June 2000

The second Copicut Rifle Association Egg Shoot of the year is in the books. Once again we started out with fantastic shooting conditions until about 11 am when the wind started to pick up and do its switching dance down about the 175 yd mark!We had 23 shooters in the various categories and with reshoots they “scrambled” over twenty dozen eggs. I still find it most interesting that when we first started these events some years ago, most of the guns at the line were hunting rifles with 3-9 scopes. In those days if a dozen or so eggs were broken at 200 yards it was an event! As time went on, more and more varmint rifles showed up and the egg count climbed. Now the typical rifle is a heavy barreled Savage or Remington with a few Sakos and Winchesters thrown in for good measure. Almost all the guns showing up in the factory class are varmint configuration. Two years ago we started to see a few custom guns. For this event a “custom” gun is any rifle / pistol that has an aftermarket barrel attached. A few of the folks sent their varmint rifles off to be rebarreled and the egg count grew even more. Recently, the benchrest crowd has discovered this event. The last few meets have seen no fewer than a half dozen full-blown BR guns with a few BR shooters behind them. At this last event there were more 6BR and 6PPC rifles than any other cartridge. I think these folks like the low-key atmosphere of these events as a change of pace to a real BR match. The benchrest folks will tell you that this type of shooting is a challenge. Moving the gun from target to target and trying to hit something rather than trying to maintain a group is a whole different thing. Handguns are also starting to show up more and more. To me the most entertaining event at the Egg Shoots are the handguns with less than 9X scopes at 100 yds. Now that’s fun! Any handgun can be competitive at this range, but the TCs are the firearm of choice. If you own a TC you owe it to yourself to come on down and “have at it” with us. Well, enough about that…. On to the shoot! The most popular category is the 200 yard rifle event. And this meet was no exception. In 200 yd custom rifle, we ended up with a five-way shoot off. This is a record for the number of folks in a shoot off. The shooters were Randy Costa (New Bedford), Bob Sicina (Buzzards Bay), Gary Maciel (Mattapoisett), Dave Jansen (Bryantville) and Roger Buonanno (Arlington). It should be noted that Roger was shooting his new BR Pistol against the rifles. Since he went 5 for 5 in the handgun category, and won that event, he wanted to try his hand against the rifles. The sudden death shoot-off separated the men from the boys and Dave Jansen walked away with the trophy. Two hundred yard factory rifle was also highly contendered. But when it was all said and done, Brian Wilson (E. Harwich) was the winner.Ray Piche (New Bedford) had his TC really on target. He walked away with both the 100 yard under 9X and the 200 yard pistol events. Great shooting Ray!As I stated earlier, Roger Buonanno, went 5 for 5 in the 200 yard custom pistol. Roger’s new pistol is really something to see. He used the new Stolle Cub action and a barrel made from the rear axle of a dump truck. Only kidding, but the diameter looks like it did. He chambered it up in 6PPC and it shoots like a house afire! Pictures are in the photo album at www.rvbprecision.com. The 300 yard factory rifle event had a couple of event favorites out of the running. Bob Newman (Somerset) and Jonathan Wong (Westport) are usually the folks to beat. They both shoot nearly identical Remington 40X rifles in 308 and they usually hit everything they aim them at. Not today, it just wasn’t to be. Brian Wilson had his 6mm Remington dialed in and took the prize. Brian was really on his mark. Taking both the 200 and 300 yard events. Not bad for a switch hitter (Brian also shoots plates with handguns down on Cape Cod, but we won’t hold that against him )Three hundred yard custom also ended up in a shoot off. Three shooters were present and accounted for. Bill Gaudaitis (Needham), Bob Sicina (Buzzards Bay) and Gary Maciel (Mattapoisett). By now the winds were really blowing and I though we would be here all day waiting for anyone to hit an egg! But Gary broke his egg with his first shot and Bob and Bill couldn’t follow so under the sudden death rules, Gary was declared the winner. Good shooting by all three of these folks just to get into the shoot off.One hundred yard rim fire was won by Michael Resendes (Fairhaven) shooting a beautiful Stevens Walnut Hill that was handed down to him through generations. What a fantastic rifle! Thanks for bringing it by for all of us to see. Very high “Fondle Factor”!A couple other truly amazing events happened. Both Maureen Powers and Steve Perry showed up! Maureen has been trying to get her 308 shooting for about a year now, and threatening to attend an event. On Thursday before the meet she went out and purchased a new Remington VSSF in 223 and worked up a load on Saturday before the shoot. With a little bit more load development and a trigger tune-up she will be in the running. Steve Perry has a DPMS AR-15 that can compete with the big boys. I’ve seen it shoot some amazing groups! But Steve, you got to get there early before the wind blows and show those bolt folks that an AR can compete! Glad to have both of you at the shoot!Well, that about sums it up. We take the summer off so you folks can build a few new rifles and practice a bit. The next shoot is September 10 and the final, Grand Whazoo, will be October 8th. Make plans. The October event will have food, music, dancing girls, three legged dogs…….Well, we will have a cookout and a couple of the guys can sing pretty good but the dancing girls and the three legged dogs will have to pass. Information, directions, and pictures are at my web site www.rvbprecision.com or you can call me at 508-994-3644.See ya in September………………..Roy