RMAC 2023 and ELR

As of yet, I have not seen any other posts on the Magnum Slug Challenge at the 2023 RMAC match - so here goes. Last year, Dave Wilson got first place shooting my .257 barreled, highly customized Armada. He cleaned the course. So this year, they made the course tougher. This year, there was nothing under 140yds and there were multiple targets in the 250yd to 350yd range. The level of competitors has also gotten tougher over the last three years.

If you want to get right to the results, here is a link:
https://competitions.ultimateballistics.com/competitions/54/rankings

After my second place finish in 2021, and third place in 2022, I finally squeaked by with the win this year. Any of the top four competitors could have gotten the win. Second place and the two third places (tie) all missed just two shots each. All targets were steel silhouettes. Hit anywhere on the steel for a score, or get 0pts for a miss. 10pts for every close (267yds is “close”?) target hit and 15pts for every far target hit. I missed only one shot, but was SO lucky on a couple of the hits as I was probably within an inch of the edge.

Looking at the scores, I see that Martijn Bekema from the Netherlands missed two shots including one of the easier targets, the rectangle at 165yds. Something likely went wrong for him. It might have been a first lane cold bore shot, which can sometimes be problematic. Or it's easy to get off a turn on the turret if you don't keep track. In any case, if he had not missed that rectangle one time, he would have gotten the win. Martijn was shooting a nice looking sporter style rifle. He shot tethered which is allowed at RMAC. I did not recognize the rifle brand, but it may have been a custom or limited production. I seem to remember him saying that is was a .308 caliber shooting 127gr? projectiles in a 1:15? twist barrel.

Cameron Kerndt tied for third and I think he said that he had been off a turn of the turret on one far target. If he had hit that target even once, he would have tied for first place. Cameron was shooting a Texan .308, internally stock, with a regulated bottle attached to forend of the rifle. I believe that he was using 154gr slugs. Dusty powers had tied for third with two misses on a couple of far targets. He corrected and made the second shot each time, so it could have been just a slight doping error (wind, distance, elevation, etc.). I think Dusty was shooting an FX? .30 caliber?

Last year's EBR required a minimum of 200fpe, so I had switched out the .257 barrel and 72gr slugs for a 7mm barrel and 106gr slugs. That's what I shot at RMAC this year. RMAC only has a 140fpe requirement. Thinking that the targets would likely be all under 300yds, I had debated (with myself) about going back to the more accurate .257 barrel. I ended up staying with the 7mm barrel. I did not know until after arrival at the match that we would have targets considerably farther than 300yds. In retrospect, the 7mm was a good choice as the heavier, higher BC 7mm projectile, holds together better past 300yds.

The awards banquet included a raffle for some great prizes. I even got lucky there as I won a portable HPA compressor. I came home well compensated for my efforts.
RMAC2023-prizes.JPG


Some of the far targets:
rmac2023-range-8X.jpg


The 7mm rifle at my home range:
range012623-00.jpg
 
Last edited:
Congrats Scott !! Hard work and practice paid off ! What would you guess the size of the far targets to be ?
The preliminary matchbook did not always match the targets. And actual distances depended some on which bench you were at. It was always best to use your own range finder, which I did on the far targets. The matchbook showed Stage 4 as a 19"x22" deer at 181yds and a 26"x32 wolf at 330yds. What I saw was the wolf at 181yds and the deer at 358yds, and about 15 degrees up the mountainside. And those listed sizes might have included some spindly areas (legs, head, antlers) with a low probability of being the POI. That deer was the farthest and the effective aiming area looked more like 8"x16" (I could be off some).

That deer target happened to be my last target of the match. There was a decent width that I figured would allow for the mild right to left winds that were present. I aimed for center mass of the green oval shown below. I later determined that my velocity was a little higher than I had doped the match, so I had been hitting high on a few targets. Same with this one, and the winds affected it more than I had anticipated. Definitely a hit as I saw a chunk of paint fly and the target moved. This was one of two shots where I got really lucky. My spotter called it's POI (thanks Mike Bricker), and that allowed me to make a good adjustment for the next shot. That first shot at the deer hit on it's right ear. That was high and left of my POA, but it was still a hit. On the last shot, I held at the deer's crotch and hit near dead center of the green oval drawn in the diagram.

RMACdeer.jpg
 
Last edited:
Great shooting Scott!!! Way to represent Team Centercut!

When I saw your slug going high and left on your last target (deer), it seemed like it was going to go over. Then it hit the ear and red paint splattered off the metal and I knew you had connected. I couldn't tell at first if you hit the antler or ear, but when we looked there was a nice slug mark on that ear. There was one other target that you hit very low, it seemed to "split" right at the bottom of the honey badger (or racoon?). Your first shot was high, about an inch from the top, and I said come down a couple inches, then your next shot did the split at the bottom edge, but it was a hit. The course was MUCH more difficult this year than last year...

The event is exciting because lots of shooters are whooping and hollering when they hit, and the spotter/shooter act as a Team. I shot Scott's gun in the 2nd relay (Scott was in 3rd relay) and missed 4 targets for 8th place (out of 67).

Thanks, Scott, for letting me shoot that awesome gun! Next year will be even better!

TC logo 3-16-23.jpg
 
Last edited: