May 2000

PONDERING THE GROWTH OF TACTICAL

SHOOTING IN SOUTH TEXAS

by

Jacob Gottfredson

I love the way Dick Wright writes. I mean, how could he do otherwise? Even his lovely child-bride Glorya says, "Dick Wright." He was meant for the profession. I enjoy opening the pages of Precision Shooting or Tactical Shooter and seeing that Dick has blessed us with another of his journeys. I dont mean to put him under any kind of stress here, but his consummate blend of humor, self-deprecation, and technical knowledge seem to flow effortlessly to the page. I love it when he describes walking to his shooting bench in the north woods, the birds chirping, the tranquil lake nearby, the vegetation sparking with dew.

I fantasize about being with them ... just Dick and Glorya and me, a cup of hot coffee in our hands, enjoying the silence of the morning and the forest, getting ready to break it all with gunfire. Nah, maybe we will just sit and enjoy the silence, pleased that we have successfully escaped the hustle and bustle of the city.

Then suddenly I am whisked from my woolgathering and back to my kitchen and my own set of circumstances. The heat and humidity of South Texas are often oppressive. So I sit in my kitchen, out of the heat, and punctuate my writing with trips to the fridge to munch another shard of my homemade nilgai jerky. I sit and ponder ponder the fact that all the trailer camps and KOAs here are filled with Snowbirds. The spell is broken. It comes to me that Dick is probably buried in snow up to his neck about now. His bench is cracking apart from the cold and swelling ice, and Glorya the child-bride is shoveling snow as fast as she can to rescue Dick, the coffee held tightly in a thermos slung round her neck. The hot liquid is not to revive Dick with a jolt of caffeine but to pour over his head in an effort to thaw him out and return him to the warmth of the fireplace.

And in my pondering, I ponder also the day that Dave Brennan called and talked to me about the birth of Tactical Shooter magazine. You have got to know Dave tough, conservative, a literary intellect. "There is an astonishing growth of long range and tactical style shooting emerging in this country. We have decided to add a second magazine dedicated to the genre. Since that and optics seem to be where your heart is, how would you like to come aboard?" His exact words might have escaped me, but that was the gist of it.

"Absolutely," I said and wondered (pondered) what in the world he was talking about.

That was more than two years ago, and I sit here now pondering Daves insight. How could he have known that two years hence, I would get a call on the eve of a Tactical and Highpower match being held the next morning not three miles from my home here in Corpus Christi? Youre kidding.

It was Jacob Bynum on the phone. "I called to tell you that the Second Annual Sniper's Paradise Sniper Shootout will be held the last day in June through the first two in July." It was only the 14^th of January and I appreciated the lead-time.

"Fantastic. Ill be there," I replied with enthusiasm.

"And there is a tactical match tomorrow morning at the Corpus Christi Rifle and Pistol Club. Come shoot with us." I could feel the energy in Jacobs voice waxing. I could feel mine waning.

There was silence on my end what is he talking about? Unlike poor old Dicks circumstances about which I was fantasizing, the weather here in Corpus was beautiful. Winter is a joy in Corpus, which is why it is often referred to as the Texas Riviera, the sparkling city by the bay. But even so, did Jacobs youthful exuberance make my blood boil enough to work through the night getting my gear ready? Nah. Still I was taken aback by my own ignorance of what might be going on in my own backyard.

Like a few months ago when I got a call from out of the blue from Senior Officer Fermin Garza inviting me to spend some time with the citys SWAT unit snipers. I didnt even know the city had a SWAT unit, much less snipers. Not only is there such a thing, I came to find out, but it is highly organized, full of energy and commitment, and Fermin himself is the picture of a hard charging, dedicated member of law enforcement. My daughter says, "Like where have you been?" Sometime later a second call came from Fermin asking if I would like to observe a sniper night training course the department was conducting. It turned out to be a simulated hostage situation. Arriving in time to see the trainees gear up, I stood in awe watching them receive instructions and deploy to their various locations.

While I trailed Fermin through the dark and stumbled over the Bermuda grass, he explained his training regimen as well as some of his own personal beliefs about the sniping profession. Fermin has been at this for many years and is thoroughly knowledgeable about tactics, rifles, ammo, scopes, etc. His thinking about bullets, ballistics, and the shots that may present themselves to law enforcement is somewhat contrary to popular cartridge/bullet configurations and beliefs but he makes a lot of sense. As a matter of fact, he is not the only person involved in the profession that feels that some of the traditional methods are outdated, particularly amidst the swell of newer cartridges and the modern knowledge about them. I hope Fermin and his team will allow me to write more about them in the future. But back to Jacobs call.

"Nah," I told Jacob, "I cant get my old bones tied together, lubricated, and moving that quickly. And besides, my elbows are still bruised from shooting prone at your last match in June." But I thought about it through the night and decided I had to see what was going on.

Seven-thirty Saturday morning caught me driving the three or so miles to the Corpus Christi R&P Range. Sipping my coffee, I thought again about poor old Dicks plight. Such a beautiful morning in Corpus Christi, Snowbirds aflight from their trailers, chirping with glee, a norther blowing in a tempered chill all the many miles from Dicks house in the northern woods, just enough to make one feel really alive. I thought about Glorya chipping away at the snow, the thermos swinging to and fro, hoping she would make it to Dick before the spring thaw. There they must be, a few miles from the Canadian border, and me, a few miles from the Mexican border.

As I made the turn off the asphalt and into the ranges property, SFC Pete Carpentier was right behind me. Gees, I thought, he showed up at the sniper training the other night, the sniper shootout, and now this. He also helps run the Guards sniper training program and the national championships qualification matches in Texas. Does this guy ever rest?

The long ranges are at the far end of the property, and at first I wondered where the competitors were. Was I early? As I passed the ranges headquarters building, I began to see them. Wow, where in the world did all these high power, long range, tactical types come from? From whence did Daves insight come? I spotted the principles of Snipers Paradise, Jacob Bynum and Thomas Blahnik, first. Billy Colston, Jacobs friend, was there as well, and with them a recently discharged Navy SEAL, Shane Allumbaugh. An intense individual joined us, immediately interrogating me thoroughly: who was I; where was I from; what was I doing here; was I going to shoot? This direct confrontation startled me speechless for a moment. As it turned out, the accosting of my person was not so aggressive as it first seemed. The gentleman, I was to learn, was Woody Bodine, also from Corpus Christi, and the fellow largely responsible for the match that was about to begin. He was up to his ears in hurry-up.

I meandered about pondering once again the explosion in this country of long range and tactical style shooting. There were a few professionals among the group, some ex-professional, but the crowd was primarily civilian. Wannabes?

The term wannabes seems to carry with it a small decanter of the derogatory. My experience so far is that this is not the case with any of the civilian shooters of the genre that I have met. They are drawn to the niche by what it offers. Tactical and long range shooting hold perhaps the most challenging pursuit of the shooting sports the least of which will make the participant a better all around rifleman and hunter. Far better as a matter of fact which leads me once again to ponder when the rest of the shooting world will discover it, and the explosion will escalate to the exponential. I take particular interest in another aspect of this explosion: our fight to retain our right to bare arms. With this kind of interest, and ultimately this kind of expertise, it would seem that a liberal government might be hard pressed to force its will upon us.

I guess by now you have come to the conclusion that my rambling is not a simple match report. Well its not, but let me get back to this one for a moment. Woody continued to scurry hither and yon, doing much of the work himself, a few souls volunteering to help out. While I watched in fascination the competitors bring finely tuned tactical equipment to the line, I noticed a working compatriot of mine, Jim Fugitt, a recently retired engineer who had gotten the highpower bug.

"Jim," I queried, "are you going to shoot?"

"Yes sir," came his stiff, succinct reply. Gees, I thought, hes more military than the military. Another no-nonsense engineer.

"What with your rat gun and iron sights?"

"Yes sir." There it was again.

Jim, one of the nicest Homo Saps afoot, was a highly respected instrument and electrical engineer who had spent a lifetime traveling the world, making industrial plants such as ours run error-free trip schedules and instrument operated processes so complex that I knew it all had to be some sort of magic engineering indeed. As he got into the regimen of preparing his equipment, I set up my spotting scope, put my camera around my neck, and prepared to have fun without the pressure of shooting. Jacob and Thomas looked at me a little blankly, not believing me when I said my equipment wasnt ready (I lied). Thomas even offered me his rifle.

Shane Allumbaugh, the Navy SEAL, had recently returned from three years in Italy and was now attending the University on a football scholarship. I looked at him and thought about the days when I was fit and ready for anything no matter how stupid and life opposing.

The course of fire was something that Thomas had used at some point in his ten years as an Army sniper. Ten rounds at one hundred, again at two hundred, and finally at 300 yards, all from the prone position.

I watched the traces through my spotting scope as Manny Vasquez shot the 100 with astounding perfection. His ten round group was tighter and more deadly than many ten round rail gun groups I have seen, and all from a bipod.

Seventeen shooters had gathered to lay on their bellies, by far the best looking of whom was Trina Anthony. This slim, trim athlete gave no quarter as she shot a 99 with 4 Xs.

But the competition was hot on the line at 100 yards with ten of the seventeen shooters blazing 100s, trying without success to equal Mannys 100-10x. Thomas Blahnik came close with 9xs, as did Ed Becka and Adam Yarbro. Jacob Bynum and Bill Colston followed closely with 100s and 6Xs.

Woody called a cease-fire and the group moved to the 200 yard position. As competitors picked up and carried equipment to the next station, I lumbered under the load of a tripod, spotting scope, and camera. Ah me the hardships of an observer.

Hundreds with a bevy of Xs came much harder this time, but Manny Vasquez continued his punishing onslaught finishing with another 100-4X count. Although Manny seemed invincible, he was not out of the proverbial woods yet. Following closely on his heels were Bubba Weikel and Neil Tennison with 99s and Woody Bodine, Thomas Blahnik, Jacob Bynum, and Bill Colston with 98s.

Woody called a second cease- fire, and the group moved to the final stage at 300 yards. Now you have to remember, folks, that these were ten round stages. I never shoot 10 rounds at anything for fear I might have to give up the shooting sports in embarrassment. Ten rounds are exponentially harder than 5 rounds and god-fearingly tougher than 3. Maybe that was in the back of my mind when I declined to shoot a subconscious protecting of a frail vanity? I wondered about Trina? That is a lot of pounding in the prone position on a collarbone without an ounce of cushioning fat. Am I turning into a wuss? No doubt about it. You know, of course, that in benchrest competition, the best shooters are the really fat guys and the skinny ones sitting at the bench. The wind blows right by those skinny frames without knowing they are there. The fat ones are too much of a load to push around. Its us in-betweens that take a pounding, moving to and fro like a smokestack vibrating from vortex shedding. On the other hand, in kneeling, sitting and standing positions, it is the porkers who get hammered. There is nowhere to go, and the recoil is felt to the bone. The lanks with nothing but skin on their bones just roll with the punches. But the prone thats a different story altogether. Better have some tissue on that collarbone and paint ball pads for the knees and elbows. I mean how anyone can shoot straight when having to endure such pain is beyond me.

The traces were showing up splendidly now, and it was a hoot to watch them whiz to the bull like a golf ball gathering height through a parabolic arc. Yep, you guessed it: Manny pulled through again, posting another 100-6X count. So he was invincible after all, I thought. But to place second one had to be close to perfect because the field had grown tougher. Adam Yarbro posted another 100 along with Shane Allumbaugh, Thomas Blahnik, and Bill Colston. Woody Bodine, Ed Becka, Jacob Bynum, and Harly Day shot 99s.

I was watching Jacob Bynums trace and holding my breath. His group was centered in the ten ring and was just a ragged hole after 6 shots. I couldnt comprehend someone being able to shoot benchrest quality groups laying down, the rifle resting on a bipod, all at 300 yards. With two just out to the left and another low, Jacob finished with a 99-7X, the highest X count of either the 300 or 200 yard events. There were only 4 better X counts at 100 yards. Even more surprising was the fact that the first 6 shots were dead center. That means that the five shots following the first cold bore shot pounded in right behind it. I want that gun. I want to buy my way to success. Im certain thats all there is to it. Yeah right!

We all waited as the targets were scored, pondering (there we go pondering again) over who might have garnered second, third,. Nope, it was no mystery by this time who the winner was. Manny had cleaned the field, or very nearly so. With three 100s and a barrel of Xs, he was not to be beaten.

You will undoubtedly notice that the winner was shooting a 6BR while the rest of the top ten were shooting 308s. I think that is an extraordinary performance for the 308s to do so well against the 6BR. Gives one faith, doesnt it? I watched a 6BR capture the new NBRSA worlds record at 1000 yards during the 1000 yard National Championships in Raton, NM this past summer. Evidence that the little cartridge is no push over at the longer ranges (was that a pun?).

Second, you will notice that these fellows are shooting in the high 90-percentile range against the field and in the high 90-percentile range against the absolute. Reasonably stellar performance, wouldnt you say? Congratulations to all! And a special thanks to Woody Bodine and those who gave of their time to put together and run a match of this kind. I was told that they will be having monthly matches with changes to the format; for example, the next is a long-range match shooting at steel. The match dates at the Corpus Christi Rifle and Pistol Range, I am told, are: February 19, March 18, April 15, May 20, June 17, July 15, August 15, and September 16 for those of you who are so inclined. And the fee is a measly $10. I will give Woodys particulars at the end of this article.

After the match, the far "South Texas" contingent was headed for Schlotzskys for one of their delectable sandwiches (no coffee, no smoking, and no libations, to the authors chagrin, I might add). I was invited to join and did so gladly because I wanted to interview Manny Vasquez.

This was the second time I had met Manny Vasquez. The first time was at the Sniper Shootout hosted by Snipers Paradise in mid 1999. There were at least two of Mannys rifles present at the match, and both shot extremely well. The 6BR he had brought to the match in Corpus Christi was certainly broaching benchrest quality, if it was not already. He is presently employed by Snipers Paradise as their gunsmith.

The 6BR-chambered rifle that Manny shot astounded me even more when I learned that it was chambered to minimum SAAMI specs, and the necks had not been turned. Manny used Clymer reamers on the chamber and Berger 68-grain bullets in the bore. His group at 100 yards was not more than a bullet and a bit deep. The group was about .4 inches wide, but he had moved his aiming point slightly to the right to ensure hits in the 10 ring. The stock was of the sniper variety, and he shot off of a bipod. Bottom line: It seems that Thomas and Jacob have wrangled themselves a gunsmith with considerable ability to produce very accurate rifles. I am excited to see what the three of them will come up with for a sniper system rifle.

For more information about the match, future matches, and other sundry items described herein, contact:

Woody Bodine

5321 Carriage Lane

Corpus Christi, TX 78413

Phone: (361) 854-3792

OR,

Max Dunn

(361) 814-0669

Snipers Paradise

Thomas Blahnik & Jacob Bynum

E-mail: email@snipersparadise.com

Web: http://www.snipersparadise.com

Photos and captions:

Photo 1 Shane Allumbaugh, ex-Navy SEAL turned football player bears down with an Accuracy International rifle. The English rifle enjoyed a healthy presence at this match.

Photo 2 Manny Vasquez. Relaxation and smiling attitude are apparently the keys to success. The highly accurate rifle built by Manny helped a little also.

Photo 3 Trina Anthony. The authors undisputed favorite shooter of the day.

Photo 4 Trina Anthony and Thomas Blahnik of Snipers Paradise steel themselves for the 100 yard event.

Photo 5 Bill Colstons concentration is high as he prepares for the 200-yard event. Boy, does that asphalt look hard on the elbows. Note the Schmidt and Bender scope. Did it help nail his 3^rd place finish?

Photo 6 Jacob Bynum of Snipers Paradise is about to destroy the X ring at 300 yards.

Photo 7 Manny Vasquez, Snipers Paradise gunsmith, takes the honors of the day. Manny has a gift for turning out ultra-accurate tactical rifles besides knowing how to shoot them.