NRA (of America) 2016 World Shooting Championships

[Daryll]

15-17 Sept 2016

Peacemaker National Training Center (PNTC), Glengary, WV.


Back in May this year, JSC posted on these forums asking if anyone was interested in going to the WSC, and I would have loved to go, but was put off by the cost.

Within 3 days of JSC posting, I’d received an email from Virgin Atlantic, telling me I had a load of airmiles that I’d lose if I didn’t use them soon, and I also heard from work that my 40 year long service award of £1k would be awarded soon.
... So that was it decided, I was going to West Virginia...!!

Bearing in mind that, apart from .22rf, I hadn’t fired a proper pistol or semi-auto rifle for at least 20 years, this was going to be for fun and the experience, rather than the chance of winning anything....

Jump forward 4 months, and the 2 of us, and Mrs JSC, fly into Dulles airport. The JSC’s headed to Washington for the night, and I headed to the Match hotel in Winchester VA.
Wednesday 14th Sept was the Registration and Match briefing, and Thursday to Saturday the competition days.

There were 131 Amateurs and 67 Stock Pros (all using the supplied guns), and 2 Open Pros, using their own guns, which made a nice round 200 competitors.

You were assigned into a squad of 8-10 people, and there was a timetable of when each squad would shoot each of the 12 stages. It was arranged so that you shot in a morning or afternoon session on each of the 3 days... the morning sessions were real “crack of sparrow fart” sessions, on range for 06:30, to start shooting at 07:00.... and the range was a good 30 min drive from the hotel...



Thursday morning session was mainly long range rifle stuff: (These are in the order we shot them)

Stage 10: DMR Challenge
JP Enterprises LRP-07 .308 Rifle, Nightforce ATACR 4-16x42 F1

Steel plate targets at 400-500 yds, shot resting on a stepped barricade and crossed wood “tank trap” with a 120 second limit, for 2 hits on each plate from each position
You had a 1 minute prep time to fire 2 sighters
Both JSC and I struggled to find a stable position with this... I hit the sighter with my first shot, and one of the scoring plates, but that was it and hit the time limit. JSC shot quicker, but again only hit one plate.

JSC was placed 47th amateur, I was placed 105th



Stage 9: 2 Gun
S&W M&P 9 Pro Series, S&W Model M&P 15T 5.6mm Tactical w/ 1-6x Scope

This was a “run and gun” stage, starting with the M&P 15T, engage 4 paper targets, (2 with “body armour” so head shots only) at 10-15 yds, then 4 steel targets at 150-200yds. When all hit, or out of ammo, dump the rifle and run down to a bench where your M&P 9mm pistol waited. Engage 3 paper targets, then 6 steel plates, all at 10-15 yds, then a larger steel plate at 60 yds to finish.

JSC had a steaming run, and hit everything he aimed at to end up 2nd amateur. I, on the other hand, just could not hit the steels with the rifle and eventually ran out of ammo. When I grabbed the pistol it all went well though, I cleaned the papers, and all 7 steels, although my time was almost double JSC’s. I ended up in 72nd place



Stage 12: NRA America's Rifle Challenge
Daniel Defense DDM4 V7 Pro 5.56 rifle with Lucid HD7 red dot; and Daniel Defense DD5v1 7.62 rifle with Lucid 1-6x scope

Starting seated with a carrier bag containing magazines for both rifles, at the beep run to the first bench, and load and ready the 7.62 rifle. take up position resting on plastic barrels and engage 4 steel targets, 2 at 400yds, 2 at 200yds, 2 shots at each, then pick up the bag, bin the rifle and move to the next bench, pick up the 5.56 rifle, load and ready, then move on and engage 3 paper targets, (avoiding the no-shoots), move on again and knock over a plate with hand or foot, which started a swinging target. Move to the edge of a barricade and engage the swinger and a static target. All paper targets were about 10 yds away.

This stage was a disaster for both of us..... Again, I couldn’t hit the steels for love nor money, but cleared the paper targets. JSC was in a similar situation, but as the steels should have been well within his capabilities, he decided to play his “Mulligan card”. Each amateur was given one card which allowed them to reshoot a stage, as long as they informed the RO before the next shooter started.
Unfortunately his 2nd run was no better, and he ended up in 80th place, I was 94th.

This stage was controversial.... Brian Shanholtz, last year’s top amateur and now a Pro, also had a disaster with jam after jam with the 7.62 rifle, so he also played his Mulligan card and picked a different rifle. On his re-run it was clear he was hitting 10 ft low aiming at the 400yds steels and he stopped mid run to complain about the rifle. Eventually one of the RO’s took the rifle and tried it... he also was shooting 10ft low. Brian was allowed to pick another rifle and restart the stage, and he then cleared it.

The way some people were dumping the 7.62 rifles in the bins, I’m not really surprised if the scope had been knocked about... I certainly wouldn’t treat my guns like that.

I did wonder if they would offer a reshoot for everyone, as there was no telling who had used the duff rifle, (there were 3 or 4 to choose from) but they didn’t.


Stage 11: PRS Long Range Challenge
Surgeon Rifle - Surgeon .308 Rifle AI AX Chassis; Leupold optic

This was the long one... 3 steel targets, 700 - 780 yds to be engaged prone with 2 shots each and a 4th steel at 400yds, to be engaged with 4 shots, 2 each from 2 different positions on a stepped barricade all in a 120 second time limit.
You were given a 1 minute prep time to settle into the rifle and fire 2 sighters at a 650yd target.

JSC did hit 2 targets, and got his 8 shots off just within the time limit. I didn’t hit any, and ran out of time just as I got to the barricade I wasn’t far away, I could see the sand splashes near the targets, I just couldn’t connect. A slight breeze had got up by this time, which didn’t help anyone.

JSC ended up 44th Amateur, I was 100th


On all the long range stages, the rifles were (supposedly) zeroed at 100yds and the RO’s had the DOPE for the various target ranges, which you could either dial in on the scope, or hold off.
Most people found that the DOPE settings were not correct, and one shooter did say he had to add .5 MOA and then he started hitting the plates.

That was the end of that day’s session, so we all headed out to eat and rest.

[Daryll]

Friday afternoon session:

Stage 2: NRA Precision Pistol
Kimber Gold Match .45 w/ Iron Sights

Back in the days before the pistol ban, I used to shoot some UIT pistol with my Pardini Fiocchi .22 target pistol... this was totally different..!!
25yds, 3 bull’s-eye targets, 3 sighting shots on one target in 2 minutes, then 10 shots on each of the other targets to score, in 10 minutes.

The Kimber is a standard 1911 style pistol, so none of the “dropped wrist” style shooting with these... just try to hold it steady, and start squeezing the trigger.... which went off eventually.
We were told they were set up for a centre hold, but after my 3 sighters all went above the black, I settled for a 6 o’clock hold and they (mostly) went in the black.
After we’d shot, a couple of the Americans asked if we were Bull’s-eye shooters, as we’d scored pretty well.... we said no, and reminded them that we can’t shoot fullbore pistols of any kind..!!
JSC came 6th with a 148, I came 38th with 101


Stage 1: Cowboy Action
Single Action Smoke Wagon .45 Revolver; 1873 Carbine .45 Colt Rifle, Hammer Coach 12GA Shotgun

A real fun stage... SBS hammer shotgun at 2 steel plates 7 yds away, then run to a bench with the underlever rifle, shooting at 5 steels 15yds away, then back to another bench with the single action revolver, shooting at 3 steels 10 yds away. The revolver was loaded with 5 rnds, and the plates had to be shot in order, 1,2,3,2,1

JSC had a cracking run, less than a second behind Brian Shanholtz, but Brian had a miss which added 10 seconds.
JSC was 2nd amateur, and in a time that would have made him 8th Pro.
I was.... shall we say “sedate”....and missed the very last steel, which made me 90th amateur


Stage 4: USPSA
STI DVC Limited 9mm

This would be familiar to anyone who used to shoot Practical Pistol back in the day....
Start with the pistol and 1 magazine lying on the bench in front of you. 2 IPSC targets to the left, 2 to the right.
At the beep, load and make ready, and engage the 4 targets, 2 shots each, then move forward.
1 target left, 1 right, both with diagonal “hard cover” on them, again 2 shots on each. Move forward again and there were 4 steels, 2 plain and 2 diagonal hard-cover targets. Not all targets were visible from one position, so you had to engage 2 steels and 2 targets from one position, then move to the other side to engage the remainder.
Total of 10 paper and 4 steel targets.

Both of us had reasonable runs, again mine was slow, (2nd slowest in the squad), but I had the 2nd highest target score in the squad (17 A, 3 C).
JSC was placed 29th, I was 51st


Stage 3: NRA Action Pistol Falling Plates
Glock 34 Gen 4 9mm Competition Pistol

6 steel plates in a rack, 6 rnds in the mag. 2 runs shot from 20 yds with a time limit of 8 seconds, then 2 runs from 25yds in a 9 second time limit.

JSC hit 13 total making him 16th Amateur, I hit 7 to place me 75th. Top amateur place went to 20 plates, so no-one cleared it.
Everyone found the Glock’s white outlined sights tricky against the white plates.

That was the end of Fridays session.

[Daryll]

Saturday Morning session:


Stage 6: 5 Stand
Mossberg 930 Series Sporting Semi-Auto 12GA

Fairly standard clay layout, 5 frames in a line to shoot from 8 traps. Traps 1 and 2 on the left, 3 in the middle sending clays towards the shooters, 4 and 5 in the middle, 4 was a “Springing teal”, going straight up, 5 was low and fast away from you., Traps 6, 7 and 8 on the right, sending them at various angles and speeds.
At each stand you had a single, a report pair, and a true pair, to make a total of 25 clays.

This was probably mine and JSC’s worst stage. Its been maybe 15 years since I did a lot of clay shooting, but I had 3 practise sessions in the months leading up to this, but it didn’t do me much good.... it was a very hard setup.

JSC hit 5, putting him in 73rd place, I hit 3, putting me 110th.
The top gun was an Amateur with 18.... The top Pro only hit 16.


Stage 5: 3 Gun
ArmaLite M15TAC18 w/ Leupold Scope, Ruger American Pistol in 9mm high cap mags, Benelli M2 Shotgun

The most fun you can have with your trousers on.....

6 steel “poppers” to be shot with pistol, then switch to shotgun and hit x8 4 inch square steel plates, dump the shot-gun then a short run to a bench with the AR15, ready it and engage 2 paper targets at about 20 yards, then move to a wreck of a light aircraft and engage 3 steels at 130, 150 and 210 yds.

JSC absolutely creamed this stage, going clear in a fraction over 60 seconds to make him top amateur.
I had a bit of a fumble.... The 6 pistol steels went down fine in 8 shots, I picked up the shotgun, readied it but forgot the safety, so a delay on the first shot, then hit 3 plates, then the gun didn’t feed... racked it and carried on, hit 2 more plates , then it jammed again. More fumbling then I cleared the remaining plates. Dumped the shotgun, trotted to the AR, double tapped the paper targets, then rested on the plane and engaged the distant steels. Considering that on the first day I couldn’t have hit a steel if I’d been standing on it, these steels went down with one shot each...!! I was gob-smacked.!
However, I was sure I could do better considering the shotgun jams, so I played my Mulligan card. On the re-run I did need a couple of extra shots with both the pistol and rifle, but no jams and a final time of just over 100 seconds, approx. an 11 second improvement on the first run.

One downside, was that this was the only stage I decided to wear my GoPro type camera. When I was fitting it into the head band mount, I accidentally turned off the sound recording, so neither of my runs, or any video for the rest of the day, has sound on it.!


Stage 8: .22 Rimfire
Magnum Research MLR22AT Rifle w/ Vortex Fixed 1x Scope

These were modified 10/22’s in a fancy plastic stock, with what looked like Volquartson barrels. The triggers were ok, but not what I’d call match triggers, and surprisingly they hadn’t even done the bolt hold open modification.

Simple stage...tricky to shoot...

3 bulls eye targets at 50yds, 3 sighters at the top target in 2 minutes, and then 10 rnds at each of the lower targets in a total of 20 mins. Standing....

Of course by the time we got to shoot this, the wind had picked up a bit, and it was in a fairly exposed position, so my natural wobble was accentuated even more.

JSC shot a 164 to put him in 49th place, I shot a 133 to give me my lowest placing, 117th.


Stage 7: Wobble Clays
Mossberg Silver Reserve Super Sport w/ Shell Ejector O/U 12GA

5 shooting positions in a semicircle around a single trap. The trap is free to move 45 degrees either side, and 15 degrees up and down, so no 2 clays come out in the same direction. Each shooter fires 1 shot at a clay, then the next shooter, next, next etc. then back to the first. Repeat 4 more times then everyone moves along a position. 5 shots from 5 positions = 25 clays.

JSC creamed this one... hitting 19 clays put him in 2nd place, 1 clay behind the leader.
I crapped out and only hit 6, putting me in 99th place.


And that was the end of the 2016 World Shooting Championships.....

The Saturday evening was the “banquet” and prize giving... The amateur prize table was said to have $100,000 worth of prizes, and I can believe it. Most of the rifles, shotguns and pistols used over the event were on the prize table, along with scopes, spotting scopes, and some of the softair guns used on one of the fun side shoots.

The prize-giving started off with the Juniors, then the Ladies, then the top Pro. Doug Koenig won the top prize of $25,000. They then started working their way down the Amateurs and Pros, (there was a table of prizes for each).

JSC came 9th Amateur overall, and picked up a very nice Nightforce scope. I nearly fell asleep before they got to my 89th place, but I still managed to get a nice Lucid 6-24x50 scope.


This has to be the most fun I’ve had in years, and while I’ve been saying it was going to be a “once in a lifetime” experience for me, I’m already working on SWMBO to go again next year.

[dromia]

[Daryll]

Don't worry, JSC will be along to post some pics/videos...

He's already posted one of the prize table in the Gun Porn thread...

[froggy]

Nice comprehensive write-up ! thanks VM for sharing your retex with us

BTW, sry Daryll, in case you didn't know, but Dromia can't really read ... he normally just looks at the pics and from the look of it, cant even write an answer either, just "clicky" on an icon ...

[Ovenpaa]

It sounds like an absolutely amazing event and very well done to both of you for even getting there, let alone competing and doing well, oh and flying the flag for the UK.

Brilliant job, now we just need some pictures

[safetyfirst]

Well done! Sounds like a great experience all round.

[RDC]

Sounds brilliant!

What would you say was the overall cost of the event? It's near enough to my 30th birthday next year that I doubt the missus can say no if I can manage a way to go.

[Daryll]

Entry fees = $325 Amateur, $395 for Pros
Match Hotel @ $125 a night (including taxes) There are cheaper hotels in the area though.
Car Hire approx £200 for 5-6 days
Flights vary... Nearest major airport is Washington Dulles. I've just checked on VA, and flying out next monday for 5 days is £900..

So a trip of 6 days will be about $1000, plus £1000.... about £1700 at todays exchange rates... plus food and shopping money :)

As I mentioned, I was lucky enought to have a load of airmiles so my flight only cost £250.

All the match details are still available at https://wsc.nra.org/