RANGE PLANNING INPUT NEEDED

The experiment with Cowboy Action Shooting is going well with big crowds and much enthusiasm. If this continues, we will have to build a permanent facility for the sport and planning for this must get started. Building another range on the property will require county permits and modification of our special use permit. This may require hearings at Adams County that can be expensive and time consuming. We need to consider what other things we might want to do in the foreseeable future and include them in a comprehensive land plan so that it will not be necessary to re-open the whole process again.

We know that there are shooting sports such as practical pistol that we do not have a place for on out present ranges. We are not sure if there is demand within CRC for some of these newer sports or what is needed in way of facilities. Member input and advice is needed. If there is some shooting sport that you would like to see included at CRC, please call or e-mail Martin Everitt (303) 425-4450 or mmeveritt@msn.com) with your ideas. We need particulars such as the space and range layout requirements, facilities for targets and target stands, arms used, and the amount of demand for the sport. We already have ideas for IDPA pistol, Full Bore high power and a clubhouse. The Board of Directors will review all ideas before making a plan. Your input is wanted.

LIABILITY RELEASE FORM

This newsletter includes a liability release form which all members are requested to sign and return to the Secretary/Treasurer immediately. As reported

at the Annual Meeting, our attorney has advised that all users of the range, including non-firing guests and visitors, sign this form. There is a state law, written originally for the ski industry, to protect the operators of “hazardous sports” from lawsuits for injuries and damages suffered on those facilities. Our attorney has concern that this law is weak in some respects and can easily be challenged. All shooting clubs in the area require some form of this liability release. Many competitive shooters have already signed several of them at other ranges. We have required it for people at the ranges this spring and have already built a large file of completed forms from members, competitors, and guests.

The release refers to a “protocol and range rules”. This is a six-page document that is too bulky to mail with the newsletter, but it is posted on the web site (www.crci.org) or can be obtained by request from the Secretary/Treasurer. Additional copies of the protocol and release form may be printed from the website or picked up at the range. There is a supply in the stat building. Copies will be posted on all ranges soon. The new range rules are very similar to the old ones that everyone receives during the new member orientation. Members getting the newsletter via e-mail can print the release from the web site.

The Board of Directors has made signing of the release a requirement for membership in CRC. You may review the protocol, rules, and form with your attorney before signing. You may feel you are giving up some legal rights by signing the release, and if you do not wish to sign, you may resign from the club. Dues will not be refunded in such cases. If your family members visit the range, even though they do not shoot, they should be named in the spaces provided. A parent or guardian must sign for youth under 18. Members who never visit the property, and there are several who no longer shoot, are requested to sign simply to keep our records intact.

The releases must be signed once a year. If you have already signed one at the range it will be good for the remainder of 2006 and this copy is not necessary. You are already on record. A new release will be sent with your 2007 dues notice.

Please sign and return the release form at once!

CRC Supports and Honors U.S. Marines

The CRC recently had a unique opportunity to both serve and honor Marines preparing for duty in Iraq. The Highpower range was set aside May 31 to June 2ndt so that Marine reservists attached to Buckley Air Force Base could use the range for firearm qualifications. These reservists, who are primarily experts on controlling aircraft operations in combat zones, will go on to receive additional training for civil affairs oriented duty before deployment. They will be helping to rebuild water, electrical and other infrastructure systems in Iraq. The club is happy to welcome them to our range and proud we can contribute to their success.

And it was with solemn pride that CRC was able to honor the sacrifice of another Marine. Lance Corporal Gregory Rund of Littleton was killed in Fallujah in December 2004, protecting his fellow soldiers during an ambush. He was awarded the Bronze Star posthumously. The Columbine High school graduate was just 21 years old. The Colonel Beck asked if CRC would dedicate the new 500 yard firing line on the highpower range in Lance Cpl. Rund’s memory. His family and five dozen of his fellow Marines attended a ceremony dedicating the new firing line. The marines then presented

CRC with a plaque thanking our members for this tribute and use of the range. CRC Match Directors Dave Jennings and Tony Stahl were instrumental in organizing the firing qualifications and memorial. Tony Stahl also arranged with Dick Ames of Ames Construction Company who contributed the machinery and time to construct the new firing line that the Marines needed for their qualifications.

Reporter Dick Foster wrote two positive articles about this for The Rocky Mountain News, and a picture of Corporal Edward Williams shooting on the range was the front cover of the Friday June 2 edition of the paper. Our thanks to Dave, Tony and Dick Ames for making this possible. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Gregory Rund’s family and all those serving in Iraq.

An Invitation to the Celebration

CRC members Phil and Carol Scholl are hosting a party to celebrate their 25^th Wedding Anniversary, and CRC members are invited! Smallbore shooters know Phil and Carol as the dedicated team of target runners who help out at every match, and many club members may be familiar with Phil’s work with disabled shooters. No one works harder than Phil and Carol at sharing the joy of shooting, and making shooting truly accessible for everyone. And now in true Phil and Carol style, they want to share their personal happiness as well. The party will be held Sunday, June 25^th from 2 – 4pm at All Saint Catholic Church, located at 2559 South Federal Blvd in Denver. The dress is casual, and please don’t bring a gift. Just your presence is gift enough. All club members are invited and welcome to attend. If you plan on coming please RSVP to Carol at (303) 934-8525. Congratulations Phil and Carol – we all wish you another 25 years of happiness!

Some Range Reminders

Steel vs. Brass

Please don’t (do not) put steel shell casings in the brass collection bins on the ranges. CRC recycles the brass cartridges, but if steel is in with the brass the recycling centers have to remove it and that cuts way down on our returns. Always police your brass from any firing line, and don’t dump steel in with the brass. Thanks!

Appliance removal

And speaking of recycling, Ron Best has discovered a scrap dealer in Englewood who accepts old appliances. It’s not a cash cow – one hearty pilgrim who brought a washer in (via trailer pulled by bicycle (!) scored $8.00 for his 250 pound load, but CRC has some old steel appliances that need to be hauled away. The scrap yard is Western Metals Recycling 303-761-2681. CRC will pay mileage for anyone who volunteers to tow them away (but CRC keeps the windfall paid by this or any scrap yard). If you know of other, closer lots, or if you’d like to meet your work bond this way, let Ron know.

An Impassioned Scolding

I’m surprised that I have to keep writing this, but it keeps happening, so I must not be making the request clear. If you take ANYTHING from one range and move it to another, PLEASE PLEASE OH PRETTY PLEASE with sugar on top PUT IT BACK ON THE RANGE IT CAME FROM AT THE END OF EACH DAY. We understand that not every range is “ideally” furnished and we understand the need to move things from one range to another if the situation warrants. But be considerate of your fellow club members and match directors and take the time to move things back to where you found them at the end of each day/use. To often lately match directors have had to put more important duties aside to go searching for benches, gun racks, tools and other equipment someone moved and did not return. Thanks all.

HELP WANTED!!

John Ashcraft has handled the CRC merchandise for the past few years but he must take a leave of absence due to a job change. We need someone to take over until John’s return and then continue to assist. The job includes designing and buying CRC merchandise items, T-Shirts, cups, glasses, etc., managing the stock and record keeping and visiting an occasional match to sell the things. If you want to try this, please call Denny Reul 303 238-5696.

A Shooting Holiday

Looking for a great way to spend the July 4^th Holiday? Why not shooting! The Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico is hosting a Conventional Smallbore Prone Regional and 6400 Championships July 1-4. Raton is just 4 hours from Denver, and it’s a beautiful place to shoot. Plus, this match has a long list of generous sponsors and is renowned for the great prizes of both cash and merchandise for competitors. The match is sponsored by the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association, Socorro Gun Club, New Mexico Tech Shooting Sports Club

The range will be open Friday June 31 for practice, and the matches get underway at 8:30am Saturday. You can shoot the regional on Saturday and Sunday, or shoot the whole 6400 through Tuesday. The course of fire is 100 yard, reverse dewar, 50 meter and 50 yard matches, with any rifle/iron sights on Saturday and Monday, and any rifle/any sights Sunday and Tuesday. There will also be a two person team dewar match Saturday afternoon. And Saturday night they cap things off with a barbeque at 5:00 PM. Bring utensils, steak to barbeque, drinks, and something to share for desert or main course. The Socorro Gun Club will provide charcoal and plates. Camping and competitor housing are available: call the Whittington Center at 505-445-3615 for housing information, or motel rooms have been reserved at two motels in Raton with very reasonable prices and work with match sponsors at the Whittington Center. Contact the Budget Host at 505-445-5655 or the Raton Pass at 505-445-3641 and mention the match. The entry fee is very reasonable: $130.00 adults; $90.00 juniors (includes $10/day range fee and $9 regional, $9 NRA fee) for entire 4 days. One-day package will be $40, 2 day will be $80. This is a fun match and a great holiday shooting excursion, so sign up today!

For more information and entries contact Virginia McLemore at 701 Caine, Socorro, NM 87801; phone 835-3823 or e-mail Ginger@gis.nmt.edu or Lones Wigger, phone 719 930 9889 or email Lones.Wigger@usashooting.org

The Winners Circle

John C. Garand Match Match Results

The second of four John C. Garand Matches this year was held Saturday May 13. 22 Shooters enjoyed a warm but windy day of competition. The participants could fire from 100 yards at the SR-1 target, or from 200 yards at the SR targets. Shooters first shoot 10 shots slow fire prone, then 10 rapid fire prone shots, and end with ten shots slow fire in offhand. Jerry Davidson provided six Colorado State Shooting Association M1 Garands for use by shooters who do not own a US Service Rifle, and Jim Adell taught a new shooter “mini clinic” for those new to the match. Richard Tauche, Russell Gary, and Craig Nelson were the top scorers, though a number of awards were given including to new shooters Kyle Youngs, Scott Russell and David Hart.

After the match a discussion was held about how to make best use of the range time, and it was suggested that the experienced competitors could fire the first relay while the new shooters attend the mini-clinic, which is necessary primarily for safety purposes. The experienced shooters would then be available to act as coaches and safety officials for the second relay when the new shooters fire the match. The new shooters would benefit from a watch and learn opportunity, and nothing helps improve an experienced shooters score like focusing on how they do it! Thanks to Bob Manley, Ed O’Brien, Roger Welshans and Arnold Gehring who helped run the match and to Aaron Gagne for volunteering to go to the range the day before the match to mow the grass and weeds. CRC and Jim Adell also thank Tony Fabian, the President of the Colorado State Shooting Association, for approving the club’s use of the CMP rifles provided by Jerry Davidson, and for providing a T-Shirt as one of the prizes to be awarded at each match this year.

The next matches will be held July 16 and September 30. Call Jim Adell at 970-493-4779 for more information. Everyone is welcome and we hope to see you there.

Work bond Needs

The year is already half over! (ouch) If you still haven’t got your work bond completed for 2006 yet, here’s another chance to “get er done.” Bob McAlice needs volunteers to help set targets at his September 9 & 10 highpower rifle silhouette aggregate matches. This task is nothing more than resetting the target animals between relays. We send five people down range in our pickup to reset and paint the hits on the animals. This is one of the better work bond tasks the club offers. We get to knock them down, and then you drive down and set them back up again. This will be a full day starting at 8:00am and ending at approximately 3:00pm. We will need five people each day. Don’t put off your work bond obligation any longer – call Bob at (303) 403-4063 today and nab one of these primo spots.

Volunteers are also needed to help for future smallbore matches. The 56^th Watt Redfield Memorial prone smallbore match will be held July 8-9, and the State prone championships are August 19^th & 20^th. We need people to help in the stat office and to score targets among other things. Call Denny Reul at 303-238-5696 for more information.

Work bond Update

At the spring workdays, a good deal of the old farm trash was removed. What is left is not as easy to throw away. There are a half dozen old refrigerators or freezers up on the hill by the old tractor shed. Is there a member who knows the regulations involved in getting rid of these? Please contact me if you can help. Dave Paananen 303-673-0106 or dpaananen@netzero.net.

The hot summer weather has arrived, and our tree projects need volunteers for watering. Established trees by the Pistol, Smallbore, Schutzen ranges, and on the west side of the ranch house, as well as our planting projects by the camper pads, down by the archery range, and to the north of the archery range, can use as many watering visits as we can get. We never get enough volunteers for these tasks.

Association with the cowboy shooting group started after the match calendar was finished. They have a big event that is not on the regular calendar coming up July 20, 21, 22 and 23. Volunteers to help run the match have been requested. Contact Al Ashton [(303) 798-0189] and Cheryl Wilson [(303) 934-3933] . There are many additional match volunteer opportunities listed below. Especially consider volunteering for the regional and state level matches mentioned.

6/24-25	NBRSA 1000 yard Bench Rest State Championship	Jim Brummerstedt	303.772.5145	jr338@juno.com	6
6/25	Silhouette IHMSA Pistol	Tom Funk	303.690.5219	tmkthkrn@aol.com	4
7/8	Sporting Clays	Steve Kingcade	303.644.3523		2
7/8-9	56th Watt Redfield Memorial 3200 Prone Smallbore Match	Dennis Reul	303.238.5696	denreul@comcast.net	2
7/15	Camp Perry Consolation Pistol Match	Wayne Harris	303.431.4009	wwharris@comcast.net	1
7/15	ARA 22 Rimfire Bench Rest - Schuetzen Range	Bob Nation	303.373.0071	rhnation@aol.com	1
7/16	John C Garand Match - Schuetzen Range	Jim Adell	970.663.4779	jim_adell@hotmail.com	4
7/16	NBRSA 1000 yard Bench Rest Match	Jim Brummerstedt	303.772.5145	jr338@juno.com	2
7/16	Sporting Clays	Steve Kingcade	303.644.3523		2
7/29	600 yard Any/Any High Power Match	Gary Prebyl	303.622.9694	Prebyl@tds.net	2
7/30	1000 yard Any/Any High Power Match	Gary Prebyl	303.622.9694	Prebyl@tds.net	2
8/5-6	Hunter Safety - Pistol Range	Leonard Avery	303.452.0728	sarge257@aol.com	4
8/6	Mid Summer Classic 2700 Pistol Match	Wayne Harris	303.431.4009	wwharris@comcast.net	1
8/6	ARA 22 Rimfire Bench Rest - Schuetzen Range	Bob Nation	303.373.0071	rhnation@aol.com	1
8/6	Sporting Clays	Steve Kingcade	303.644.3523		2
8/13	NBRSA 1000 yard Bench Rest	Jim Brummerstedt	303.772.5145	jr338@juno.com	2