Author: BRML

NEWS and SHOOT RESULTS

August 2022 NEWS and SHOOT RESULTS from the July 17, 2022 individual target match.

First of all, what a fine day we had for a match! With the day in mind, all were expecting a really hot day for shooting. After the last few days, sweat was expected to be a problem both with it in your eyes and causing fouling problems. However, we had a perfect day. It was a bit humid and some did have a few hang fires, but we had a new 2022 record of 11 shooters! After the last few months with 6 or fewer riflemen, it was a great day for the club.

We arrived to find a temperature of 74 degrees with a slight breeze already blowing and very low humidity at 0800. The wind wasn’t brisk enough to ruffle the grass, damp as it was. I was again looking forward to seeing more of the old gang with great clear weather and we had had use the clubhouse! Think air conditioner again. But, there is still no table or chairs in the clubhouse. What is the situation here??? We also had ELEVEN competitors which was way more than last month. There was also a new member who only shot a pistol and did not compete in the rifle match – well there is always next month. The usual bunch of diehards showed up and we saw several who made appearances finally. Way to go gents! Let’s see if we can build up the shooters again in Aug.

Weather luck was with us for sure as the day started out really fine and kept up with a breeze that kept the smoke away. Thank the Lord and IWLA for air conditioning again.

Schutzenmeister JP Sherkus chose the targets, so you all can blame him again this month. Three of the targets were shot before, perhaps in the far past, but there was a “New” one in honor of the month of July. It caused some consternation as usual. The pistol match was about the same, both at 25 and 50 yards. (But wait till next month BWA HA HA HA!)

The first target at 25 yards for three shots was the Small Diamond. For a rifle at 25 yards, it should not have been that hard. Anyway, Art Twitchell and Rich Stock both wacked it with a 28, with Rich coming closest to the X for 1st. Al Short and JP Sherkus also managed to tie at 27 with Al coming closest to the X hit for 3rd. El Presidente John Marhefka and Frank Niccoli also tied at 26 with John closest to the X for 5th. Mike Rodzianko came in at 8th with a 25 with Mike Smith hitting 9th. John Rodzianko ( WELCOME BACK “CHIEF”!) came in 10th with a 23.

The second target at 25 yards for three shots was called the “Wedge and Crescent”. You had to hit both the wedge and the crescent once with one of them twice. That did raise some eyes, and Art was hoping for two invisible squirrels. Anyway JP Sherkus hit both for a 24 for first with John Marhefka also shooting a 24 for 2nd. JP was closest to the X. Rich Stock claimed 3rd with a 22 and Mike Rodzianko claimed 4th with an 18. Art Twitchell came in 5th with a 16 X, Frank Niccoli came in 6th with a 14. Rich Burkhart hit a 10 for 7th, Al Short came in 8th with a 9, and Mike Smith came in 9th with a 7.

The final 25 yard target was the new one, the “Fireworks” or “Rocket” (or several unprintable names) for five shots. Rich Stock was unfazed and shot a 48 2X for 1st. JP Sherkus came in 2nd with a 48 1X, John Marhefka shot a 46 for third and Rich Burkhart claimed 4th with a 39. Frank Niccoli hit 5th with a 34 2X, John Rodzi-anko came in 6th with a 34, Art Twitchell came in 8th with a 32, Mike Smith hit a 20 for 9th, and Al Short came in 10th with a 17.

At 50 yards, the three-shot target was the venerable “Ham Blob”. Rich Stock was on that one with a 29 1X, followed by JP Sherkus with a 24 for 2nd. John Marhefka and Mike Rodzianko both shot a 23 with John hitting closest to the X for 3rd. Rich Burkhart shot a 21 for 5th, Art Twitchell claimed 6th with an 18, followed by Al Short also shooting an 18. Mike Smith claiming 8th with 15. And John Rodzianko finishing 9th with a 7.

The 50 yard target chosen for five shots was the infamous “X with Zeros”. And the whining began in earnest. JP Sherkus mounted the thing side-ways (?) as he was having no problems with his windage. He managed a creditable 48 1X for first place. Rich Burkhart came in 2nd with a fine 43. Third place went to Mike Smith with a 42 followed by John Marhefka with a 34 1X. John Rodzianko came in 5th with a 30 1X, Rich Stock shot a 30 for 6th. Mike Rodzianko, Frank Niccoli, and Art Twitchell all shot 29, with Mike being closest to the X. John Rodzianko turned in a 7, (needs to shoot more in the future).

Overall scores for rifle out of a possible score of 190 were JP Sherkus with a very respectable 171 2X. Rich Stock shot a 157 3X, John Marhefka with 153 1X, followed by Rich Burkhart with 137. Art Twitchell had a 123 1X, Mike Rodzianko with 120, Mike Smith with 108, Frank Niccoli with 103 2X, John Rodzianko with 94 1X and Al Short with 90. Art Twitchell brought up the usual “Need more invisible targets!” whine.

We only had three pistol shooters this month. Looking for less whining, JP chose the standard bullseye for 25 yards. JP Sherkus shot a 42 for 1st, Rich Burkhart came in second with a close 38 and new member Mike Welick shot a 35.

Now without the whining, we had the standard bullseye at 50 yards. J.P Sherkus managed to hit the thing five times with a score of 30. Rich Burkhart unfazed with a 17. Overall pistol scores were JP Sherkus with a total of 72, Rich Burkhart shot a 55 and Mike Welick shot a 35.

At any rate, JP came up with the idea for the 50 yard pistol target for the August match. You can blame him when you see it. BWA HA HA HA.

The next match will be Sunday, August 21 be-ginning at 9:00 AM and ending at 2:00 PM. It will be an Aggregate Target Score Competition with prizes for individual targets at 25 and 50 yards. Everyone who shoots WILL win some-thing!!!

NEWS and SHOOT RESULTS

Ladies and gents, here we were for the “May Doug Crowe Choice Shoot”, and Doug DID NOT SHOW UP TO SHOOT!. The temperature was well above freezing with no wind or other weather-related excuses but for the high humidity. Woke up to 65 degrees which rose to a balmy 70 degrees upon arriving at IWLA. By the end of the match, we had a heat wave of near 75 degrees. Still kept the bar-rels reasonably cool. Some problems with hang fires later on as the humidity rose. We again had only six shooters this month. Way to go for those who did show up. Perhaps the choices on targets made by Doug Crowe scared folks off.

So, as a result, we had a total of 6 riflemen and 4 pistoleros. As this was an individual target match, and JP was planning on eight places, all shooters won something. Great to see Rich Burkhart back with us after a hiatus of several months. Once again, you can’t blame Schutzenmeister JP Sherkus for choosing targets. All complaints can be directed towards Doug Crowe for this month. Now even though JP has a book filled with 130 + targets, Doug chose some “winners”, proba-bly so he thought he could hit them.

The first 25 yard target was the “Bark the Squirrel”

for three shots. This turned out to be much harder than it looked. You had to hit either the squirrel head or the branch with two shots with the other one with one shot. John Marhefka who turned in the best score of 21 was able to hit the branch twice with the squirrel once. He was followed by Joe Turner with 18 and Art Twitchell with 13. Mike Rodzianko also shot a 13 as did Rich Burkhart. Places were chosen in this three-way tie by being closest to the squirrel eye. JP Sher-kus came in last on this target, yeah I know, how could that happen, but he turned in an 8. The next target at 25 yards for three shots was the venerable (?) Bigfoot. This target was not a challenge for JP Sherkus who had to redeem himself and shot a 29. John Marhefka was right on his tail with a 27 as was Art Twitchell with a 23 X. Rich Burkhart came in 4th with a 19 followed by Mike Rodzianko with 15. Joe Turner came in last with 13. The final target at 25 yards for five shots was the “Standing Groundhog”. Not much of a dif-ficulty since it took up most of the page. JP Sher-kus was sighted in and shot a 44 for first place. Mike Rodzianko also shot a 44 for 2nd. John Marhefka was right behind with a 43 and Art Twitchell hitting a 38. Rich Burkhart turned in a 36 with Joe Turner hitting a 15.

 At 50 yards, Doug chose two targets that had usu-ally been seen around Halloween. Although most of us had in fact seen these targets before, at 50 yards, they caused some hard moments. The Halloween Pumpkin was difficult to hit at 50 yards, but JP Sherkus managed a 27 for first place. John Marhefka came in second with 24 while Rich Burkhart, shooting for the first time in several months hit a decent 23 X. Only three turned in targets for this one.

The last 50 yard target was rather difficult. The large Pirate Skull also filled the page. JP Sher-kus turned in a 40 X (man his rifle likes the longer distances) for first place. John Marhefka did well with a 36 for second. Third place was claimed by Joe Turner with a 27, while Rich Burkhart shot a 13. Again only four shooters turned in this target.

For Rifle, out of a possible max score of 190, El Presidente John Marhefka came in first with a great score of 151. JP Sherkus came in second with a score of 148 X. Rich Burkhart came in third with 104 X, way to go Rich. Fourth was Mike Rodzianko with 75 X followed closely by Art Twitchell 74 X. Joe Turner was next with a 73. Great shooting all! BTW, Doug Crowe will al-so NOT be choosing the targets for the June shoot. Remember, that this lets Schutzenmeister JP off the hook for May and you may send your target complaints to Doug Crowe for the May shoot!

There were four Pistoleros this month, two more than last month. Remember that Doug chose these targets as well. Anyway, the first target at 25 yards was the “Oval”. JP Sherkus was on with the pistol as well and turned in a 45. John Mar-hefka hit a 34 X, Rich Burkhart did well with 31 and Mike Rodzianko shot a 15. Good to see that Rich didn’t forget how. At 50 yards, Doug chose the old standard large Bullseye. Again JP Sher-kus took the lead with 40 and Mike Rodzianko turned in a 29. The other two shooters missed this target.

So out of a total possible score of 100, JP Sher-kus turned in a 85 for first with Mike Rodzi-anko scoring 44 for second. John Marhefka came in third with 34 X and Rich Burkhart

came in fourth with 31. Great shooting all, and best of luck next month. Schutzenmeister JP was heard to say that it might be an “Invisible Critter” Match. At any rate, get ready for the Invisible Squirrel.

SPECIAL ANNOUCEMENTS

Next shoot is Sunday, June 19 starting at 0900 and ending at 1400. We usually end before this, but you can shoot till then. This match will be an AGGREGATE shoot, so everyone who shoots WILL win something. Let’s see some shooters for this match!

Keep yer powder dry,

Rich

NEWS and SHOOT RESULTS

Ladies and gents, here we were for the “Father’s Day Shoot”, but where were the shooters???? The temperature was well above freezing with no wind or other weather-related excuses but for the high humidity. Woke up to 65 degrees which rose to a balmy 70 degrees upon arriving at IWLA. By the end of the match, we had a heat wave of near 80 degrees. The humidity did cause some sweating and complaining about problems with hang fires later on. The stronger breeze offered both relief from smoke and an excuse for missing. We again had only SIX shooters this month. Seven counting a new member, Tom Flannery, who did not compete. Way to go for those who did show up. Per-haps the choices on targets made by Schutzen-meister JP Sherkus scared folks off. He did not disappoint having an “Invisible Critter” match. So, as a result, we had a total of 6 riflemen and 2 pistoleros. As this was an aggregate score match, and JP was planning on lots of shooters, meaning all shooters won lots of prizes again. Great to see the stalwarts who showed up.

The first 25 yard target was the “Invisible Mam-moth”. Being a new target, and quite large for 25 yards, JP has us shoot five shots at it. After all, it would probably take that many to stop a mam-moth. This new target turned out to be much harder than it looked – except for JP Sherkus who turned in a 47 2X. Art Twitchell was also not fazed by the critter and turned in a 43 1X for second. Jim Ellis shot a 29 for third, with Rich Burkhart also turning in a 29 for 4th. Jim hit closest to the X on the tie breaker. Frank Niccoli came in next with a 26 and Dave Molash hit a 10 1X to finish that target.

The next target at 25 yards was for three shots. It was an old standby “Three invisible Critters”, you had to hit each critter head once. Everyone did pretty well with this target, but JP Sherkus must really hate peeking squirrels. He turned in a 29 for 1st. Dave Molash turned in a 27 for 2nd and Jim Ellis hit a 20 for 3rd. Rich Burkhart hit a 19 1X for 4th, Art Twitchell turned in a 16 for 5th and Frank Niccoli rounded up out with a 13.

The final target at 25 yards for three shots was Art’s favorite, the “Invisible Squirrel”. Now, we only usually see this target once per year, so here it was. JP Sherkus racked up a 28 for 1st place. This was again followed by Art Twitchell with a 22 (it is/was Art’s favorite target). For 2nd. Kinda went down hill from here. Both Frank Niccoli

and Rich Burkhart turned in a 9 with Frank coming closest to the X for 4th. Dave Molash finished up with a 1.

At 50 yards, JP chose a target that caused whining the last time it was seen last year. It was the “Invisible Rhino” for five shots. Folks said that they couldn’t see it at 50 yards. Come on guys, how do you miss seeing a rhinoceros that took up most of the page? Schutzenmeister JP advised us to just shoot for the center of the target. Must have worked for him as he turned in a 46 for 1st place. Next in line was Jim Ellis with a 38 1X fol-lowed by Frank Niccoli for 3rd with a 36. Rich Burkhart shot a 31 for 4th. Art Twitchell and Dave Molash both turned in a 26 with Dave win-ning the tie breaker for 5th.

The last 50 yard target was the “white Groundhog” for 3 shots. It qualified as invisible since it was white surrounded by black trim. Anyway, guess who came in first? Yup, it was again JP Sherkus with a 28. Rich Burkhart claimed 2nd with a 24 followed by Jim Ellis with 23. Both Art Twitch-ell and Frank Niccoli turned in a 16 with Art closest to the X for 4th. Dave Molash finished up the target.

For Rifle, out of a possible max score of 190, JP Sherkus came in first with a great score of 178 2X. Seems that he couldn’t miss today. Jim Ellis came in 2nd with 125 1X, Art Twitchell was 3rd with 123 1X. Rich Burkhart was 4th with 112 1X, Frank Niccoli was 5th with 100, and Dave Mo-lash finished up with 64 1X .

There were only two Pistoleros this month, two less than last month. Anyway, the first target at 25 yards was the “Small Bullseye”. JP Sherkus was on with the pistol as well and turned in a 32. Seems he was having at least one flyer every time he shot this target. Rich Burkhart turned in a 23 for second. At 50 yards, JP chose the old standard large Bullseye. Again JP Sherkus took the lead with 43 and Rich Burkhart turned in a 34.

So out of a total possible score of 100, JP Sher-kus turned in a 75 for first with Rich Burkhart scoring 57 for second.

Great shooting all, and best of luck next month. Schutzenmeister JP was heard to say that it might be an “Interesting and enlightening” match based on the targets.

What a fine day we had for a match! I was looking forward to seeing more of the old gang as the weather broke and the Wuhan seemed more under control. We did end up with seven competitors which was two less than last month. The usual bunch of die hards showed up and we did have a great time. Way to go gents! Let’s see if we can build up the shooters this month. To that end, we signed up a mew member, Joe Turner of Arlington, VA. Welcome Joe! Join the crack shots or the crack pots – depending on which side of the aisle you shoot on.

Weather luck was with us as the day started out really fine. It was cool but not un-
comfortable and we again had to shuck off the excess jackets and shirts. By the end of shooting at 1330, the temperature had risen to a balmy 65 degrees.

Schutzenmeister JP Sherkus chose the targets. You all can blame him this month. All of the targets were shot before, perhaps in the far past, but there were none that hadn’t caused consternation before. The pistol match was about the same.

The first target at 25 yards was the old black wedge with a border of zeroes. JP Sherkus started out in usual form and hit a 27 for first place. This was just one point ahead of El Presidente John Marhefka who shot a 26 for second. Rich Stock shot a great 24 for third followed up by Rich Burkhart with a 22. Al Short turned in a 13, Frank Nicoli hit an 8, and Art hit a 5, as the wedge was not invisible…. The next three shot target was the large black crow. Art Twitchell woke up, not became “woke”, but woke up and hit a respectable 28 for first place. John Marhefka was also warming up and shot a 27 1x for second, with JP Sherkus turning in a 25 for third. Fourth place was claimed by Rich Stock with a 23 followed by Al Short with 14. Frank Nicoli hit a 12 and Rich Burkhart hit a 10. The final 25 yard target was old buffalo, which by the way, we still have a crap ton of. John Marhefka took first place with a great score of 47. JP Sherkus was again one point behind with a 46 followed by Al Short with a 44. Frank Nicoli wacked the buff with a 38 followed by Rich Stock at 36 and Rich Burkhart with a 34.

At 50 yards we were shooting a groundhog, anoth er “crap ton” of target, for three shots. John Marhefka came in first with a great score of 22. He was followed for second place by JP Sherkus with a 17. Al Short turned in a 14 followed up by Rich Burkhart with 12, Rich Stock with a 7, ending with Frank Nicoli at 6. Overheard someone whining that the groundhog learned how to dance. The 50 yard target chosen for five shots was the black X with zeroes. Hadn’t seen this one in a while either, but two shooters turned in great scores of 44. John Marhefka came in first by
virtue of being closest to the X and Rich Stock came in second. Third place went to Frank Nicoli with a 40 followed by JP Sherkus hitting a 39 with a sore shoulder. No more yard work for him the day before a match. Al Short came in next with a 33 and Rich Burkhart rounded out for last place with a 25. Overall scores for rifle were John Marhefka who shot very well and scored a 166-1x. JP Sherkus 154, Rich Stock 134, Al
Short had a 118, Frank Nicoli 104, Rich Burkhart 103, Art Twitchell had a 33 as he was busy instructing some youngsters. Good job Art.

We had only two pistol shooters this month. Following the complaints from last month, JP settled for the standard round bullseyes as targets. At 25 yards, JP Sherkus shot a 38 but John Marhefka hit a 41 for first place.

At 50 yards, John Marhefka bettered his score to 44 while JP only bettered his score by one to 39. Overall for pistol, John Marhefka shot an 89 while JP only shot a 77. Better luck next month.

It’s time to renew your BRML Membership for 2021. Dues are only $20. You get the newsletter and the free turkey shoot (guaranteed to win a turkey). During the year we occasionally have a Member’s Only Target with a special prize. Rejoin and support your club! You can send me a check (payable to Bull Run Muzzle Loaders – please, no cash) to the address above and I’ll mail your membership card to you. Or better yet, you can catch me at a shoot.

The IWLA range clubhouse is now open for meetings. Yippee! The next match will be Sunday, June 20 beginning at 9:00 AM and ending at 2:00 PM. It will be an Aggregate Target Score Competition with prizes for individual targets at 25 and 50 yards plus the grab bag on the table based on your scores. Everyone will win something!!! You get 3 of each target. There will be a pistol competition for those who wish to participate. You get two targets with five shots at each. Score your own, hand in your
best. After you shoot your best score of the three and score your own, turn it in so we can keep the score sheet current. You must have one half ball in the scoring ring to count. All shots are from the freestanding, off-hand position. Relays are approximately 20 minutes each. Any safe muzzle loader (flint, cap, firelock, side slapper, under hammer, inline) may be used. Iron sights (open, peep, aperture) only, no scopes or optics permitted. Spotting scopes may be used. Subject to change without notice—generally there are 5 targets, some requiring 5 shots, some only 3. Expect the unexpected and have a bundle of fun. Usual distances are 25 and 50 yards.

Keep yer powder dry,
Rich

NEWS and SHOOT RESULTS

As we digest the results of the inaugural April Fools Shoot, Herr Schutzenmeister JP is ruminating over the method of choosing targets. He is not sure about repeating his method. He may need a year or so to figure it out. That said, we had NINE, count’em, NINE competitors for this first of its kind event. Way to go gents! Let’s see if we can keep it up now that the weather has improved as well as the Wuhan flaming out. We had many of the usual gang, but we also saw several from the “not been here in a while group”.

The day started out in true spring fashion with the temperature hitting quite cool on arrival. However, there was (thank God) no wind. By the end of shooting at 1330, the temperature had risen to a balmy 62 degrees. Shooters were shucking layers
again. Schutzenmeister JP Sherkus allowed the tail end shooter from the March match to pick the targets. Can’t blame him this month, blame Art Twitchell! All of the targets were shot before, but the pistol match was quite interesting.

The first target at 25 yards in the April Fools Shoot was the 5 Rhinos for, wait for it, five shots. Nobody managed to hit all five of them, but Jim Ellis hit three with a score of 27. Art Twitchell managed a score of 22 with Mike Rodzianko coming in with a 19. Al Short hit a 17 with John Marhefka finished with a score of 15. The first three shot target Art chose was the Three Frying Pans. Nobody hit all three, but four of us hit double digits. Mike Rodzianko and John Marhefka both hit a 19 with John coming in first. Al Short hit an 18 with JP coming in with a 17. General consensus was to file that target away.

The final three shot target was Art’s favorite, the Invisible Squirrel. JP Sherkus woke up and whacked it with a 28 followed by Art Twitchell with a 23. Frank Nicoli shot a 22 with John Marhefka hitting a 21. Rich Burkhart and Max Kingsley brought in a tie for fifth with scores of 18.

At 50 yards we were shooting a Groundhog for three shots. John Marhefka came in first with a great score of 27. He was followed by one point by JP Sherkus with a 26. Rich Burkhart had a 22 followed by Frank Nicoli at 21. Fifth place went to Jim Ellis and Al Short who both shot a 17. The 50 yard target Art chose for five shots was the Fleur-de-lis. Hadn’t seen this one in a while, but Schutzenmeister Sherkus turned in a great score of 43 for first place. Art Twitchell shot 35 for second with John Marhefka turning in a 30. Rich Burkhart rounded out the fifth place with a 29.

Overall scores for rifle were JP Sherkus 121, John Marhefka 112, Art Twitchell 100, Rich Burkhart 92, Al Short 88, Frank Nicoli and Jim Ellis 82, and Max Kingsley 40.

We had five pistol shooters this month. Art chose some interesting targets for this competition, an other reason not to let him do so again for at least a year. At 25 yards, he chose a small diamond that hadn’t been seen in years, for rifle! JP Sherkus shot a 38 X for first in this target followed by John Marhefka with a 34 for second. Art Twitchell came in third with a 16 and Max Kingsley hit a 15. Rich Burkhart turned in a 7 for last.

At 50 yards, Art chose the Ham Blob. Only three shooters turned in scores for this one. JP Sherkus came in first with a 30 followed by John Marhefka with a 16 for second. Rich Burkhart came in third with a 9, which was two more than his 25 yard target. Overall for pistol, JP Sherkus 68 1X, John Marhefka 50, Rich Burkhart and Art Twitchell with 16 and Max Kingsley 15.

It’s time to renew your BRML Membership for 2021. Dues are only $20. You get the newsletter and the free turkey shoot (guaranteed to win a turkey). During the year we occasionally have a Member’s Only Target with a special prize. Rejoin and support your club! You can send me a check (payable to Bull Run Muzzle Loaders – please, no cash) to the address above and I’ll mail your membership card to you. Or better yet, you can catch me at a shoot.

The next match will be Sunday, May 16 beginning at 9:00 AM and ending at 2:00 PM. It will be an Individual Target Score Competition. You get 3 of each target. There will be a pistol competition for those who wish to participate. You get two targets with five shots at each. Score your own, hand in your best. After you shoot your best score of the three and score your own, turn it in so we can keep the score sheet current. You must have one half ball in the scoring ring to count. All shots are from the freestanding, off-hand position. Relays are approximately 20 minutes each. Any safe muzzle loader (flint, cap, firelock, side slapper, under hammer, inline) may be used. Iron sights (open, peep, aperture) only, no scopes or optics permitted. Spotting scopes may be used. Subject to change without notice—generally there are 5 targets, some requiring 5 shots, some only 3. Expect the unexpected and have a bundle of fun.

Usual distances are 25 and 50 yards.

Keep yer powder dry.
Rich

NEWS and SHOOT RESULTS from the 2021 March Monster Shoot. Sorry this is a bit late, must be spring fever. Not nearly as many competitors as last year again, but at least the same as last month. We had the usual five, but low and behold, our director of tardiness, Dwight Hlustick actually showed up! So, of the six competitors, only two were from Maryland and four from VA. The day started out in true spring fashion with the temperature hitting quite cool on arrival. However, there was (thank God) no wind. By the end of shooting at 1330, the temperature had risen to a balmy 57 degrees. Shooters were shucking layers again. Most of the grass on the range was still damp, but not ice covered. Schutzenmeister JP Sherkus did not fail to introduce two NEW tar-gets at 25 yards with one relatively new Gargoyle that hadn’t been shot in quite a while. In honor of the Monster shoot, the first target was a new three dinosaurs. JP Sherkus managed to hit all three of them with a score of 28. John Marhefka smoked it with a score of 23 for second Place.

Third place went to Frank Nicoli with 12. Art Twitchell and Dwight Hlustick each shot a ten with Rich Burkhart coming in last with a seven despite finally putting his new front sight on. The next three shot target was the Gargoyle. John Marhefka whacked it with a 27 1X followed by Rich Burkhart with a 27 for second. Frank and JP tied at 20 but JP scored third by closest to the X with Frank in fourth. Art scored a 19 with Dwight ending with a 16.

The final 25 yard target was the NEW Martian for 5 shots. A 47 got First Place for John Marhefka. JP Sherkus was right behind with 45 for second. Rich Burkhart hit a 41 1X for third. Frank Nicoli had a 34 for fourth and Dwight was right on his tail with a plain 22. Art came came in sixth with a respectable 21. Maybe this target was too easy at 25 yards. Don’t be surprised to see that Martian thing at 50 yards in the future.

At 50 yards we were shooting new “monsters”, probably because of the month. Not wanting to face an Irish curse, Schutzenmeister JP came in with an “Evil, undead Leprechaun” for five shots. JP must have really hated this thing and scored a 47 1x for first. Dwight Hlustick also did well with a 31 1X followed by Rich Burkhart with a 31. Right on their tails was John Marhefka with a 29 and Frank Nicoli shot a 19. Art Twitchell shot a 7 probably because the target was NOT in-visible.

The new Space Alien head was the final target at 50 yards for three shots. Shooting was pretty close on this one, must have been watching Star Trek reruns for aiming advice. JP Sherkus shot a 28 for first place. Next was John Marhefka with a 27, one point behind. Rich Burkhart shot a respectable 25 for third with Frank Nicoli coming in next with a 23. Dwight managed a 12 with Art turning in a ZERO for last place – remember this in a minute.

We had three shooters in the Pistol Match. At 25 yards JP Sherkus shot a 42 1X and John Mar-hefka got a 40 1X. New pistol shooter Rich Burkhart shot a respectable 37 which bettered his Feb score by one point. At 50 yards John Marhefka shot a 46 1 X . Way to go John! JP Sherkus shot another got 40 and Rich missed the 50 yard target still getting used to his pistol. John Marhefka came in first with an 86 1X with JP coming in second with an 82. Rich Burkhart came in third.

The overall high score of the March Monster Match was JP Sherkus with 168 1X. Second Place was John Marhefka with 153 1X. In Third Place was Rich Burkhart with 131 1X. Frank Nicoli had a 108 1X and Dwight Hlustick shot a 91 1X for fourth. Art Twitchell brought in the last place with 57.

Remember when I said wait a minute when Art turned in a ZERO score? Well, Schutzenmeister had a wild shot and declared that the shooter with the lowest aggregate score would choose the targets for the April Fools Match. Well, even though we all may yet regret this decision, Art looked through the book of 123 targets on file and chose the five rifle and two pistol targets for the match. Guess what? One of the targets is the In-visible Squirrel. Go figure.

It’s time to renew your BRML Membership for 2021. Dues are only $20. You get the newsletter and the free turkey shoot (guaranteed to win a turkey). During the year we occasionally have a Member’s Only Target with a special prize. Rejoin and support your club! You can send me a check (payable to Bull Run Muzzle Loaders – please, no cash) to the address above and I’ll mail your membership card to you. Or better yet, you can catch me at a shoot.

The next match will be Sunday, April 18 beginning at 9:00 AM and ending at 2:00 PM. It will be an Aggregate Score Competition with some prizes for individual targets as well. Bot-tom line, everyone who competes in the April Fools Match will win a prize!. You get 3 of each target. There will be a pistol competition for those who wish to participate. Art chose those targets as well. You get two targets with five shots at each. Score your own, hand in your best. After you shoot your best score of the three and score your own, turn it in so we can keep the score sheet current. You must have one half ball in the scoring ring to count. All shots are from the freestanding, off-hand position. Relays are approximately 20 minutes each. Any safe muzzle loader (flint, cap, firelock, side slapper, under hammer, in-line) may be used. Iron sights (open, peep, aperture) only, no scopes or optics permitted. Spotting scopes may be used. Subject to change without notice—generally there are 5 targets, some requiring 5 shots, some only 3. Expect the unexpected and have a bundle of fun. Usual distances are 25 and 50 yards.

Keep yer powder dry.

Rich

NEWS and SHOOT RESULTS from the 2021 Frostbite shoot. Not nearly as many competitors as last year, but two more than last month. But Art was kept busy with the SIX shooters who did show up. We had five of the usual crew and new member Drew Trent drove up from Sunderland MD to compete. Way to go Drew!!! So, of the six competitors, three were from Maryland. Are we taking over? The day started out in true Frostbite fashion with the temperature hitting 23° on arrival. However, there was (thank God) no wind. By the end of shooting at 1330, the temperature had risen to a balmy 37°. Shooters were shucking layers. Most of the grass on the range was still ice covered, which was quickly melting. It was still extremely icy on any shaded areas, so we stuck to the paths to/from targets.

Schutzenmeister JP Sherkus did not fail to introduce two NEW Targets at 25 yards with one venerable Crow that hadn’t been shot in quite a while for the third. In honor of the Frostbite shoot, the first target was a new Snowman. JP Sherkus blew its head off with a 30 1X. John Marhefka smoked it with a score of 28 for second Place. Third place went to Frank Nicoli with 27 1X. Rich Burkhart came in fourth with a 19 1X, Art Twitchell had a 15 with his underhammer and Drew Trent scored a 10. The next three-shot target was the ol’ crow. Rich Burkhart whacked it with a 27, followed by John Marhefka with a 26 for second. Art and JP tied at 22 but JP scored third by closest to the X with Art in fourth. Frank Nicoli scored a 10 with Drew Trent ending with a 5. The final 25 yard target was the NEW Raccoon for 5 shots. A 45 got First Place for JP Sher-kus. John Marhefka was right behind with 43 1X for second. Art Twitchell hit a 36 for third. Rich Burkhart was closing in with 32 1X for fourth and Frank Nicoli was right on his tail with a plain 32. Drew came in sixth with a respectable At 50 yards we were shooting groundhogs, probably because of winter fur. John Marhefka got First Place with 29 and Art Twitchell shot a 28 despite the target not being invisible. JP Sherkus came in third with a 26. Rich Burkhart came in Fourth with a 23 and Frank Nicoli scored a 22. Drew Trent shot a 17 for sixth. Not the best scores for five shots, but the critter must have been jumping around. The

Groundhog head was the final target at 50 yards. John Marhefka took First Place with a 25. Next was Drew Trent with a 17. One point behind at 16 was Art and Rich, but Art had a shot closest to the X. JP Sherkus must have had a gun failure with a 10, and Frank Nicoli came in last with an 8. We had three shooters in the Pistol Match. At 25 yards JP Sherkus shot a 45 1X and John Marhefka got a 40. First time pistol shooter Rich Burkhart shot a respectable 36 with a revolver that he had not shot in 30 years (he claimed). At 50 yards JP Sherkus shot another got 45 for a total of 90 1X and First place. John Marhefka and Rich Burkhart were having some problems with 50 yards and did not turn in targets.

The winner of the Aggregate Match was El Presidente John Marhefka with 151 1X. Second Place was JP Sherkus with 133 1X (darn groundhog head). In Third Place was Rich Burkhart with 117 2X. Art Twitchell had a 117 NO X for fourth. Frank Niccoli with 102 1X followed by Drew Trent with a 67.

It’s time to renew your BRML Membership for 2021. Dues are only $20. You get the newsletter and the free turkey shoot (guaranteed to win a turkey). During the year we occasionally have a Member’s Only Target with a special prize. So far, we have 22 paid up members. That is way down from previous years. C’mon ladies and gents. Re-join and support your club! You can send me a check (payable to Bull Run Muzzle Loaders – please, no cash) to the address above and I’ll mail your membership card to you. Or better yet, you can catch me at a shoot.

The next match will be Sunday, March 21 beginning at 9:00 AM and ending at 2:00 PM. It will be an Individual Target Score Competition. You get 3 of each target. There will be a pistol competition for those who wish to participate. You get two targets with five shots at each. Score your own, hand in your best. After you shoot your best score of the three and score your own, turn it in so we can keep the score sheet current. You must have one half ball in the scoring ring to count. All shots are from the freestanding, off-hand position. Re-lays are approximately 20 minutes each. Any safe muzzle loader (flint, cap, firelock, side slapper, under hammer, inline) may be used. Iron sights (open, peep, aperture) only, no scopes or optics permitted. Spotting scopes may be used. Subject to change without notice—generally there are 5 targets, some requiring 5 shots, some only 3. Expect the unexpected and have a bundle of fun. Usual dis-tances are 25 and 50 yards.

Keep yer powder dry.

Rich

It was another GREAT day for a shoot. The sun was shining, the wind was light, there was no rain or snow. The only thing that was missing were shooters! There were only four of us to compete, and all of us were club officers. The change back to our original hours, 9 AM to 2 PM, and the wonderful weather should have brought out more peo-ple that we’ve seen in a while. Well, there were 4 competitors, including newcomer Drew Trent. Drew also joined BRML though he did not com-pete this month. WELCOME DREW!!! There were a couple of individuals who came for some shooting a muzzle loader down around position 14. Schutzenmeister JP Sherkus dug out some interesting targets to challenge one and all. I really mean dug out since many had not been seen in a while despite having a “crap ton” of then in the cabinet. First at 25 yards was the dancing deer for three shots. El Presidente John Marhefka shot 27 to beat JP by one point for First Place. JP Sherkus was Second with 26X. Rich Burkhart took Third with 14 beating Art Twitchell Fourth Place 11. Next was the small Buffalo for five shots. JP Sherkus took First with a 50 earning him the coveted (?) 50 pin. John Marhefka was Second with 46 while Rich Burkhart took Third with 28 just beating Art Twitchell with 27 for Fourth. Then came a twist for the match. Schutzenmeis-ter Sherkus decreed that the last 25 yard target would also be five shots (and the whining began). This was the good old standing bear. JP Sherkus cleaned house with a 47XX for First. Second went to John Marhefka with 46 3X. Art Twitchell came in third with an 18 and Rich Burkhart was Fourth shooting a 9. Sorry guys. At 50 yards we had the white groundhog for three shots. We saw this one a couple of months ago, but we have a ton of them, and we needed something approximating an invisible target for Art. It looked deceptively easy even at 50 yards, but…I guess it wasn’t. That said, JP Sherkus who took First with a 28 still likes the 50 yard shooting. A 23 gave Rich

Burkhart Second Place while 19 got John Mar-hefka into Third. Art Twitchell came in Fourth with 8. The final Rifle target at 50 yards was the big black egg for 5 shots. JP Sherkus was shoot-in’ sideways for 47, but so did John Marhefka. First Place went to JP with shots closest to the X. Rich Burkhart won Third Place with a 33. Art Twitchell took Fourth with 27X. There were only 2 shooters in the Pistol Competition. At 25 yards John Marhefka shot 45 while JP Sherkus shot 41. John and JP shot their 50 yard targets with a tail wind. The bit of a breeze stirred up some consternation as both John and JP shot a 36. John Marhefka totaled 81 for first place, while JP Sherkus shot 77 total for Second Place.

It’s time to renew your BRML Membership for 2021. Dues are only $20. You get the newsletter and the free turkey shoot (guaranteed to win a tur-key). During the year we occasionally have a Member’s Only Target with a special prize. So far, we have 22 paid up members. That is way down from previous years. C’mon ladies and gents. Re-join and support your club! You can send me a check (payable to Bull Run Muzzle Loaders – please, no cash) to the address above and I’ll mail your membership card to you. Or you can catch me at a shoot. Please be gentle, I want to shoot too.

The next match will be Sunday, February 21. In addition to shooting, we will need to elect officers for the 2021 season. If you are interested in a position, come by and shoot! I don’t know what Shutzenmeister Sherkus will have for targets in February, but I’m sure it will be fun and challenging. There WILL be a pistol competition for those who wish to participate. Score your own, hand in your best target sheet. Please, do not stockpile or delay handing in your target sheet. We want to keep the score sheet cur-rent.

All shots are from the free-standing, off-hand posi-tion. Shooting begins at 9 AM and ends at 2 PM. If we finish early, we can stop before 2 PM. Relays are approximately 20 minutes each. Any safe muzzle loader (flint, cap, firelock, side slapper, under hammer, inline) may be used. Iron sights (open,

peep, aperture) only, no scopes or optics per-mitted. Spotting scopes may be used. Subject to change without notice—generally there are 5 targets, some requiring 5 shots, some only 3. Remember, you must have a half ball inside a scoring ring to count it. Expect the unexpected and have a bundle of fun. Usually distances are 25 and 50 yards. Please return any unused targets at the end of the match.

Keep yer powder dry.

Rich

For the Annual Turkey Shoot, it didn’t seem to be a bad day for a competition, but a couple of competitors complained about excessive fouling buildup, hang fires, and “unexplained” errant shots. Unfortunately, there were only 12 shooters in the match. Where were you guys???

Surprisingly, there wasn’t one word about the selection of turkey targets for the competition. Shutzenmeister JP Sherkus had decided that since it was a Turkey Shoot, we were going to shoot Turkey targets. With regards to invisible targets, there were no invisible turkeys of any kind, sorry Art.

The first target at 25 yards was the 3 Turkey Heads, one shot per head. Judging from the scores, this was the hardest target of the day. Some supposed that the turkey heads were actually snakes which were swaying constantly. John Marhefka was top scorer with a 24. He actually managed to hit each head once. Ron Vecchioni also managed to hit all three with 22, then came Frank Nicoli with an 18, Doug Crowe with a 17 and Rich Burkhart with a 16. Jim Ellis and Roman Sartorius (a new member!) hit a 14. Mike Rodzianko, Ben Burkhart, and JP Sherkus hit a 13.

Next was the Small Black Turkey for 3 shots. Art Twitchell surprised himself with a 25, not bad for a “visible target”. John Marhefka and JP Sherkus both had a 24-1X, with Rich Burkhart coming in with an 18. Mike Rodzianko came next with a 15 chased by John Ferranti with a 14. Ben Burkhart and Roman Sartorius both hit 10 and then came Ron Vecchiani and Jim Ellis with 5.

Then came the Big Turkey, cousin to the Invisible Squirrel, for five shots. That was because despite its size, the turkey had a much smaller scoring area with much of the body being Zero. John Marhefka totaled the beast with a 45, followed closely by JP Sherkus with a 43. Doug Crowe had a solid 34. Jim Ellis and Frank Nicoli tied with a 29-1X. Art Twitchell and Roman Sartorius both followed with a 28.  Ben Burkhart came in next with a 26, beating his dad with a borrowed rifle, and Ron Vecchioni hitting a 19. Rich Burkhart had a 16 and John Ferranti finished with a 9.

At 50 yards, Shutzenmeister Sherkus chose the venerable large turkey heads. These had been seen several times before and did not cause much if any whining. The first was the round turkey head which had some highs and lows for three shots. JP Sherkus killed the bird with a 30 followed by John Marhefka with a 27. There was a three way tie at 24 by Mike Rodzianko, Doug Crowe, and Ron Vecchioni. Roman Sartorius shot a 16 with a tie at 15 for Rich Burkhart and Frank Nicoli. Jim Ellis and Art Twitchell turned in an 8 and John Ferranti hit the paper with a 0.

The final target was the skinny Turkey Head. JP Sherkus has said many times that his rifle likes long distances, and he showed it again with a 48! Doug Crowe came in next with a 43-1X followed by John Marhefka with a 42. Mike Rodzianko came in fourth with a 39. Rich Burkhart as had a 26, Frank Nicoli had 25, Ron Vecchioni had a 20. Roman Sartorius and John Ferranti had an 18, with Jim Ellis, having trouble with his sights, turned in a 15. Art Twitchell, still complaining about no invisible turkeys turned in an 8.

The Top Shot for the day was again El Presidente John Marhefka this year with a 162-1X. Second was JP Sherkus, just four points behind with a 158-1X (darn those three turkey heads). Doug Crowe had a 143-1X. Mike Rodzianko broke three figures with a respectable 117-1X as did Frank Nicoli ending up with 100-1X. Next was Rich Burkhart with a 91, Ron Vecchioni with a 90, and newbie Roman Sartorius with an 86. Art Twitchell finished with a 71 followed by Jim Ellis with a 71-1X. Ben Burkhart had a 49, even without shooting the 50 yard targets due to fouling problems. Last but not least was John Ferranti with a 46.

The next match will be December 20, 2020. Yes, that’s the Sunday of Christmas week, but it will be an Aggregate Score Competition, so you will bring home some prizes (presents?). You get 3 of each rifle target. Shutzenmeister Sherkus promised that there will be “Joyful targets”. There WILL be a pistol competition for those who wish to participate. Score your own, hand in your best target sheet. Please, do not stockpile or delay handing in your target sheet. We want to keep the score sheet current.

All shots are from the free-standing, off-hand position. Shooting begins at 9 AM and ends at 2 PM. If we finish early, we can stop before 2 PM. Relays are approximately 20 minutes each. Any safe muzzle loader (flint, cap, fire-lock, side slapper, under hammer, inline) may be used. Iron sights (open, peep, aperture) only, no scopes or optics permitted. Spotting scopes may be used. Subject to change without notice—generally there are 5 targets, some requiring 5 shots, some only 3. Expect the unexpected and have a bundle of fun. Usually distances are 25 and 50 yards. Please return any unused, unshot targets at the end of the match.

Keep yer powder dry.

Rich

This is a note to remind you that the BRML Annual Turkey Shoot will be held on Sunday, November 15 at the Izaak Walton League range in Centreville.

Shooting begins at 9 AM and ends at 2 PM. If we finish early, we can stop before 2 PM. Relays are approximately 20 minutes each. Any safe muzzle loader (flint,cap, firelock, side slapper, under hammer, inline) may be used. Iron sights (open, peep, aperture) only, no scopes or optics permitted. Spotting scopes may be used. Subject to change without notice—generally there are 5 targets, some requiring 5 shots, some only 3. Expect the unexpected and have a bundle of fun. Usually distances are 25 and 50 yards. Please return any unused, unshot targets at the end of the match.

We look forward to seeing you at the match.