by Bea Peterson
Competing for the first time in a major event, Rick Ingraham placed fourth overall in the World Rimfire & Air Rifle Benchrest Competition at the Palmetto Gun Club in Charleston, SC, the end of July/beginning of August. Ingraham attended the event with fellow Salem Rifle and Pistol Club member Todd Banks. Banks, who has won National and State Air Rifle championships, now can add a World Championship to his resume. Speaking about his friend’s victory, Ingraham said, “there were just five points separating
second, third and fourth place and Todd was seven or eight points ahead of them.” Banks holds the Heavy Varmint World Record and is in the Federation Hall of Fame.
Ingraham and Banks were part of a US team with representatives from several states. The US won 35 of the 39 medals in the competition. A total of fifty competitors from Australia, the US, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom took part in the event under grueling conditions. “It was hot and windy,” said Ingraham. The temperature averaged 105 degrees, with a heat index of 110 and 90 percent humidity.
Ingraham has built much of his equipment. “These are cottage industry guys,” he said. Guys who specialize in making flags, rifle barrels and gun stocks. “It’s as much social as competitive,” he added. “They offer one another a lot of help.” Ingraham was an example of that attitude himself. The Australian team had an air leak in the tank on their rifle, so they used one of Ingraham’s rifles all one day.
Precision Sport
The Air Rifle Benchrest sport is not well known here in the states, but is extremely popular in the rest of the world. It is a sport that requires patience, skill and precision equipment. A front rest for the rifle is about $900, the back rest about $100. “Everyone has his own drummer stool to sit on,” said Ingraham. Then, there is the Weaver scopes, which vary several hundred dollars in cost, the rifle and the flags. Almost everyone uses JSB Match Diabolo pellets, made by the Josef Schulz Bohumin company in the Czech Republic. JSB was the sponsor of the air gun portion of the world competition and awarded Banks the hand blown crystal trophy.
Technique
Using a scope mounted on the rifle to bring the target up close, the shooter must keep one eye on that target and the other on his flags placed along the sight line to the target that show any variance in the wind. Then, at the perfect moment they must fire the tiny pellet into the center of one of the 25 bulls eyes 25 meters or 82.25 yards away. Any variation in the wind can send that tiny pellet off course. A shooter has a half hour to complete 25 shots. Ingraham said moving the gun, gun rests, seat and flags within ten minutes in six rotations was hectic and a lot of work. Add to that, the need to be absolutely calm when shooting and a concern that there is enough air in the cylinder to keep going.
World Friendships
Both men have kept in touch with friends they made at the competition. Banks keeps in touch more easily because he is on Facebook. Ingraham said he may have to consider a Facebook page himself to keep up. In two years the European Championship will be in the Czech Republic and in four years the World Championship will be in Australia. Ingraham and Banks hope to attend both events. It doesn’t matter that these new friends live around the world. Ingraham noted, “we have many more similarities than differences.”
