“Cease Fire – remove bolts from rifle, the range is closed”, announced Ian Kelbly, the rangemaster at the Firearms Industry Super Shoot. These words concluded four (4) days of concentrated shooting this past May at the granddaddy of all benchrest matches in the world

Held every year in late May at Kelbly’s range outside of North Lawrence, Ohio the Super Shoot draws competitors from all over the world and all over the United States. This year 16 countries were represented by shooters with 57 shooters from abroad. The official total of 310 consists of most of the top benchrest shooters in the world.

Competitive benchrest is a game of working the most out of your rifle in load development, having a great barrel, and being able to not only read the wind but know how to shoot in the varying wind conditions facing the competitor. Bench techniques play a big part with successful shooters including the ability to shoot fast if you see a condition that you like. Most Super Shoot competitors choose to use the 6mm PPC as their cartridge although you will occasionally see someone shooting a variation of a 6mm BR or even a .22 caliber cartridge. High power scopes are the norm with 36X probably being the lowest power on the line in current years.

In group shooting, like the matches held at the Super Shoot, competitors shoot five (5) shot groups at 100 yards and 200 yards. Groups are measured in thousandths from center to center of the two most extreme shots in the group. The small group at 100 yards this year measured .077” and was shot by Mr. Eddie Harris of Tennessee. The small group at 200 yards was shot by Mr. Stan Bowerman of Michigan and measured .163”. Competitors shoot five groups for record in each rifle class (10.5 lb guns – light varmint and 13.5 lb guns – heavy varmint) and the aggregate of the five, five shot groups determines the winners for each rifle class, yardage, and 2-gun winners.

Kelbly’s range features 60 benches so this year’s event consisted of 6 relays to accommodate all of the shooters. There are wind flags of every shape and color setup by various shooters and spread out over the 200 yards in front of every bench. It is a virtual sea of wind flags with each shooter having a favorite set of flags to watch for changing wind conditions.

Not a drop of rain marred the competition this year although some rain occurred a few days prior to the start of the matches. This is two years in a row that the competition was rain free. Usually, most of us are used to several days of rain at Kelbly’s during the matches. Many competitors arrive days and even as much as a week ahead of time to practice and get used to the wind and range conditions. Sinclair had our commercial tent running and staffed by Larry Caston, Rod Green, and Bill Gravatt (yours truly). We were very fortunate to have a lot of help during the week from our friends Steve Theye and Victor Potts. Mr. Ken Harrington representing Gradient Lens worked in our tent for several days inspecting barrels with the Hawkeye borescope (Part #HS17FE-K). I think Ken inspected over 150 barrels during the days he was present. Gradient Lens was kind enough to enter all the competitors that had barrels inspected into a special drawing for a brand new Hawkeye.

The Super Shoot is a sport that many of us enjoy but I think many of us that attend enjoy the camaraderie among friends just as much. It is a time to re-new acquaintances and make new ones. Shooting is one of those few sports where fellow competitors don’t mind helping a new shooter learn the ropes or working with them when they are struggling. Your days are filled with shooting, reloading and cleaning. Nights are for having dinners with friends or gathering around the campers swapping stories.

One night I had dinner with long-time friends Walt Berger and Eric Stecker from Berger Bullets. Walt is the founder of Berger Bullets and one of the finest gentlemen I have ever known inside and outside of shooting. He is always willing to help someone out at a match but always challenging you with good questions – and always working to make a better bullet.

Another night I had a one on one session with our good friend Jim Carmichel, the now retired but long time Shooting Editor of “Outdoor Life” magazine. I’m not a big drinker so why I let him talk me into having that second martini I’ll never know but I think the decision was influenced by the first one. Jim makes a very strong martini and swore that he was giving me the good stuff. Jim defines the words – “country gentlemen” and it always makes my day to see him at the NRA Annual Meetings, the SHOT Show, or at a shoot like the Super Shoot. Spending a few hours with Jim in his trailer is really an enjoyable evening. Jim is one of the great writers who just loves to shoot just about any discipline and usually excels at them like he did this year at the Super Shoot winning the 200 yard Heavy Varmint Aggregate. It is such a privilege to have friends like this that are truly legends in the industry but yet just fellow shooters.

After four (4) days of intense shooting, Mr. George Carter of Ontario, Canada finished on top with a winning aggregate of .2233”. Congratulations George – that was a fantastic performance. The list of winners below was provided by Jim Kelbly. Incidentally, Kelbly’s, Inc. build the world famous Stolle line of bolt actions in addition to being the long-time host of the Super Shoot. They are a three generation family with many members of the family participating in the business. I have seen Ian Kelbly grow from working on the target crew to running the target crew to now taking the lead role of running the line and the matches as rangemaster. He took over the job from his father, Jim Kelbly, last year and did a magnificent job.

Light Varmint (10.5 lb)
100 yard Agg. Winner – Bart Sauter (.1874”) (Bart’s Custom Bullets)
200 yard Agg. Winner – Steve Theye (.1964”)
LV Grand Agg. Winner – Steve Theye (.2161”)

Heavy Varmint (13.5 lb)
100 yard Agg. Winner – Smiley Hensley (.1774”)
200 yard Agg. Winner – Jim Carmichel (.2161”)
HV Grand Agg. Winner – George Carter (.2176”)

2 – Gun Aggregate Winners
1st Place – George Carter (.2233”)
2nd Place – Gene Buckys (.2243”)
3rd Place – Bart Sauter (.2295”)
4th Place – Bob Scarborough, Jr. (.2296”)

Look at the 2-Gun winners and look how close the aggregate score of 20 groups is between competitors. Only .001” difference between 1st and 2nd place after four days of shooting.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that each year any new inductee to the Benchrest Hall of Fame is presented to the attendees in a formal ceremony traditionally held after the third day of shooting (Friday). This year our good friend and long time customer Mr. Jack Neary was inducted into the Benchrest Hall of Fame. You can only get in by shooting your way in and many shooters never even get one of the ten points required for admission. This is a great feat by any shooter and we congratulate Jack on his accomplishment. It was a lot of hard work and an investment of his time and energy to accomplish this feat. Way to go Jack!

Sometime in the third week of May 2011, shooters along with their trailers and campers will start driving the back roads of Ohio to gather at the Kelbly range once again to begin those four days of intense concentration to see who will hold the title to the coveted Super Shoot. I sure hope to see you there.

Good Shooting,

Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 25th, 2010 at 9:01 am and is filed under Sinclair News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.