Czech Lady Shooter Wins First Gold Medal of 2008 Olympics

Katerina Emmons, representing the Czech Republic, won the first gold medal of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the women’s 10m air rifle competition. Katie was the only woman to shoot a perfect 400 score in the qualifying round. This equaled the World Record and set a new Olympic Record. The previous Olympic Record was 399. In the finals, Katerina posted a 103.5 score, giving her a final tally of 503.5, beating the previous Olympic record of 502.0 set by China’s Du Li in 2004. It was a stellar performance by a popular champion who started shooting at age 14, tutored by her father, Petr Kurka, a double world champion in three positions.

Photo courtesy Fédération Française de Tir

CLICK HERE for story on official Olympics website.

Photo 1: Katerina kisses Anschütz rifle

Photo 2: Katerina kisses husband Matt Emmons

Photo 3: Katerina celebrates with coach

Photo 4: Katerina holds Gold Medal

Katerina married USA Olympic shooter Matt Emmons last year. The two shooters met at the 2004 Olympics in Athens where she won her first Olympic Medal (Bronze, 10m Air Rifle) competing under her maiden name Katerina Kurkova. After winning gold in Beijing, Katerina moved to the front row of the gallery to embrace her father and then kiss husband Matt. It was a touching moment for the “First Couple” of the Olympic shooting world. “She did a fantastic job. I’m so proud of her,” Matt Emmons told Reuters.

CLICK HERE for full story on how Katerina met Matt Emmons.

New Gold Medalist Shoots Anschütz
Katerina was shooting an Anschütz compressed air rifle similar to the Anschütz model 9003 shown below. With sights mounted, a model 9003 is 42.5″ long and weighs 4.4 kg (9.68 lbs.).

COMMENTARY — Katerina’s First-of-Games Gold Medal a Boon to Shooting Sports
Katerina’s record-setting air rifle victory, being the first gold-medal performance of the 2008 Games, is exactly the kind of positive publicity the shooting community needs. Katerina is a perfect champion — modest, personable, and attractive. She has already become a “Cover Girl” for this Olympic games. And it is great that she is married to a fellow shooter.

Hundreds of millions of TV and internet viewers worldwide were touched to see how she went to the stands to hug and kiss her husband after her shooting victory. We predict that will become one of the defining “video moments” of the 2008 Olympics.

Katerina’s highly-publicized Olympic win will help counter negative perceptions about the shooting sports. It also shows that shooting is not all about strength and brawn. Her success, we hope, should insprire many young women to try shooting. A diminutive 5′5″ and 118 pounds, Katerina has proven that shooting can be a sport for everyone, regardless of size, gender, age, or nationality. We salute her achievement and we think her Gold-medal win will help increase public interest in competitive shooting worldwide.

Video Highlights from 2008 ‘Steel Safari’

Zak Smith, an experienced practical/tactical shooter and 3-gun competitor, has prepared a video of the 2008 Steel Safari. This match is a unique test of practical shooting skills, conducted in “wild” field environments. Competitors must range and make shots at unknown distances, and sometimes at extreme angles. As you have to cover significant distances carrying rifle and gear, the match can also be a physical challenge. This is certainly no Benchrest match!

The Steel Safari demands a variety of practical rifle skills, including target recognition, range estimation, wind doping, trail skills, and marksmanship. Competitors must navigate through rugged terrain, then locate and range targets, and make first-round hits in often difficult field conditions. To learn more about the Steel Safari, visit Zak’s website, www.DemigodLLC.com, and read his MATCH REPORT.

Steel Safari Bloopers (Rifle Reliability) Video
If you enjoyed the match highlights video, you’ll also enjoy Zak’s “Bloopers” video. In this compilation from the Steel Safari, you’ll see a variety of firearm malfunctions in the field. Thankfully, none of the problems caused injury, but in this video you’ll see bolt actions that refused to feed or eject, or simply wouldn’t go bang. If you think bolt action rifles are fool-proof, this “bloopers reel” may change your opinion. Watch the video and you’ll see that even $4,000+ rifles sometimes give their owners fits.

IBS 100/200 Benchrest National Championships, August 11-16

America’s top short-range Benchrest shooters will vie for honors next week at the 2008 IBS National Championship. The 100/200 yard competition will be held August 11-16 at the Kelbly’s Rifle Range in North Lawrence, Ohio. The Kelbly’s range is one of the best facilities of its kind, with over 60 covered benches, along with shaded loading areas. There are camping spaces available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Fees for the match are $54 for 1 gun, $108 for 2 gun, $160 for 3 gun, and $212 for 4 gun (there is also a $10 late fee imposed after 7/11/2008). Matches will be conducted as follows:

August 11 - Heavy Bench, Five 10-shot record matches, 100 yards
August 12 - Heavy Bench, Five 10-shot record matches, 200 yards
August 13 - Sporter and Light Varmint, Five 5-shot record matches, 100 yards
August 14 - Heavy Varmint, Five 5-shot record matches, 100 yards
August 15 - Light Varmint & Sporter, Five 5-shot record matches, 200 yards
August 16 - Heavy Varmint, Five 5-shot record matches, 200 yards

Photo of Kelbly’s Range by Turk Takano, used by permission.

U.S. Olympic Shooters on Shooting USA and NBC Television

Members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Shooting team will be featured in an hour-long repeat special of Shooting USA on the Outdoor Channel on Wednesday, July 30 and Wednesday, August 20. The show will air at 4:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 12:00 midnight (ET). Check your local listings or visit www.shootingusa.com or www.outdoorchannel.com for more details.

Photos courtesy USAShooting.org

Shooting USA will profile the competitors and explain the various Olympic shooting disciplines: Air pistol, Air rifle, Smallbore pistol, Smallbore rifle prone, Smallbore rifle 3-position, Skeet shotgun, Trap shotgun. Among the featured competitors will be Olympic Gold Medalists Matt Emmons (Air rifle, Smallbore rifle), and Kim Rhode (Skeet/Trap).

Television and Internet Shooting Sports Coverage for Beijing Olympics
NBC will offer regular broadcast coverage of some Olympic shooting events. In addition, internet users can view live streaming video of shooting events from Beijing as part of 2,200 hours of coverage on NBCOlympics.com. The NBC Olympics website will cover Matt Emmons as he tries for double gold, and cover Kimberly Rhode in her fourth Olympics. If you miss a live television broadcast, more than 3,000 hours of on-demand access to full-event replays and extensive highlights, including daily recaps of key events, best-of montages, commentator analysis and athlete-specific clips and interviews, will be available on NBCOlympics.com. For more info, visit USAShooting.org.

NBC has prepared a complete broadcast schedule for the 2008 Olympic Games. The shooting events are highlighted in yellow. Click the Links below to download broadcast schedule and shooting events schedule as MS Word files.

Complete NBC Broadcast Schedule for the 2008 Olympic Games

Complete 2008 Olympic Shooting Competition Schedule

Army Marksmanship Unit Teams Dominate Interservice Match

The 2008 Interservice Rifle Match was held recently in Quantico, Virginia. Shooters of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) won EVERY team match of the competition. More than 125 shooters from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Reserve and National Guard competed in the rifle championships at Quantico Marine Corps Base.

The Army Marksmanship Service Rifle Team won the prestigious Interservice Rifle 10-Man Team Match, winning the Service Rifle Interservice Championship Trophy. Team coaches were Sgt. Walter E. Craig Jr. and Sgt. 1st Class Emil Praslick III. Shooters were Sgts. 1st Class Lance D. Dement, Grant L. Singley and Kyle A. Ward, Staff Sgts. Joel S. Micholick and Tobie L. Tomlinson, Sgt. Brandon K. Green, Spcs. Tyrel L. Cooper, Calvin G. Roberts, Matthew T. Sigrist and Nathan J. Verbickas. Ward shot highest score of 495 points out of a possible 500.

The USAMU Team coached by Praslick beat 12 teams to win the Marine Corps Infantry Trophy Team Match. Team shooters were Cooper, Dement, Green, Pace, Singley and Ward. A second USAMU team coached by Tomlinson took second place.

ARs and 6.5×284 Bolt Guns for Long Range
In the 1,000-Yard Team Match, Praslick’s team won in the Any Rifle Any Sights Division by 52 points. Staff Sgt. Daniel J. Peters captained the team made up of Cooper, Green, Tomlinson, Dement, Roberts and Pfc. Sherri Jo Hurd. In the long-range matches, USAMU soldiers shoot modified M-16A2 rifles and the 6.5×284 match rifles with scopes or iron sights to hit a 10-inch X-ring target from the prone position at 800, 900 and 1,000 yards.

The USAMU also took home some individual trophies as well. Green won the Interservice Long Range Championship in the Any Rifle Category and Sigrist took the Service Rifle Category. Green was the winner in the Interservice 1,000-Yard Match. In the 600-Yard Match, Dement won the Any Sight Category while Craig won the Service Rifle Category.

McGowin Shoots 300-yard Record Group

Shooting in the Unlimited (rail gun) class, James “Jim” McGowin shot a 0.355″ 5-shot group at 300 yards. This has now been officially “certified” as a new NBRSA record. McGowin’s group beat the previous 0.373″ shot by Art Freund in 1981. McGowin was shooting the 6mm Beggs cartridge in a match in St. Louis, MO. For his record group, Jim used his own 63 grain BT bullet, a 7.5 ogive made on J-4 .750 jackets in a Niemi die.

The 6mm Beggs cartridge is basically a 220 Russian necked up to 6mm, with a very small modification of the radius at the neck-shoulder junction. (Gene Beggs added a tighter radius to reduce case lengthening on repeated firings.) The 6mm Beggs, and its smaller cousin, the 220 Beggs, have slightly less capacity than a fire-formed PPC case. However, in a good BR gun, the “raw accuracy” of the Beggs’ cartridges can rival that of a 6 PPC. Indeed a standard, unmodified 220 Russian is competitive in the 100/200 yard BR game. Lou Murdica, a top shooter on the short-range BR circuit, has won many matches with a “plain-jane” unmodified 220 Russian.

Camp Perry Match Results Available

Up-to-date results of the NRA National Rifle & Pistol Championships are available online at the NRA website. The Pistol events are concluded, the Smallbore (rimfire) 3-position matches finished on July 18, and the Smallbore prone events will wrap up today, July 24. The High Power Rifle Championships commence August 4th.

CLICK HERE for current Camp Perry Results

Daily updates, complete with interviews with shooters, are being published on the new NRA BLOG. This blog, with daily entries from two correspondents at Camp Perry, features plenty of photos, late-breaking news, a full schedule of events, and links of special interest. You should check it out.

Italy Hosts 1st World Rimfire Benchrest Championship

The first-ever World Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Championship will be held from July 27 to August 3 in Milan, Italy. The event will be hosted at the Tiro a Segno Nazionale di Milano shooting club and the event will be conducted in association with the UK Association of Rimfire Benchrest Shooting International. The match will be administered under the Rules of the European Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Shooting Federation (ERABSF RULES).

This International Match is open to all shooters and organizations that shoot for Score similar to the RBA, IR50/50, UKBR22, .22 Hunter, BR50, or UITS. A standardized common target will be used and the match will be conducted under ERABSF RUles. For more info, visit the European Rimfire & Air Rifle Benchrest Shooting Federation website, www.erabsf.org.

CLICK HERE for Championship SCHEDULE of EVENTS

CLICK HERE for Match Rules

Bob Bock Sets New F-Class Record: 449-32X

Bob Boch, current captain of the U.S. F-Class Open Rifle Team, has posted a new multi-distance F-Class record, a fantastic 449-32x. The new record was shot at the Forbes Rifle & Pistol Club in New York state. This was the “long-range” Palma-style match with targets at 800, 900, and 1000 yards. The Palma course of fire is 15 shots at 800 yards, 15 shots at 900 yards, and 15 shots at 1000 yards. Unlimited sighters precede the 800-yard stage, there are two sighters for 900, and two sighters for 1000.

Bob was shooting a 6.5-284 with a 30″ Bartlein barrel, 5R rifling, 1:8.5″ twist, 1.250″ straight contour. Barrel fitting and metal work was done by Warner Tool Co. in Keene, NH. Bob says: “My 6.5-284 load consist of the best bullet ever made, the 140 grain Berger VLD, behind 48.4 to 49.0 grains of H4350, depending on the particular barrel I am shooting. I have been shooting Norma brass in the past six months.

Setting the Record — Just one “9″, On the Very Last Shot
Bob reports: “The conditions were good in my opinion, but conditions are like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder. It was hot and humid, over 90 degrees by the time we got to the 1000 yard, with probably 90% humidity. Lots of grumbling on the line. The wind was light, but the flags are in the trees on the Forbes range. Very little if any use. It was overcast at 800, sun breaking in/out at 900 and very sunny by the 1000. Mirage varied between boiling, running and disappearing. The 9 was my 45th shot. The rifle/ammo performed superbly, the 9 was operator error for sure. Last-shot-itis or missing the change, you take your pick.”

Congratulations to Bob for setting an impressive new mark for the F-Class open division. A retired mechanical engineer, Bob was born in Hungary and moved to the United States in 1964. He has been involved in all kinds of shooting including pistol silhouettes, IPSIC and combat sniper rifle in various parts of the country. He has been shooting F-Class since 2001. Bob won the 2007 U.S. F-Class Open National Championship in Raton. He was a member of the 2005 U.S. F-Class Team and placed 7th in the individual World Championship, plus was a member of the 4-man team that won the Rutland Cup at the World Championship in South Africa. Bob also won the McDonald Stewart Grand Aggregate in the F-Class final of the 2007 Canadian Fullbore Championship.

Annual SoCal Tactical Match

Last week, the third annual Southern California Precision Rifle Competition (SCPRC) was held. This match takes place each year in July at the West End Gun Club, 20 minutes west of San Bernadino, CA. Match director Mark Archuleta, aka “Spaniard”, ran a great match, with a diverse and challenging course of fire. Mark reports: “This was our third SCPRC, and we had 34 shooters from all over the US.” Mark posted a match report in our FORUM with lots of photos. CLICK HERE to read Mark’s full report. Below are some pictorial highlights from the Match, with Mark’s commentary:

Vu Pham from Nor-Cal, shown below, hit both his cold bore shots on day 1 & 2. This year’s Day Two cold bore shot (CBS) reprised our 2006 CBS. There was a 3.5″ Clay pigeon set at about 325 yards, with roughly a 10° down angle. In 2006, 7 out of 22 shooters made the hit, this year 12 out of 34 shooters made the hit. Some folks don’t think that the 10°-15° slope makes a difference, but it does.

Below Phil demonstrates textbook bipod shooting: working the bolt, maintaining a solid cheek weld and keeping an eye on the next target. Good job Phil. [Editor's Note: the "pucks" on the bipod legs are "PodPaws" from Zephyr Dynamics]

One of the stages was shot from a squatting position with rifle supported by saw-horses. This stage obviously favored the shorter guys.

The match included timed stages. The challenge was how to record times for multiple shooters. I purchased a timing system and did some modifications to it so each shooter had his own stop button. It worked great and I could shoot whole teams all at once. This made the lines move very fast. It’s will be a part of all my future matches, local and not so local. Below, just like on Jeopardy, Scott Cochran stops the clock.

At the request of Kurt Stone (LV Steel Targets), a standing stage was added. It’s not easy to shot a heavy tactical rifle off-hand! Here, representing the United States Marine Corp., is SSgt. Tony Palzkill — a real professional and a nice guy too.

Beijing Olympic Shooting Preview

This 7.5 minute professionally-produced video covers the Olympic Shooting disciplines. Created for Chinese TV, it offers good footage of air pistol and air rifle, 22 LR pistol and rifle competition, and the shotgun sports. You probably won’t understand the Chinese-language voice-over, but the video clips depict the action very well — even without English subtitles. If you’ve ever wanted to see Olympic-caliber shooters in action, this video is worth viewing start to finish. Gun content starts at the 35 second mark.

Click directly on video below to watch VIDEO from this page.

OR CLICK HERE to watch VIDEO on YouTube.