Executive Directors Message
Richard Pearson

July is somehow slipping away and we are in the dog days of summer.  We have a while yet but Fall is creeping upon us.  Sunday marks the beginning of hunting season.  If you are a first-time buyer of a hunting license, get it now.  The IDNR has had a few glitches in its new licensing system.  To err is human but to really screw things up, computerize it.  I remember going down to the hardware store and Shirley or Virgil would sell you a hunting or fishing license on the spot.  You could also get hooks, bobbers, fishing line, shotgun shells or .22s and be out the door in a few minutes.  We sure have improved things, haven’t we?  Federal Duck Stamps are out for the 2021-2022 season.  The regular stamp has a lesser scaup drake on it and the junior stamp features a pair of hooded mergansers.  Duck stamps raise about 40 million dollars a year for conservation.  Don’t forget to buy them. 

The prospects for the 2021 Grand American Trapshooting Championship look bright.  The Grand American will be back in Sparta, Illinois, this year.  Last year, it was moved to Missouri due to Covid-19.  All of the 1200 camping spots on the World Sport Shooting Complex are filled.  All the major shot shell vendors will be there in full force and there will be plenty of shells available.  If you are looking for trap and skeet loads, that is the place to go.  The Grand American will run from August 4^th to the 14^th.

The AIM Program (youth program) runs from Thursday July 29 to August 1.  AIM stands for Academics, Integrity and Marksmanship and is open to those 22 and under.  I am now going to climb on my high horse.  Junior shooting programs are absolutely wonderful for kids.  The acronym AIM emphasizes the very things that make kids into upstanding responsible adults.  Whether it is trapshooting, small-bore rifle shooting, high power rifle, air gun or pistol shooting, those who run these programs have the same high standards they teach the kids.  The ISRA and its wonderful volunteers help sponsor the AIM 3-gun program being held at Sparta this weekend.  I am proud to be a small part of it.  Next time you see one of those coaches, instructors or volunteers that help with any of the shooting sports, thank them.  They don’t get paid, they do it for the love of the sport and because they want to help the next generation.  Before I get off my high horse, I want to remind everyone that you don’t have to be seven feet tall, run the 100-yard dash in nine seconds or weigh 400 pounds to be good at one or more of the shooting sports.  Shooting is a lifetime sport and it is a family sport.  Dismount.

The Smallbore (.22 rimfire) Championships are in progress at Camp Perry, Ohio, and the ISRA Junior teams are doing well, in fact, very well.  Our three-position team (standing, kneeling and prone) brought home the gold medal.  They beat not only the other junior teams, but everyone else as well. 

ISRA Junior team results: ISRA Junior team - 1st place State Association Team; 2nd place all junior teams.  One ISRA Junior 1st place Metallic Sight; 2nd place Scoped Sight; 2nd place overall Prone Junior Champion.

In the Freedom Fire two-person team matches, the ISRA had three teams entered, ISRA Red, ISRA White and ISRA Blue.   ISRA Red took second place, ISRA Blue took 14^th and ISRA White took 27th.  Nice going!

I have been asked why I don’t report the names of the ISRA team members.  It is because they are still there and aren’t home yet.  The same reason smart people don’t tell the world where they are going on vacation or where they are.  Wait until they get back.

For those looking to advance their pistol training, Midwest Training Group (MTG) will be holding an Advanced Tactical Pistol Class at our Range on August 28 & 29.   Designed for the advanced student, this program addresses the tactical matters and concerns that accompany defensive shooting along with very advanced skill sets.  For more information on this class, contact: andy1911@imaxmail.net.

Ammo Quest: This week ammunition prices dropped once again.  They are not the “good old days” but they are better.  I was able to find 9mm online for 37.8 cents a round.   This was steel case by Wolf Ammunition.  I stopped in Scheels in Springfield and was able to buy Winchester white box 9mm for 40 cents a round.  Scheels had several brands and most calibers except .380.  That could change anytime. The limit was five boxes but they were 100 round boxes.  I hear some of the “farm stores” in Illinois have ammunition but it is still spotty. 

Rifle ammunition dropped online.  PMC .223 brass was 59 cents a round for 55 grain FMJ.  The steel cast ammunition was lower.  Red Army steel case was 43 cents a round online.  I would guess local retailers will be getting in supplies soon.

Springfield Armory has introduced a new 1911 called the Emissary.  The pistol has a hammer forged bull barrel and frame.  I have only seen the pistol online bet it really looks good.  Check it out on the Springfield Armory website.

President Biden admitted his desire to eliminate not only semi-automatic rifles but also 9mm handguns during a CNN Town Hall.  These “Bidenisms” actually reveal more of the truth than what the President and his mouth pieces claim is the truth.  The White House puppeteers had to admit that it would be tough to walk his statements back.  I’m going to bet that somewhere in the bowels of the Biden political machine, there is a rather large “walk back” department.  What do you think?

Tidbits:
July 29,1909 - General Motors purchases Cadillac.  Cadillac was originally founded in 1902 after stock holders of the defunct Henry Ford Company convinced Henry Leland to buy the assets.  Leland renamed the company Cadillac.  The name came from Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the founder of Detroit in 1702.  The first Cadillacs cost $850.  In 1909, William C. Durant, bought Cadillac and consolidated 12 other car companies.  These included Buick, Olds Motor Works (Oldsmobile), Cartercar, Oakland Motor Car (Pontiac), Chevrolet and several others which were absorbed, hence the name General Motors.  He also bought Fisher Body and Frigidaire which became part of General Motors.  Henry Ford’s second company that failed became his biggest competitor.  Henry Ford actually formed three automobile companies before he succeeded.  The Ford Motor company we know today was his third attempt.

July 30, 1619 - The first legislative assembly, the House of Burgesses, in the New World meets in Jamestown, Virginia.   Burgesses is another word for citizens.  The first session lasted for six days.  They passed laws against idleness, drunkenness and gambling.  They also set the minimum price for tobacco at three schillings per pound and required everyone to go to church on Sunday.  Hmm, except for tobacco, not much of that worked out.

July 30, 1945 - The U.S.S. Indianapolis is torpedoed shortly after midnight.  The Indianapolis was on a secret mission to deliver the atomic bomb to Tinian Island and then continued on to rendezvous with the battleship Idaho to take part in the invasion of Japan.  The bomb obviously got delivered.  When the torpedo hit the Indianapolis, the ship exploded and sunk in 12 minutes, trapping about 300 sailors in the ship.  About 900 others made it off the ship not knowing they were in shark infested waters.  Sharks, dehydration and sun took their toll on the sailors.  Only 316 survived.  Because they were on a secret mission, no one missed them.  Four days after the sinking, a routine patrol plane spotted them.  It was one of the biggest naval losses in U. S. history.

July 31, 1975 - Jimmy Hoffa, longtime leader of the Teamsters Union, disappears.  No one has ever discovered what happened to him.  Maybe he’s in in your aunt Clara’s flower garden, better check.

August 2, 1876 - Wild Bill Hickok is shot in the back at the No. 10 Saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota, by aspiring gun fighter and coward Jack McCall.  McCall was tried, convicted and hanged a few days later.  We could us a lot more of that.  Hickok was playing poker when he was shot.  His poker hand was two black aces and two black eights, commonly known as the Deadman’s hand.

August 3, 1936 - Jesse Owens wins two gold medals at the Olympic Games in Germany.  Good for Jesse, too bad Adolf. 

August 4, 1892 - Lizzie Borden’s parents are found axed to death in their home.  Lizzie also lived there and was the chief suspect.  The fact is she was acquitted of the crime.  There were no blood stains on her, her clothing or anywhere else in the house.  She was haunted by suspicion all of her life.  The little rhyme that went with the murder was most of the cause: “Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks; When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.”  There were fingerprints on the hatchet handle but the local police decided not to use the new technology because they didn’t trust it.  Had they done so, the crime might have exonerated Lizzie.  No one was ever convicted of the crime.

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Upcoming Events: ISRA Calendar
For more information, visit www.isra.org

Saturday, July 31, 2021
The Well Armed Woman

Sunday, August 1, 2021
ISRA Combat Pistol/3 Gun League
ISRA Black Powder League
Paper & Steel Shotgun League

Monday, August 2 & 9, 2021
ISRA Military Benchrest Rifle League
ISRA Scout Rifle League

Tuesday, August 3 & 10, 2021
Tuesday Night Irregular Rifle League

Wednesday, August 4 & 11, 2021
ISRA Benchrest League
F-Class Rifle League
Combat Paper & Steel League

Thursday, August 5 & 12, 2021
ISRA Smallbore Prone/F-Class League

Saturday, August 7, 2021
Range Work Day
Project Appleseed
Stixx & Steel

Sunday, August 8, 2021
761^st Gun Club Defensive Pistol I
Tactical Training
Concealed Carry Day 2

Saturday, August 14. 2021
Illinois Outdoor Pistol State Championship

Sunday, August 15, 2021
Illinois Outdoor Pistol State Championship
Marksmanship League

Gun & Trade Shows

DeKalb County Sportsman’s Show – Genoa, IL
Genoa Veterans Hall
Date: August 1, 2021
Hours: Sunday: 7:30-1:30
Admission: $5.00

Boot City Gun Show – Terre Haute, IN
Boot City Opry
Dates: August 13 & 14, 2021
Hours: Friday: 12:00-7:00
             Saturday: 9:00-5:00
Admission: $5.00

Crown Point Gun Show – Crown Point, IN
Lake County Fairgrounds
Dates: August 21 & 22, 2021
Hours: Saturday: 9:00-5:00
             Sunday: 9:00-3:00
Admission: $5.00

Belleville Gun & Knife Show – Belleville, IL
Belleville Fairgrounds
Dates: August 28 & 29, 2021
Hours: Saturday: 9:00-5:00
             Sunday: 9:00-3:00
Admission: $6.00















































    















    
































 



























































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