Jeff Rorer Takes Fourth in World Rifle Championship

WINTERVILLE�As a Pitt Community College science instructor, Jeff Rorer understands the importance of precision. Last month, he took his appreciation for accuracy to a British rifle range and came home with an individual bronze and team gold in the F-Class World Championships.

The 35-year-old Rorer, who teaches chemistry at PCC, has been shooting competitively for nearly seven years. His interest in the sport began with a Daisy BB gun he received from his father as a 5-year-old and has only grown since he began shooting competitively in local action pistol matches.

Rorer has participated in rifle competitions for more than four years now, mostly at Camp Butner, which is about 15 miles from Durham. He has set five National Rifle Association national records and was pictured in the October 2007 issue of Guns and Ammo magazine.

�I enjoy competitive rifle shooting, because it allows me to demonstrate my attention to detail, and I get great satisfaction in shooting very small (target) groups at very long distances,� Rorer said.

The F-Class in which Rorer competes is a subset of a high-power rifle class and is broken down into two categories: Open and T/R (also known as �restricted� in other countries). Rorer competes in the T/R class.

To earn bronze in Bisley, England, Rorer shot over two days at distances of 800 to 1,000 yards (or .57 miles). The bull�s-eye at which he was aiming measured just five inches in diameter. Competitors earned points by hitting the bull�s-eye but lost them for shots landing outside of a 10-inch circle surrounding it.

And if distance didn�t make hitting the bull�s-eye difficult enough, elevation issues affecting the flight of the bullet from the terrain and weather factored in significantly as well.

Rorer, who received sponsorship from Berger Bullets and Nightforce Optics, said morning winds at Bisley�s Stickledown range were light but increased throughout the day to a steady 12-16 mph with gusts of more than 20 mph. He said he also discovered the British continue shooting in the rain, unlike in the United States.

�At one point, we were in a thunderstorm and hail was falling, but they continued as long as we could see the targets,� he said. �Keeping your ammunition dry was imperative since even a single drop of water on your bullet or in your chamber would at a minimum cause a wild shot and could cause severe damage to the rifle.�

Day one of the individual competition consisted of two sighting shots and 15 recorded shots from each yard line, Rorer said. He finished the day in 11th-place overall with a score of 206-12v out of a possible 225-45v.

On day two, he finished 21st at the 800-yard-line after losing a mere four points. He climbed back into contention at the 900-yard-line by finishing third in the match.

Rorer said he ended up placing sixth at the 1000-yard line, which left him fourth overall for the entire match with a score of 428-22v out of a possible 475-95v. The winner, Britain�s Russell Simmonds, posted a 437-23v, only nine points ahead of Rorer.

�When I learned from our adjutant that I finished fourth overall, I was thrilled,� said Rorer, who was one of nine Americans to finish in the top 15 in the individual competition.

In the F-T/R class International Team Match, Rorer and his American teammates powered past the host country as well as teams from Canada, Ireland, Germany and Spain. Under the leadership of Captain Darrel Buell and Coach Gary Rassmussen, the US won the F-Class Restricted Teams Match with a 1581-76V score.

�I was very happy that I could contribute positively to Team USA in our win in the first F-T/R World Championship,� Rorer said. �The entire team made this possible.�

Since the first World F-Class Championships took place in Canada in 2002, a second was held in South Africa in 2005 before this year�s in Bisley, England. This year�s event was the first in which countries were allowed to enter both open and TR teams, Rorer said.

08/12/2009