We had a great weekend for the Northeast Regional Air Rifle Championship at the Salem Pistol and Rifle Club. Saturday was warm with temps topping out in the mid 80’s. The wind was mild and steady at start time for the LV match and increased to 7-10mph, getting switchy as the day progressed into the Open 25meter match. Sunday’s weather was a bit warmer, 92 degrees with the weatherman calling for sustained 10-15 mph winds with gusts to 35 mph. I don’t think we got to 35 mph, but the 10-15mph was pretty close to being right, which made the Open 50 yard and Springer match interesting. Each shooter moved 5 benches for every target, with everyone shooting from a different bench for every target, the only fair way to conduct a Championship match. Doug Miller flew in from California for the match, and Ken Hicks drove up from Florida, taking the long way to Salem with stops at Rapid Air Weapons in Tennessee and Pyramyd Air in Ohio. He picked up a few goodies there to add to the prize table which also featured a nice Walther LGR SSP rifle donated by Paul Bendix and 7 sets of rings donated by BKL. Ken Hicks won the rifle. I would like to thank John French for all the work he did getting the range set up early in the mornings, running the line, and for helping with the scoring, Hal Hauschild for cooking lunch for us both days, and Chris Sloan, Mark Marini and Chas DiCapua for chipping in with the scoring duties. It would be impossible for our small club to host these matches without help from the shooters!! Here are the scores by class, in the order we shot them: LV Todd Banks (RAW TM-1000, Leupold 40X)- 248-13X, 247-10X, 248-6X = 743-29X Ken Hicks (borrowed EV-2, Sighton Sii)- 246-8X, 246-10X, 241-7X = 733-25X Doug Miller (Steyr, Sightron)- 246-9X, 241-6X, 246-7X = 733-22X Paul Bendix (Thomas, Weaver T-36)- 243-4X, 236-2X, 238-3X= 717-9X Mark Marini (Thomas, Leupold))- 245-7X, 232-3X, 238-3X= 715-13X Nathan Thomas (Hammerli AR20FT, Bushnell, first BR match) 240-6X, 233-3X, 239-4X= 712-13X Stuart Spector (RAW BM-500, Leupold)- 239-6X, 231-3X, 241-7X= 711-16X Ed Hosier (Thomas, Weaver)- 235-5X, 235-0X, 241-8X= 711-13X Eric Brewer (Hammerli AR20FT, Sightron, first BR match)- 234-3X, 236-3X, 233-3X= 703-9X Chris Sloan ( AA S400 MPR, MTC)- 225-2X, 236-2X, 236-5X= 697-9X Art Binley (Thomas, Sighton)- 206-3X, 231-3X, 194-4X= 631-10X Open 25 meters Todd Banks (RAW TM-1000X, Sightron Siii)- 247-8X, 248-6X, 248-12X= 743-26X Doug Miller (Thomas, Sightron Siii)- 244-4X, 248-8X, 246-14X= 738-26X Ken Hicks (Raw BM-500, Sightron Siii)- 242-6X, 246-11X, 246-6X= 734-23X Mark Marini (Thomas, Leupold)- 241-7X, 244-9X, 246-8X= 731-24X Chas DiCapua (RAW TM-1000, Sightron Siii)- 241-5X, 244-8X, 243-8X= 728-21X Paul Bendix (Thomas, Weaver T-36) 242-9X, 239-4X, 244-9X= 725-22X Chris Sloan (RAW TM-1000, Athlon), 239-2X, 242-9X, 242-4X = 723-15X Ed Hosier (Thomas, Weaver)- 233-6X, 241-6X, 244-8X= 718-20X Sam Wolkoff (Cricket, Sightron)- 229-2X, 227-5X, 241-7X= 697-14X Robert Fisher (RAW TM-1000, Sightron)- 235-3X, 225-2X, 216-0X= 676-5X Stuart Spector (RAW TM-1000, Hawke)- 217-2X, 217-2X, 229-2X= 663-6X Nathan Thomas (Marauder, Athlon)- 213-2X, 201-1X, 220-2X= 634-5X HV Todd Banks (RAW TM-1000X, Sightron Siii)- 249-16X, 249-13X, 248-12X= 746-41X Ken Hicks (RAW BM-500, Sightron Siii)- 249-10X, 248-9X, 245-6X= 742-25X Ed Hosier (Thomas, Weaver)- 250-12X, 247-5X, 245-7X= 742-23X Mark Marini (Thomas, Leupold)- 249-12X, 246-9X, 243-8X= 738-30X Chas DiCapua (RAW TM-1000, Sightron Siii)- 248-9X, 246-7X, 244-6X= 738-22X Doug Miller (Thomas, Sightron Siii)- 246-9X, 243-4X, 244-7X= 733-20X Art Binley (Thomas, Sightron Siii)- 246-10X, 247-13X, 235-5X= 728-28X Paul Bendix (Thomas, Weaver)- 248-14X, 236-5X, 243-8X= 727-27X Chris Sloan (RAW TM-1000, Athlon)- 240-7X, 240-5X, 229-0X= 709-12X Robert Fisher (RAW TM-1000X)- 244-6X, 222-1X, 231-3X= 697-10X Nathan Thomas (Hammerli AR20FT, Bushnell)- 234-2X, 239-2X, 222-1X= 695-5X Sam Wolkoff (Cricket Bullpup, Sightron)- 232-3X, 228-2X, 230-5X= 690-10X Bill Day (HW100S, Nikko Diamond)- 236-6X, 224-2X, 227-1X= 687-9X Open 50 Yards Paul Bendix (Sumo, Weaver)- 226-2X, 216-2X, 218-5X= 660-9X Doug Miller (Thomas, Sightron)- 232-7X, 209-4X, 218-4X= 659-15X Todd Banks (RAW TM-1000, Sightron Siii)- 230-5X, 204-3X, 219-4X= 653-12X Sam Wolkoff (Cricket, Sightron)- 204-3X, 192-3X, 207-4X= 603-10X Chas DiCapua (RAW TM-1000, Sighton Siii)- 187-0X, 206-3X, 179-0X= 572-3X Ken Hicks (Rapid, Weaver T-36)- 188-0X, 179-2X, 180-4X= 547-6X Springer Bill Day (FWB 300S, Air Force)- 228-2X, 207-1X, 222-3X= 657-6X Nathan Thomas (FWB 300S, Bushnell) -214-3X, 220-4X, 221-3X= 655-10X Eric Brewer (AA TX200 SR)- 204-0X, 187-0X, 203-2X= 594-2X Thanks once again to everyone who attended the match and to all that helped out! Next outdoor match at Salem is Sat., July 1st.