June 15, 2020

Unfortunately I have to announce that we have lost another member of the club.  Last Thursday Mark Engle passed away while he was ground hog hunting.  He was one of the most generous people that I have ever known.  We will all miss him for his help with the maintenance at the club and for his positive energy.  He has helped many of us become  better shooters and better people. His obituary is attached:

https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/15050065/Mark-D-Engle

So far our Ground Hog Postal matches have been progressing smoothly thanks to Bob and Greg Denk.  They will continue until we revive the match schedule. We will be reviewing  our in person matches for July or August. I will keep everyone up to date on when we do this.

Remember that we need to continue safe distancing. So stay safe, stay healthy and have fun.

Regards,

Paul Weihe

To all Chippewa Rifle Club Members:

It has been brought to the attention of the Executive Board that some individuals are not following the correct procedures when they want to go down range to retrieve targets or flags etc.  You should not be hitting the horn, immediately turning on the red safety lights and walking out on the range. This is a safety problem.  Please review the correct procedure below.

#1 Hit the horn with a couple of short blasts to alert everyone on the range that you would like to go down range.

#2 Communicate with all other shooters on the line at both the main range and the sight- in range in a visual manner (i.e. wave etc.) and verbally that you would like to go down range.  Make sure you are courteous and if someone needs to clear a gun or finish a group please  wait for them to finish and acknowledge this.

#3 When everyone is finished and made their guns safe you can announce that the range is now cold and you can turn on the lights.  Please look around and confirm that the bolts are out of the guns and are safe.  At this point you can proceed down range.

#4 Upon returning to the firing line confirm that everyone has returned and announce that you are making the range hot and then turn off the lights.

Safety should be everyone’s job.  We have a wonderful range.  Let us keep it safe and fun.

The Executive Committee

The New 50-100 YD Range is Open For Business. We Have Added the Following For Safety…

Range Rules for Addition of 50/100 Yard New Shooting Points
The purpose of this addition is to ensure the safety and communication from one end of the range to the other. With the added distance and separation between the main set of benches and the new benches we have implemented the following new features.
Safety lights are on all shooting points and new switches have been installed at benches 10, 30, the scorer’s table, and on the new shooting pavilion. They have been wired so that all lights can be turned off and on at all the locations of the switches. Four new horn buzzers have been installed and are to be used to alert shooters of a cease fire and to gain the attention of all shooters regardless of shooting position. There are four push buttons that will sound the horns in the same location as safety light switches. For a standard target change a short blast of the buzzer should notify the line that someone needs to change or remove equipment from the range. When this takes place, please permit the shooters to finish a group or series of shots. A visual check and communication that the line is safe must happen before proceeding down range. An emergency cease fire should be signaled by a 5-10 second continuous sounding of the buzzer. If this should happen, all shooters will make their equipment safe and announce to all present that condition. Emergency cease fire will exist if someone appears out of the woods onto the range or other severe breach of safety. The last change to range procedures will be that no rim fire cartridges are to be fired on the main range at the 100 yard targets. This is necessary due to the evidence that many impacts on the ground appear between 150 and the 200 yard berms. Please restrict 100 yard shooting with ALL rim fire cartridges to the new range area. When shooting a rim fire at 200 yards please make the estimated sight adjustments before firing the first shot to avoid having a bullet from landing short of its target.
The main purpose of these rules is to protect you, the members, and the club from an accident. Your cooperation is needed and expected.

The Executive Board of Chippewa Rifle Club 7/23/15