Category Archives: XTC

Trying to Pound 7s into 10s and Randomly Spinning Knobs: First XTC matches of the year.

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Kicked off the season with three XTC matches over the past 4 weeks.

Bridgeville was first on the schedule. They shoot their first couple matches within 2 weeks of each other at the end of March and beginning of April.  March’s match went well. I shot a solid master score. My streak of consistent off-hand continued, however there was a little “extra wind” in my scope which lead me to discover my garage gunsmithing resulted in a very slight cant in my scope.

So I went back to the garage and fixed it. While its level again it took me the next two matches to square up my no wind zero… and my stubbornness.

Hmm running out of space to the right of the target.

The April match at Bridgeville, I’m not sure I’d call it a trainwreck but it wasn’t pretty. I Let myself get frustrated in off-hand and blew a 6 out the top. Turns out it helps to break the shot in the middle. Shot a 91 in that string including that 6 which is still within what I consider “good.” Of course after I played the “of only I shot a 9 or 10” Lesson learned: shoot happy.

Breezy

Blew all 4 rapid strings out the right. Including a nice tight group spanning the 9 ring in prone.

Went back to the lab again to find that extra window. I convinced myself I found it and was confident my rifle was solid and I was going to get back to fighting strength for the home opener at New Holland.


Stood up on the line confidently and opened with an 8. Long story short I determined it was me and stubbornly wouldn’t touch the knobs. I even put my rifle in the rack and reset twice. One would think I’d notice something is wrong when I visited the 5 ring to say hi.  But instead I just kept trying to hammer those 7s into 10s .

For once I noticed the problem in sitting and brought it back. Even while saving a round in sitting due to some user induced error. 

Once I got on my belly things went well. Shot a 99 – nuffin and clean 5-5 in rapids. Then went back to 600 and posted a 192 which I’m happy with. I’m feeling more comfortable in the wind but I have to work on not letting the spotter interfere with where I put the cross hairs back there.

Lots of matches on the calendar, including 4 days of back to back XTC at the creedmoor cup and a couple reduced matches. Ill think positively for now and say the zero issues are behind me but try not to forget how the knobs work.

When you’re hot you’re hot. When you’re not…

CMP 2017 Rules: Want to start shooting EIC? Buy a new rifle. 

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The new rules are up for EIC for 2017. 

Read them here: http://thecmp.org/wp-content/uploads/Rulebook.pdf?ver=01042017

Of note CMP describes the new classifications and match rifles, presumably a shot across the bow of the NRA after their last minute location change of the NRA championships.

Personally, I’m disappointed to see further restrictions placed on handguards. It seems now only quad rails or traditional A2 tubes will be permitted for service rifle.

 Under the old rules it was convenient to invite new shooters to EIC matches where they could “run what they  have” with minimal modifications and cost, A2 grip and a 4x.  It was win win, as they got to try out their gear to see how it held up to XTC and it helped get new people involved in the sport. 

This all might seem trivial however in the “AR community” quad rails are fairly uncommon these days, modular free floats such and Mlok and Keymod are all the rage. 

Under the new rules new shooters will need to find a quad rail or A2 tube, borrow a rifle, build an A4 or shoot out of competition.  Because XTC wasn’t already intimidating enough?

Good news, the A1/A2 grip rule hasn’t changed. So my sticker is still relavent.
http://garandthumb.com/store/service-rifle-rules-compliance-device-keepin-it-cmp-legal-sticker/

Last Stand in Dixie: Last XTC Matches of 2016

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Ok,  I suppose Delaware is not technically Dixie but it is south of the Mason-Dixon line and Camp Butner is for sure, so close enough.

To wrap up the 2016 Service Rifle Season GTB shooting team headed to Camp Butner for the NSSC NC Championship and EIC.  The NC Championship was a 1000 agg on Saturday. It was a beautiful summer day. Well, summer for us Yankees I assume, high 70s is what they consider fall in NC. 

During the 1000 agg I cleaned 300 for the first time! 

The rest of the match was fairly lackluster including a hot mess at 600.

The EIC the next day started out soggy off hand. I worked to make a come back but couldn’t quite make it. I ended with a 469 which wasn’t awful but a good 10 points below the cut.


Looking for some redemption the next weekend I drove down to the beach for Bridgeville’s last 800 agg of the season. My new Nightfore service rifle scope had shown up while I was at Camp Butner and this was its first trial. 

The match went well and was a nice end to the season. I posted a decent high end Master score and cleaned sitting for the first time! The new scope worked very well.  I’m looking forward to putting it through its paces next season.


Don’t worry this isn’t really the end of the season, there are still a couple wood gun matches left, maybe some rimfire, and of course hunting season!

Leg Points at New Holland!

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New Holland typically runs a generally well attended CMP EIC Match in April, but this year the weather just wouldn’t cooperate. Heavy rain the first try and then snow on the rain day cancelled the match twice! But  finally in July the weather worked out.

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While I still consider Kimberton my “home club” I am a member of New Holland Rifle and Pistol and spend a fair bit of time there practicing.

It was hot and humid again, but slightly cooler than it had been during the week.

There was a “P100” format match first to help everyone verify their zeros and get those 7s out of their system. Boy did I have some 7s to get out. I opened with my worst off-hand ever with the A4. Not one but two 7s and a few 8s to boot to total a gross 82. I mostly blame trying to work with a bad patch of ground fighting a downward slope.

The rest of the P100 went better. I made a nice group rapid prone at 300 and noted its poor placement in the 9 ring, which I corrected for the next match. Out back at 600 I posted a 96. My 600 come ups were predictable as I have spent plenty of time on that back berm practicing and my Leupold tracked right to where it should.


After turning in our score cards and grabbing a cold drink from the truck it was back to 200 to do it again for a 50 round CMP national match course, this time for points.

Remembering my struggle with slope I found a better piece of dirt to make my stand this time and posted a 93 off-hand! I got a little frustrated circling the 10 but I kept them in the black.

CMP rules require firing sitting from standing which can be its own special challenge. I borrowed a trick I learned from the Internet and parked my shooting cart behind me which I use to help me stand up in a less dramatic fashion. These methods helped me keep both feet in the same spot. When I was a bit larger, I was only keeping my right foot in the same place which made re-locating my NPA a challenge. I managed to keep most of the shots in the middle and posted a 97 in sitting.

Back to 300 for rapid prone I posted another 97, this one I worked a little harder for with an 8 low right, my “go to” spot if I goof up my breathing.
Spent some time in the pits after 300 nervously looking over my data book and feeling out where others stood.

Kirby says “way to go”

Back at 600 my wind call and elevation were right on and first shot was a 10. I wasn’t super happy with my position but assumed I could make it work. Turns out I was wrong, and pulled a 6:00 seven. I started seeing flashes of screwing up my nice short line scores with a hot mess out back. I took a minute to reset and worked my way back into the 10 where I stayed for all but two rounds for the rest of the string.

Out Back

Posted a 479 in the end. I knew there was a 480 to beat, and 3 legs to give out. So, I was nervous as the match director added up the final results. I managed to come in second for my first points since Small Arms Firing School at Perry in 2015, just less than one year since my first Across the Course match!

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My shooting buddy managed to take the last leg, which we like to call “the foot” so “GTB shooting team” had a good day!

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Bridgeville July 800 Agg: Shooting Master Scores

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The National Matches are just around the corner! I go to Delaware fairly frequently in the summer, for surf fishing, but this weekend I left the Rod at home and brought my service rifle down for an NRA 800 agg.

The weather was hot and the air thick with humidity. We ran two relays and scored in the pits. Which can be a bit tricky but the match runs fast.

I started out strong shooting “fast and angry” off-hand. Posting a 186.


I’ve been working on sitting and it seems to be paying off as I posted a nice pair of 99s. I seem to have a habit of pulling one low right when I forget to breathe.

Back to 300 I dropped 3 points in rapid prone I was happy with my groups. I Made a windage change between strings but couldn’t keep all 10 in the 10 ring in the second string.

Back at 600 I came close to my personal best and posted a pair of 96s for a 192!

The 8:00 8 was a sighter the 12:00 eight was pulse, heat, and fatigue late in the second string.

I managed to post a nice score on the high-end of Master keeping my streak going!

Thanks to some advice from others at York a few matches back I made some changes to my sling and now pull it almost all the way into my armpit. This has really been working nice as the sling doesn’t fall down my arm mid string and stays nice and tight.