This page updated: Friday, November 9, 2007 1:52 PM
Junior High Power
Bill Laughlin Memorial Junior High Power Rifle Match
Rescheduled to Sunday, 22 October 2006
The match is limited to Junior shooters only. The match will be put on by the Highpower Rifle section of the club. The age limits are 12 to 18, except that any high school student, regardless of age, may participate. This match is open to any Junior shooter. Membership in the Los Alamos Sportsmen’s Club or NRA is not required. A release form signed by a parent or adult sponsor will be required for each participant.
Match and ammunition are free. This includes an issue of 60 rounds of .223 or 30-06 ammunition. The match will be the standard 50 round National Match Course, with 10 rounds standing slow-fire, 10 rounds sitting rapid fire (60 second time limit with a clip change), 10 rounds prone rapid fire (70 second time limit with a clip change) and 20 rounds prone slow fire. The match will be fired in reverse order, beginning with the prone slow-fire segment. Unlimited sighters will be allowed for the prone slow fire segment. Two sighting shots are permitted for the other segments of the match. The match will be fired at 100 yard reduced course targets. Shooters may fire the standing segment of the match from the prone position.
Registration will close at 8:30 AM. Target setup will follow immediately and a pre-match clinic will start at 9:00 AM. Instructors for the clinic will be Wes Shumaker and Mell Smithour. Coaching from experienced high power shooters will be available throughout the match to participants. While a clinic will be held before the match, this event is intended to be primarily a match, and not a clinic for beginning high power shooters. A shooter with good rifle marksmanship skills will do fine, but this is not a place to learn marksmanship skills.
Depending on the number of participants, the match will likely last until 1:00 PM or 2:00 PM. Participants should bring water and a snack.
The club has several match grade AR15 rifles that will be available for loan to participants. The club also has two M1 carbines and several M1 Garand rifles available for loan. Ear and eye protection is required for each participant. Ear protectors and glasses will be available for loan.
For more information, contact Marv Alme at marv@almeassociates.com , or 665-3869 (W)/661-3651 (H).
William A. Laughlin
Bill Laughlin had been a long time member of the Los Alamos Sportsmen’s Club and headed up the Skeet activities for several years. He was an active bird hunter and made many hunting trips to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Africa. His license plate was BRDHNTR. Bill’s ashes will join those of his favorite hunting dog Bess, a chocolate lab, in their favorite quail hunting area in the southern part of New Mexico. He served as an Officer in the Navy on the repair ship USS VULCAN AR-5. Bill was a geochemist with a dry sense of humor. A bumper sticker on his car read STRIP MINING PREVENTS FOREST FIRES. Bill and his wife Yvonne lost their home in the fire. He was able to evacuate with his guns but unfortunately lost all of his reloading and hunting equipment. On his last hunting trip the airline lost two of his expensive Rizzini over/under shotguns that were never recovered. Bill was an outstanding individual and will greatly missed by his many friends and fellow shooters.
Sunday, May 7, 2006.
We had a great turn-out at our Junior High Power Match on the 7th of May. Mell Smithour and Wes Shumaker did their usual excellent job of providing a clinic in conjunction with the match. The winner was Dylan Chipera, one of four Junior shooters who made the trip to Camp Perry last summer. The match and ammunition were free, with no entry fee. This included an issue of 60 rounds of .223 or 30-06 ammunition. The match was the standard 50 round National Match Course, with 10 rounds standing slow-fire, 10 rounds sitting rapid fire (60 second time limit with a clip change), 10 rounds prone rapid fire (70 second time limit with a clip change) and 20 rounds prone slow fire. The match was fired in reverse order, beginning with the prone slow-fire segment. Also, the match was fired at 100 yard reduced course targets. This made it easier for the less experienced shooter to see the holes in the targets and made it faster to score.
The club has several match grade AR15 rifles that will be available for loan to participants. The club also has two M1 carbines and several M1 Garand rifles available for loan. Ear and eye protection is required for each participant. Ear protectors and glasses will be available for loan.
The age limits are 12 to 18, except that any high school student, regardless of age, may participate. This match is open to any Junior shooter. Membership in the Los Alamos Sportsmen’s Club or NRA is not required. A release form signed by a parent or adult sponsor is required for each participant.
The next Juniors Only High Power Match will be the third Sunday in October. For more information, contact Marv Alme at marv@almeassociates.com , or 665-3869 (W) or LCDR Shumaker, www.lahsnjrotc.com.
Attention High School Students
Do you really want to become a shooter and compete at a high level? The LAHS NJROTC is looking for students who truly want to dedicate to a higher level of competition and participation. We intend to have successful marksmanship teams in international air pistol, and international and three position air rifle. In addition to monthly postal matches we compete in a minimum of 4 shoulder to shoulder competitions each school year.
New Mexico has come to the forefront of shooting over the past several years. This year LaCueva MCJROTC precision air rifle team won the National Championships and state championships. The Los Alamos precision team took the high Navy trophy at the matches.
We are in the process of developing juniors to travel to the National Championships at Camp Perry and compete at the nationals in high power. The Navy shooting program can greatly assist juniors attending the nationals with berthing in the barracks and ammunition. Each summer the USMC marksmanship team sponsors a several day program geared for juniors and beginners. Other support is available through the Los Alamos Sportsman’s Club and the State Association. The state of New Mexico has not fielded a junior high power team at the Nationals for years!
Currently colleges around the nation are looking for good shooters for scholarships to represent their schools and in particular female shooters. The Olympic training center is really looking for future pistol shooters to develop as possible candidates to join the junior development teams to compete at the Olympics.
We are serious about building a top shooting program here in Los Alamos. We have the facilities, and are upgrading our equipment. WE NEED SHOOTERS!!!
As a young person, your accomplishments are only limited by your own imagination! Challenge yourself and see how far you can go!!
I challenge you stop by the unit and see our facilities, equipment and medals and trophies. Visit our website at www.lahsnjrotc.com for weekly postings on open days during the summer. We will be starting practice and instruction in preparation for next year.
LCDR Wes Shumaker
Junior Highpower Match
23 October 2005
On Sunday, the 23rd of October, LASC sponsored the fall Juniors Highpower Rifle Match. Eight junior shooters took part. Mell Smithour and Wes Shumaker provided pre-match clinic and also provided instruction on prone, sitting and standing positions before each of these match segments. Several other experienced high power shooters also participated as coaches, providing one-on-one coaching during the match. And a number of parents were there to observe (and were put to work handing out ammunition, scorecards, etc.).
The match was free, including an issue of 60 rounds of ammunition. The match included the four segments of a standard 50 round National Match Course, with 10 rounds standing slow-fire, 10 rounds sitting rapid fire (60 second time limit with a clip change), 10 rounds prone rapid fire (70 second time limit with a clip change) and 20 rounds prone slow fire. Because it facilitates teaching, the match was fired in reverse order, beginning with the prone slow-fire segment.
The overall match winner was Cadet Beery. The photo shows the presentation of the first place ribbon by Mell Smithour and Wes Shumaker.
As a reminder, the club has several match grade AR15 rifles that are available for loan during matchesDuring the winter, Juniors are welcome to participate in the monthly Garand Matches, and can shoot either M1’s or AR15’s. There is no charge for juniors and the ammunition is free. The Club also sponsors a Spring Juniors Only Match in May.
Los Alamos Juniors Attend 2005 National High Power Matches At Camp Perry, Ohio
LCDR Wes Shumaker, Timothy Fitzgibbon, Drew Wyman, Dylan Chipera and Alex Plonczak at Camp Perry, Ohio
Four junior shooters from Los Alamos traveled to Camp Perry, Ohio to participate in the 2005 National High Power Championships sponsored by the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The Los Alamos Sportsman’s Club, LAHS NJROTC and the New Mexico State Shooting Association combined assets to make the trip possible. While there, the group stayed in the Navy Barracks and received additional support from the Navy Marksmanship Team. The participants attended the Small Arms Firing School hosted by the Army Marksmanship Unit where they received instruction on safety and marksmanship. The second day was a practice firing at 200 yards. The following day the matches got serious with the Presidents 100 on Tuesday and the National Trophy Individual Matches on Wednesday. Thursday was the “Whistler Boy” team match, which is fired by two person junior teams. The juniors from Los Alamos were the only juniors to represent the state of New Mexico. The Gold team, although behind 11 points going back to 600 yards, more than made up the deficit and finished ahead of the Blue team, thus garnering the winner’s rights of a dinner, choice of seats in the vehicle for the return trip and didn’t have to sort brass on the way home. This was a great opportunity for all involved. One junior remarked that he didn’t want to live in Ohio as it was too hot! A big thanks to those organizations that helped make this trip possible.
Thanks to Friends of the NRA, Rock River Arms, Arrington Accuracy, New Mexico Shooting Sports Association and the Los Alamos Sportsmans' Club for supporting junior shooting programs.
Michael Chigbrow, Chris Robertson,
Justin Williams,
Keith Dalrymple, and Chase Cook.
Photos from Juniors Only Highpower Match – Sunday, 19 October 2003
| Nine juniors
participated in the match, including seven members of the local ROTC program.
Mell Smithour presented a clinic before each stage with help from his demonstrator,
Wes Shumaker. Chuck Mielke and Marv Alme also assisted with the coaching. The Santa Fe club loaned us four AR15’s, and Chuck Mielke, Wes Shumaker and Marv Alme also loaned AR15’s. This meant that each shooter could have his own rifle. The event went much more smoothly than our first junior match last May. |
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The sitting rapid fire scores were generally very good. Some good training and practice are taking place in the ROTC air rifle program and at the range. The standing scores were probably disappointing to some of the shooters, but a major contribution to this is that the Santa Fe Club rifles have stock triggers. It is just tough to shoot a decent score standing with a seven-pound single stage trigger. We have a grant request in to purchase two match grade AR15’s for the Juniors. If we’re successful with this grant application, it will really make a difference for both practice and matches. |
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Junior High Power matchs are held in May and October.
However, we encourage the junior shooters to come out to the monthly Garand
Matches. They can shoot AR15’s at the 100 yard reduced course targets
while others are shooting M1’s at the 200 yard targets. Remember that
the club subsidizes the ammunition for the Junior High Power shooters.
We do not charge for a junior to participate in a high power or garand match,
and provide a full issue of ammunition. A real bargin supported by member donations (sold on E-bay)!! |