The Illinois Service Rifle Championship has been fired for so many years that we have seen all kinds of weather for this match. Rain, heat, wind, we though that we had seen it all. But we don't recall seeing the calm conditions that we had this year.

This year's championship was a regional affair as 36 shooters from five different states competed in this NRA sanctioned event.

The first stage was slow-fire standing at 200 yards. After the 20 shots there were three shooters firing a score of 196. But it was the 6 X's of Konrad Powers that led Jim Hays' 4X and Jim Hutchinson's 3X. Jim Appleby and Tim Klauer each had 195's to stay close to the leaders.

Remaining at 200 yards and firing the rapid-fire sitting match changed the leaderboard a little. Four shooters fired 200's but Klauer won this match on the strength of his 17 X's (including a 100-10X on his second string). John Holliger and Jim Vaughn tied with identical 14X efforts while Liam McKenna had an 8X.

As we were walking away from the 200 yard line, Klauer now took the overall lead with Appleby and Powers just one point behind. Jim Hayes and Hutchinson were each two points off the lead.

The 300 yard line was next and rapid-fire prone. Here, the only 200 was posted by Don Bauer. But right behind were Bryan Wulff, Jerry Roesler, and Kelly Cisco with 199's.

Now the lead changed yet again with Powers pacing Klauer by two points and Appleby and Hayes by three. Mark Aussieker and Alex Vitous were four points back.

The final stage of the day would be slow-fire prone fired at the 600 yard line. Calm conditions and even light helped four different shooters post clean scores of 200. Holliger's 15 X's led the way followed by Wulff's 13X, and Powers' and Hayes' 11X. Ben Pickel, Klauer, Bill Essling, and Ken Cramberg all shot 199's.

By not dropping any points at 600, Powers secured the Sherwood "Woody" Coul trophy with Klauer and Hayes coming in three points behind.

The Illinois State Rifle Association would like to thank the Milan Rifle Club for providing the beautiful facilities where this match was conducted. Special thanks also to Ken Mahl who ensured the firing line ran smoothly.