National Trophy Infantry Team Match: Front Row - Angel Rodriquez(Foster Grants), Steve Sosley(coach), Bob Bissett, Don Phister, Back Row - Tom Fricker(2002 N.J. Match Rifle Champion), Books Klostermyer, Carl Leisinger, Ron Bissett,  Phil Blacher, Gary Bissett.

The 2002 National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio were very demanding for the New Jersey State High Power Rifle Team. It was hot, very hot.

The pistol team had wind that was blowing their pistol boxes off the benches. The high power rifle shooters had the heat. Now, grant you heat is one thing, but picture this without getting heat stroke. The high power rifle shooter’s  garb is as follows: tee shirt, one or two sweat shirts and a leather or heavy cordura nylon shooting jacket. The heavy jacket is to firm up your position whether it be standing, sitting or prone. The sweat shirt(s)  dampen the pulse from the body to the rifle.  Some have put thermometers under their jackets and have registered well above 98.6, very much above. I was told once as high as 160 degrees. But I discounted it since that was the temperature my probe registered in the microwave when the meat was well done. But, then again, some days we do seem to get cooked on the range. I prefer medium well, but that’s where I draw the line!

The relief is taking all that garb off and letting the wind chill factor and evaporation effect of the breeze to cool you down–what breeze! There was no real wind to speak of to cool you down. It took a toll on even the hardiest of the military shooters and our veterans. After a hot day at the range back to huts to relax. Well, imagine getting done cutting the grass on the hottest day and putting the lawn mower away about 1 mile from your lawn, don’t forget the 80 lbs of gear to carry, then resting in your wooden tool shed on your bunk. That’s about what the accommodations are at the Nationals. A 16' by 16' WWII POW hut with some fans pushing the heat around if you remembered to bring a fan. Sounds like some fun. Believe or not we wouldn’t miss it for anything. It’s usually not that windy for the pistol shooters or hot for the rifle shooters, but this year was different.

Our performance in the National Trophy Infantry Team match was the envy of most the  teams entered, even though our score was not our best. The magic this year was calling the proper wind correction due to the fast and switching winds. A two minute of angle error would put your shots completely off the target at 600 and 500 yard line. Captain of the team, Carl Leisinger, was using everything but a crystal ball to determine the amount of minutes and direction to put on the team guns before shooting.  Carl was giving wind changes on the team guns even at the last second due to the tricky winds.

In this match all six firing members shoot simultaneously at eight silhouette targets when they appear. Your team is either on target or all are registering misses. We were fortunate enough to call the wind correctly at all the ranges fired in this match, e.g., 600, 500, 300 and 200 yards. Many teams, civilian and military, that shot before the New Jersey Gold team miscalculated the wind correction.  This match is fired against all the teams at the Nationals, top military and civilian, with the service gun. The Gold team used the AR-15 with match grade sights, triggers, and barrels. We finished 21st of 63 teams. The match is fired with six shooters at eight silhouette targets with 384 cartridges. So, do the math: six shooters, eight targets. This requires two shooters to fire at two targets, which increases the difficulty of this particular match.

The New Jersey Gold team finished 3rd in the Rumbold Team Match. The Rumbold Team Match is a four-man team match using either match or service rifles. This year the N.J. team opted to enter as a service rifle team and it was a wise choice. This match is the 50 shot national match course. It is fired with benefit of sighters before each stage, whether standing 200 yds, rapid fire at 200 and 300 yds or the 600 yd slow fire. This is fired the day before the beginning of the individual national matches. All the team members are seasoned veterans on the National level. All members will receive National level medals to commemorate their excellent shooting. The team members are as follows: Robert Bissett (coach), Gary Bissett (captain), firing members: Ronald Bissett, Don Phister, Daniel Kraemer, Angel Rodriguez.  Congratulations New Jersey Gold!

Carl Leisinger, III
Captain, NJ High Power Team