Leave No Steel Standing

The 2019 BC Provincials (March 23-25) were outstandingly hosted by George Kesic and crew at the Mission silhouette range. Regardless of it being an early-in-the-year provincial competition, the stakes were high with competitors from all over the province and the USA vying for the achievement of winning their class. Competition aside, it was a great time catching up with old friends and making new ones, seeing new shooters step up to the line in such a big competition, shaking off those game day jitters we all get.

Day one of the competition was Smallbore (SB) Standard Rifle and Hunter Rifle. George gave the morning speech welcoming everyone, thanking them all for traveling great distances to support the BC Provincials. When we heard “Relay one to the line” the visiting was over and the competition had begun. “Relay one, for you first bank of targets, READY” as the spotters did their final adjustments on their scopes and the shooters picked up their rifle, shouldered it and came down into their bank of silhouettes. “FIRE”. With calm, ideal conditions for shooting, it was going to be an exciting 3 day shoot.

Once day one was over and 80 shots were completed for both SB Standard and SB Hunter, it was easy to see that each class was up for grabs. This was exciting to say the least for those spectating on social media with nail biting scores separating the competitors. The morning of day two was used to finish Smallbore (third match for each of SB Standard and Hunter). Scores were quickly summed and aggregates (sum of 3 matches) were calculated.

From B to Master class in SB Hunter Rifle aggregate winners were: B- Marilyn Beaubien. A- In a shoot off. Faye Rayment. AA- Harry Rayment. AAA- Mike Rutherford. Master- In a shoot off. Justin Marsh. Match Winner- Kalvin Marsh.

From B to Master class in SB Standard Rifle aggregate winners were: B- Marilyn Beaubien. A- Chanoa Cody. AA- Bill Letcher. AAA- Daniel Geroux. Master- Eric Boos. Match Winner- Justin Marsh.

The Smallbore competition was very tight and it was exciting to see different shooters win their respective classes. As soon as the SB award presentations were finished the big guns came out for the High-power event.

At the end of the second 40 shot High-power (HP) match the competitors and target setters were tired and ready to rest for the final day of the Provincial competition. After the long day, the social media updates were late getting posted.

It was great to see how many people were waiting all over the world for updates to see how everyone was doing.

The 3rd and final day of the competition was underway with the HP Open Champion still up for grabs between the three Marsh brothers and Eric Boos, the Washington champion. The High-power scores were impressive!

High-power can be a challenging task, not only are you already shooting off-hand with no artificial support and battling the conditions (wind, mirage, and the pressure) but also battling the recoil of a large caliber rifle making a large boom.

Two 40 shot High-power matches seemed to be over almost as quick as they began. The scoreboard huddle was busy as always with everyone looking to see how they placed. George took down the score sheets and tallied up all the HP scores.

From B to Master class in High-power Hunter Rifle aggregate winners were: B- Joule McDonald. A- Bill Letcher. AA- Rick Fraser. AAA- Jason Marsh. Master- Kalvin Marsh. Match Winner- Justin Marsh.

From B to Master class in High-power Standard Rifle aggregate winners were: B- Joule McDonald. A- Trudy Phillips. AA- Rick Fraser. AAA- Richard Carere. Master- Justin Marsh. Match Winner- Kalvin Marsh.

Additional to this exciting event, a few BCTSA records were broken and a Grand Slam award was presented by the BCTSA silhouette provincial director himself!! Jason Marsh was presented his Smallbore Hunter Grand slam pin. Kalvin Marsh smashed the old 120 shot Smallbore hunter rifle record hitting 113 targets; that means he only missed seven! Great shooting! Jordan Marsh set a new long run record on High-power Standard rifle hitting 18-in-a-row rams. Kalvin Marsh and Justin Marsh also completed their Grand Slams with High-power standard rifle!!