2015 ISRPA NRA Highpower Rifle State Champion in the house!

[indyjohn]

Congrats to our own natdscott for bringing home the overall win in the NRA Indiana Highpower Rifle State Championship! Scoring a 779 of possible 800 with 25 X!

No small accomplishment as he did so with a CMP Service rifle, beating out the evil Match Rifle shooters. And won over a dedicated Marine Corp Reserve shooter!

Nice work Nate!

 

[natdscott]

My thanks to you, sir. To friends and family, it's a really tough sort of thing to explain what I do and what that means, even to those that "shoot guns". This, while most of society just thinks it "dangerous", or he must be "unbalanced", or they do the "what if he...". As such, I appreciate the recognition of my fellow Shooters--that understand in finite detail what "the right stuff" really is--more than maybe anybody else.

The score card is nothing that can be faked or done halfway, literally being black and white, same as the targets and the bullet holes. While it seems on the surface to be a conceptually simple sport and a magnet for bored middle-aged men to the uninitiated, I can't easily put into words the rapture of watching a truly excellent shooter's string of fire form.

I suppose I came to win Saturday, as I always do, and things went pretty okay. I shot one of the best offhand scores of my life at 9 in the morning, and it was JUST enough lead to edge Mr. Bragg at 6pm. We spent the day squadded together though, and I believe I'd have offered to buy he and his wife a beer if not for their drive back east across Ohio. I'd shoot with them any day,anywhere something needed shot, same as I would a lot of the great men and women I've met in this sport from across the world, yourself included.

It was a great match, with good competition, and I have to offer my thanks to Sue and Shawn for once again putting together a great State Championship.

-Nate

 

[Leo]

Great job Nate! You planning on shooting small bore league this winter?

 

[17 squirrel]

Good shooting, Congratulations..

 

[natdscott]

Thanks, 17, Leo.

I don't know yet whether I can hit the League or not. It's more challenging now for me to get there in time, but I may be able to work a deal out or something..


-Nate

 

[bocefus78]

Nicely done! Congrats!

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Congratulations!

 

[Litlratt]

Congrats Nathan!!

 

[natdscott]

Thank you, gentlemen!

Ratt, someday I promise I'm gonna get down to Riley to shoot some steel with ya'll. It may go poorly, but at least I will provide you some laughs. And donuts. Definitely donuts.

-Nate

 

[Litlratt]

Thank you, gentlemen!

Ratt, someday I promise I'm gonna get down to Riley to shoot some steel with ya'll. It may go poorly, but at least I will provide you some laughs. And donuts. Definitely donuts.

-Nate

Looking forward to it.

 

[Twangbanger]

Great job! It's good to hear worthy exploits from the precision marksmanship sector on here.

 

[sloughfoot]

Congratulations on a National Championship level score. My best ever is a 774 with a match rifle. I have had 18 points for 10 years. I dispair of ever going distinguished.
Congratulations.

 

[Litlratt]

Congratulations on a National Championship level score. My best ever is a 774 with a match rifle. I have had 18 points for 10 years. I dispair of ever going distinguished.
Congratulations.

Excuse my ignorance, but please explain.

 

[sloughfoot]

It is for us lowly Masters.... I don't know what class he shoots in.

 

[indyjohn]

Excuse my ignorance, but please explain.

Oh look who has a stick.

 

[indyjohn]

Great job! It's good to hear worthy exploits from the precision marksmanship sector on here.

For me, Highpower is like golf: Just about anyone can play the game and have a good time at it, but to be really good you have to be consistent and minimize mistakes. The one's with natural ability (four that I've had the privilege to watch first hand have posted in this thread) make it look a lot easier than it is.

 

[Litlratt]

Not much natural ability here. The vast majority of app. 150,000 rounds was during practice.

 

[natdscott]

And for myself, it is impossible to know whether I have some natural talent for precision shooting. While Highpower, Silhouette, a dabble in Bullseye, and some coaching has made a major difference, a life of 10's of thousands of rounds fired BEFORE just happening upon competitive marksmanship laid a foundation of shooting mechanics that is impossible for me to "see through" to any 'natural' skill I might have had to start with. 6 year old's just want to shoot...

My aggregate match scores are roughly 20 points ahead of where I came in a few years ago. On the one hand that's not very good, but on the other, I have learned and "mastered" at least 2 new shooting positions from what I knew, have become VERY much more consistent from day-to-day in how I shoot, learned a little about the lifetime of experience needed to shoot REALLY well in the wind, and I have been able to shoot pretty good scores and groups at distances (to 1,000 yards) I'd never have dreamed of even closing the bolt on before.

I have coached, and been coached (a fair amount by Mssr. Ratt hisself), and I have tried to learn to shut up and listen when those opportunities present. I have also learned to respect and admire the marksmanship legacy that was passed to me by my Dad, from his Dad; shooting was serious business for me growing up, even though we didn't have any clubs for this kind of thing.

I have also gained a lifetime of confidence in my ability, something I didn't have before. Believe me, I understand the pressure aspect of standing on the line to deliver against all your peers, who are standing around to watch you triumph or fail. But to be able to stand on your feet, an AMU shooter at your left, and trade 10's back and forth in offhand, in the most competitive Service match in the world on the largest RANGE in the world, and know down your toenails that you can hang right with him, and that you will ...that's a very liberating thing, and it's something I had to learn not to apologize for.

All this was done with one AR-15 Service Rifle.

I say that last piece for anybody sitting at home that thinks Highpower, or any other competitive shooting discipline, is completely unapproachable and unattainable. Get, or make, the time and make the effort to come to a shoot, even if it's "just to see". I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

-Nate

 

[Litlratt]

Well said.

 

[Twangbanger]

Congratulations on a National Championship level score. My best ever is a 774 with a match rifle. I have had 18 points for 10 years. I dispair of ever going distinguished.
Congratulations.

Right there with you on that, you are not the lone ranger. I scored the target of a guy who got his last leg last September at the state bullseye championship. He got 30 points in less than two years. It was a really cool moment, signing the scorecard of somebody you know is getting something they wanted badly. But there is that "always a bridesmaid - never a bride" aspect to it, as well!

I've shot nothing but my hardball gun in every match the last 3 years, just to get practice. I think everybody else will have to die out of the sport, before I get my moment of glory.