WOW! (April 18, 2010 Match)

April 22, 2010

That’s got to be the best weather we’ve had for one of our April events in quite a few years! A little breezy, but the temp was pleasant if you stayed busy. And we all stayed busy as we had 15 shooters at our Sunday match. We shot 2 stages, broke for lunch, then shot 3 more stages to finish off a great day at the range.


Maybe the indoor shooting this winter hasn’t been a total waste of time (although I’ll never admit that), as we had some pretty heated competition.


Thank you, Two X Tom, for donating the flag for use at our shooting annex. It’s nice to have Old Glory flying close to the action. And where would we be without Cindy? She picked up right where she left off last fall, making sure things run smoothly and keeping all the cowboys on the straight and narrow. Sometimes it’s a little like tryin’ to herd cats. We really appreciate everything you do!


We welcomed two new shooters to our ranks as we said our final goodbyes to Loco Joe and Dakota Dealer, both called to that great bordello in the sky. But they were ably replaced by Badlands Vigilante and Obadiah Might. I hate to sound cold, but those other two were definitely men of “questionable character”.


Oh, yah, back to the match.


Blake Stone took the overall win for the first outdoor match of the season. It was also his first match shooting Frontier Cartridge (where did those targets go?).


We had only two shooters shoot the match clean. Two seniors! These guys are making a habit of this. Great shooting, Pistolero Shay and Dakota Rattler!


Thanks to Obadiah for supplying and grilling the burgers and thanks to everyone else who brought something for the pot-luck lunch. It was fantastic! Good food and good company! With shooting thrown in, it’s a perfect day!


May all your lead find steel (finally!)


Blake Stone

Marlin Fried

January 18, 2026
Dear BMRPA Members, It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to let all of you know that the BMRPA has lost one of its founding fathers. Marlin Fried, the namesake of the Fried Family Marksmanship Center, passed away this week. He is survived by his wife Leanne, children and grandchildren. While Marlin has not been active as a shooter with BMRPA for several years, we would still occasionally see him at the outdoor range in his red Chevy pickup, tending to the trees he had planted. In years before, many of you might have known Marlin from Gun City, the shop he started on Main Street in Bismarck. For those of you have never made it to Gun City, it was the type of unique gun store we don’t really get to see anymore. Not all of the trees at the Fried Family Marksmanship Center were planted by Marlin but a great many of them were. He embodied the spirit of old men planting trees which they will never live to enjoy the shade of. It was that spirit of providing for future generations and his enthusiasm for marksmanship and firearms ownership that inspired Marlin to donate the land that the Fried Family Marksmanship Center sits on today. The BMRPA, a club founded by competitive shooters coming together never had its own facility before Marlin’s gift. It was that gift by Marlin and the Fried Family that was one of the greatest factors turning the BMRPA into an organization that provides opportunities for competitors, youth and female shooters and provides a space to exercise our freedom. For that gift, we are thankful and appreciate how uncommon an act such as that is.  So, Marlin and the Fried Family, we thank you! We also wish to express our condolences to the Fried family for their loss during this sad time. A memorial service will be held at 11:30AM on Monday, January 19, 2026, and visitation will be held Sunday, January 18, at 5:30PM at Bismarck Funeral Home, and 7pm prayer service. https://www.bismarckfuneralhome.com/obituaries/marlin-fried Tom Headrick President, BMRPA

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