Well, National Match Week is here again

And how do I know this, you may ask?  A couple of reasons:

1. The house is quiet again after last minute brass-cleaning sessions with the vibratory cleaner running for hours on end cleaning brass because there aren't enough cartridges made. Also, because my daughter and the usual whirl of activity isn't here, having been dropped off with the team yesterday for an 0300 departure this morning.
2. A car is available for use by someone other than her.

She is fresh off a 2nd place finish with her partner Jed at the NRA's Whistler Boy match in Indiana last weekend.  Rather an underwhelming event this year as it was not held in conjunction with the National Matches at Camp Perry as hss been their usual practice.  So instead of 20 or 30 teams as there would usually be, there were only 4.  Of those, two of them were from our Junior team from Michigan.

The winning team was a couple of high-masters from Illinois using scopes, while our kids all used their irons.  Still, they showed up and shot, which is more than most did, so they got the hardware.

Your 2017 ID4 Overall winner is...

Lauren Smith.

Yes, this is a brag post.  For those of you who are or have been members at the Capital City Rifle Club you know what the ID4 match is.  For those who don't, it's the way our club celebrates Independence Day every year, by shooting a match with rifles that have some significance in the different wars the United States has fought in.  You can bring a flintlock if you want to! Don't know how well those round balls will do at 200 yards, and rapid fire is out of the question, but it's still kind of cool to think about it.  One of my bucket list items is to build up one of the 2 U.S. Krag-Jorgensen receivers I have into a shootable rifle and have a go at it with that.

Mostly people use Garands, or Springfield 03A3's.  One of my friends shot it this year with a 1917 Eddystone Enfield.  A couple years ago they allowed AR's in, but they are not eligible for prizes, as it really is no contest against all those antiques.  Lauren shot her AR (since we don't have any of those other rifles) so she got no prizes, but she did get the admiration of  other shooters on the line, which is no small thing.

So congratulations to Lauren.  A nice lead-in to the National Matches coming up soon.