Media Info
    News releases
    Fact sheets
    Interview us
    Myths & truth
    Gun dictionary    
    Scary words
    SEA Effects
    FAQ

Photos & Videos
Training
News Coverage
General Info
Directions
History
Explosive Experiments
Bomb Help (NOT!)
Contact
Links

Home
Shirts, hats, stuff
Join News List
Privacy Policy

Reloading Supplies
Reloading Data

Palouse Practical Shooters August 29^th, 1999 Boomershoot

Canceled!

See the pages on earlier Boomershoots for more information about Boomershoots including background, pictures, sound, and video.

Also there will be an club level IPSC match in Moscow, Saturday the 28th, the day before the Boomershoot. See http://actionshooting.net/pps/ for a map and match times. You can attend the IPSC match on Saturday morning, dash off to the Precision Rifle Seminar in the afternoon, then get up early the next morning and shoot in the Boomershoot all day. That should be enough shooting to keep you satisfied for a couple days!

Status

July 23, 1999 - Sorry. I have to cancel this one. Too many things went wrong after the last one and it's just too soon to have another one under even worse conditions. Here's the story... Sunday, July 18th, the day of the shoot, everything went fine. Not many shooters but no major problems. I walked the area and disposed of the ruptured (but undetonated) targets by stacking them up and setting them off by a round from about 20 or 30 yards away. The untouched targets were locked away in the magazine. I went home and packed for our trip to Glacier National Park. By mid morning we were out of town. By 2:00 PM or so we were in Montana -- and my Mom got a call from one of the neighbors near the site. The hay field was on fire. My cousin Alan (with two broken ribs and a broken collar bone from "harvesting" deer with the front wheel of his motorcycle) was first on the scene. The fire was also spotted about this time by a CPTPA (Clearwater Potlatch Timber Protective Agency) plane. My Mom radioed my brother and Dad who were on their way home from town. They arrived shortly as well as the local volunteer fire department. CPTPA sent a pumper truck and a couple of pickup loads of men to fight the fire. In all there were at least 19 people on site to fight the fire. I was blissfully unaware of all the excitement and was setting up camp along the Clark Fork river. It wasn't until the fire was all under control and I happened to find a cell phone signal while hiking atop a mountain near our camp site that I called Mom to chat about something else that I found out what happened. It sounded like it was all under control and except for seven or eight destroyed hay bales no permanent damage occurred. Lots of man power went into it, but everything was "okay". I called my brother the next day to get an update. The Clearwater Country Sheriff had visited the site and had pretty well determined that the origin of the fire was in or near one of the craters. Also, during the fire another fire started up-wind from the main blaze. This was put out before it got very big. This appeared to start a short distance away from the nearest crater. They sprayed all the craters they could find with water and searched all the target areas for left-over targets. They found two partial targets and two untouched targets. The were left in the middle of the burned area, figuring that if they went off by themselves it couldn't burn an area that had already been burned.

I came home late Thursday and went to visit the site on Friday. I determined that the main fire started at one of my disposal areas -- a place where I had put the remains of nine targets. The second fire started at target position number two. That target had been torn to pieces without detonating, there was barely enough explosive material there for me to dispose of on Sunday. The rest had been scattered by gun fire. I soaked several areas where there were torn targets and material left from the targets. Water will dissolve most of the active ingredients and make them inert. I think the area is now safe and no more fires will spontaneously erupt.

The bad news isn't over yet.... The two torn targets and the two intact targets were not where I expected them. I found two completely empty targets and one target that had a couple tablespoons worth of material in it. I burned the one with a small amount of material in it and picked up the torn ones. I have asked everyone that I can think of to ask about who might have taken the two intact targets and done something with the material in the targets that were torn. No one knows. That represents about 1.5 pounds of explosives. This will have to be reported to the ATF and local law enforcement.

No Boomershoot in August. Maybe next April when things are green and wet again. New procedures will be in place to make CERTAIN that no targets will escape disposal. Areas with torn targets will be soaked with water at disposal time. This must not happen again.

July16, 1999 - Major Econ provided us with an outline and more information on the Precision Rifle Seminar. Please give this serious consideration. I've had people tell me they enjoyed the last seminar as much or more than the Boomershoot and were looking forward to attending the next seminar. You could travel hundreds, even thousands of miles, and spend a lot more money to find this sort of training. Check out his credentials before you decide to pass on this.

July 9, 1999 - The August event is has been marked on the calendar of a lot of people in the Seattle area. Assuming the weather is good I expect it will be a great event. Major Econ has said he will be back to put on a seminar on precision rifle shooting. I'll soon get the information from him on the time (sometime on Saturday August 28th), cost, and outline for the seminar.

Precision Rifle Seminar

Major Eugene Econ (retired -- see his credentials if desired) will be giving a seminar on Saturday (the 28th), the day before the shoot. 

The following came in from "The Major" on 7/16/99:

PRECISION RIFLE SEMINAR

In conjunction with the August 29 Boomershoot sponsored by Joe Huffman, I will offer a Precision Rifle Seminar on Saturday the 28th of August. The seminar will focus on two distinct training issues -- Environmental Corrections to Zero and Shooter / Observer Dialogue. Shooting events will consist of zeroing at 200 yards followed by unknown distance firing on steel targets of varying sizes to the maximum range possible in 'The Field' which Joe has obtained for us. At the end of the day, we will have a 'Shoot Off' at unknown distances with trophy's being provided for the first three teams. (The targets will be moved around for the Shoot Off). I will provide a copy of my June 1999 Special Operations Target Interdiction Training Data Book and handouts for the Environmental Corrections and Shooter Observer Dialogue to every shooter as part of their entry fees.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

Friday, 27 August: Set up time for me. I will be camping on the range area this shoot so will be around for anyone who wants to show up on Friday.

Saturday, 28 August:

All Data Books and Hand Outs will be provided at entry.

RESOURCES REQUIRED:

This training is in terms of two man teams and both persons will get to shoot and observe / correct. Thus if you have a two man team already and only have one spotting scope that will be OK. Aside from the obvious, here is what is required for your seminar.

100 rounds of ammunition.
Water and food.
Some sort of protection from the sun and maybe even rain.

PEOPLE REQUIREMENTS:

I have no problems with the type of people we had at the last shoot and hope the same return. I will not put any limitations on this Seminar but I do retain the authority to remove persons from the firing line in the unlikely event this becomes necessary. Safe rifle handling is the single most important thing we can do for an event of this nature.

ENTRY FEES:

One hundred dollars per shooter with a minimum of ten shooters required. If we can't get ten shooters, I will re-fund all money and notify you via either phone or e-mail that the seminar is cancelled. Sorry, but I have a tremendous overhead for this one as I have to get ten to fifteen steel targets with frames made for it and the steel does not last very long when being shot with the rifle.

With your entry fees please include your name, address, phone number and e-mail so I can contact you if something is required.

I will be out of the net from 30 July to about 6 August so if you send something return receipt and don't get the receipt back right away -- that is the reason.

Send Entry Fees to:

Eugene N. Econ
511 Hidden Forest Dr. SE.
Lacey Washington, 98513

DROP DEAD DATE:

15 August is the Drop Dead date for this one in terms of ten entrants. I will accept up to fourteen shooters.

Gene Econ

Email: Joe Huffman
Last updated: February 06, 2006