Winter War Match

In 1939 at the beginning of WWII, the USSR demanded territory from Finland which the Finns refused to concede.  Taking a page from Hitler's playbook, the Soviets attacked some of their own troops, blamed it on the Finns and used it as a pretext to invade.  The Soviets expected a quick victory, but the Finns weren't like the Poles who allowed Hitler to roll through their country.

The Finns were out-numbered and out-gunned.  Using their knowledge of the terrain and fighting with guerrilla tactics the Finns inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviets.  Numbers vary depending on the source, but it seems safe to say that the Finns out fought the Soviets by far man for man.

The problem was that there were a lot more Soviets and eventually they wore down the Finns.  International sympathy was with the Finnish cause but substantive support was too little too late.  The Finns had to surrender and the "Moscow Peace Treaty" was signed March 13, 1940 with the USSR taking what they wanted.

This match is to remember the marksmanship of the Finns with their bolt action rifles.  We are encouraging everyone to bring bolt-action rifles.  Preferably open iron sighted rifles like the M39 Finnish Nagant, the M1896 Swedish Mauser or the M1891 based Mosin Nagants.  All three of these rifles were used in the fight.

While we are encouraging rifles from the period, any rifle that meets our vintage military rifle criteria is welcome.

The targets will be similar to those the Finns used to train their troops with in the 1930's.  We don't have the exact targets but will improvise.  The target represents a Soviet soldier with his head canted over a rifle.  All shooting will be from a prone position.  Slings are permitted but no rests.

We will shoot these targets at 200 yds in slow fire and rapid fire stages.
The match will consist of a sighting period followed by two strings of fire.
The first string will be slow fire 15 rounds in 10 minutes.
The second string will be 15 rounds in 5 minutes.

We will plan to shoot the entire match twice so bring enough ammo for sighters plus 60 rounds for score.

Registration begins at 8:30 am

Safety briefing at 9:15

Match begins at 9:30.