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!

Upcoming meetings: June 7th & July 5th (all meetings are at the Griggs Hunter Ed room @ 7pm)
Upcoming work parties: No work parties planned for June (maintenance chair Greg Hagen 545-4705, work parties start @ 8am)

If you have been to the range lately, you probably have noticed that the old office trailer is gone. The last work party finished the demolition and removal of everything except for the aluminum and steel that we are going to sell as scrap. All money from this sale will be returned to the club. The snake that had been residing in the trailer was not seen, but numerous mice that were made homeless were seen fleeing the destruction.

Safety reminder for this newsletter concerns the use of steel core ammunition. Ammunition with steel core bullets is most often imported from Russia in the form of 7.62x39, 7.62x54, 7.62x51 (308 Win), 9mm Luger, and other calibers. The use of this ammunition is restricted to paper targets only, with impact in the dirt berm. NEVER use steel core ammunition on any steel target. We are rapidly approaching the summer fire season, and steel core projectiles striking steel targets starts fires. If you are not sure if you have steel core ammunition, there is a magnet on the range master stand next to the dud box to verify what you have.

A new feature at the range is four wood and plastic benches that were purchased by the club and assembled by Sam Kniveton. These were purchased for use by the Hunter Ed groups, Women and Youth Days and other events at our range. Also the backs of these benches fold over to make into tables for reloading and future barbeques.

Hunter Ed classes have started again for the year. We also have some NRA instructors using our range, and we have our usual compliment of 5 different match disciplines. The schedule is getting pretty busy, but we are trying to accommodate general shooting and keep as many days open as we can. Remember that general shooting is always allowed during Hunter Ed classes, NRA instructor classes, CMP matches, NRA Sporting Highpower matches, and Cast Bullet matches. General shooting is NOT allowed during Benchrest matches and Three Gun matches, and remember that the range is closed during work parties. We also want to remind you that additional time is needed for setup before the matches, and all this info is on the club schedule. You can see the schedule on the club website, and it is also posted in the railcar above the sign in sheet.

Hunter Bench: (Match Director Wally Ruff 967-5087)
Upcoming matches: June 30th and July 28th (both are registered matches @ 100 & 200 yd, 7am start)
Match results: May 19th 100 yds Glenn Sampson 249-16x, 200 yds Dick Hohstadt 237-0x, 100/200 yd aggregate Glenn Sampson 483-17x.

Highpower: (Match Director Gaylord Baker 628-9044)
Upcoming matches: June 2nd, the regular match starting at 8:00, with a bolt gun match to follow from 11: to 2:00, and July 7th (7:30 set-up, start shooting at 8:00).
April results: Gaylord Baker 750-14x, Dave Baalman 723-12x, Cozy Baker 696-5x. May results: Gaylord Baker 742-9x, Dave Baalman 716-12x, and Ryan Bongers 710-17x.
If you are interested in joining us, we have a very relaxed match, where we stress the safety rules and have a lot of fun. The bolt match is for any military bolt action, but again, very relaxed so bring your Garand for this one if and join us.

Three Gun: (Match Director Mark Perkins 509-301-9407)
Upcoming matches: September 1st (12 pm start)
May results: Mark P. 98.15 secs, Bob B 105.13 secs, and Adam 119.09 secs.

NRA Highpower Sporting Rifle: (Match Director Dave Baalman 528-0813)
Upcoming matches: June 13 (that’s a Wednesday night, 5pm start)

Cast Bullet: (Match Director George Damron)
Upcoming matches: July 1st