KO1M SA&KO2M SA 2020 A Covid-19 ELR Success Story
Concluding South Africa’s 2019 Extreme Long Range (ELR) season with the intoxicating high of the Master of 2km+ (M2KM+) and Africa’s first King of 2 Mile+ (KO2M+) events from 13 to 16 November generated a lot of anticipation for 2020. There was an infectious buzz among the growing South African ELR community.
New rifle builds were planned and actioned across the country, while local manufacturers had new ELR chassis, actions, barrels, muzzle brakes and an assortment of ELR accessories in progress or on offer. It was great to see local bullet makers busy with prototypes, putting effort into R&D projects.
Some of us had registered for the KO2M 2020 France event, and a lot of effort went into booking flights, firearm permits, accommodation, car rental and visas. Hence 2020 just seemed to be the year we had all been waiting for, with our imaginations running riot in anticipation of a bigger and better ELR season.
Global ELR rankings
The Impact Xtreme 2019 shooting events were included in two global ELR rankings. One was by Alex Cordesman of KO2M Global, namely Unified ELR Rankings, while the other listing was by Brian Wink of Safety First Tactical ELR. The official KO2M Unified ELR Rankings database dates back to 2015 and only considers hits on targets from 1 500 yards and further, dividing scores into range brackets.
All scores obtained after you fail to hit a target within the allowable scoring shots are deleted. In other words, if you don’t score on the first target, yet continue to score on all the other targets right out to two miles, you still score zero. A maximum of eight targets are considered. So if the competition has ten targets, the furthest eight targets will be considered.
17 SA shooters are in the ranking after only a year of ELR competition
Unlike the Safety First Tactical ELR ranking system, the KO2M ranking system only retains the highest score by a shooter. At present there are 346 shooters listed, and we proudly have 17 South African shooters in the ranking after only a year of ELR competition.
Go to www.elrworld.com to download the full list.
The Safety First Tactical ELR Ranking takes into account the Top 725+ Longest ELR Impacts made within a formal competition, also dating back to 2015. Hits 2 375 yd and further are only considered eligible; these must be direct hits within the allowable scoring shots per target. There is a Light (.585” Bolt Face or less) and Heavy Division. As of December 2020, the following South Africans were on this list, as detailed below. (Visit the Safety First Tactical ELR Facebook page to download the list, which is continually updated).
The South African ELR community took serious note of these global rankings. All of a sudden, the Impact Xtreme shoots were internationally recognised, meaning one could now measure themselves against the ELR greats who occupy space
