A10
PAGE LABEL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
WEDNESDAY
June 12, 2019
SHOOTING THE
BREEZE
Wistful
wildcats
A
wildcat is a cartridge
idea that never got pop-
ular enough to become
standardized. They exist purely
because of the diligent efforts of
handloaders.
Typically these
are an alter-
ation made in
size, confi gura-
tion or capac-
ity of an exist-
ing standard
Dale Valade
cartridge. To
say standard
choices abound would be an
understatement. One could say
we literally have too many good
choices these days. So why go
through the effort required of
a wildcat? Wildcatting made
a lot of sense back when there
wasn’t such a plethora of fac-
tory offerings. It is mostly the
wildcats we have to thank for
that vast selection of contempo-
rary standard loads. Had their
makers not been brave enough
to try something new or push
the limits, we wouldn’t have the
.22-250 Remington, .257 Rob-
erts, .280 Ackley Improved or
.300 Weatherby Magnum, just
to name a few examples.
Not all wildcats became
trendsetting, overnight sensa-
tions, however, and it is these
I wish to focus on today. I call
them “wistful” as they offer lit-
tle in performance over factory
offerings for the effort required
to produce them. Not all wild-
cats are vain fantasy of course.
In the 1950s, American hunters
were just getting into a “mag-
num craze” wherein all par-
ticipants were creating car-
tridges with minute differences
at a space race pace. Of course
theirs was better than every-
one else’s. Roy Weatherby and
P.O. Ackley aforementioned,
though more recent are Kenny
Jarrett, J.D. Jones and Richard
Sherman.
The main drawbacks with
wildcats in general are that
they’re expensive and time con-
suming. The rifl es can be cheap
enough to buy secondhand, but
to have one made up is going
to set you back some coin.
One problem with used rifl es
in wildcat chamberings is that
wildcats don’t follow any stan-
dardized dimensions so yours
could be literally the only one
of its kind. If you want to shoot
it, you’ll need custom dies.
To get the custom dies built to
proper dimensions, a gunsmith
will have to make a chamber
cast.
And then there is the issue
of brass. You won’t be able
to buy brass off of the shelf
ready to use. For some, a sim-
ple fi reforming of an existing
case will suffi ce. For others
you need trim and form dies,
which by a series of steps
extensively modify an exist-
ing factory case with similar
dimensions until it is formed
into correct brass for your
wildcat. After all that, you’ll
still have to fi reform the brass
to fi t your chamber and anneal
it to make it last longer. Each
individual case might require
up to an hour of prep. For
exceptionally wistful wild-
cats, one might even have to
acquire a lead casting kit and
bullet molds to cast their own
bullets to a non-standard size.
All this for anything between
a minimal to substantial edge
in performance.
For many folks, the extra
trouble is worth it. I know many
shooters who prefer a wildcat
to anything factory. If you don’t
mind the extra work and costs
related, a wildcat is a surefi re
way to guarantee having a one-
of-a-kind rifl e. My own fi rst
wildcat rifl e was a .257 Norma
Weatherby Magnum — more
about that later.
Do you have a one-of-a-kind
rifl e in a wildcat caliber? Write
us and tell all about it at shoo-
tingthebreezebme@gmail.com!
Dale Valade is a local coun-
try gent with a deep love for
handloading, hunting and
shooting.
Grant Union baseball player,
coach participate in All-Star series
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Jacob Vaughan, a recent Grant
Union High School graduate, com-
peted in the Friday-Saturday, June
7-8, Oregon 1A/2A/3A All-Stars
Series held at Linfi eld College in
McMinnville.
Vaughan was a member of the
Grant Union Prospector baseball team
that made it to the quarterfi nals this
season.
In the weekend games, the East was
pitted against the West with the teams
made up of Oregon’s top-performing
baseball athletes.
Vaughan was a member of the East
team and was joined by Grant Union
baseball head coach Doug Sharp who
participated as one of the coaches for
the East.
The East won the fi rst two con-
tests in the three-game series 7-5
and 8-7, and lost the fi nal game
10-6.
Named All-League co-player of the
year and fi rst team for catcher in the
2A/1A Special District 7, Vaughan was
catcher in games one and two of the
series for 18 innings, and had 2 RBIs in
game two.
Contributed photo
Grant Union High School graduate Jacob Vaughan, left,
who played on the East team in a June 7-8 All-Star series,
stands with coach Doug Sharp who is holding his grandson
Cub. Sharp coaches the Grant Union Prospectors, and he
was one of the coaches for the East in the series at Linfi eld
College in McMinnville.
Elliott wins Gold Rush Run
Contributed photo/Tammy Bremner
Gold Rush Run 5K runners and walkers take off at the starting line in Canyon City with race organizer Hugh Snook, right, giving the signal by dropping
the golden nugget in the gold pan.
41 athletes compete in the 5K fun run
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Recent Grant Union High School gradu-
ate Tanner Elliott fi nished in fi rst place at Sat-
urday’s Gold Rush Run 5K in Canyon City,
clocking in at 20 minutes.
Elliott and 40 others took the route through
Canyon City past the Grant County Court-
house and up Rebel Hill Road where a historic
schoolhouse stands.
Organizer Hugh Snook had to re-route part
of the course to avoid two bridges on Inland
Drive and Nugget Lane that have been closed
since spring fl oods.
Snook said Elliott, a Canyon City resident,
had a “great run” as the overall winner and
winner of the men’s division.
There were a total of 13 Canyon City resi-
dents representing the town in the race.
The Gold Rush Run is part of the town’s
‘62 Days Celebration, marking the day when
gold was found in Canyon Creek.
Brent Labhart of John Day had a sec-
ond-place fi nish with a time of 21:05. He holds
the current course record for the race.
“He competed well and turned in a good
time,” Snook said.
“The night before he told me he was in
his ‘worst shape,’” he added. “I told him his
worst shape is better than most people’s ‘best
shape.’”
Contributed photo/Hugh Snook
Jeff rey Kemp of Riverbank, California, races
through downtown Canyon City during
Saturday’s Gold Rush Run.
This is the 21st year the race has run its cur-
rent course, and Snook fi rst competed in the
race in the early 1980s, until it halted around
1990.
“I resumed the event as race director in
1999,” he said.
Snook said he enjoys his memories of run-
ning in the race over 30 years ago.
The event began with ‘62 Days in 1922, as
each town competed in footraces, tugs-of-war
and fi eld events in those early days. The fun
run originated in the 1970s.
“I am glad it is still part of the fabric of life
in Grant County,” Snook said.
GOLD RUSH RUN AND WALK RESULTS
NAME
Tanner Elliott
Brent Labhart
Jeff rey Kemp
David Hall
Grant Hall
Kevin Nelson
Brandon Smith
Zac Bailey
Levi Manitsas
Ron Simpson
Max Bailey
Sheila Comer
Matthew Brown
Ali Ochoa
Russ Comer
Danielle Ricco
Rosalinda Gonzalez
Hannah Hinman
Layne Christensen
Tammy McKenna
Kristin Long
Madelyn Bailey
Sarah Smith
Cheryl Christensen
Kim Grove
Sylvia Ross
Eliza Bailey
James Christensen
Emily Kemp
Heather Bailey
Kyle Christensen
Sarah Bush
Melanie Leckenby
Amy Kemp
Noxi Long
Kelsey Long
Dennis Hopkins
Claire Cofsky
Robert Willey
Elliott Sky
Ashley Christensen
CITY
Canyon City
John Day
Riverbank, Calif.
John Day
John Day
John Day
John Day
Canyon City
John Day
Canyon City
Canyon City
Canyon City
Canyon City
Mt Vernon
Canyon City
Prairie City
Canyon City
John Day
Nevada City, Calif.
Mt Vernon
Seneca
Canyon City
John Day
Nevada City, Calif.
Canyon City
John Day
Canyon City
Mountain Home, Idaho
Riverbank, Calif.
Canyon City
Mountain Home , Idaho
Canyon City
John Day
Riverbank, Calif.
Seneca
Seneca
Portland
Portland
Canyon City
John Day
Mountain Home, Idaho
TIME
(DIV., PLACE)
20:00
(M15-19, 1)
21:05
(M20-29, 1)
21:30
(M30-39, 1)
21:56
(M40-49, 1)
22:14
(M10-14, 1)
22:27
(M50-59, 1)
22:28
(M30-39, 2)
23:28
(M40-49, 2)
24:22
(M40-49, 3)
24:47
(M50-59, 2)
25:30
(M10-14, 2)
25:45
(W40-49, 1)
26:39
(M20-29, 2)
26:55
(W20-29, 1)
27:21
(M40-49, 4)
27:25
(W30-39, 1)
27:39 tie
(W30-39, 1)
27:39 tie
(W30-39, 1)
28:32
(M60+, 1)
30:04
(W50-59, 1)
31:21
(W50-59, 2)
33:18 tie
(W10-14, 1)
33:18 tie
(W10-14, 1)
35:42
(W60+, 1)
35:46 tie
(W40-49, 2)
35:46 tie
(W30-39, 3)
38:51 tie
(W10-14, 3)
38:51 tie
(M0-9, 1)
38:54
(W0-9, 1)
40:29
(W30-39, 4)
43:47
(M30-39, 3)
45:55
(W40-49, 3)
45:58
(W50-59, 3)
46:20
(W30-39, 5)
47:21 tie
(W0-9, 2)
47:21 tie
(W20-29, 2)
55:15 tie
(M60+, 2)
55:15 tie
(W60+, 2)
55:29 tie
(M60+, 3)
55:29 tie
(M30-39, 4)
59:05
(W30-39, 6)
Local Special Olympians compete at Portland Timbers’ stadium
Team brings home third-place
soccer medals
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant County Special Olympics team
placed third at last weekend’s Special Olym-
pics Oregon Summer Soccer Invitational in
Portland.
Five Special Olympians and fi ve unifi ed part-
ners make up the local team, led by head coach
Deronda Lallatin. The competition held Fri-
day and Saturday at the newly renovated Provi-
dence Park, home of the Portland Timbers soc-
cer team, had 200 athletes and unifi ed partners
and 100 coaches participating.
Lallatin said the event was fun for every-
one, and the team also won the Sportsmanship
Award.
“Our competition was really tough, but it
was really fun too, and the other teams were
encouraging,” she said.
Team member Caleb Madsen was goalie in
the fi rst game, and Jessie Stubbs fi lled in during
the second game, sharing the goalie position
with Madsen.
“Jessie has a lot of energy, but we let him
take a break, and he blocked a lot of shots,”
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Special Olympics athlete Elizabeth Swarthout
passes the ball to teammate Jessie Stubbs in last
week’s practice at Seventh Street Complex as the
team readied for the Summer Soccer Invitational
in Portland. In back are Katie Shockley and her
mom, a unifi ed partner, Laurie Shockley.
Lallatin said.
This is the fi rst year the local team has com-
peted in soccer, and the coach said they learned
a lot in practice this season.
“The team did a really good job,” she said.
“They worked hard and ran really hard.”
Local athletes participating were Mad-
sen, Stubbs, Brian McKrola, Katie Shockley
and Elizabeth Swarthout. Unifi ed partners and
assistant coaches included Laurie and Michael
Shockley, Sarah Lallatin, David Gill and Jason
Leighton.
Lallatin said Madsen is outgoing and let sev-
eral people know he would be goalie and to
cheer for their team.
Among the fans in the stands were Kim Jos-
lin of Corvallis, a past local program coordi-
nator and sister of McKrola, and friends of the
team Laura Goldici and Dan Kilmer of the Port-
land area.
At practice on June 5, Stubbs said he was
hopeful about the upcoming competition and
doing well there.
“This team has heart,” he said. “That’s what
this team is all about.”
The event was sponsored by Daimler Trucks
North America, Portland Timbers and Thorns
FC, Providence Health & Services, Les Schwab
Tire Centers and Special Olympics International.
Next up for the local team is recreational
walking this summer and a wellness program
this fall led by Kathy Jo Gill.
Lallatin and Gill are Special Olympics local
program coordinators.
Those interested in joining in the recreational
walking may contact Lallatin for the calendar.
For more information, call Lallatin at Value
Added at 541-575-0715.