The National Rifle League .22 National Championships were held last weekend at North Springs Shooting Range.
Shooters from all over the country came out to Price for the event.
The competition was divided into four categories: Young guns, Ladies, Base and Open.
Young guns is open to any shooter between the ages of 8-16. A parent or guardian must be present but the shooter must be able to operate their rifle unassisted.
Base is open to any rifle that has a MSRP of $3,500 or less and a scope valued at $7,000 or less.
Open is the most popular category. It has very few restrictions on equipment. Forty five of the 67 participants were in this group.
The Ladies were allowed to adhere to both the Open and Base class rules.
The competition consists of 15 target areas with 15 different challenges. All the targets are numbered and adorned with colorful names like Stand For The Coyote, or You Drive Me Crazy.
Each station is run by a range officer. There’s a spotter armed with binoculars and a timer with a stopwatch.
Ron Young is the match director and he has the final word on all disputes and grievances.
The range officer at stage 1 was from Cheyenne Wyo. and patiently explains the rules,while simultaneously assisting one of the Young Guns.
“Shooter ready,” he asks and she fires away with encouragement from the crowd.
Target 1 is Four Ranges Of The Ladder where shooters from the Open class fire at targets from different rungs.
“Impact” shouts the spotter as four of five metal targets are hit.
Stage 6: Scotch On The Rocks where, “there’s 5 stones to set your gun on and you have to pick any three.”
The Young Guns are trying to decide which rocks to use. Let’s Swing, another target group, forces shooters to balance their gun on a tire swinging from a rope before firing at the targets.
“Shooter clear to load and make ready.”
A man wearing a green Vermont National Guard shirt is trying his luck. “There’s three of us flew in from Vermont,” he said.
The first 10 stages took place on Saturday with the last five on Sunday.
Tyler Frehner was the overall National Champion with a total score of 1077 beating Darin Cooper’s score of 1076 by 1 point.
Base class winner was Kurtis Palo 992, Janae Frehner (Ladies) 952, and William Waddops (Young Guns) 786.
Shooters converge on Price for national contest
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