Camp Perry 2009: 22 NMC

The 22 caliber National Match Course (NMC) scores are in from the first relay.

James Henderson and Philip Hemphill took first and second, both with 298 points, 2 shy of the perfect 300. James’ 20X count pushed him to first over Philip’s 17X.

The 297 tally, one point down, finds Eric Daniels and Kevin Vacura

followed at 296 points by Ron Steinbrecher, Jesse Durrance, Joseph Urish, Matthew Buckman and Robert Park.

And with 295 are John Zurek, Steve Setian, Jerry Chaney and Rob Mango.

Undoubtedly every one of these shooters, when they “threw” those 9s or 8s in this match, suspected its ultimate impact in the score sheet’s rankings.

But also without doubt, each of the Master and High Master shooters knew to “let it go” and move on to the next shot.

Next up will be the Timed Fire match, four 5-round strings fired with 20 seconds per string, and then the Rapid Fire match, a similar set of four strings but with only 10 seconds for each 5-round string. Both matches are fired at 25 yard targets, 10 rounds per target.

All of the shooters listed above are within reach of first place but remember this is only the first relay. There are two more groups waiting to shoot.

Although the weather at Camp Perry is supposed to be sunny all day, the wind is forecast to slowly increase throughout the day. An untimely gust during Rapid Fire can easily push an outstretched shooter’s arm and turn an X into an 8 … or worse.

And although “clean” (100 point) targets are fairly common in these upcoming matches, they are not guaranteed. Again, a couple of 9s would shuffle the rankings as the overall 22 competition continues.

10s and Xs, everyone. Watch the dot!