Rattlesnake

Wow, it was windy over there, I loved it! I was used to adjusting 1/4 - 1/2 minute adjustments, but at "The Snake", I was doing a ton of full rev (3 minutes) adjustments! It was awesome! I got caught quite a few times, but that's normal for Rattlesnake. It really helps my wind reading skills. At ranges around where I live (like Plantation, Machias, and Cascade), you usually have on 1/2 - 3 minutes max. At Rattlesnake, you can have on 18 minutes of wind or even more. In the collage (below), the flags are going crazy fast! Haley was shooting in this relay, and she said that she had on about 18 minutes of wind on! That was the most wind that there was at Rattlesnake this match, and in other relays, some people only had on 4 or 6 minutes of wind on.

Below is the link to the match results:

 Rattlesnake match results

I wasn't really mentally prepared to shoot, so I didn't do my best, but I still did good (for Rattlesnake). At least I had fun, and a great experience. I just wasn't thinking really positive things like I should have, and I hurt my score big time. On Sunday (the last day of the Rattlesnake match), I was a little bit more mentally in the game, and I shot better. I finally realised why I didn't shoot great, and when I went down to Oregon last weekend, I shot way better. This was Natasha, Haley, and Gabby's first long-range (800, 900, and 1,000 yards) match. It was my first long-range match since I shot the Spirit of America match in New Mexico (Sept. 2010).



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For the team match, I was shooting with Haley, Natasha, and Gabby. Our team was called the Fern d'Aliens, because we're all from Ferndale, except Bud our coach. It was our first time shooting together, and Haley, Gabby, and Natasha's first team match. We did good, and had tons of fun!  In the pics below, we're all wearing our Fern d' Aliens sweatshirts. They are really cute! They all say 'Fern d'Aliens Out Of This World' on the back, and our names on the front.
 



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I was going to post a week ago, but I was reloading for the Burden Memorial (Regional) in Oregon. I will post about that when I get the pictures uploaded.







Rattlesnake, Long-Range State Championship

   On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, there is the Long-Range Championship at Rattlesnake. I am really looking forward to shooting there, because it's very windy. Let me re-phrase that, it's VERY windy, the wind switches like there's no tomorrow, and it's the hardest range in North America. That's better, now back to what I was saying. I love to shoot there, simply because of the challenge of reading the wind. People think I'm crazy when I go to a match hoping that it's going to be windy. Most people go to a match hoping for no wind, why? I don't know, ask them. I hope for wind, that way, my wind reading skills improve, and I have more confidence adjusting my sights. Rattlesnake definitely has enough wind, maybe too much, but it's fun to shoot there.

   To the left, is pic from last year at the State Championship there (also, the pic where the title of my blog is, is from Rattlesnake). I'm pretty sure that I was shooting at the 800 yard line. There is NO grass to shoot on, only rocks and volcanic rock. There aren't any wind flags in this pic, but I can assure you that they were going crazy!

  At Rattlesnake, I'm going to be shooting 800, 900, and 1,000 yards, a palma. Friday and Saturday are the individual matches, then Sunday is the team match (also at 800, 900, and 1,000 yards). I'll post about my weekend at the end of the match.

New Brass!

   Haley and I each ordered 500 pieces of new Lapua brass about 2 weeks ago. When I got the heavy package, she came over, and we (with some help from our dads and her brother) sorted it all by weight. When we were done weighing all of it, we divided it in half and each took 500 pieces. It took a while to weigh it, but now we'll have tighter groups. It might not make a huge difference, but it's all worth it.
   Last year when I ordered brass, my dad weighed all of it. It took him four hours! When the brass arrived this time, my dad said that I would have to weigh some of it. Of course I was going to, but I told him I wasn't going to do it by myself! So, the Rettmers came over to help us since 1/2 of it was Haley's.

 

  My dad and I decided that it was time for new brass, when my brass started splitting at Cascade a few weeks ago. During my first string, I only got 8 or so shots off, then on one shot,  my brass didn't come out of my gun. Only the small piece (see pic, the back of the brass on the bottom.) fell out. I called my dad to come over, and he asked what was going on. I showed him the small piece that came out and told him that the rest was stuck in my rifle. Val, one of the people running the match, came over to help. I had to lay in position, while they were trying to get the brass out. It was stuck in there pretty hard! After about 5 minutes of  trying, they finally got it out! Val had some extra ammo that fit in my rifle, so I was able to finish the match. Thanks Val, you saved the day!