SHARPSHOOTER
FALL NEWSLETTER 2009
WM REGIONAL NRA AND MD STATE NRA ACTION PISTOL
CHAMPIONSHIPS
The setting was our Morningside Drive Range the weekend of August 15thand 16th these two days ushered in the inaugural Western Maryland Regional NRA Action Pistol Championship and the first ever Maryland State NRA Action Pistol championship. With a total of sixty-four guns competing for a variety of awards there was plenty of action. The weather was sunny and hot, the food ( thanks to Clayton Blume and Dan Webster ) was plentiful and very good, and the matches went off without a hitch, thanks to a host of volunteers. Special thanks to the Range Officers who actually ran the various events, all day, both days…..a hot and tiring job to say the least without them this would never have happened. These “worker bees” included Jimmy Soulsby, Tim Soulsby Jeff Wagoner, Mike Pannone, and Terry Wilson. The score keeping duties were handled by Jim Soulsby, Jim Painter, Mike Ritter, Bill Hartman, Tim & Ryan Clark and of course Frank Snyder and Kathy Dowell. Bill Lewis, Match Director and photo journalist, documented the matches with hundreds of pictures….even aerial photographs thanks to Mike Ritter (nice touch).
After the smoke cleared and the scores tallied, Kevin Angstadt from Bluefield, VA took top honors in open division, both days, followed by Andre Moroni of Italy. In Metallic Division, Tom Langley edged out Kent Hill of Canada by just three points in the Regional Match, but Kent came back strong in the State Championship to capture the win. Production title in both matches went to Alan FLeshman of Virginia, with Martin Johnson, also of Virginia, close behind. Vera Koo, eight time National Womens Champion from California, won top senior, and finished fifth overall in both matches. All said and done a good time was had by all who attended ……and placed FHRPC on the world stage for Action Pistol…….who knows maybe you can give it a try next year.
BENCH REST LEAGUE
The bench rest league which competes Wednesday evening went well as planned, however we could use some new shooters. Top shooters this year was Butch Wahl with a average of 248.1. Bill Rowley followed with a average of 247.1. Third place was Jack Gauntz with a 245.4. New shooters are welcome, a good .22 cal. Rifle with ammo is all that is needed to get started. Contact Dan James for info.
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SILHOUETTE LEAGUE
The 2009 silhouette league is now history and if you ask most, you would hear that it was a good year and well attended. League winner was our club President Bill Lewis with a overall average of 22.2. However close on his heals was Ed Gaglio, with a average of 21.4. In the third spot was Jared Steward at 19.7. Fourth and fifth place were Jim Stegmaier 19.3 and Jim Kahl 18.6 respectively. From mid April to mid September matches are held on Thursday evening starting at 6:00. A cookout follows the match on the last Thursday of every month. Executive Officer Jim Soulsby does the cooking, and the order of the day is sausages, peppers and onions with sauce and good ole stadium dogs, potatoe chips and other side dishes. Thanks goes out to Ed Gaglio for making sure we have plenty of Pepsi products on hand. Standard rifle in .22 caliber is all that’s needed. Does this sound good to you? Then come out, join us in April 2010 at Warrior Mountain Range #2.
BULLSEYE PISTOL LEAGUE
The bullseye pistol league ended on a high note this year with the shooting of our “1800” on Sunday September 23rd. Winner of that match was Jack Snyder with a score of 1638 and 32X’s, followed by Terry Wilson with a score of 1596 and 22X’s. Third place went to Bill ( that’s not a center fire, it’s a 45 ) Lewis with a 1477 and 22X’s. Season winner was John ( The Doc ) Dowell with a overall average of 94.94. Joe Lechliter came in second with an average of 90.05, followed by Jack Snyder with a average of 89.57. Top rim fire shooter was Joe McDaniel with a average of 91.57. There were thirty shooters participating in this years league. A family picnic was held in August for all the shooters. New shooters are always welcome, need only a .22 caliber semi-auto pistol to get started. League articles submitted by Frank Snyder.
F0RT HILL FLINTERS NEWS
The newly formed “ Fort Hill Flinters”, comprised of members of the Monday evening black powder league won big recently at the Shawnee Rangers black powder match in Pleasantville, PA . Fred Kreiger, Danny Webster, Mike Winter, Roger Rowe and Tom Wilson all shot extremely well. Top honors of the day was won by Mike Winter for shooting a perfect score on a very difficult 25 yard target. Fort Hill Flinters won or placed in all the matches shot. It was a great day for the Fort Hill Black Powder League.
Just a note of thanks;
Who was it that kept the attendance up and was instrumental in the forming of “ THE FORT HILL FLINTERS” ( An Elite Shooting Group ) ? A special thanks to the man who kept muzzeloading alive in the Tri-State area and who without him we would have been by the wayside along time ago. I’m talking about none other than MR. MUZZELOADER, Uncle Fred, Fred Kreiger. THANKS UNCLE FRED.
Also thanks go out to; The gang leader, The Man ( Danny Webster), Roger Rowe, Mike Winters, Tom Wilson, Doug Light, Jeff McCullough. Submitted by 15 ball ( Pete Peterson ).
SERVICE RIFLE
FORT HILL SNOWBIRD MATCH SCHEDULE
December 2009
Dec13th MIA 300 Yard Match ( Warrior Mountain Range)
Dec20th MI Carbine & Rimfire Sporter Match ( MorningsideRange )
January 2010
Jan1st Polar Bear Match ( Warrior Mountain Range )
Jan10th Mosin/Mauser Winter War Match ( Warrior Mountain Range )
Jan16th MI Carbine & Rimfire Sporter Match ( MorningsideRange )
Jan30th Garand / Springfield Match ( Warrior Mountain Range )
February 2010
Feb. 7th Garand / Springfield Match ( Warrior Mountain Range )
Feb 13th Garand / Springfield Match ( Warrior Mountain Range )
Feb. 28th M I Carbine & Rimfire Sporter Match ( MorningsideRange )
March 2010
Mar 6th Garand / Springfield Match ( Warrior Mountain Range )
Mar 13th Mosin / Mauser Battle for Stalingrad ( Warrior Mountain Range )
THANKS MUCH
Many thanks to those members who supported the FHRPC with their service in many different ways throughout 2009 . Bill Mickey for keeping the grass in check this year, he did all the trimming this year and if you visited the range this year it was easy to see the difference. Jim Soulsby for the many hats he wears and for always being ready to lead when the work needs done. Master Knife maker Mike Carney for the beautiful knives he has donated to FHRPC. The club has benefited by a total of at least one thousand dollars in the past three years. The last knife raffled in 2009 was done on Sunday, November 22nd on the third day of Sight-In days. Winner was our own Bill Lewis, lucky dog.
MEETING NOTICE
The annual meeting of the Fort Hill Rifle & Pistol Club will be held Friday, February 5, 2010 at the Center for Career and Technical Education in Cresaptown. The meeting will begin promptly at six o’ clock. Should Allegany county schools be closed that day, the meeting will be held the following Friday, February 12, same time and place. Topics to be discussed will include the possible by-laws change requiring membership approval of new construction costing greater than ten thousand dollars, club events, league activities, range improvements, dues, memberships, and a variety of other issues. As usual, there will be refreshments following the meeting. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.
For those who have not renewed your club dues, the grace period for renewal will expire the evening of the annual meeting. If VP/Membership Secretary, Chris Bennett does not have your check ( or cash ) in hand by the time he walks out of the annual meeting, your membership IS expired. Should you wish then to rejoin the club, your membership application would be accepted as openings in the club become available and you would be required to pay the initiation fee again. You also lose the years of membership credited toward life membership. Any questions contact Chris at ( cell) 301-268-1642 or ( home ) 301-777-5180.
THREE NEW LIFE MEMBERS FOR 2010
Three members have reached life member status in the Fort Hill Rifle Pistol Club this up coming year. They are James Brant, Charles McVeigh, and Roger Rowe. James or as we know him “Jim” works out on the Sight-in Committee and offers his expertise to fellow committee members and the general public on Sight-in days. Roger Rowe shoots competitively on Monday evenings with the Black Powder League, and is a member of the newly comprised Fort Hill Flinters. Roger also shoots on Thursday evenings in the Silhouette small bore League. Way to go fellows, see you on the range.
SIGHT- IN DAYS
Fort Hill Rifle Pistol Club’s Sight-In Days was another success, as we had better than a moderate attendance at the three day event. As in the past the club offers on hands experience to the Tri-state deer hunters in getting the most accuracy out of their center fire rifles. All of this service, “no charge” by donations only, this year donations totaled $290.00.
The work force at MorningsideRange at Sight-In Days were Ken Fuller, Jim Detrick, Jim Brant, Bill Gero, Jeff Kerr, Bill Hartman, Ed Gaglio, Frank Snyder, Marty Harsh, Mike Ritter, Jim Soulsby, Marvin Smith. The cooks and food donations were Bill Gero, Jim Soulsby, Frank Snyder and Mrs. Snyder, Ken Fuller, Danny Webster, Marvin Smith.
To all those involved Thank You, may you always hit the ten ring.
ONLY THREE RULES
Only three rules was the Monday evening .22 LR league game sponsored by Marty Harsh and the good will of the Monday evening Black Powder league for sharing the range at Morningside. You may ask what are the three rules? Well since you asked, #1 Marty’s targets #2 Marty’s BB’s (22 LR) #3 stand on your own two feet. So at fifty yards shooting at a three inch 8,9, 10, X rings anything else means room for improvement. The shooter gets five sighters to shoot from any position he wants to use. The next two targets our twenty shots on each for record. Total of 45 rounds out of 50 takes about one hour to shoot. Shooters were Mike Ritter, Cliff Bennett, Austin Bennett, Ron Smith, Frank Snyder, Jon Eastham, Jay Cochrane, Marvin Smith. Thanks Marty for the black cherry ice cream, looking forward to next years rules.
NEW WOODEN BERMFORBULLSEYERANGE
A new wooden berm now graces the shooting deck of the bullseye range at the 25 yard line at Morningside thanks to the ingenuity of Jim Soulsby and a handful of go getter volunteers. The purpose of the new berm is to protect the linkage of the time fire mechanical system, NOT TO POST TARGETS ON, OR USE AS A BACK STOP.SO PLEASE HANG TARGETS AS BEFORE OFF OF THE CABLE.
The original pistol berm was built about 1985 of earth, railroad ties and rough cut lumber. It had become unsightly with weeds, yellow jackets, and lumber decaying and warping extremely bad. So a new one was imminent, at a cost of around $1000.00, which was a good deal for the amount of material that was purchased.
Volunteers were : Wayne Belloff, Tom Carder, Tim Clark, Ryan Clark, Greg Fletcher, Joe Lechliter, George Sneathen, Jack Snyder, Frank Snyder, Terry Wilson, Bill Lewis, Bill Mickey, Jeff McCullough, Jim Stegmaier, Jim Soulsby, Clayton Blume, John Dowell, Jay Cole, Greg McElfish, Ron Smith, Marvin Smith.