LongShot 2018: XI INTERNATIONAL LONG RANGE SHOOTING COMPETITION

Longshot 2018 is an eleventh edition of long range shooting competition organized by Sport Club Gwardia 1924, in cooperation with Shooting Training Center Delta, General Command Of The Armed Forces, and 17th Greater Poland Mechanized Brigade. Since its beginnings, the primary goal of the event has been promotion of long range shooting, experience exchange, and integration of sport and uniformed shooter communities. This year Longshot was divided into two parts. First one was dedicated to uniformed shooters took place on April 25–26, and the second, civilian one, followed from April 27 to April 29. Those were separate events sharing opening and closing ceremonies, giving them independent, elevated tone.

Over the years, Longshot earned prestigious status, which is reflected by number of local and international sponsors, such as Helikon-Tex, Mactronic, SpecShop, Delta Optical, Malik & Malik, Castellior, and Shmidt & Bender.

Like every year, registration for the competition was electronic, though this year introduced integration of registration and internet payment methods. Each registrant immediately after paying the fee was redirected to page where he could select preferred position and shift. Like in the last year, classification was both individual and by team. Teams were composed of two shooter. Team ratings were based on the total score of both members within single weapon category.

Over five hundred military and civilian shooters participated in this year’s Longshot competitions in Wędrzyn

In the military competition, the participants shoot weapons using centerfire cartridges with .222 to .500 (5.64-12.7 mm) calibers, divided into Tactical Standard, Tactical Magnum, and Tactical Super Magnum categories.
Civilian side of the show was divided into two main competitions: Modern using current constructions and History for older weapons. Shooters taking part in the former had a choice of centerfire weapon calibers between .222 and .458 (5.64-11.6 mm). They were divided into two categories: Tactical (further split into Standard, Standard Semi-Auto, Magnum, and Super Magnum subcategories) and Open, inclusive for all firearms within the allowed caliber range.
Fans of historical weapons could select between Historical Rifle Open and Historical Rifle Military categories. The former category was composed of centerfire weapons with caliber between .222 and .458, produced before 1950. Modern replicas of such weapons were not allowed, and the competitors were restricted to using historically accurate mechanical sights. Historical Rifle Military category used military rifles within the same caliber range, built before 1950. Additionally, the weapon had to match historical configuration used by armed forces of any country that utilized particular weapon.
This year competition included two teams composed of veteran NCOs of Polish Armed Forces and French Foreign Legion: Stratpoints Shooting Team, whose members suffered injuries during active service. They participated in Open and Standard Semi-Auto categories.

Longshot competitions are occasion to admire wide array of fine long arms in various configurations, including both repeating and self-loading.

Shooters with sentiment for twenty century guns had chance to prove their skills in History rifle categories, requiring weapons at least 68 years old.

I came to the event location on Thursday afternoon, April 26. At the time of my arrival pre-match warm up was taking place, which included judges and technical staff. Registration started at 1600 in a large military tent, where each of the participants received an identifier and a T-shirt, and was followed by weapon examination, checking up if all the rifles meet the requirements for their category. Checked weapons were marked with a sticker. The weather was unimpressive on that day, with rain, wind, and even some hail. Thankfully, prognosis for further days was cautiously optimistic.

Every year hundreds of shooters come from across the continent. It’s not surprising that the Polish competitions are unofficially called long distance Europe championships

Longshot is a competition where participant make no test shots. Any necessary adjustments of weapon and sights can be performed on preceding training day.

Despite separation into military and civilian parts, opening and closing ceremonies are shared. These year opening was lead by colonel Robert Kosowski, commander of 17th Greater Poland Mechanized Brigade

On the next day, registration and weapon check up for newly arrived participants started at 0830. That day is traditionally the day of training, when all the competitors can test their gear and make all the necessary adjustments. Every year hundreds of shooters come from across the continent. It’s not surprising that the Polish competitions are unofficially called long distance Europe championships. Majority of the test shootings was done at the ranges of incoming Saturday triathlon (300, 600, and 800 m – 328, 656, and 874 yards) in the order set up during electronic registration. The exception was made for competitors in the Super Magnum category, who were taken by a bus to “Pas Taktyczny Trzemeszno” shooting range, where they could perform test shooting at the ranges of 1000, 1200, and extreme 1500 m (1096, 1312, and 1640y). The day was sunny with temperatures in range of 11–15 degree Celsius (50–60 degree Fahrenheit), humidity of 60%, and atmospheric pressure around 1003 hPa. Cloud cover was sparse and the wind had speed of 2–4 m/s. After the training day, it could be noticed that this year Longshot is a well organized event. Changes at firing positions were smooth and target replacement immediate. For the first time, the shooters were shown their target shields immediately after change. In the previous years they were only shown notes with the approximate spread marked manually, in a very inefficient and controversial solution.

This year Longshot was particularly sunny, creating certain hindrances for the shooters. One of them was strong mirage effect, making it hard to discern which targets are tied to which shooting positions.

This year introduced new way of informing shooters about their results. Instead of cards marked with shot spread, the target shields were brought for ranking in the participants presence.

On April 28, at 0800 registration and weapon control opened again. Half an hour later, official opening of the event was conducted by colonel Robert Kosowski, commander of the 17th Mechanized Brigade. Commencement included military and civilian participants, who were greeted by main organizer Zbigniew Świerczek (who was also primary judge) and Adam Morawski (delegate of Polish Sport Shooting Federation). Competitors rejoiced as Saturday happened to be a beautiful sunny day with temperature around 15–20 degree Celsius (60–70 degree Fahrenheit), humidity of 40%, 1010 hPa of pressure, and wind speed of 2–5 m/s. First shoots were fired at 0900. During the first shift, firing at 300 meter distance, a mirage effect could be observed, remaining a constant hindrance that day. The wind wasn’t strong, comparing with the previous competitions, but it switched it’s direction between right and left often, making corrections difficult. During the Longshot competition triathlon takes place at increased distances. First, all the competitors shoot at the 300 meter distance, then switch to 600 meters, and finally 800 meters. This order means each of the participants comes to his position three times and fires them in varying conditions. If each participant fired from all three distances during single shift, it might lead to a shooter at the morning shift having vastly different weather conditions from the one firing in the afternoon. The method actually used helps equalize chances for the competitors.
Sunny weather slowly increased temperature as the time passed. Already mentioned mirage effect grew along, making aiming harder at greater distances but helping read wind changes. Smooth organization is worth additional mention. The changes were perfectly timed, the staff brought the target shields to the tents where judges scored them in the presence of the participant. Ranking tables were updated constantly, both physically on site, and on the website. The shooting ended around 1800.

Free time between shifts can be spent on numerous stands offering a wide array of weapons, optics, and accessories.

The weather conditions were stable, the temperature stayed in range of 10–20°C, wind was also manageable around 2-5 m/s. Shooters were spared precipitation.

April 29 was the day when additional round 1000+ takes place, with targets set at ranges exceeding one kilometer. This year it was exactly 1105 meters (1208 yards). The day was warmer than the previous one, creating even stronger mirage flowing with the wind. At times it prevented reading markings of the position linked to the target. I shoot a rifle using .308 Winchester/7,62 mm x 51 cartridge, whose bullet slows below speed of sound at such distance. I managed to score 1 point, giving me 23rd place among 70 participants in my class. In those conditions and such ammo, I deem hitting the target a success in itself. That day I ended with more clear target shields than punctured ones. 1000+ round ended around noon. After a short pause, the official Longshot 2018 ending ceremony took place, attended by general Jarosław Mika, head of General Command Of The Armed Forces. After his address, winners in all categories were honored. First, the awards won in the military competitions were granted, followed by the civilian victors, both solo and team. The awards were followed by another emotional event, a raffle, which thanks to sponsor included really worthwhile rewards, such as Schmidt & Bender PM II 5-25 scope provided by Janczewski Olsztyn company and two Nightforce Competition sights sponsored by Hubertus Pro Hunting. We would like thank the sponsors again in the name of all the participants. Longshot 2018 participation was an occasion to compete with others, but also occasion to spent time with other people sharing the passion for long range shooting. Time for exchange of experience, time to get new acquaintances, including international ones. There is a significant chance for those who took part in this competition once, that they will keep coming back regularly – this is the largest long distance shooting event in this part of Europe.0

In the closing ceremony participated general Jarosław Mika, head of General Command Of The Armed Forces. Afterwards, the wining individual and team competitors were handed their awards.

After the end of the competition, the drawing of valuable prizes took place

Winners in category Tactical Standard Semi-Auto

Winners in category Tactical Standard Military

This article was originally published on MILMAG 03-04/2018