Finland took the medals in Rifle IPSC

[sasu]

Finland took the medals in Level IV European IPSC Rifle Championships.

ERC2009 - Match Results

Jerry Miculek placed 11th in Open Division.

Our shooting tradition is still going strong even though the Winter War ended several generations ago.

An excerpt from the Wikipedia article:

The battle of Raate road was a one of the most remarkable losses in military history, which occurred during the month-long battle of Suomussalmi. The Soviet 163rd and 44th Infantry Divisions, comprising 25,000 troops, were almost completely destroyed by a Finnish ambush as they marched along the forest road. A small unit blocked the Soviet advance, while Finnish Colonel Hjalmar Siilasvuo and his 9th Division of 3,600 troops cut off the retreat route, split the enemy force into smaller fragments, and then destroyed the remnants as they retreated. The Soviets suffered nearly 18,000 casualties, while the Finnish lost only 250 men.

 

[ACP230]

An old friend of mine, now gone, was an American volunteer in The Winter War. He was a Finnish-American.
He told me he spent a month in combat during the war and,
"That was enough."
He told me they made him a machine gunner and he carried a Lahti-Saloranta. He may also have been issued a Browning Hi-Power although he didn't remember his sidearm as well as the MG.

During World War II he was in the American army in the coast artillery.
Afterward he became a sailor and went all over the world but always came back to this area. He was an ice fishing fanatic and spent lots of time fishing on Lake Superior. He always had interesting stories to tell.

 

[K38]

What kind of rifle were they using at the shoot? Sure looked like a hard and rocky place to have to go prone, Ouch!

Dwight