Upcoming meetings: December 6 & January 3 (all meetings are at the Griggs Hunter Ed room @ 7pm)

Attention Match Directors, Hunter Ed Directors, and Event Coordinators: the deadline to submit your schedule requests for 2013 is December 15. We have the same system set up for schedule requests as last year. You can send an email directly to calendar@tcmsa.org with your requested dates, or you can place your request through the website at TCMSA.org (Open Formatted Submittal | Pre-Formatted Submittal.) Established patterns (such as CMP on the first Saturday of the month) will be given first choice, and club sanctioned events will be given priority over outside users of the range. After that, it’s first come first served, so get those requests in early. In your request, please include the name of the event, the name of the match director or event coordinator, the date(s) you are requesting, the start time, and your estimated end time. Also please let us know if general shooting will be allowed during your event. If general shooting is not allowed, please also let us know what time you need to close the range for set up of your event. And finally, for all events that are not TCMSA sanctioned competitions or events, we must have a form on file stating who’s insurance is covering the event. The officers will be contacting you regarding this if we don’t have a form on file for you. Please be aware that the schedule has gotten very busy over the last couple of years, with 5 match disciplines, 2 hunter ed groups, NRA instructors, etc. There may come a day when we have to deny some groups use of the range, or combine days / times between several groups, so be prepared to be flexible. We must keep time open in the schedule for general shooting or we won’t have any members at some point.

One more announcement for match directors & event coordinators: when the gate is left open on public use days, please take a moment to make sure you aren’t locking anyone in before you close the gate at the end of the match or event. If people are staying to shoot after you leave, make sure to talk to each of them and ensure that they are all members or guests of a member who is at the range at the time. Also make sure that they sign in on the normal sign in sheet. And finally when you go past the police range on your way out, take a look and see if anyone is there. If there is someone there, stop and talk to them, make sure they are with the PD and didn’t just wander in off the highway, and let them know you are going to lock the gate so they can make sure they have their gate key and aren’t locked in.

The January meeting will be our annual meeting, where we will hold elections for all the officer positions, and two of the six board positions. We will be accepting nominations for all positions at the December meeting. We have had basically the same group of officers and board members for several years now. New people in these positions would be a welcome opportunity for a new perspective on the leadership of the club, and many of those currently in office would love the opportunity to take some time off, so if you are interested in leading the future direction or current operation of the club, step up and volunteer. Or if you know someone who you think would be a good addition to the leadership of the club, nominate them for a position.

We are beginning to see a lot of damage to the pistol area target frames caused by shotguns. People are using some heavy loads and firing repeatedly at the frames until they are literally cut in half. Remember: intentional destruction of target frames is a violation of the club rules. We understand that tactical shotguns are becoming very popular, and we currently don’t have much of an opportunity to shoot them at our range (except for three gun, come on out and compete). The officers & board have been discussing various ideas of how to set up a tactical shotgun area, if you have any suggestions of what type of targets you would like to see or how to set it up so that it will last, please come to a meeting or give one of the officers a call.

It’s almost time for renewals, but please don’t send in your money just yet. Your membership doesn’t expire until March 31, 2013. The new gate combination for 2013 won’t go into effect until April 1, so there is no hurry. We won’t even assign the new gate combination until after the first of the year, so if you do send your money in right now, we won’t be able to mail you your new card until sometime in mid-January. We are also busy throughout December with setting the schedule and elections, and we don’t want your renewal to slip through the cracks, so wait until January to send us your money. After that, send it in and we will get you a new card right away. Remember dues are $50 a year, or $25 if you participated in at least one work party during the year. You can bring your renewal to a meeting, or send it to the club address shown on the top of the newsletter.

The irrigation district sent a bunch of water our way during November. There was no damage to the range facilities, but the culvert under the road to the 200 yard target line was almost washed out. There is a little settling going on around the culvert now, so be careful if you drive out to the 200 yard target line, watch for sink holes or washouts. We will do a little maintenance on the culvert when we can.

We have our annual hunter sight in days on September 15 & September 23. If you haven’t been to a work party yet this year, this is an excellent opportunity to get your work party credit. We need members to act as coaches / spotters for people sighting in their hunting rifles, as well as people to help with advertising the events and with setup and teardown. Contact Ray Vollert at the September meeting or by phone to volunteer. If you plan on helping out, bring whatever equipment you can to help get people sighted in, such as sand bags or benchrest gear, spotting scopes, gunsmith’s screwdrivers, bore sighting equipment etc. It also helps to bring your own rifle so you have something to do when you aren’t coaching.

Due to unforeseen circumstances involving the availability of the Touchet Gun Club’s personnel (and therefore their equipment) we will have to cancel the September and October Three Gun Challenges. They will be available again for the Veteran’s Day Three Gun Challenge on November 10th.

Please remember that the horn & strobe system is only a communication device. It is there to make it easier to get everyone on the same page quickly to go hot or cold, and so that anyone can determine at a glance what the condition of the range is (hot or cold). The instructions for use of the system are on a sign next to each switch, so if you don’t remember how the system works, take a moment to read the sign. Also please remember that the strobes can be hard to see in the bright sunlight. Most importantly please remember that the safety system doesn’t unload anyone’s gun, so before going downrange take a moment to make sure everyone’s guns are clear and that everyone is ready to go cold. Also before resuming fire, please take a moment to make sure that the strobes are off, that everyone has returned from downrange, and everyone is ready to resume fire.

When you go through the gate, it must be locked behind you (except on public use days). Be sure to spin the numbers on the lock, and please give the lock a little tug to make sure it is truly locked. The lock gets a lot of wear between the amount of use it gets and the blowing sand throughout the year, so it sometimes gets a little sticky. If it isn’t fully locked, it can spring open when pulled or when the sun heats the metal up a bit, leaving the gate unlocked.

Hunter Education classes are still going on at our range. Members are welcome to shoot while classes are being conducted, but remember that the Hunter Education Director is the Range Master. They will let you know if there is a certain area of the range that is closed to general shooting, and they will determine when the range goes hot or cold. They are always willing to accommodate general shooters as much as possible, but remember that they have a lot of students to work through the class in a limited amount of time.

Thanks to Sam Kniveton for putting together our new spectator benches at the range. They are portable, so if you would like to watch a match, Hunter Education class, or just watch someone shoot, feel free to move one of the benches to wherever you would like to sit. Remember though that if you are sitting in front of the parking pipe, you still need your eye & ear protection while the range is hot. Also note that the backs of the benches pivot, so if you need a large table, place two of the benches back to back, with the backs tilted, and you have a picnic table.

CMP Highpower: (Match Director Gaylord Baker 628-9044)
Upcoming matches: September 6 & October 1 (7:30 set-up, start shooting at 8:00)

Three Gun: (Match Director Mark Perkins)
Upcoming matches: November 10 (9am start)

NRA Highpower Sporting Rifle: (Match Director Marlee Parks)
Upcoming matches: August 29 (start shooting at 6pm) September 8 (start shooting at 8am)

The August 29 match is a Wednesday evening. We will start setting up around 5pm, and have a quick bite before the match (bring something you can throw on the grill). The September 8 match is our second league shoot. Anyone is welcome to attend and shoot, the league members will be shooting for official scores, anyone else can join in for fun!