Golden Spike Buffalo Range - Vintage Bolt Rifle Sniper Compettion

This Shoot was a Great Activity!  The weather was perfect and  the folks had 4 station prepared, each with a different challenge. By perfect weather I mean warm and windy! lol!

The first station had 5 targets arrayed at different positions of unknown sizes and distances. The targets required about 110 degrees of rotation from right to left. So if the wind was at your tail for one or two of the targets it was crossing at 90 degrees for the others. We had a certain firing order and had to complete 15 shots in 2 minutes. This allowed for 8 seconds in between shots, but you had to figure in two reloads in that time as well...

Not many shooters were able to complete all 15 shots in the time required. This station was a blast.

Station number two had 8 targets arrayed over a hillside and the flats below it.  Again the wind was at a slight off angle and it was starting to shift.  There were false targets mixed in with the required 8 targets so you had to stay sharp. Getting out of order was a penalty, hitting a false target was a penalty and if you did either one you wasted a shot. So penalties added up quick. I especially liked this station. You had to move through it quickly to stay on track.  Notice a tall skinny target at the top right. By the end of the day this one had earned a special nick-name by almost everyone at the shoot.  I did not know this one was not timed until after I finished my 14th shot and had one left to go. Ha-ha-ha!  I probably could have made one more hit in my previous 14 if I took my time, but moving through as quickly as you can is half the fun.


The third station appeared to be easy and straight forward, (notice the large silhouette with the white circle over the center of the chest).  However, people still had a hard time getting into the rhythm (notice the dust cloud from a low miss on the first target - top center).  This station had the same unknowns as station #1 and #2 but there was not as wide of an angle to cover the targets.  For some reason it simply  gave people more trouble than you would expect.


Station number four was a hoot.  It was a scenario right out of WWII Europe.  You can read accounts of GI's talking about similar scenarios.  There was a higher value target off in the distance (about 650 -725 yards) . This one required three shots.  Then there were another 11 or 12 targets with a lot of distractions or false targets mixed throughout the range. These targets were arrayed from far right to close left (the last 3 targets were at 11 O-clock, in tall grass and at about 80 yards out) What a great shoot!

After we all finished our 4 stations and spent our 60 rounds we  recognized the top three finishers, had a barbecue, sat around and shot the breeze then opened up the range for some recreational shooting.

The following day was the USAR Sniper match. Roughly translated this was an "any type of sniper rifle" match. The only exclusions were laser sights, range finders and tracer rounds. But the kicker to this match was, your total number of hits counted towards a total score. There was no limit to the number of rounds you could send down range.  So you could cycle through the circuit as many times as possible before time ran out.  GOOD TIMES!  However, I was not able to attend the second days shoot.  I had a previous commitment that created a conflict.  Boo hoo!

It was interesting to watch the divergence in how the shooters performed in this match.  I am not speaking toward novice shooters vs well practiced shooters, professional or military snipers. I am speaking more towards the way in which skilled shooters responded differently to the challenges, thus generating different scores on the cards.  Some could get on the targets quickly and generate a lot of hits. This produced a lot of points. These individuals typically improved their hit ratio as the targets positions were more common or as the targets got closer.  Others would take their time, making excellent off hand adjustments and tag the higher value targets at greater distance, generating more points with fewer shots fired. However, they were not able to get a high number of bullets down range because of the time taken on the longer distance targets. So their overall score was not higher than the other shooters.

This divergence in skill sets became even more prevalent when two of the hosting individuals brought out their "pet distance rifles" and allowed the participants to shoot them at distances from 900 yards out to 1,200 yards.  This was an excellent "leveler to the field".  It was a neat experience to watch each shooter have to quickly adjust to the unfamiliar rifle, cartridge, scope and ballistic performance.  It made me question which method or style I value most... The ability to take multiple rifles and quickly adjust to them making multiple quick-shots that are "good enough", or developing the skills of precision, patients and exactness that (when given the time) will deliver a few exact and repeatable impacts at virtually any distance....Food for thought... Good Hunting wherever life takes you.