Varmint Rifle Match – October

This year has been a good one with lots of competitors and some good matches. Last month had the most shooters of the year at a single match. Normally, the last match is in September but, I had requests to hold one in October. Although we had a showing of 6 die-hards, the scores were the highest of any match of the season. The weather was a bit cool but tolerable. The wind was manageable, running about 10 mph from the south. Not an unpleasant day, all things considered.

The wind is always a factor, especially at our range. The lighter bullets, although zipping along at faster rates than the big calibers are more affected. A full value wind at 10 mph will throw a .204 60 gr. bullet off by 3 inches at 200 yds. Compare that to only one inch for a .308 and you can see why, in general, the bigger calibers are getting the higher scores. That’s not to say the small calibers won’t score just as high, it’s just that the ability to read the wind correctly is critical.

There is, also, the issue of aerodynamic jump. A bullet will tend to yaw into a full value wind. The gyroscopic spin will then tend to move the impact up or down, depending on the direction of the wind. There’s more to precision shooting than just sighting in and pulling the trigger!

Here’s hoping next year will bring good weather for all the matches.

Here are the winners of the October match:

Custom: Collin Weisz 1st place, Don Granlie 2nd, and Doug Kitzan 3rd.

Factory: Doug Kitzan 1st place, Don Granlie 2nd, and Collin Weisz 3rd.

AR: Don Granlie 1st place, and Doug Kitzan 2nd. There were only 2 shooters in the AR class.

Thanks to all who participated this year. See you all next year!

Gary