The 7th annual Safari Rifle Challenge is in the books.
Here is a recap of this year’s event made by Jay Sheffield. Jay is the Match
Director of the Safari Rifle Challenge World Championships:
We once again had a capacity crowd of 68 registered shooters, who enjoyed the beauty of Northwest Montana and a full day of Big Bore shooting. This year we had a motorized target system on each of the ranges so that competitors could practice shots on charging, fleeing and crossing targets.
John Harma of Phoenix, AZ was the winner of the Diizche Safari Adventures trophy with a score of 186 out of a possible 220. John was shooting a .375 bolt gun.
Our annual trophy presented to the first place shooter and our new perpetual trophy.
Below are pictures of the event and a few of the stages (click to enlarge images):
Charging Lion.
Montana Rifle Company was on site to let competitors handle and test fire the big bore rifles.
Andy Larsson of Skinner Sights was also there to display his custom sights. Skinner also donated several custom double rifle cases for our lunch time raffle.
Champion Targets provided us a number of targets again this year including 8 of their new AR500 steel plates. We pounded the heck out of them and they will be usable again next year!
There was an amazing variety of rifles from vintage under lever hammer guns to modern VC 500's. Here are just a few of the gun racks that are spread around the range.
Here is Garry James with his vintage hammer gun taking a poke at the long range buffalo.
Motorized charging rhino target.
Rhino up close after taking a few hits!
Rhino coming through the cloud from a classic blackpowder rifle.
The cool hat club?
Long range buffalo.
George from Montreal Canada pointing out his shot on the "leaping leopard". Great shooting with a .500 double rifle!
Richard Winters shooting a couple of life size zebra.
Here are a few items that were donated for our raffle table. The money we receive from this event helps sponsor youth shooting sports throughout the year. Thank you to all of our sponsors for that support!
Event sponsors displayed on the 2017 Safari Rifle Challenge World Championships T-Shirt Back.
Event T-Shirt Front.
The 2017 course of fire.......
1. Checking Zero --- Four shooters on the line. Starting position will be EMPTY rifle, safety off, shouldered and pointed at the target as if shooting. On the signal you will load and fire two rounds at the 45 yd target then load and fire one round at the 100 yd plate. Open action, show clear, muzzle up during scoring and return to the gun racks.
2. Two Zebras --- Rifle loaded with one round, safety on. Fire at zebra target. Move to the next spot, load one round and fire at second zebra target. Open action, show clear, muzzle up when done.
3. Charging Rhino --- Rifle loaded with two rounds, safety on. Rhino starts on “standby” command. You shoot on the signal. Open action, show clear, muzzle up when done. (Kill zones will be faintly marked for scoring purposes; you must evaluate the angle then shoot at the heart/lung zone just like in real life).
4. Moving Across --- Load 2 rounds, safety on, low ready position. Target will go across L-R then instantly start back R-L. Target will start on “standby”; you may only shoot when target is passing through the opening between the barriers. Open action, show clear, muzzle up when done.
5. Champion Steel Fast Blast --- Low ready position. On the command, load and fire 1 round at the 45 yd plate in front of you. Move to the second shooting spot, load and fire 1 round at the 75 yd plate, move to the third position load and fire 1 round at the 100 yd plate. Timer will start on “shoot” command and stop on third shot, 1 point deduction for every second over 30 that it takes you to complete scenario. Open action, show clear, muzzle up when done.
6. Charging Lion --- Rifle loaded with two rounds, safety on, low ready position. On “shoot” command the lion will start towards you. You must then kneel down on one (or both) knees, disengage safety and fire both rounds. Open action and show clear before getting up.
7. Fleeing Buffalo --- Rifle loaded with one round, safety on. On the command “standby” the buffalo will start going away. On the “shoot” command fire at buffalo target. When you shoot the target will stop and charge back towards you. You must quickly reload and shoot again at the now charging buffalo. Open action, show clear, muzzle up when done.
8. Leaping Leopard --- Starting position will be low ready with 2 rounds in the rifle, safety on. On the command, shoot the Springbok then the leopard. (The leopard will appear after the first shot and stay visible for approximately 5 seconds). Muzzle up, return to gun rack.
9. Charging Water Jugs --- Two shooters, two rounds in rifle, safety on. The cart will start towards you on “standby” and you will then be given the shoot command. You must shoot the jug on your side then race to shoot the middle jug. Open action, show clear, muzzle up when done.
10. Long Range Buffalo --- One shooter, 1 round in rifle with safety on. On command, take one standing offhand shot at the long range buffalo with a steel plate kill zone. If first shot is a miss, shooter has option of taking 2nd shot but will receive 5 points for a hit, -10 for another miss.
Next year, the 2018 Safari Rifle Challenge World
Championships will again be held in Libby, Montana at the Libby Rod and Gun
Club. The event will likely be moving to June (a month earlier) to assure
cooler weather!
If you have not had the opportunity to attend
one of the shoots in beautiful Libby, Montana, then we hope you will make plans
to do so in 2018. If you want to be added to the (confidential) email list,
just drop Jay a line at safaririflechallenge@yahoo.com
We hope to see you next year!
