New 200yd Firing Line

Since the range was built in 1969 little to no maintenance had been done to the firing lines. The 200 yard line was in the worst shape. Over time the elements had badly eroded it reducing its area to the point where there was barely room for the shooters and scorekeepers. The surface had become very uneven with exposed rocks and a thick layer of fine powder known as “moon dust.” This dust got all over shooter’s gear, onto expensive spotting scope lenses, into rifle actions, and made shooting in any sort of wind simple misery.

A proposal to rehabilitate the 200 yard firing line was presented to the TRC Executive Committee in January 2006 and received preliminary approval.

With permission to proceed obtained, measurements for the proper firing point spacing and target angles were taken and laid out on the existing line. Based on this information further plans were drawn up and materials estimates obtained.

A detailed plan and cost estimate was presented to the executive committee and an initial budget of $2300 was approved in June 2006.

Once funding was assured, several volunteer work parties set posts and built a retaining wall at the back of the line to create a new line with nearly double the useable area. Next the new line was filled, leveled, and new firing point markers emplaced. The moon dust was mixed with portland cement and watered to form a base crust. The final step was spreading 48 tons of decomposed granite for the top surface.

The result is a wide, level, moon dust free firing line with plenty of room for shooters score keepers, spectators, and everyone’s gear.

There are still a few minor finishing touches to be done. Due to the height of the new retaining wall a safety rail will be installed at the back of the line. Ramps and steps are being built to make the line more accessible.

TRC’s 1000 Yard Range is seeing more use than ever before with matches scheduled on every available weekend. The high power rifle matches have shown increasing attendance every year since they returned to TRC in 1999. This project and those to follow are long overdue and will help make TRC the premier high power rifle range in Southern Arizona.

The entire project was the brainchild of High Power Rifle Match Director Pete Wolf. Pete planned, organized, obtained the materials, and when it was time to ramrod all the work parties necessary to bring everything together Pete did that too. Attaboy Pete!

Some of the other people who contributed to the completion of the rehab are:

John Bachynski
Jim Denovchek
Randy Dwornik
Ross Eckert & son
Fritz Ficke
Ken Fiore
Bud Geymer
Bill Gibson
Bob Harper
Lynn Heffern
Karl Kasarda
Maury Krupp
Phil McGrath
Stacey McGrath
Lee McKinney
Lyle Neff
Bill Orzechowski
Cecil Rico
Tyler Rico
Jeff Schneider
Justin Skaret
Alan Speert
Wally Tang
John Wells
Kim Wood

More photos at "http://www.tucsonrifleclub.org/Photos.html"
(Select HP Rifle..., New 200yd...)