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Osage Orange
Sharpshooters
News Oct-Nov-Dec,
'02, & Jan '03
ANNUAL DINNER
Friday, January 10, Heritage Cafeteria, in the shopping center
at Battlefield and Fremont in Springfield. A room is reserved
for us. Go through serving line 6:15-6:30.
Everyone is invited, members and non-members.
Bring friends.
We will eat then discuss business, elections, etc.
2003 Schedule
Online at: www.swampworks.com/OsageOrange.html
(Swampy's note: Due
to possible changes in the schedule, the OFFICIAL Osage Orange
Sharpshooters events schedule will always be on the Schedule
Page.... Go
HERE)
Jan 10 Fri 6:15 PM -Heritage Cafeteria-Dinner
Jan 25 Sat 8 AM Dalton Range - Reloading Clinic
Feb 22 Sat 8 AM Dalton Range - Fun Shoot
Mar 22 Sat 8 AM Dalton Range - High Power Clinic
Apr 9 Wed 5 PM Springfield BR - Club Match
Apr 13 Sun 1 PM Springfield BR - CMP Smallbore
Apr 19 Sat 8 AM Dalton Range - JCG Match
May 3 Sat 8 AM Dalton Range - Club Match
May 4 Sun 1 PM Springfield BR - CMP Smallbore
May 15 Thu 5 PM Springfield BR - Club Match
May 31 Sat 8 AM Dalton Range - Club Match
Jun 11 Wed 5 PM Springfield BR - Club Match
Jun 28 Sat 8 AM Dalton Range - Club Match
Jul 8 Tue 5 PM Springfield BR - Club Match
Jul 26 Sat 8 AM Dalton Range - Club Match
Aug 6 Wed 5 PM Springfield BR - Club Match
Aug 10 Sun 1 PM Springfield BR - CMP Smallbore
Aug 23 Sat 8 AM Dalton Range - Club Match
Aug 28 Thu 5 PM Springfield BR - Club Match
Sep 7 Sun 1:00 PM Springfield BR - CMP Smallbore
Sep 13 Sat 8 AM Dalton Range - Club Match
Sep 17 Wed PM Springfield BR - Club Match
Oct 4 Sat 8 AM Dalton Range - JCG Match
Oct 8 Wed 5 PM Springfield BR - Club Match
Please note the following changes from
past years:
1. The evening Garand matches at the Springfield Benchrest Club
are now on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, depending
on the dates that Swampy could get us.
2. We have 4 Sunday afternoons at the Springfield Benchrest Club
to shoot the CMP .22 rimfire sporter matches. This should make
for a nice, relaxed atmosphere, and it should allow some other
club members to come out and shoot. You can shoot any .22 rifle
you have, scoped or iron sights. Bring the whole family.
3. The traditional Saturday morning meetings at the Dalton Range
will start at 8 AM, but we will not start the formal match shooting
until closer to 9 AM so that we can do some instruction on positions
and techniques as well as sight-in rifles. Last year we just
got too pressed for time trying to squeeze in the.22 matches
also.
Old Match
News
The John C. Garand match (Oct. 5th, '02) saw 21 shooters fire.
Steve Milholland won, once again. Can't anyone stop him? Jerry
Patten took 2nd place using a Springfield 1903A3. All of the
scores are on our web page.
The summer league matches also saw Steve
Milholland as the top shooter. Jerry Patten got the award for
most consistent, and Will Rhodes got a second award in this category.
Steve Kemm increased his average score by over 2 points this
year, earning him the award for most improved. Finally, Mark
Mead got the "Just Yank 'em" award.
This year' prizes included a box of bullets
and powder (for the winner), and knives. Next year will see us
returning to the CMP paraphernalia for awards. It keeps the money
in the family, and they have added some very attractive merchandise
to their list of items for sale. Hopefully they will have their
ordering procedures cleared up in time for next year.
Camp Perry
2003
I would like to encourage all members (and any not-yet-members
we can recruit) to consider going to the National Matches in
Camp Perry, Ohio next year. The CMP matches run from Sunday,
August 3 to Saturday, August 9, 2003. Below I will try to answer
some of the obvious questions:
What does it cost? Registration for all the matches and Small Arms
Firing School (SAFS) will run around $150. Staying in the huts
costs about $10 per night. So, $250 gets you the best vacation
in the world. All you have to do is provide food and ammunition.
There is a cafeteria on base which serves reasonably-priced meals,
as well as a restaurant with typical restaurant prices. Port
Clinton, Ohio, a 2 minute drive off base, has the usual array
of restaurants. Many of us keep a cooler stocked with ice, food,
and beverages.
What matches can
I shoot? Presidents Match (30
shots); National Trophy Individual (50 shots); Military Bolt
Rifle (35? shots); Springfield Match (35 shots); John C. Garand
Match (55 shots); National Trophy Team Match (50 shots); National
Trophy Infantry Team Match or "Rattle Battle" (50-80
shots). Oh yeah, you get to shoot 30 rounds in SAFS.
What rifle can I
shoot? M1 Garands will work
in all but the bolt rifle matches. A Mauser will suffice for
those.
Aren't these shot
at longer ranges? Yes, but
if you have a 100 yard zero for your rifle, everyone at the matches
can tell you how many clicks to raise your sights for 200,300
and 600 yards. The only 'gotcha' is that you really should be
shooting match ammunition for 300 and 600 yards. M2 ball is fine
for 200 yards. Federal Gold Medal Match runs about $1 per round
in .30-06. I have a few thousand rounds of GI .30-06 match ammunition
I can sell you. Or you can hand load your own. Or I can load
it for you and sell it to you. We can make it work.
Won't I be at a disadvantage
using a service-grade M1? Were
you planning on winning? If this were golf, Tiger Woods would
win, and you can play right along side him with your Wal-Mart
clubs. And nobody but you cares.
I've never done anything
like this before. So what?
There will be 2 weekend-long matches in Marshall, Missouri next
May. These will be an excellent time to become familiar with
longer ranges, match procedures and team matches. I'll keep you
informed.
Ammunition
Purchase
We are going to order ammunition for sale to members. There is
some Korean manufactured PMC ammunition that has a good reputation.
It costs $89.95 for an ammo can with 400 rounds. If you have,
in the past, purchased ammunition at the monthly meetings, it
is highly recommended that you purchase a can. We would like
to get out of the business of selling ammunition at each match.
We charge $16.50 for 55 rounds You save about $4.00 per 55 rounds
if you buy a 400 round can. Do it. Email me, call me, or write
me if you want a can.
You should also know that the supply of
M2 Ball from the CMP is essentially gone. Any M2 Ball remaining
in the Osage Orange inventory will be reserved for issue at the
2 annual John Garand Matches.
Reloading
Our first regular meeting in January will be a clinic devoted
to reloading ammunition and rifle cleaning. Some of us will demonstrate,
from start to finish, how we reload for the M1 and the AR-15.
Rifle cleaning is also a hot topic (why?) and I will show you
how I do it.
I have purchased some surplus 4895 powder.
If anyone wants to buy a keg (8 pounds), contact me. Price is
$83.
Selling Things
The last two paragraphs both mentioned things you can buy. I
intend to have these things at the January meeting, along with
a few other items (scale, brass trimmer…) that I don't want
anymore. Do you have something you think a club member might
want to purchase? Bring it in January.
Youth
We're getting quite a few folks who purchased AR-15s through
the CMP program. The purpose of this program is to encourage
youth to shoot with us. Let's try to get more young folks out.
And those of us who have a CMP-subsidized AR-15 should bring
it to the matches, along with ammunition, so that it can be available
to loan to a young person.
Along the same lines, we have 3 .22 caliber
Mossberg rifles purchased for use by younger folks in the club.
If you have a young person who would like to use one of these
rifles for the season, please let me know. We will make them
available on long-term loan basis.
Other News
The Osage Orange Sharpshooters made a $200 contribution to a
legal fund to save the shooting range near Marshfield, MO. If
the legal fight is successful, plans are to turn this into something
special. If it fails, another range is lost forever. John Burke
and Steve Milholland ramrodded this, so they can give you additional
details.
Membership
Enclosed is the annual membership form. Please fill it out and
send to our long-suffering Treasurer, Mike Thorn.
For the year 2004 we are contemplating changing (lowering) the
dues. Come to the January 10 dinner to hear about and discuss
this issue.
Bill Corcoran (417) 862-8618 wtc928f@smsu.edu
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