by Ron Baldner
I was at the Oregon State HBR Championships in LaGrande this weekend and, as promised, here is a report:
Sat. morning the 100 yard match was neat. I started off with a 50-2X and looked down the line and thought to myself, You are in a hole now cause there sure are a lot of 5X’s. I then shot a 3X and looked around and thought,”I am really in a hole now. There were still 10 people clean and all had more X’s than me. The wind started up a little and my next target was a 5X followed by 2 nice 4X’s in a row. When I did the math I figure that I had just shot my all time high 250 X count with an 18. There were 5 clean shooters and mine was at the top.
100 yard results
1. 250-18X Ron Baldner
2. 250-17X Larry Cribbs
3. 250-15X Gary Noble
4. 250-15X Bob Goodman
5. 250-12X Glen Sampson
The top 3 shooters were using 17 Twist barrels; Gary and I use 118gr Bibs, Larry is using the 134″s
Maybe my barrel has some life left in it.
I went on to the 200 yard event with a feeling of confidence.
The first 2 targets were 49’s and I felt good. Then it hit the fan and the last 3 targets were a train wreck. Did the barrel go to hell. No, just my ability to shoot.
200 Yard results
1. 247-5X Jeff Jetter
2. 246-5X Al Magoon
3. 245-5X Larry Cribbs
4. 245-3X Larry Garton
5. 241-2X Glen Sampson
The 100-200 yard agg.
1. Jeff Jetter 496-16X
2. Larry Cribbs 495-22X
3. Al Magoon 495-21X
4. Larry Garton 491-15X
5. Glen Sampson491-14X
My poor work in the 200 dropped me down to 10th out of 19 shooters. Maybe the barrel did die.
So Sunday morning came along and with more doubts than one should have to deal with, I went up against the 300. The rifle helped me shoot 2- 50-2X’s in a row and then went on to a 244-4X. One bad target and 2- 49’s. I thought I should make the 300 yard top 5 and it turned out better than that.
300 yard results
1. 244-4X Ron Baldner
2. 241-2X Tom McPhee
3. 241-1X Gary Noble
4. 240-3X Archie Flood
5. 240-3X Al Magoon
The 100-200-300 yard agg was:
1. Jeff Jetter 736-18X
2. Larry Cribbs 735-24X
3. Al Magoon 735-24X
4. Ron Baldner 730-24X
5. Glenn Sampson 729-15X
This was a well run event, as usual, when you go to LaGrande. thanks to Marv Nunn( Match Director) Teri McPhee( Calling the Match) Sharon Nunn(scoring) and the target crew.
The barrel still seems to be working(2698 rounds) and my new barrel is still not here. I guess I had just better stick with the one that got me here.
Next weekend is a 2 day- 4 yardage shoot at Billings and that range has always been tough on me so will have another report on the “Little Barrel That Could” in about 8 days.
Ron Baldner