Jun 07

CORE Shooting Solutions One Day match 5/30

core1CORE Shooting Solutions (formerly known as K&M shooting facilities) is the place to be when training or shooting competitions. Jim and I both signed up to shoot this match when registration was out. A few weeks before the match, Jim had to bow out due to his commitments of being a Cubscout Den Leader for our son. What was a girl to do now? Load up my gear, jump in the truck and head to Florida on a Friday night! A girl, a gun (well a few to be exact), competition gear and a pony tail flying in the wind with the truck windows down. I love the South!

Early Saturday morning I headed to the range around 6:45a.m. I had brought with me some Armageddon Gear to sell at the match and some gear that a few asked for. After I arrived and got settled in, I headed down to the zero range to make sure Jake was still “on”. Jake is my custom competition 6.5 Creedmoor built by Ashbury Precision Ordnance. I have the Bushnell Elite XRS 4.5-30 with G2 reticle mounted in Spuhr mounts. I use the Armageddon Gear Precision Rifle Sling and X-Wing rear bag. I shoot with Hornady 140gr AMAX. For cleaning and lube purposes, I use Hoppe’s #9. Only the best for my Jake! In this match, we had pistol in a few stages. “Zeke” my Glock 17 pimped out by Ashbury Precision Ordnance, performed flawlessly.

With gear in hand, my squad and I headed down to our first stage. On a side note here, I have such a passion for shooting long range. Part of going to these matches is the comradery among the competitors. I was on a squad with some great men. I always have questions, so with my Husband not being present, I knew I could count on these guys. core3

Our first stage was the “bus” stage. With rifle in hand, you had to run to an orange barricade that had 3 port holes. You had two shots at each hole at a single target at 330 yrds. Once you shot all 6 shots, you entered the bus and shot 2 more from the driver side window and 2 from the middle window. Once you completed this, you put your rifle down, jumped out the back of bus and had another orange barricade with 3 port holes that you had 2 shots of pistol through each. You had 3 minutes to complete this. I surprised myself when I made it to the pistol part! Out of 16 points I received 12, not a bad way to start my day!! After everyone shot this stage, our team made our way up to Car cover stage. On this stage, you could not touch your dial. Which means, you set your elevation (if you wanted) and do hold overs for your other targets. I dialed for the longest target which was 735 yrds, then held for my other 2 targets which was at approximately 340 yrds and 450 yrds. Most of you know by now my love for my Bushnell Elite 4.5-30 scope with G2 reticle. I just absolutely adore this scope. I get so excited with doing holdovers. This reticle, though simple, is effective. When doing holdovers, you minimize time by not having to dial elevation, therefore maximizing yourself on a stage to ensure you complete all your hits. I love holdovers.

We shot one stage which was a 300 yard mover. I didn’t know this, but my knowledgeable squad mate John Cuckler, who happens to be one of the match directors for The Steel City Precision match, taught me that I could use my Kestrel on these stages. On your Kestrel, there is an area where you can input the speed of the mover and it will show you the hold for it. Since I use the “trap” method on these movers, this little piece of knowledge just came in handy. After lunch we had the 500yrd mover to contend with as well as a hostage stage and more barricade stages.

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I use a Kestrel in every match. I always have a DOPE card with increments of 50 yrds on it starting with 100 and usually ending with 1000. But these Kestrels are just one of a kind awesome. It calculates the wind, humidity, density altitude, etc in every shot. And with a unique trueing feature, you can always assure that your data will be spot on. If you have never seen what these devices can do, you should check them out at www.kestrelmeters.com. Almost every competitor has one at these matches.

I love these one day matches. There is no prize table and these are just a great way to get training in for the bigger matches. We had 4 stages to complete that morning. We broke for lunch and then shot 4 stages after. Being the only female and out of 51 shooters, I placed 20th. First time to land in the Top 20 and I was excited! Congratulations to James Vick for taking 1st place. Thanks to the RO’s who were there and Huge Thanks to Bryan Morgan, Bryan Sikes, Josh Mann and John Watts for holding such a great match.

Permanent link to this article: http://thelifeofmissy.com/2015/06/07/core-shooting-solutions-one-day-match-530/

May 03

Me and my Bushnell Gear

bushgearI have to say that I am impressed with Bushnell. I’ve been shooting for Bushnell for over a year now and they do more and more to awe me with their products. Now part of Vista Outdoor, Bushnell is more than just optics for your rifle.

Like for example, the Bushnell Elite Tactical 1 Mile Arc laser rangefinder. This range finder is one of the coolest I have ever used. It’s fully waterproof and has a Bullseye, Brush & Scan mode. This rangefinder instantly accounts for the angle when calculating distance so you know precisely where to shoot and provides true horizontal distance out to 1000 yards/meters. It also has a feature that provides holdover/bullet drop data in inches, centimeter MOA or MIL. This little piece of equipment is just pure badass.

A perfect product, especially for all the hunters, is the BackTrack GPS.huntrack1 I have the HuntTrack which I just adore. It is simple and easy to use. Let’s take deer hunting for example, before you leave your truck to head out to your deer stand, you simply click the “mark” button and then the GPS will start tracking you. This is perfect for when you’ve been out hunting all day, your deer stand is deep in the woods and you’re not really sure of where exactly you parked. Heck, this device will come in handy in airport parking or even at the mall! Some of the other features of this product is the sunrise/sunset & moon phase. It has a barometer, temperature and weather trend as well as an Animal Activity meter and Predictive Graph. Once you register your device, you can also access this app on your computer which has even more features.

powersyncAnother cool item is the PowerSync Solar Wrap Mini. Coming in at 4.3×1.25 in and 3.1 oz., this is great for Go-Bags, Range bags or purse bags! This solar charging and power storage charges your devices when you’re off the grid. Its durable, flexible solar panels roll up into a small lightweight package. On one side it has a USB port so you can charge anything with this connectivity. There are a few different ways to charge the wrap. You can charge it by wall charge or by the sun. It will charge your phone to 100% as well as other devices. This is just nice to have for those just in case moments.

Last Christmas, I bought my Husband a Bushnell TrophyCam. This small device has just been great. We have picked up great photo’s of deer, coyotes and even some wild pigs. The picture is clear. You can subscribe to the service where when something crosses the camera path, the photo gets sent to you via text, email or even Facebook! If you are a big hunter or even if you suspect you have people snooping around your home, you definitely need this camera.

These are just a few of the many items that Bushnell offers. I know I have talked and reviewed my scope before, but I wanted to share with you more that Bushnell has to offer. Go check them out!1016537_587407324686803_956353628_n

Permanent link to this article: http://thelifeofmissy.com/2015/05/03/me-and-my-bushnell-gear/

Apr 24

Long Range Shooting Experience match at Rockcastle

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Photo courtesy of Jill Peck Match Photos

The Long Range Shooting Experience (LRSE) match was held at the cool facilities of RockCastle in Kentucky and was the brainchild of three of the sports best match directors and competitors. Ryan Castle, Scott Satterlee and Bryan Morgan. The weekend weather wasn’t too promising so I brought some rain gear and bug spray. From the first step into facility, Misty Morgan had everything planned out to a tee. She is wife of Bryan Morgan, one of the match directors. After Misty got us signed in, we checked into our room which was part of the entry fee. I think this made it part of the cool factor of the match was that all the competitors stayed at the facilities so it was nice to hang out with everyone. I had double duties at the match as I also work for Armageddon Gear and we brought our infamous “Meat Wagon” to the match. We had it loaded down with gear to sell & think we almost sold out on the first day! We had a shooters meeting that evening to go over safety, squads and to answer any general questions.

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Photo courtesy of Jill Peck Match Photos

The first day of the match started early at 7 a.m. With Jake in hand, my Ashbury Precision Ordnance 6.5 Creedmoor with Bushnell Elite XRS 4.5-30 ready, we were off. We were squaded with a great group of guys who made the match fun. I always use Hornady 140gr AMAX factory loads in my competitions. They are extremely consistent and I have never had a problem with them. Our squad started on stage “Field Fire 1”. You had 6 IPSC target of varying sizes which must be engaged from close to far. Targets ranged from 423 yrds out to 1064yrds. You had a max of 12 rounds with 2 minutes to complete course of fire (COF). Each stage, you had a generous amount of time to complete COF. I started this match off great. It is such a confidence booster to hear each hit on steel. Since the weather man was calling for some rough weather on Sunday, the match directors decided to push through the day and complete as many stages as possible. One of the most unique, difficult stages was the “Loop Holes”. The scenario was all set up in an old barn. You had a target out at 175 yrds. You had 5 different positions to shoot from with two shots from each position inside the barn. What was really cool about this stage, was that you shot between the boards that make up the exterior of the building. This is an old barn, so just with age and weather, there were spacing between the boards that you were able to shoot through. A really really cool stage. After we shot 4 stages, everyone met back up at the lodge. Our 2nd half of the day was spent on the ridge, which was quite the ride. Luckily we had a 4WD that helped us get there. Mud and tires spinning……ah, what a wonderful day. Once we got to the next 4 stages, you had to literally walk up the side of a mountain (ß-yes, it was a mountain to me). At the top, the stages were all set up in a row on this ridge that overlooked another valley and ridge line. Each stage had its own difficulty and distance. The only thing that really got me on these stages were ticks. I had just jumped down in prone position, had my target in my crosshairs and suddenly felt something crawling up my arm. I glanced down and just about freaked. Two BIG ticks were crawling on my forearm. I’m sure I was making was whimpering sounds as me and bugs just do not get along at all. After I made my shots I flung those ticks off my arm. Honestly, I don’t remember how I did on that stage.

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Photo courtesy of Jill Peck Match Photos

Due to bad weather coming in the next day, all the competitors shot another 4 stages that evening which made 12 stages shot on day 1. The last 4 stages included a mover stage and a TYL stage where you shot the large target first on the TYL rack at 457 yrds, then had to stand in an off hand position to engage another target (117 yrds) and once hit, jump back down in prone and shoot the 2nd target on KYL stand and so forth. At the end of day one you can imagine that Jake required a little maintenance. Fortunately, with my new addition of Hoppes #9, I got him oiled in all the right places in anticipation of a very wet next day. I now carry with me in my range bag the Hoppes #9 Universal Field Kit. This little kit is just awesome! LRSE6 Day two started with rain. Luckily we only had 4 stages to complete. I didn’t score well on my first two stages but gained traction back on the Hostage target. I was worried about the glass being fogged in my scope, but with the excellent RainGuard technology that Bushnell uses, I had no fogs or drips to worry about. It was definitely a great match. And yes, the rumors are true, I beat my Husband in this match! Thanks again to the match directors, Ryan Castle, Scott Satterlee Bryan Morgan (and Misty Morgan) for putting on such a smooth running, fun match. Big thanks to the all the R.O.’s who took time out of their weekend to be here. Congrats to Isaac Frank who took the top spot. And big Thank You to my sweet Husband who taught me everything about long range shooting. Huge heartfelt thanks to Ashbury Precision Ordnance, Bushnell Tactical, Hoppes #9, Armageddon Gear, Spuhr mounts, Wiebad bags, and Gungoddess.com, who all stand behind me and help me become a better shooter.

Permanent link to this article: http://thelifeofmissy.com/2015/04/24/long-range-shooting-experience-match-at-rockcastle/