Author: Mike Kelly

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Sept. 24, 2023 – PPC Provincials

Firsts and Firsts -  Part 2

Warm guns back in their cases after a great evening practice: Sitting around the campfire, cooking, talking to friends, laughing. I imagine that’s the future, the founders of the Nova Scotia Rifle Association had hoped for way back in 1860; they wouldn’t be disappointed.
 
That’s exactly how Metro started the PPC Provincials.  Joe, Andy, Terry, Jack and Stephanie, Gary, and myself were grilling steaks, potatoes, chanterelles picked earlier in the day, now drenched in butter, on hot maple coals. We laughed and poked fun at each other about missed shots and other screw-ups we had under the pressure of practice. And Gary, who looked like 50 Cent with all the bling; 2 precision rifle medals around his neck from the afternoon shoot! Silver in the open and Bronze in the Mountford-Twinning match. Ohhh Metro just rocks the Mainland eh!
 
When the campfire weened so did we, into tents right on the range that night. It was a great evening, a cheap relaxing way to prepare for the Provincials the next day. 
 
As the first flickers of sunlight pierced through the trees, you could feel anticipation in the air!  Everyone was up rarin’ to go!  PPC Provincials attract a mishmash of talent from all the shooting sports, all striving for excellence. PPC is the culmination, the mixed martial arts so to speak, of the pistol shooter world. All the sports think they will dominate because of their speed or accuracy; However all the sports get reminded of Mike Tyson’s immortal words “no plan survives the first shot!”
 
Free Pistol champions, like NSRA’s own Bullseye Bob Selig, thinking accuracy will be the key to winning the match… but will it…
The IPSC Shooter‘s, like Hnatiuk’s own Fast Felix (Chris) think their speed will dominate… will that prove true…
Newbies like Cracker Jack McCarron, his Stephanie cheerleading in the background, believe sheer tenacity will guide him towards victory; but the outcome is far from determined, it’s fragile really!
 
The leaders during the match were in a constant state of flux with scores bouncing up and down faster than a hospital elevator on a full moon Friday night!  In the end, Terry took Bronze, Joe Silver, and I took the Gold.  All our scores were close, it could have been any of us that took that Gold!

Age and experience turned out to be of the most valued asset; combined, our competitive shooting experience is starting to get close to a century!  Andy missed the podium by but a handful of points, and took 4th, Gary took 7th overall with newbie Jack on his heels is now ranked 8th in Nova Scotia!  Again, Metro shined bright taking 6 of the top 8 spots in the 2023 PPC Provincial Championship!  We are the dominant shooting club in Atlantic Canada!  What a great wrap to a summer shooting season!

A great big thanks goes out to Daniel Zaenker at the NSRA for hosting this match!  It was AWESOME Daniel!!!
 

Regards 

Mike

PPC 2023 Provincials Match Results
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NSRA Gammell + Sirtonski Matches – Sept. 9, 2023

Fast, and Furious Firsts

The older I get the more I take joy in the simple pleasures of life, like attending events, spending time with friends, shooting.  Metro R&P recently received an invitation from the Nova Scotia Rifle Association (NSRA).  The NSRA Handgun Section Chair Daniel Zaenker put on the Nova Scotia Provincials (Gammell Memorial) for the Olympic Sport of Rapid Fire Pistol, on Saturday morning past and also another match, the Sirtonski Cup in the afternoon. My self and Joe MacHoll went as ambassadors for Metro. Joe journeying up from the Cape Friday and camped right on the range, I drove to Halifax in the wee morning hours. 

At Sunup, Joe started a fire, then put on a pot of coffee and breakfast.  As the sun climbed higher competitors started to trickle in, their first sight being ‘Quick Draw Joe’ with a coffee sitting by a fire as he slowly drawled, “Mornin”; Man it was a scene out of a Western. 

It’s the simple things, like watching the loss of all hope in the eyes of the mainlanders upon seeing Joe. It’s the simple things, like overhearing whispers, “The Capers showed… lost another one…”. Yes it’s the simple things that I find pleasure in as I age. 🤣

As always, Metro R&P put on a great showing, we were in the Metals for the sport of Olympic rapid fire pistol. Shooting 5 targets, a third of a football field away, in 4 seconds, from the draw is something let me tell ya! Especially when athletes that compete on the National Circuit arrive, like Glenn from Pictou and René from Quebec! That puts tension on the competitors! How did it pan out? Well, we actually won the event, keeping a provincial record score intact and taking home the Cup… again…

The Sirtonski Cup was a new experience for Joe and I as neither of us had shot it before or even knew the complicated course of fire. It went from very precise headshots behind hostage targets to smokin’ hot-speed shooting requiring multiple targets while changing magazines, to man-against-man shoot-offs. That separates the ‘wheat from the chaff’ man let me tell ya! Shooting a shot with an audience behind you hootin’, knowing full well if you miss you are out; shooting until only one person is left! Bob Selig, a legend at the Bull Meadow Range won that round by a quarter of an inch! Whoo!

Since we weren’t really sure about the match and the different stages we just shot all ‘bulls-eye’s’ (almost). Needless to say… We medaled. Actually, we won that trophy and, coincidentally, set the Provincial record score for the event as well. Yes as I age, I find solace in the simple things in life…

Regards 

Mike

Click on photo to enlarge
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Canadian Firearms Safety Courses (CFSC) on Cape Breton Island (Fall 2023)

There will be Canadian Firearms Safety Courses (CFSC) on Cape Breton Island:

September

CFSC
Monday, Sept 18 & Thursday 21st
6:00-11:30 both evenings
East Bay Firehall (by the Post Office)
3542 East Bay Highway,
East Bay, N.S.
B1J 1A3

—————————————————————

October

CFSC
Monday, Oct. 2nd and & Thursday 5th
6:00-11:30 both evenings
East Bay Firehall (by the Post Office)
3542 East Bay Highway,
East Bay, N.S.
B1J 1A3

CFSC
Monday 16 and Thursday 19th
6:00-11:30 both evenings
East Bay Firehall (by the Post Office)
3542 East Bay Highway,
East Bay, N.S.
B1J 1A3

CFSC
Monday 23 and Thursday 26th
6:00-11:30 both evenings
East Bay Firehall (by the Post Office)
3542 East Bay Highway,
East Bay, N.S.
B1J 1A3

Register here: https://firearmsafety.online-compliance.com/RegisterB.php?selection=courseid&courseid=914&categoryid=32

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2023 NSRA McDonald Challenge / Selig Free Pistol Match

Another two glorious matches on the mainland and another glorious showing for the Metro R&P Club!

It started in the morning with the ISSF 25m Standard Pistol Match. Shooting 12 times 5 rounds in 150, 20 and 10 seconds. One hell of a competition, scores were flipping back and forth like a sail in a hurricane! The leads changed multiple times over the course of the match but when the dust settled youth won out!

Young wiper snapper René DeHaitre (NSRA) nudged into first place on the last target’s in the 10 second runs to capture the cup! Sometimes the young do something right! This years McDonald Cup champion was René Dehaitre, Silver Medalist me (Mike Kelly), Glenn Hicks took a point from our own Joe MacHoll to take bronze. 

The afternoon ISSF match, the Selig 50m Free Pistol Match: Same order as in the morning. After many years the trophies stay on the Mainland for the next 12 months  😁

Great Fun, Great Sportsmen, good food (a fantastic BBQ with homemade burgers, sausages, hot dogs, beverages, and deserts), and overall an awesome match! Thanks Daniel for hosting and the NSRA!

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2023 PPC Training

The Club is sending a Team to the PPC Match (Provincials) in Halifax
PPC – Police Practical Combat Shooting
 
Since the 1940’s this was the required shooting qualification for Law Enforcement. It is shot with a service sidearm, centerfire revolver traditionally but most now use centerfire semiautomatic pistols. Red Dot sights are  allowed the last few years because Police are now using them. Recently .22 caliber rimfire pistols became an allowed firearm as well. Rimfire pistols shoot the same course of fire but aren’t able to win the Provincial Trophy, only centerfire pistols compete for this. 
 

Combat Pistol Course – An Introduction
Wednesday, August 23rd, 5:00 pm. Limited to 12 people. Email to register: president@metroriflepistolclub.ca

Practice Times:
Wednesday, Sept. 6th 5:00 pm till dusk
Wednesday, Sept. 13th 5:00 pm till dusk

PPC Provincials

NSRA Bull Meadow Range
Sunday, Sept. 24th 9:00 am

The course of Fire for PPC Matches

Stage 1 (1st event)
12 shots from 5m Standing
3shots in 3 seconds
3 shots, reload and 3 more in 10 seconds
3shots in 3 seconds

Stage 2
12 shots from 7m Standing
6 shots reload 6 in 20 seconds

Stage 3
12 shots from 15m Standing
6 shots reload 6 in 20 seconds

Stage 4
18 shots 25m kneeling – Standing
6 shots kneeling(1) in 30 seconds
12 shots standing no support 35s

Stage 5
12 shots 25m standing
6 shots reload 6 shots in 35 s

Stage 6
24 shots 50m standing supported (1), sitting(1) & prone(1)
6 shots left hand supported 6 R hand 80s
6 shots sitting, go prone 6 shots 80 s.

Stage 7
12 shots 25m standing (sup)(1)
6 shots left hand reload 6 shots R, 60s

Stage 8
12 shots 3m standing
2 shots right hand 2s for both. 3 times.
Reload
2 shots left hand 2s for both. 3 times

Stage 9
12 shots 7m standing unsupported
Shoot 6 reload, shoot 6 more in 20s.

Stage 10
18 shots 25m kneeling(1) and standing supported (1)
6 shots kneeling in 30s
6 shots right hand (sup), reload 6 left

Stage 11
6 shots 25m kneeling (1)
6 shots kneeling in 12 seconds

(1) means you can be aimed on the target when the match starts.

150 rounds total for the match.

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Small Bore Rifle Competition (Stellarton 2023)

And we’re off and running!

MRPC kicked off the 2023 shooting season with a small bore match.

Sunday, April 23rd Metro sent the A – Team up to Stellarton to compete in an invitational .22LR cal small bore rifle match. It was brought to the attention of the membership during the AGM and we hastily assembled a dominating team!

Top Team with all but 2 of our riflemen in the top 10 in F-Class and 3 Position Olympic Rifle in Nova Scotia, in our first competition small bore match since the 1970s. Pretty friggin awesome !

Tops in F -Class for the club was Hawkeye Holland (Mike) followed by Long Shot Long John (McQueen), with Tomie 2 Target’s (Victor), GI Joe (MacHoll), and Paul the hammer Browne nailed it with a middle of the pack placing….. and they never shot a small bore competition before! This of course all due to the phenomenal coaching of our resident rifle Guru Peter Campbell. Thanks Peter!

Following the match we had a private coaching seminar put on by a Nova Scotia legend, Al Roland from Truro. Al has been shooting and coaching small bore competitions since, well darn near since the invention of gunpowder, and has been a Chief Range Officer for the ISSF on matches all over the world. His insights on breathing, heart rate trigger control, and positioning were profound and insightful. Not only did they apply to rifle shooting but I can see how they relate to golf, archery, and pool billard as well. Probably the best coaching session I have ever had!  Al (who won the competition in 3 Position) is coming down this summer to spend some time with those interested. If ya want to run with big dogs his coaching will get you there!  

In summation, it was an awesome match with a great bunch. We shot well, and learned lots for the next matches, all with loads of laughter along the way! Followed up with ‘Mother Webb’s Steakhouse’!  An awesome day was had by all!! 

Regards
Mike Kelly

TO OPEN THE GALLERY CLICK ON A PHOTO
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NSRA OPEN HANDGUN MATCHES July 16, 2022

History repeats itself!  

The ‘dead shots’, AKA ‘The Metro Rifle & Pistol Team’, headed off to the Provincial Championships held at Bull Meadow Range, and once against emerge victorious!  
 
The MacDonald Challenge, an ISSF Standard Pistol Match held at the Nova Scotia Rifle Association since the 1960’s is the regional championship for Standard Pistol Shooting. The Metro R&P Club has won the match more times in the last quarter century than any other club in Atlantic Canada. This year we won it again. Joe MacHoll and Andy Maxwell started the match on fire, shooting ’bulls’ so often they made it look easy!  Mike Kelly narrowly squeezed past Joe MacHoll in the final Rapid Fire event taking first place leaving Joe with the silver and Andy in the top 5 in Atlantic Canada. 
 
 
The Selig Free Pistol Match, an ISSF- 50m Match is the regional Championship held by the Nova Scotia Rifle Association and Metro won that cup as well. The Selig Free Pistol Match is named after volunteer Bob Selig to commemorate his long-time commitment to the shooting sports in Atlantic Canada.
Again it was Andy, Joe, and Mike neck and neck kicking mainlander ass all the way 😆, and when the final scores were tallied the Metro Rifle & Pistol Club reined supreme. Mike taking gold, Joe taking silver, and Andy missing bronze because of one errant shot.
That Day the Metro Rifle & Pistol Club tasted again from the cup of Victory!
 
At the end of the day, all the shooters present, no matter their individual placing, had a fabulous day. The weather was perfect, Bob’s burgers and dessert were exemplary, and all had loads of laughter and fun!
Impressions (click on a photo to open the gallery)
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Atlantic Canada PPC Competition 2021

  The annual Practical Police Combat Shooting, Atlantic Canadian Championships (PPC) was held Sunday September 26, 2021at the Nova Scotia Rifle Association (NSRA) Facility in Halifax.

 

The PPC Atlantics is the final event of the summer shooting season

Top pistoliers from all disciplines in Atlantic Canada, as well as law enforcement, come vying for the immortalization of having their name engraved on the huge trophy.

 

  As always, The Metro Rifle & Pistol Club (MRPC) sent a team of exceptional talent to keep the mainland Teams in check…:-) and we did! New Brunswick and PEI sent teams and competitors trying to do the same! This year was a particularly tough shoot as there was continuous heavy rain and gusts with winds over 40km/hrs. The match that started as a test of shooting ability soon became a grueling endurance test. As the temperature plummeted in that crucible so did many competitors; but not the Metro Rifle and Pistol Competition Team!  We did not let our club down! The Metro “A team” took it in stride fighting furiously for the top position!  Towards the end of the match, ankle deep in freezing rain, soaked to the core, two teams were at the pinnacle!

  It teetered back and forth between Metro and the NSRA Team during the last event.  With a huge number of local competitors to choose from and the home team advantage NSRA narrowly squeaked by to take the Gold.

The Metro Rifle and Pistol Club are now Proud Silver Medalists
  PEI’s team took the Bronze Medals for third place.  The Bullet Box, a new indoor range in Sydney, NS fielded a Cape Breton team as well placing a close fourth, narrowly missing a Bronze finish.  I expect to see a much better result next year after a year’s training.  Also of Note, another Cape Breton Team, “Sugarloaf” centered in Margaree took fifth place in the team division.  With two of their shooters under 16 I’m expecting a much stronger finish from them in future years. Three of the top five teams in Atlantic Canada are from Cape Breton which speaks immensely to the quality of the shooters on our island.

As expected, on an individual basis Metro shooters dominated as well….

  No surprise there!  First and Second place in the expert classification was taken by Terry Eldridge (1402/1500) and Joe McHoll (1328/1500).  Terry is now a member of the “1400’s” club; a score above this number classifies you as a Master, a ‘Black Belt’ of PPC!  Way to go Terry! How Joe managed to move so quickly through the ranks with only 5 years’ experience speaks to his tenacity and raw talent.  I have a feeling Joe will be attaining the top shot in the match in the not too distant future.  Lars Kummer, no slouch with his CZ,  took a strong 6th position (1277/1500). His brother Sven (1123/1500), after multiple malfunctions placing him back in the rankings farther than perhaps he out to have been, took 9th place. First time competitor Trysten MacPhee (1070/1500) comfortably landed in the top 10 in Atlantic Canada. Good Job!  Ryan Ledrew, the new guy on the MRPC Team, beat out droves of other competitors and almost all of Law Enforcement placing 5th in the Marksman category with a total score of 1192/1500. Great work Ryan!

  Metro President Mike Kelly (1463/1500) was no slouch either, taking the Masters Category by storm and the Trophy back to Cape Breton shattering the previous PPC record (which Mike set in 2020) by 30 points.

  A great weekend was had by all participants and big thanks to Bob Selig that puts on the match every year.  Thank Bob and especially his wife that makes the burgers for the match  the best homemade cookies ever!

  See you all on the range!

©2024 Metro Rifle & Pistol Club