Sunday September 29th was cool and threatened to rain. Fortunately, there was no appreciable wind which certainly helped the twelve shooters with the placement of bullets on the paper targets set on the 500 M rail. You may think that shooting from the bench, using a mechanical rest to support your rifle is not a challenge, but you would be wrong. This is a test of your ability to control your breathing, maintain the same shooting position for each shot fired and make those discreet windage and elevation adjustments to compensate for the variables of the weather (wind, humidity, and temperature). If you are really serious about bullet placement you are probably also building your own loads, fine tuning the bullet weight with powder volume to obtain consistent velocity and the successful delivery of that projectile to a 3″ diameter spot that is barely visible even with the benefit of a high power scope. Take your time, but don’t take all day to get those 10 bullets on target!

Every two weeks from May through to the end of September a regular group of shooters has come out to improve their technique for long distance shooting, trying to develop both their accuracy and precision. Accuracy relates to scoring your shots on the bulls eye target while precision is measured by the diameter of your grouping of shots. The ideal would be to have the highest score within the smallest group.

In most bench rest events a competitor may only win in one category. If, for example a single competitor has the smallest group and highest score, they will be awarded a win only for the smallest group, the next highest score will be awarded the win for the highest score. At the end of the day the biggest competitor you will face is yourself. Striving to improve from the last time is what drives you forward.

All participants shot well, issuing encouragement to each other and analyzing how improvement can be achieved.  Prizes were awarded for top scores and tightest group sizes.

To Jim Strelioff, who has been responsible for keeping this shooting discipline active and encouraging others to take up the challenge, many thanks for your support, guidance and encouragement.

The final Lever Action Cast Bullet Shoot for the year was held at the Whitehorse Rifle and Pistol Club on Sunday September 22, 2013 with nine shooters turning out for the Geoff Fletcher Memorial competition.

Starting in the morning with three events using lever action guns, the shooters had to hit paper and metal targets placed at various distances between 50 and 150 yards. Another event required each shooter, one at time, to quickly cycle their lever action rifle and place 5 shots into a Charging Bear target that was rapidly moving towards them.

The afternoon was devoted to three events shot at a distance of 200 yards. Putting ten rounds on the paper from three different positions using open sights is a challenge. The three positions included sitting using crossed sticks to support the fore-end of the gun, lying prone and shooting over a log and finally standing off-hand with cross sticks.

The participants were divided into two teams and in addition to their personal aggregate score, each shooter’s score contributed to their team score. Team prizes and individual prizes were awarded for top scores in addition to winning the trophies. 

Click here for final scores. 2013 LEVER ACTION CAST BULLET FINAL SCORE SHEET

This is the second year that Dave Semaschuk, owner of Dave’s Cleaning Service of Whitehorse, has sponsored the Lever Action Cast Bullet Shoot. This year Dave added an “S” Class trophy for the high score in the seniors age 65+ class as well as the trophy for the Team Aggregate Score.

 Dave has been an avid shooter for many, many years and has wanted to encourage shooters of all ages to participate in the sport. The Whitehorse Rifle and Pistol Club appreciates the support provided by Dave Semaschuk in promoting these two events.

1^st Place Aggregate Score              Jim Ambrose       344 points

2^nd Place Aggregate Score             Len Andre            253 points

3^rd Place Aggregate Score             Doug Trombley  213 points

Winning Team Members              Jim Ambrose, Len Andre, Doug Trombley, Will Ross, Shanna Williams

Top Shot in the “S” Class              Jim Ambrose

Mystery Score Prize Winner         Shanna Williams

 Top Score for Lever Action          Jim Ambrose       180 points

 A celebration of life for Geoff Fletcher was held after the competition, where family and friends paid tribute to Geoff. The activities concluded with a multiple gun salute by those present and the final report was ceremoniously shot from a small brass canon.