottom of the one log as they didn't pay attention to bi-pod height.
6. Hostage - Shooting downhill at a small bad guys head behind the hostage with another target off to the side, limited time limit and very uncomfortable downhill slope to shoot from. Yup, the hostage did get killed a few times.
7. Cards - Only 29 yards away but you had to draw a card from a deck, run down to position, find your card then try to hit it. Hmmm, know know not all scopes focus down that far and it's really hard to find a card at 20X.
8. Helicopter - Don't know how anyone even hit the target while wobbling around in a moving trailer but we had two shooters hit it twice. Got more hits this year than last so maybe we need to add turbulence for next year.
9. The Blue - Nothing difficult here, just a small blue target way out there and a bit bigger one a whole lot farther out there. Had to be precise and read the wind on that one.
10. Through the Brush - Ah, one of my favorites, you can thank me for clearing at least two branches out of the way on this one. Big target, but had a lot of trees and branches swaying in between you and the target that looked deceptively easy. Speed also counted towards the score, we are now calling Josey Rayner "Flash" after watching him run this stage in about 5 seconds.
11. Car - Had to shoot the driver first then the passenger who we hoped was a bad guy and not a hitchhiker. Shooting thru a downed tree in an awkward position made it challenging with a short time limit.
12. Shack - Long range target shot from an unsteady position over a narrow counter top at the front and out a narrow opening at the back of the shack at a small target. The wind played no favorites which made this one really tough for some.
13. Barn - You had to run up a set of steps to the second floor and locate two camouflage targets located 300 yards away. Some never did locate them and others picked them up rather quickly.
14. Nob 1000 - Two long range targets, one over 900 yards and the other over 1000 yards away. Shooting prone you had to be spot on for elevation and also guess the wind across numerous valleys, tree lines and fields.
15. Jeep - Again, you can thank me for making two more holes in the verticle grille bars for you to shoot thru. Big easy target to hit but Tom figured out a way to make it difficult. If you hit the big one then you could gamble on the smaller one for bonus points. A couple did get the bonus, a few others lost all on the gamble.
16. Green Trail - Shooting two distant targets thru some brush across at longer distances, another precision type stage where you had to be spot on with elevation and wind calls.
17. Woods Run - Had to drop and shoot thru some brush at a distant target, get up and run past a paper target, then run to another paper target then more running and drop to shoot the same first steel plate. Time was used to help calculate towards your score. Another stage that "Flash Rayner" earned his name on.
18. Snipers Hide - I don't think a snake could get comfortable in this Hide. Not sure who crawled up in the woods to locate this one but it would be my last pick for a spot to shoot from. Good thing there was a liberal time limit to get set up. Definitely was a challenging one for setting up a steady shot for most.
19. Unknown - You were given plenty of time to use your scope to range and calculate the distance the target was from you. The MilDot Master is pretty amazing, I calculated verticle and horizontal till they matched and got a first round hit. Most were pretty close but in case you didn't get the memo, I calculated it at 550 yards.
20. Sergent York - There were 4 targets located at varying distances and you had 40 seconds to shoot all four targets. They varied from 234 to 400 yards and was a fun stage.
Congratulations to Dave Preston for being the match Winner.
This score sheet is the corrected one that is also listed further down in this thread.
Rayner’s Spring
Sniper Match Results
1. Dave Preston
2. Dave Moore
3. Doug Dearinger
4. Bob Breeden
5. Russ Ring
6. Ryan Brant
7. Mark Patrick
8. Dusty Gerdau
9. Chris Kirkpatrick
10. Jeff Raymond
11. Chris Michael
12. Mike Eddy
13. Josey Rayner
14. Dennis Kirkpatrick
15. Zach Purvis
16. Kurt Poeppelman
17. Corey Smith
18. Sean Hausman
19. Dave Ostrowski
20. Merritt Roseberry
21. Kevin Johnston
22. Michael Bass
23. Walter Axtell
24. John Jordan
25. James Rowe
26. Craig Nolty
27. Bryan Goodwin
28. Cris Rensi
29. Jay Fritz
30. Jason Barfield
31. Ben Hodkinson
32. Steve Michniak
33. Derrek Morehead
34. Margaret Jordan
35. Brian White
36. Josh Leeper
37. Ryan Patete
38. Chris Childs
39. Lon Jenkins
40. Jim Wolf
41. Wayne Powell
42. Mike Cooper
43. Eric Shafer
44. Cody Carse
45. Kyle Well
46. Doug Krieriem
47. Carl Busse
48. Doug Schultheis
49. Dennis Howard
50. Jim Wilson
51. Nicholas Fatica
Topstrap
Saturday definitely had better conditions with less wind but on at least one stage Sunday shooters had it a lot easier. On Friday for staff shooters on the mover stage the target was a blur going by, Saturday it slowed nearly half speed and on Sunday it was nearly crawling although most still thought it was fast each day. Some of the stages were moved to different positions from previous years which made some a bit easier but others harder with some really uncomfortable shooting positions. I think shooting off the rock pile for me was the worst. Tom was laughing as I tried about 47 different bi-pod positions with heights, angle in front of, behind, on top of, beside and different levels of those rocks. Then couldn't figure out how to get comfortable behind the gun, either too high, too low or weird bent leg, body positioning, finally got the hits but had to look pretty clumsy doing it. Tom's really devious in finding challenging positions to shoot from and also targets that challenge everyone. If a target looked easy, there was usually something that was going to bite you and make it harder than it initially looked.
This is the fourth Sniper Match we've helped RO with Tom and the others and each one is as challenging and diverse and the previous one. Many thanks to Tom and Carolyn for allowing us to use their farm and for putting on such a great match. Also like to thank the other RO's who put in a lot of time to help make this match happen. Included and forgive me if I leave someone out or forget a last name but this includes my son Chris, Brian White, Chris Rensi from Skull Monkey gear, Dan Wolf, Dave Calipare, Ed Gudgel, Carl Busse, Mike Cooper, Terry Vineyard, Rebecca Vineyard, Jessie Rayner and Bob Breeden. Everyone can thank Wendy Staker and Mitzi Vineyard for the great food we all stuffed our faces with all weekend. It was Doug Dearinger's duty to stir the Chili Friday night, I was supposed to do it Saturday night but a little burnt on the bottom just adds flavor, not saying we didn't do our duty but not saying we did either. I thought it tasted pretty good and didn't hear any complaints.
I'd also like to say that I learned a LOT from watching the other shooters on how to do it correctly and also how not to do it. It was a pleasure to be around such a great group of competitors, we've not seen the cliquishness that others talk about at matches and if someone had a problem there was always someone ready to help. Hope everyone enjoyed the match and maybe see some of you at the regular matches this summer.
Here is a list of the stages.
1. Cold Bore - Really really really small letter posted on cardboard you were given at signup and you had to try and find and hit yours on your first shot with a very short time limit.
2. Breaking Bottles - Small bottles filled with colored liquid you had to hit while swaying in the wind at 150+ yards.
3. Runner - Steel plate moving left to right shot while viewing thru a small window as it came into view and whizzed by. Was in overdrive on Friday, slowed a lot on Saturday and must of been tired on Sunday but was a challenge no matter how fast it was.
4. Hook & Ring - Steel hook and oval ring that is definitely a lot harder to hit than you'd imagine. Not much target to shoot at and sometimes it was still swinging from the previous shooter. Faster you hit them the better it counts on your score.
5. Through the Logs - Shooting distant targets shooting thru a couple hollow logs, quite a few hit the bottom of the one log as they didn't pay attention to bi-pod height.
6. Hostage - Shooting downhill at a small bad guys head behind the hostage with another target off to the side, limited time limit and very uncomfortable downhill slope to shoot from. Yup, the hostage did get killed a few times.
7. Cards - Only 29 yards away but you had to draw a card from a deck, run down to position, find your card then try to hit it. Hmmm, know know not all scopes focus down that far and it's really hard to find a card at 20X.
8. Helicopter - Don't know how anyone even hit the target while wobbling around in a moving trailer but we had two shooters hit it twice. Got more hits this year than last so maybe we need to add turbulence for next year.
9. The Blue - Nothing difficult here, just a small blue target way out there and a bit bigger one a whole lot farther out there. Had to be precise and read the wind on that one.
10. Through the Brush - Ah, one of my favorites, you can thank me for clearing at least two branches out of the way on this one. Big target, but had a lot of trees and branches swaying in between you and the target that looked deceptively easy. Speed also counted towards the score, we are now calling Josey Rayner "Flash" after watching him run this stage in about 5 seconds.
11. Car - Had to shoot the driver first then the passenger who we hoped was a bad guy and not a hitchhiker. Shooting thru a downed tree in an awkward position made it challenging with a short time limit.
12. Shack - Long range target shot from an unsteady position over a narrow counter top at the front and out a narrow opening at the back of the shack at a small target. The wind played no favorites which made this one really tough for some.
13. Barn - You had to run up a set of steps to the second floor and locate two camouflage targets located 300 yards away. Some never did locate them and others picked them up rather quickly.
14. Nob 1000 - Two long range targets, one over 900 yards and the other over 1000 yards away. Shooting prone you had to be spot on for elevation and also guess the wind across numerous valleys, tree lines and fields.
15. Jeep - Again, you can thank me for making two more holes in the verticle grille bars for you to shoot thru. Big easy target to hit but Tom figured out a way to make it difficult. If you hit the big one then you could gamble on the smaller one for bonus points. A couple did get the bonus, a few others lost all on the gamble.
16. Green Trail - Shooting two distant targets thru some brush across at longer distances, another precision type stage where you had to be spot on with elevation and wind calls.
17. Woods Run - Had to drop and shoot thru some brush at a distant target, get up and run past a paper target, then run to another paper target then more running and drop to shoot the same first steel plate. Time was used to help calculate towards your score. Another stage that "Flash Rayner" earned his name on.
18. Snipers Hide - I don't think a snake could get comfortable in this Hide. Not sure who crawled up in the woods to locate this one but it would be my last pick for a spot to shoot from. Good thing there was a liberal time limit to get set up. Definitely was a challenging one for setting up a steady shot for most.
19. Unknown - You were given plenty of time to use your scope to range and calculate the distance the target was from you. The MilDot Master is pretty amazing, I calculated verticle and horizontal till they matched and got a first round hit. Most were pretty close but in case you didn't get the memo, I calculated it at 550 yards.
20. Sergent York - There were 4 targets located at varying distances and you had 40 seconds to shoot all four targets. They varied from 234 to 400 yards and was a fun stage.
Congratulations to Dave Preston for being the match Winner.
This score sheet is the corrected one that is also listed further down in this thread.
Rayner’s Spring
Sniper Match Results
1. Dave Preston
2. Dave Moore
3. Doug Dearinger
4. Bob Breeden
5. Russ Ring
6. Ryan Brant
7. Mark Patrick
8. Dusty Gerdau
9. Chris Kirkpatrick
10. Jeff Raymond
11. Chris Michael
12. Mike Eddy
13. Josey Rayner
14. Dennis Kirkpatrick
15. Zach Purvis
16. Kurt Poeppelman
17. Corey Smith
18. Sean Hausman
19. Dave Ostrowski
20. Merritt Roseberry
21. Kevin Johnston
22. Michael Bass
23. Walter Axtell
24. John Jordan
25. James Rowe
26. Craig Nolty
27. Bryan Goodwin
28. Cris Rensi
29. Jay Fritz
30. Jason Barfield
31. Ben Hodkinson
32. Steve Michniak
33. Derrek Morehead
34. Margaret Jordan
35. Brian White
36. Josh Leeper
37. Ryan Patete
38. Chris Childs
39. Lon Jenkins
40. Jim Wolf
41. Wayne Powell
42. Mike Cooper
43. Eric Shafer
44. Cody Carse
45. Kyle Well
46. Doug Krieriem
47. Carl Busse
48. Doug Schultheis
49. Dennis Howard
50. Jim Wilson
51. Nicholas Fatica
Topstrap
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