Junior Marksmanship starts soon; rifle club coming off outstanding season

The MRC Sportsman’s Club Junior Marksmanship Program starts Saturday, Dec. 7 for current shooters and Saturday, Dec. 14 for new shooters and runs through the end of March. Practice begins each Saturday at 7 a.m. and goes through noon at the MRC Sportsman’s Club’s indoor range behind the Chelsea Conservation Club.

Juniors are expected to practice at least two-plus hours per session. There will be after-school practices on Monday and Tuesdays as well, starting on Dec. 9. Shooters are asked to attend at least one practice per week.

This program is open to boys and girls from age 10 years to seniors in high school. Participants can sign up at any time during the year, but there are a limited number of openings.

Juniors take part in indoor small-bore shooting from the three and four positions. Air rifle shooting has been added this year. Shooting equipment is supplied.

The MRC Junior Rifle Club membership fee is $35. There is a $6 ammunition fee per practice week.

For more information, call Randy Gregory at Accuracy Unlimited at 715748-4427 or at 715-560-3168. He can also be reached by email at accuracyunlimited@gmail.com.

The program is supported by the MRC Sportsman’s Club, Medford VFW, Stetsonville American Legion, Taylor County Sportsman’s Club, Abbotsford Sportsman’s Club, North Central Outdoors, the Friends of the NRA and other clubs and individuals.

MRC Junior Rifle Club

During the 2023-24 season, the MRC Junior Rifle Club remained one of the most successful in the state. The club won most of the medals in local, state and sectional matches.

For example, at the Neenah Junior Sectional, Bristal Kraemer won the gold medal in the 3-position small-bore .22 caliber rifle with a score of 550-9X. Emily Kiselicka scored 546-15X, winning the silver medal and Casey Hollenbeck scored 545-8X to win the bronze medal. Scoring 459-5X, Maggie Szydel was the first Sub Junior.

In the 4-position sectional, Kiselicka won the gold medal with a score of 39021X. Kraemer won the silver medal with a score of 389-16X and Hollenbeck won the bronze medal with a score of 388-19X. Only three points separated the medal winners.

Four more club shooters, Szydel, Oliver Nuernberger, Luke Semrau and Isiah Szydel, also won medals at this tournament.

Hollenbeck won the qualifier to compete at the USA Junior National Championships held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., in both Smallbore and Air Rifle. The year before, Shane Kiselicka won the qualifier for Smallbore.

This type of shooting is called precision shooting. The positions are prone, sitting, kneeling and standing. New shooters will learn to us peep-type target sights. The targets are 50-foot indoor A17 and USA 50 for .22 small-bore used at 50 feet. The USA 50 target in the same bullseye used at World and Olympic tournaments. To get a bullseye (10 score) using the USA 50 target, you would have to shoot out the size of a pencil dot.

With adding Air Rifle shooting this year, the USA Air Rifle target will be used. It is much the same as the USA 50, but Air Rifle is shot from 33 feet. Air Rifle is shot from three positions or standing only. There is no shooting from a sitting position.

Only a few spots for the MRC Junior Rifle Club open up each year. Again, contact Gregory at 715-748-4427, 715560-3168 or accuracyunlimited@gmail. com if interested.