Fellow Shooters, Fellow Americans,
Wanted to wish you a great 4th of July weekend.
Have fun, be safe, and send a prayer out to all of our troops! God bless them and our great country!
Rob
Just a quick note to apologize for Rob’s blog not being up (consistently) since last Thursday. Our hosting company moved to a new server and was unable to get Rob’s sites up until today.
I apologize for any inconvenience. If you experience any problems, please notify us immediately.
Kip
Hey everyone,
Here are a few pictures taken by Julie G (first 2) and Tam Adams (3rd) of Dad at the Bianchi Cup. Hope you enjoy!
Rob and Mike Krie
Rob and Scott Carnahan
Rob Shooting the Barricade
-Tom
Hello fellow shooters,
Those of you who attended the 2009 Springfield Armory / USPSA Single Stack Nationals at PASA Park earlier this year already know about young Adam Carter and his fight against cancer. For those of you who didn’t attend, Adam is an 11-year old boy who was recently diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that is found in soft tissue and bone.
Joseph Niederbrach, one of our USPSA shooting brothers, is spearheading with other friends and family members to help raise funds for Adam’s climb to recovery. Rob and I met Joe at the Single Stack Nationals and were especially touched by his efforts to help Adam. Our daughter, Patience, is also eleven years old. I simply cannot imagine what Adam, his family and friends must be going through. It’s unthinkable.
So, we’re rallying with Joe and the Carter family to help in any way we can. We’re also hoping that some of you can find it in your hearts and wallets to donate to Adam’s cause. As a group, we can make a difference.
Check out Adam’s web site and read his story. He’s undergoing a very radical treatment right now and could use our prayers and support!
Help Adam Carter Fight Cancer!
Thanks to all of you who already donated to Adam at the Single Stack Nationals. And thank you to all of Adam’s new sponsors … those that clicked on the link above and joined forces with a family that is derterminedly fighting for a life.
Kip
Last week, Rob Leatham won the 30th-Annual NRA Bianchi Cup’s Metallic Sight Division! The event was held in Columbia, Missouri May 18 through May 23, 2009 at the Green Valley Rifle & Pistol Club. This is the 8th time Rob has won this match in two categories combined, metallic and open. He shot a score of 1909 (out of 1920 possible) with a 145 X-count.
Photo courtesy of Julie G.
Wednesday, the first day of the match, Rob shot a decent score on the Practical Event - 476 with 32 Xs. On Thursday, he shot the Mover and dropped 7 points … Not a good score for this event. He also only shot 29 Xs. This is a bit unusual for Rob, as he typically cleans the mover and has a much higher X-count.
Having already dropped eleven points in the two events, he knew that if he could clean the last two stages, he would probably win the match, as it wouldn’t come down to X-count.
Later Thursday afternoon, Rob nervously cleaned the barricade with a 480.36, tying the all-time Barricade record (with Jerry Miculek).
As always, the “Metallic” match was resting on the plates. Four men were in contention to win. If any one of them (Rob, Robert Vadaz, Phil Strader or Mark Owensby) missed a plate, they would lose the match. If Rob could clean the plates, though, he would win, as he was 2 points ahead of Robert Vadaz’s next best score, 5 points ahead of Phil, and 8 points ahead of Mark.
Photo courtesy of Julie. G.
For those of you that have never been to the match, shooting the plates is extremely stressful. Unlike the other three events, if you have a bad shot, you lose 10 points; not just an X, 2 points, or 5 points. And the moment you have a bad shot, you and everyone else immediately knows it.
Amazingly enough, Rob cleaned the plates on Friday morning. He reported that it was not any fun at all (until it was over) and that the pressure was unlike none he had experienced. He also finished 16th overall and went on to win the metallic shoot-off.
The last day was a nail-biter! Photo courtesy of Julie G.
I know it meant a lot to my father to regain his title from Robert Vadaz, who won the match in 2008. Congratulations, Dad! You’re back on top again! How about a record score next year?
Congratulations also to Bruce Piatt, Julie Golob, and Dave Sevigny for winning their divisions!
Go to the NRA Blog for the complete match results.
-Tom
Tom again. I know, I know … seems like I’m updating the blog more than my Dad does. Just wanted to post the link to Kippi’s article on the Single Stack Nationals. She wrote the story for J. Scott Durkin’s new web site, Action Shooting Podcast. You can find many more interesting articles, photos and videos on Scott’s very cool site.
Scott has been a friend of the Leatham Family for several years now. He is an accomplished, awesome photographer, creative web site designer, and he actually shoots (guns) pretty dang good, too! He is the match director for our monthly DrillMaster Shooting Club events and also works extremely hard as the Range Master at our DrillMaster Nationals. To say the least, we would be lost without his help! So, make yourself a regular on his site. I can personally guarantee that you won’t be disappointed! T
Hey all,
I just got a few pictures from Julie G with Dad practicing for the NRA Bianchi Cup and I thought it would be cool to post them here.
Dad and Phil Strader discussing the not-yet-decided-upon lunch venue.
That target sure is a long ways away...
It looks even further from here...
As soon as Dad gets back home, I’ll ask him to write about the match … or else.
- Tom
I just wanted to write a quick blurb about Springfield Armory winning the American Rifleman “Handgun of the Year” award for their new XD(M) pistol. The XD(M) is a great all-around gun for everyone from beginners to top-level shooters, and rightly deserves this award. You can find more info about the XD(M) on Springfield’s site, or just click here.
Well, another Single Stack Classic has come and gone, and my Dad has finished on top once again! That makes 15 years in a row for the old guy! I’m real proud of him, but wish he would post his blog on the match sometime soon … at least before next year’s match!
Here’s a quick (relatively speaking, for Dad) video of his acceptance speech. Thanks so much to Julie G for so steadily recording his lengthy talk.
The video below is of the actual match. Kip was able to film a few of the shooters in their squad, but the match ran so smoothly & efficiently, she didn’t have time to capture any of the other competitors.
Kippi has also written a story on the match. Check it out on J. Scott’s new web site, Action Shooting Podcast.ASP Tom
For those of you new to my blog and/or shooting sports in general, I have a few general safety rules that you should familiarize yourself with:
When dealing with firearms, SAFETY is always the primary concern.
Learn the NRA’s Gun Safety Rules:
1 - Always keep the gun pointed in a SAFE direction.
2 - Always keep your finger OFF of the trigger until ready to shoot.
3 - Always keep the gun UNLOADED until ready to use.
Visit the NRA’s website for more info on their firearm safety rules:
http://www.nrahq.org/education/guide.asp
Learn these general safety rules:
1 - Always treat / handle every firearm as LOADED.
2 - NEVER point a gun at anything you’re not willing to DESTROY.
3 - Be aware of your target and what’s BEHIND it.
4 - Always wear eye & ear protection.
Follow your range rules & always be safe! Rob
