Tomball Results

jackie schmidt

jackie schmidt

New member
We had a great day at Tomball today, great weather, and great shooting. 32 shooters total.

The first couple of matches saw light conditions, with the scores indicating. Several 50 5x targets were shot.

But around match three, things started to get to be more typical "Tomball", switchy turns, and just enough push to make things miserable.

I said early in the week that if the conditions stayed light, it would take 21+ X's to win the top class, well, it took 20 with a tie breaker between Ken Star and Nick Marino. We had to go to the 3d bulls eye on the THIRD TARGET to determine who won.

Kenn Starr is a member of the Board of Directors at The Tomball Gun Club, and has been the official scorer for our Registered Matches for years. He is very active in Military Rifle Disciplines, but does not own a Benchrest Rifle. I decided to offer my fine shooting 30BR to him so he could shoot, and he responded with a great win. Good shooters are just that, good shooters.

We also had a great turnout for Factory Shooters. Fourteen total. That is what we want to see, and every shooter had a great time.

The results are as follows:

Factory:
1st.......Scott Deal-245 5X:D
2d........Bill Strange-241-7X
3d........Paul Dermody-231-2X

Modified:
1st......Faron Frederick.....-248-14X
2d.....Joe Duke..............248-12x
3d.....Glenn Oakes..........247-7X

Benchrest Class;
1st.......Ken Starr......250-20X (won on tie breaker)
2d........Nick Marino....250-20X
3d........Geramo Villareall....250-17X
4th.......Russell Mathews....250-16X
5th.......Trevor Payne......250-13X

We did have a bit of a problem. A Factory shooter showed up with a large caliber Rifle with a muzzle break, and I did not think it would be a problem. However, we ended up having to place a large shield between this shooter and the shooter to his left, as the side blast was pretty severe.

I am open for suggestions as to how to handle this. I guess I could set two target frames over on the far right side for any shooters who do have muzzle breaks, they will simply have to shoot from those so as not to disturb other shooters with the side blast.

I do not want to ban these Rifles, as this particular one was a very fine shooting Rifle. But, if giving them some space between adjacent shooters will cure the problem, that is what I will do.

My apologies to Russell Mathews and Felton Corbett. Both had a tough time trying to shoot in way of a pretty severe blast. I did the best I could, trying to allow every body to shoot. I hope we can just chalk this up as a learning experience and do that, learn from the experience...........jackie
 
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Muzzle brakes

Jackie, As you said, probably the best bet is to set aside a couple of benches to the right one or two benches removed from the others. That way the guys with brakes can shoot just fine but not get the other shooters so bad.

Scott Deal, the factory winner drove about 250 miles from Sabinal, Texas to come and shoot. He is a good shot and is planning on coming back.

It was a good day, a good match, and we thank you for holding it and providing a place where we can come and compete.

Joe
 
I was at a match where a shooter had a muzzle brake. He came equipped with two sheets of half inch ply with pieces of 4"x2" fixed to one long edge. He G clamped these either side of his bench & kept the bad blast down.
 
jackie ...

jackie schmidt said:
We did have a bit of a problem. A Factory shooter showed up with a large caliber Rifle with a muzzle break, and I did not think it would be a problem. However, we ended up having to place a large shield between this shooter and the shooter to his left, as the side blast was pretty severe. I am open for suggestions as to how to handle this.
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In our Austin matches, no one is permitted to shoot with a brake. They're told that up front. It's more fun that way for everyone. I have never heard anyone complain about the requirement and have heard many voice the opinion that they understood the reason behind it. I think letting everyone know, well before hand, that a brake is not allowed, is the key. :) Art
 
I had a great time again today. Even though I didn't do as well as last time, I love getting out there and seeing what everyone is shooting. There was some stiff competition in factory class! Thanks again to Jackie and the guys at Tomball Gun Club for putting this on. TGC is by far the best designed and constructed range I've ever been to.
 
Dan

It is rather "Rustic", but that keeps the taxes low.

Asan added note, the top three places in the Benchrest Class were all 30's, Ken and Greramo were shooting 30BR's, and Nick a 30 based on the Grendale case........jackie
 
I just wanted to drop in and say thanks to Jackie and everyone else involved for putting together the club matches as they are, pardon the pun, a blast. Trying to shoot out that itty biddy dot is a lot harder then just shooting groups.

FWIW regarding brakes, if the purpose of the club matches is to get new shooters out/exposed and to let them "experience" Benchrest - I wouldn't outright ban them. Let them shoot, let them get the bug and see where it progresses... Albeit the idea of putting them on one end or the other with a blast shield probably isn't a bad idea.

-pd
 
jackie ...

jackie schmidt said:
We did have a bit of a problem. A Factory shooter showed up with a large caliber Rifle with a muzzle break, and I did not think it would be a problem. However, we ended up having to place a large shield between this shooter and the shooter to his left, as the side blast was pretty severe.

I am open for suggestions as to how to handle this...jackie
Click to expand...

Here's a novel idea: If Mr. Deal shows up for your next match with his muzzel brake, place Misters Frederick and Duke on one side of him and Misters Starr and Marino on the other side of him, separated by one or two benches of course, and a large shield on both sides, to see if they can defend their winning positions. If nothing else, they just might get a kick out of it (no pun intended). ;)
 
I had the fine experience of shooting next to the big gun at Tomball. During the sight in period after he shot 2 shots my eyes were watering & powder residue in them from the blast. We put up a partition which stopped that but the shock wave from the blast was knocking me 1 to 1 1/2 bullets of my aiming point. I was at a severe disadvantage. I tried to time my shot & catch my condition. I got caught shooting the same time he did & almost shot a 9 twice. I had to re-adjust after every shot he made. Some times I know my point of aim was correct & would sit & watch for my condition & shoot. Well he would shoot right before me & I was off again. I shot a 250 16x with my PPC. Would I have hit more x's not shooting next to him? I will never know but I do feel awfully certain I would have hit 2 more. I personally feel like that big of a gun needs to be at leat 2 benches away from other Benchrest shooters. russell m
 
Russell

russell m said:
I had the fine experience of shooting next to the big gun at Tomball. During the sight in period after he shot 2 shots my eyes were watering & powder residue in them from the blast. We put up a partition which stopped that but the shock wave from the blast was knocking me 1 to 1 1/2 bullets of my aiming point. I was at a severe disadvantage. I tried to time my shot & catch my condition. I got caught shooting the same time he did & almost shot a 9 twice. I had to re-adjust after every shot he made. Some times I know my point of aim was correct & would sit & watch for my condition & shoot. Well he would shoot right before me & I was off again. I shot a 250 16x with my PPC. Would I have hit more x's not shooting next to him? I will never know but I do feel awfully certain I would have hit 2 more. I personally feel like that big of a gun needs to be at leat 2 benches away from other Benchrest shooters. russell m
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Do you know what caliber it was?
 
Brakes

"Here's a novel idea: If Mr. Deal shows up for your next match with his muzzel brake, place Misters Frederick and Duke on one side of him and Misters Starr and Marino on the other side of him, separated by one or two benches of course, and a large shield on both sides, to see if they can defend their winning positions. If nothing else, they just might get a kick out of it (no pun intended)."

Funny and certainly could provide a challenge. Sort of like handicaping race cars huh. Win once and you start at the back of the pack next time.

But, It was not Mr. Deal shooting the brake. :) I shoot some long range matches where brakes are allowed and used. The shooting lanes are closer than at Tomball. I have both shot a brake and have shot next to them. We just deal with them. So, bring em on. :D
Actually, on a serious note, at a match like this, the brakes should not be banned but should be separated by a bench or two at one end of the line. Let them shoot. You are looking for new shooters. They may never be back and then again, they might show up with more appropriate equipment next time.

I have considered bringing my 6.5-284 and seeing how it would fare on a 100 yard score target but its probably easier to just try it on my home range.

Joe
 
What Art said.....

abintx said:
In our Austin matches, no one is permitted to shoot with a brake. They're told that up front. It's more fun that way for everyone. I have never heard anyone complain about the requirement and have heard many voice the opinion that they understood the reason behind it. I think letting everyone know, well before hand, that a brake is not allowed, is the key. :) Art
Click to expand...

What Art said....;)

Virgil Howarth
ARC Hunter Benchrest Match Director
 
I dont know if it was the break or the caliber size that was creating the shock wave that was knocking me off target? I Hope that anyone that has a rifle & wants to compete does come out. But as Jackie has stated he will seperate them from the other shooters. russell m
 
russell m said:
I dont know if it was the break or the caliber size that was creating the shock wave that was knocking me off target? I Hope that anyone that has a rifle & wants to compete does come out. But as Jackie has stated he will seperate them from the other shooters. russell m
Click to expand...

I imagine it was a combination of the large caliber and the aggressiveness of the muzzle brake. The concussion and report of a .325 WSM is significant to start out with; add a very large JP Cooley style muzzle brake and it can (obviously) be downright nasty. I was maybe 4 benches away (#6), and while it wasn't enough to negatively affect me in any way, I could easily discern his shots from everybody else's. I was shooting with a much more modest muzzle brake on my .308 and I don't think anyone could have picked my shots out from the rest.
 
Did'nt make the last match at Tomball, was practicing at my place for the Dukes match in Utopia. Do any of the match shooters have portable target holders that could be placed further down the line towards the 200 yd berm?
There are more benches past the 100 yd line that could be used with portable target frames set a 100 yds. so the brake shooters would be seperated by several benches and one or two sheets of plywood could be placed between them.
Maybe have a "one season rule", if you have a rifle with a brake you can participate for your first season, but if you return for a second season you must have a rifle without a brake.
Judging by this years turnout, Jackie has accomplished what he started out last year to do. Get shooters to the range to enjoy and learn about the sport.
Not trying to make it more difficult to put on a match, but lets not turn away new comers, it's not the IBS nationals.
Not many guys are going to run out and have a 30br built to go to their first benchrest match at the Tomball club. But they might after the bug bites them
Just my opinion, which I'm always willing to give even thou no one asks for it.
Later
Mike C
 
Congrats to all the winners, about the muzzle brakes just move them a few benches toward the pistol range.
Geramo.
 
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