On Sunday, July 23, 2023, ten months’ worth of planning and work came together. Seventy-three of the NBRSA’s finest score shooters were gathered at the NRA Whittington center’s Coors Benchrest range to do battle starting Tuesday. Lots of testing, tuning, and practice took place Sunday and Monday. But best of all was visiting with friends from all over the US. It was good to catch up on a years’ worth of fun, facts, and everyone’s experiences. When Tuesday came, we were all still friends but everyone got down to the serious business of competition.
Tuesday was a beautiful day shooting VFS 100. We had 72 VFS shooters on the line and it was about as hard-fought competition as you could get. Forty Shooters shot 250’s.
John Cascarino was first with 250-24X. Mike Bigelow was second with 250-24X and Raymond Becker was third with 250-22X.
Congratulations to three Great shooters. You Earned your victories today!
Wednesday, we shot the 200-yard leg of the VFS match. The day started a bit warmer than Tuesday but with good conditions to start. As the day progressed, conditions got a little tougher as a mountain thunderstorm built up and indeed, we had a rain delay after match 4.
But when all was said and done, seven 250’s were recorded and Mr. John Cascarino had dominated again.
The top three were: John Cascarino with 250-12X. Durward Wofford with 250-10X, and Tom Anderson with 250-10X.
Since John Cascarino won both the 100 yard leg and the 200 yard leg, it goes without saying that he won the VFS Grand.
First Place John Cascarino 500-36X
Second Place Mike Bigelow 500-30X
Third Place Wayne Corley 500-29X.
Thursday, We had 46 competitors take the line with their 6 power Hunter rifles to do battle. At the end of the third day of the 2023 Score Nationals, the Hunter 100 was in the bag. On a not so easy a day, Wade Hunnewell led the pack with a stellar 250-21X performance.
Second was Mike Wall with a great 250-16x score followed by Jim Dowling in third place with another 250-16X.
Great shooting on a day when twelve shooters finished with 250 scores.
Congratulations to all.
Friday, we shot the 200-yard Hunter yardage to complete the 2023 NBRSA score nationals. Conditions again varied enough through the day to keep things interesting. Every day, someone different has figured this range out and risen to the top. At 200, our winners were:
First place Kevin Mielke 250-5X. Second place Mike Bigelow 250-4X and Third place James Dowling 249-3x.
Congratulations to you guys for some great shooting
The Hunter Grand saw Kevin Mielke as the winner as he was the only shooter to stay clean and shoot a 500 score,
First place went to Kevin Mielke with 500-19X. Second Place was Mike Bigelow with 499- 21X. Third Place was James Dowling with 499-19X.
When all the scores were tallied, our new two-gun champion for 2023 was Mike Bigelow with a remarkable total score of 999 – 51X. Dropping only one point over four days of competition and besting all comers is truly an accomplishment. Congratulations Mike.
First place Mike Bigelow with 999 – 51X. Second place Jason Stanley with 994 – 45X. Third place Craig Nagel with 994 – 44X.
The cream always rises to the top.
And that is a wrap on the 2023 Score Nationals. The match was very well attended with 72 VFS competitors and 46 Hunter competitors from 17 states.
The Coors Benchrest range at the Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico is an incomparable place to shoot. A fabulous range with large mountains as the background scenery. An enclosed loading building that is 300′ x 100′. You read that right. A loading building 100 yards long.
A huge Shout out to Mr. Al Elliott who conceived the idea of bringing the 2023 Score Nationals to this great place and Joe and Sandy Duke for their endless contributions.
Thank you to each and every shooter who came this year. We are truly humbled and pleased to have had you come and shoot with us in 2023.
We are planning on doing it again in 2024 if our bid is accepted. Start making your plans now to come here and shoot with us again in 2024. And bring a friend with you. Let’s make this match bigger and better next year.
I would also like to recognize all those folks who work on a match behind the scenes but never get recognized. Without their services, a match would never happen. Hats off to:
Al Elliott – match director
Joe Duke – assistant match director
Sandy Duke – statistician
Frances Broussard – Range officer
Mike Wall – VFS target scorer
Mike Guilliot – Hunter target scorer
Gardner Rose – Relay and Flag Rotation assignment
Boyd Dartez – practice day range officer and all around help.
Wes Johnson practice day range officer and all around help.
Mike Guilliot – practice day range officer and all around help.
James Elliott – target frame moving crew
Danny Keeney – donation of targets
Ray Perry – Financial support
Jackie Schmidt – financial support
Bobby Ayo – financial support
James Dowling – photographs
Justin Thomas, Tay Lomax, and Dylan Sturgell – target crew
Tom Anderson – Target frame repair and all around help
Mike Wall – Target frame repair, Tee shirt vendor, and all around help
Rich Carpenter – Score shooters meeting Moderator.
A special word of thanks to Sandra Elliott, Karen Wall, Sandy Duke, and Linda Duke for all their hard work numbering the targets.
Eric Whaley, Whittington Center Director of events, was very helpful in preparing the facility for our shoot and continued help during the match.
A shoutout to those who gave time and effort to serve as referees for the match.
Head Referee – Boyd Dartez
Day one VFS 100 – Mike Bigelow, Weldon Yoder, and Jeff Shultz
Day 2 VS 200 – Wayne Corley, Dean Thomas, and Ron Teselle
Day 3 HTR 100 – Jason Stanley, Mike Schneidman, and Greg Sweezy
Day 4 HTR 200 – Dennis Boyet. Gary Vanlier, and Ted Rea.
And last but certainly not least, below is a list of the vendors who supplied our drawing table with donations of merchandise and services. Please keep them in mind when you decide to spend your hard earned dollars.
Gary Vanlier – bench covers
P1ZombieKiller -neck turned brass
Shilen Rifles, Inc.
Lee Precision, Inc.
Lilja Precision Rifle Barrels
Bartlein Barrels, Inc.
BIB Bullets
Pacific Tool & Gauge
Possum Hollow Products
Burris
Forster Products
Decibullz
JL Darling, LLC (Rite-in-rain)
Wilson Tools Gages
Redding Reloading Equipment
Powder Valley, Inc.
Applied Ballistics, LLC
Hodgdon Powder Co.
Starline Brass
Seb Engineering
Shade Tree Engineering
Decot Hy-Wyd Sport Glasses, Inc.
Craig Nagel(flag poles)
IOSSO Products
Bruno Shooters
Bat Actions
K&M products
Cash Prizes: Ray Perry, Jackie Schmidt, Boyd Dartez, Joe Duke, Larry Tilley and Butch Lambert
Al Elliott / Joe Duke
