First, a very big Thank You to Gunner Skinta, Gunny Herrera, and Mr. Folts at MAGTFTC MTU and Jeff Lovat for organizing this event and accommodating all of the civilians.
Day 1 Thursday was a 3X1000 match.
Opening Ceremony and First Shot was conducted by Gunner Duane Ledford (USMC Ret).
Winds were relatively light compared to the forecast in the morning and then steadily built over the morning and culminate in 30MPH with gusts on the final relay of the day and…. Just enough rain drops to get the dust to stick to your case or anything else left out.
I (Mike Jones) shot in the final relay. I started with about 5 minutes of wind on the scope, about the fifth shot I was holding off the frame and so put another 5 minutes of wind on the scope, held left for a couple more shots, added another 5 minutes of wind and finished the string with 15 minutes of wind on the still ended up holding on the left edge of the target. Yes that’s about 19 minutes of wind at 1000 yards. Mark Roth was scoring for me and would laugh everytime I was able to find an X or 10 as I t was an absolute guess as there qwas nio mirage and the flags were pointing up and virtually useless for seeing any changes in velocity. While I am shooting a 6.5-284, my friends Jeff Lovat and Brad Losey are shooting their 223s, I sure they were having a great time.
Overall winner for the day 1 was Mark Roth with a 587-14X. Lou Mudica 2nd and Mike Jones finished 3rd in F-Class. Gunner Skinta Won the day in Service Rifle with 572-12X
Day 2, Friday looked better…but… the wind kept building thru the morning and once again the flags were useless. The results for the day were Mark Roth, again, with the top score. Walter Lange second and Mike Jones third.
In Service Rifle, The overall winner of the McVeigh Trophy was SSgt Edwards, Our John Hermsen was second overall and Gunner Skinta in third.
Friday’s Service Rifle/Match Rifle Team Match at 1000 yards was won by the “Sundevils” which included:
- Brad Losey
- Ken Letwin
- George Carr
- Jeff Lovat
- Coached by John Hermsen
Day 3, Saturday was an 80 XTC
A good showing with 39 shooters. Highlights include George Carr wining the match with a 779.24. Harry Harrison shooting his first ever 300 rapid 100 with 10 X’s !!!! The Marines kindly cut the center out of the target for him to keep as a memento.
Day 4, Sunday were the Rifle and Pistol EIC’s.
Only one man, George Carr, made the cut during the Rifle EIC with a 458.9.
The Pistol EIC found no one making the cut but Michael Drake with a 248.1 came in first place.
Overall, thanks for all who helped us help the Marines. An extra special shout out to Pete Jedrzejczyk & James White who both donated $100.00 of their match refunds to the Marines at MTU. Outstanding !!!!
Mike Jones and Jeff Lovat.
Match Directors, SMGC
The results for the 59th High Desert Regional (2018) are available in Excel here.
