Category: Events

Simple Field Target #3.- FTRPA July 18th 2021

7/23/2021

Preamble and Acknowledgements

This "Simple FT" thing' is becoming a habit (or is it an addiction?) ROFL! a good one at that.
It forces you to always start from the basics, if you forget the slightest thing, BOING! there goes a shot where it should NOT have gone. And you only have yourself to blame.
Demanding? Yes! but we spring-piston shooters love the challenges!

So, when the Falls Township Rifle and Pistol Association (FTRPA) FT team posted that they would be hosting a shoot in July, I quickly obtained permission from the "High Command" and got my license for "R&R", LOL!

Hotel booked and everything settled, the trip started after a Saturday full of activities with the kids and wife.
The drive was somewhat annoying. Gone are the days of little traffic due to Pandemic's partial lockdowns; statistics say that we are back, if not above, Pre-"Year of the Masks" levels of travel and traffic; the Hospitality Industry has even coined a term: "Revenge Travel" where people travel just to travel, to feel free and unfettered by quarantines and isolation rules.

SOooooo.... After three different traffic jams and an almost 5 hours drive, I arrived into Ewing, NJ to spend the night.

Morning after, I headed to Fairless Hills, where FTRPA is located, just 17 minutes from the hotel. Funny how some states have much better economic policies than others, and it is a pity that PA does not realize how much business is lost to NJ simply because taxes for travel and leisure are lower. But that is another discussion.

FTRPA is easily one of the prettiest courses/venues in the USA. It's been going strong for MANY years. The first time we (Veronika and I) attended a match there was 2011. MUCH has happened since. Venue though, is still as beautiful as ever.

Between the woods and the lake, scenery is calming and serene.

Range is shared between Airgunners and 3D Archers, and the effort that the Airgunners take to "put the least possible footprint" into the woods is more than commendable:
ALL tree bases get removed after the shoot.
ALL concrete bases and pavers get taken out
ALL stakes/gates also are taken out
NOTHING remains of the shoot

So, EVERYTHING has to be set out again for the next shoot. You will never shoot the same course twice at FTRPA!

HUGE effort, so VERY COMMENDABLE!

THANKS! therefore to the FTRPA crew that spends many hours setting up the field for us to come and shoot!

It is also clear that the Field Target group gets serious support from the Association's Directives. So THANKS also go to them.

The Shoot

At FTRPA, there's a nice sighting-in range, that is also shared with the Archers, so, if you go, do NOT shoot at the foamies! Targets are too big to have any real meaning when shot with a precision airgun at under 55 yards!
The FTRPA crew puts out a more than reasonable sighting in range with targets every 5 yards in plentiful supply.
Also some spinners, some "shoot to reset", and once in a while even some FT's.
Get there early and you will have a ton of fun just shooting at paper.

FTRPA sets out a 60 shot match. They believe this is a good balance between costs (travel, time, money) and enjoyment for other shooters to come and shoot, and they are right, it's a darned good "bang for the buck".

These 60 shots are laid over 10 lanes with 3 targets each lane and two shots per target.
Shoots are not "impossibly hard" usually in the 28 TDR average, in recent times only ONE shooter (and a truly top one at that) has cleaned a Match. So, it takes a LOT of skill and dedication to get high numbers even in a relatively "simple" shoot.

Another aspect that is common at FTRPA is the assistance of new shooters. A lot of it obeys the clear familiarity and friendliness that all the members exhibit, and the atmosphere that prevails and pervades all the shoots. It is an excellent course to get started, and you never stop learning . . . ;-)

One most important part of any shoot is the Shooter's Safety Meeting. Make no mistake, we have shortened the name to SM (Shooter's Meeting) but the real purpose is to re-instill the principles of safe gun handling in all the present shooters, especially the old timers.

Make no mistake (have I emphasized that before?), the first timers are usually VERY aware that they are newbies, it's the "experienced shooters" the ones that need reminding of the safety basics. As in many things in life: "Familiarity breeds contempt", so if you ever need to give one of these, make notes and stick to the notes. Be thorough, be precise, be detailed. The worst series of target failures and cold lines would be a minor imposition/nuisance in the face of an accident.
As a shooter, be aware, be conscious, be courteous, but above all, be SAFE.

Among the WFTF MD's there is the acronym: SFC (no, it does not mean Sargent First Class; it stands for SAFE, Challenging and Fun), which is the aspirational goal of all shoots.

I was paired with Johnathan, a first time shooter, and it was very pleasant to shoot with the young man (I double his age). We proceeded at a good clip and he clearly had done as much of his homework as was possible without actually having gone to a match before.

We started in lane 9:

Here is a zoomed in picture of the targets:

I was fairly confident of my "simple" system (a DIANA 430L shooting H&N "Baracuda FT" pellets: 9.57 grs. / 4.51 mm's at around 734 fps) and proceeded to bring down all targets on both shots.
Apologies that you cannot see how small that long target KZ is. If you locate it on the general picture above, you will only see a black dot where the KZ is and, while I cleaned this lane, the impact on the paddles were all clearly visible, perfect elevation, but to the right.
Hmmmmmm Wind? ... mental note.
John proceeded to shoot his stint and we moved to lane #10:

This was one of the long lanes, I ranged the middle one at 45 yards (41 meters) and the far one at 53 yards (48 meters), and while the near one came down twice, I missed the two shots on the middle one, with impacts clearly one to the right . . . . mental cogs turning . . . and then excessive correction to the left. I hit the long one on the first shot, but under the stress of the SSS (Second Shot Syndrome), missed the second shot.
Here is a zoomed in view:

I decided to adjust my scope 5 clicks to the left before moving to the beginning of the course. John finished and we moved back to Lane 1, but found it busy, and so, I decided to shoot lane 2 and then return to lane 1, this is lane 2:

And here is a detailed look at the long targets:

Before starting to shoot, I took two shots into the ground to settle the scope, since I had clicked 5 clicks between the last lane and this one. It was not a difficult lane at 18 yds (16 m), 22 yds (20 m) and 37 yds (34 m); and all 6 shots found the KZ.
After John took his shots, we moved back to lane 1:

This is another long lane, the near target was already 26 yards (24 meters) away, and from there my rangeings were 35 yds (32 m), and 47 yds (43 m). Here is a detailed view of the long targets:

Of the six shots, I missed the last one. Ah, well . . .
After shooting lane 1, we could advance to lane 3:

And the detailed look:

Got the woodpecker at 20 yds (18 m) twice, then missed second shot at the near squirrel 44 yds (40 m), and missed both shots at the long one 54 yds( 49 m) . And the problem with grey and brown targets is that it is VERY hard to spot your misses.
After John shot we moved to Lane 4:

And this is the detailed view:

Viewed from the standing position, it seems that the short porky is clearly visible, but if you locate the porky in the panoramic picture above, you will see there is a "hump" in the ground that obscures part of the target.
In my, very low, sitting position, the pellet grazed the ground and didn't even touch the faceplate! So that was a miss!
I had to scoot back almost to the limit of holding the muzzle in front of the gate to get the second shot to count.
Distances were not that long: 18 yds (16 m), 27 yds (25 m) and 35 yds (32 m).
After John's turn, we moved to Lane 5 which was the offhand lane:

And here is a detail of the targets:

I ranged 10 yds (9 m), 22 yds (20 m), and 27 yds (25 m), so all were doable, but missed the last two shots.
Arghh . . . need more practice!
After John shot his turn, we moved to lane 6:

With its detailed view:

Dropped all 6 targets. Ranges were not long: 12 yds (11 m), 19yds (17 m), and 22 yds (20 m).
After John shot we moved to Lane 7:

This is John shooting his (very well) home tuned HW97. And here would be a detailed view of the targets:

Got twice the near and mid targets, but the long one eluded me. I suspect that at 49 yds (45 meters), with the sun on my back and a hat made out of rattan that is very airy, but also allows passage of light into the ocular, the budget/simple Diamondback 6-24X50 was having problems giving me the acuity needed to range correctly. I really cannot fault the scope, it is not a "high end scope" and, for the price (under $400), performs admirably. I will have to remember and get some sort of solid hat that precludes the sunshine shining into the ocular, OR an I-cuff or other similar device (but then we start getting away from the "Simple" in the Simple FT concept.

We closed the match at lane 8:

Which was the only lane towards the lake. USUALLY, the wind from the lake plays goofy tricks with the shots, but this time I was lucky and I had some calm.
I had shot the two shots on the first target when John told me:
-There is a person in the lake beyond the middle target, not that you are going to miss, but just to make you aware"
WHAAAT???!!!!
Stood up and tried to locate the person, but he had rowed past, so I deemed safe to shoot again.
I calmed myself down, breathed real deep a few times and asked John which was the next shot.
John informed me that I had to take my first shot on the second target, so I started there and the rest of the shots went well.
Enough to close the Match with a clean lane that is always very nice.

By now, I'm sure some of you are thinking: "How can he remember EVERY shot?"

Truth is: I don't. LOL!

When Veronika started shooting, she made it a point to keep notes of every shot, and so we designed a D.O.P.E. card that I try to keep for all shoots. It is a source of experience, as sometimes after thinking things over a day or two, I come back and find something that needs to be learned.
It is something I would highly recommend:

For example:
Clearly, the long shots are harder than the short ones.
Clearly I have problems with the second shot: 8 of 13 misses were second shots.
Need to work in my offhand shots (usually, real top matches are decided on the "discipline" - forced position - shots).
In this way, you can "coach" yourself to improved scores.

Of course, I always take a picture of the official score card:

And make sure that totals match, LOL!

After all the shooting was done, some of the shooters pitched in to "take out the course":

It's the least we can do to help the FTRPA crew.

After the cleanup, awards were given and conversations got started

After a while, I was reminded that I hadn't brought the wife, LOL!
So I took leave from my friends and started heading home.
The drive home was easier than the one out.
Quick refuel, snack, and in 3 hrs and change I was home.
When you analyze the scores of the match, it becomes clear that the course was not THAT hard (measured as TDR), yet the scores were not THAT high.
There is much more to a course difficulty than the TDR, and even when the MD's think it is one of the easiest they have set, results tell that it was not so easy after all.

As far as equipment is concerned, I am still very happy with my "Simple FT rig" the DIANA 430L is a "good" gun to start with, but with some engineering and the right accessories, it is approaching the "great" status.
The combination of the scope, the mount, the gun, and the pellet has proven that FT'ers should not be afraid of running at slow speeds. It's the accuracy, precision and consistency of a system that are most important.
It is also important to have fun and, if your system is becoming too complicated, take a step back, re-think the whole thing, see into yourself and decide what is what makes you truly happy. Then simplify.
You may loose a few points in the first few matches, but if you were honest with yourself and the simplification gives you more enjoyment, then you will practice more, be more proficient, and in the long run, you will score better.

FTRPA's July shoot is now done, it has become part of the collective memory, some things learned, some things re-learned; it was a hoot and I deeply appreciate Larry's, Rick's, and Jim's knowledge, cooperation and efforts on behalf of the sport.
Good times and good memories are created from this.
AND...
Best thing was to meet old friends and make new ones, I've said it many times, but the best part of FT is the people that shoot FT.

Keep well and shoot straight!

HM

0 Comments

"Simple Field Target".- Maryland State Champ's 2021

5/30/2021

2 Comments

Shooting FT with a CCA/DIANA 430L

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am liking this "Simple FT" thing!

So, I decided to shoot the Maryland State Championship 2021 edition, with the same CCA/DIANA 430L, the excellent Vortex Optics Diamondback Tactical FFP 6-24 X 50 FFP EBR2C mrad and the very consistent H&N Baracuda FT (4.51/9.57) pellets.

I THINK the system acquitted itself quite nicely, as can be seen from the Match Results:

To put this in context:
Shooting from an industrial/floorer knee pad, with no straps, jacket, or special stock (no hook, hamster, nor heavy weight) and a 24X scope, no clicking; this gun's 52 points was highest among spring-piston shooters, and only 4 points behind the only other score in the WFTF Division.
And the power level did play an important role in this match, as several targets failed to fall with the sub 12 ft-lbs hits if the hit was lower into the KZ, or if it was at the farthest reaches.

This is the second match I shoot with this system, so I am now more familiar with the trajectory and the wind drift.

Reading into my D.O.P.E.:

It is clear that the small KZ's at short range are not as high a challenge as the long shots.
With a humble piston sporter, the success rate at the near targets was 79%, while the success at the far targets was only 67%.
A small explanation of all the info that goes into the DOPE might be useful:
P=position (Free, Standing, or Kneeling); R=Range (in meters), S=score.
By not putting down the hits you mentally challenge yourself to keep the card "clean".
Paper is waterproof and you write with either a "Sharpie", or pencil, to keep the whole thing waterproof.
The little dots by the "zeroes" is the believed POI for that miss.
The small "P"s means that I protested the target.

Notes are important, and I try to put them down just after the shoot, so I don't forget things.
EG: The far target on lane 5 was suspected by Keith Walters (my shooting squad mate) to be illegal, when ranged and the KZ measured through the reticle, I thought it was about a 53 TDR (½ mrad @ 32 meters is about 5/8" at 35 yards), when the targets were brought in I measured the KZ at 18 mm's (my pocketknife has a mm's ruler LOL!) so, a bit less, but very close the max stated in page 6, "Targets", Section "I" of the new rules (Feb 2021).
Keith brought it down, TWICE! He is a great shooter (together with Brian Van Lieuw, they posted the highest scores of the match; great shooting in anyone's book!), hopefully he will make the switch to WFTF after the end of the season, as the 2024 World's are slated to be held in the USA and it would be interesting to have him there.

So, the shoot was not an easy one, the scope was ranging accurately (within 1 meter either way), the rifle was putting the BFT's where it was aimed, and I was very happy with the performance of the system.

Now let's see some pictures:

Apoogies for the lack of focus, my 5 YO son had set the waterproof camera to "Macro" ROFL! But the picture does show the type of weather we encountered on arrival.

The shooting line was well populated. I need to get one of these umbrellas. Though I am not sure how one can take something like this to an International Match. LOL!

Zoomed in view of a typical lane. Apologies for the blurry picture, but the waterproof camera does not have a good zoom.

Keith's offhand position, a lot to learn from this picture.

A zoomed in detail of the offhand lane arrangement.

A typical "free position" lane.

Some pictures of the lanes:

I know the system can shoot better, got most of my kneelers and half the standers; and I also realize that towards the end of the shoot (we started on lane 10), some fatigue was setting in, so further work into the cocking linkage has to be done to improve that.

It has also been an interesting "trip" to shoot the H&N BFT's; they are not for every barrel but, when you find a barrel that shoots them well, even at 730 fps, they can hold their own.

AND, this also shows that "simple" equipment can take you far in the FT game. That the FT game is not about power, but about accuracy, precision and Marksmanship.

So, next time you have the opportunity to go to a shoot, just "giddy-up-go" because you are sure to have fun, learn more than a few things, and meet some great people!

Keep well and shoot straight!

HM

2 Comments

"Simple Field Target".- The North Carolina Classic 2021

5/17/2021

12 Comments

In a casual conversation with a good friend, an old "survivalist" from Texas, he questioned me (as old people are capable of), with the force of experience and the lapidary tone of a parent:
"Your FT sport, you've been at it for,. . . what?, something like two decades?"
I had to admit that, yes, a bit under 21 years. And he countered:
"And in those 21 years, has the sport advanced?
Hmmmmm, yes, I said, I assume it has advanced in some aspects and has retrograded in some others.
"OK" he said. "Let's concentrate on those aspects on which you think it has retrograded. What has become less interesting?"
In here I have to clarify that he refers to many things, and persons, as being "interesting" or "uninteresting", and that in that seemingly simple concept, he engulfs all sorts of aspects and feelings from 'fun and exciting', to 'loveable and cherishable'.
So, I told him: "It has become MUCH more complicated. The 'Simple' in it is gone"
As a good surgeon he once was, he began dissecting the issue:
"Is the 'simple' in IT or in YOU gone?"

And THAT made me think.

Yes, the courses have become harder, longer, more challenging, but the pellets and the rifles have advanced so, ¿Why do WE make it complicated? Is it truly that important to place "Top X" that we allow it to detract from the enjoyment of the sport?
¿Why do we want to solve all issues with equipment and more equipment?
¿Why not return to "Simple FT"?

I had been working by times and lapses, on how to improve the DIANA 430L, and my last conclusion was that it was still not an FT rifle. My objections were, mostly, what I had told my friend "detracted" from the sport!
AND that statement applied to a rifle scoped with a 2-7 X 28 scope.

So, I pulled the Vortex Optics Diamondback Tactical 6-24X50 FFP - Mil/Mil (probably the best spring-piston airgun scope currently on the market) from the Walther LGV and mounted it on the "small" 430L.
But the 430L is not REALLY a small gun. It is compact, yes, but it is not a carbine.
And the scope is not a SIGHTRON SIII, so I do think they go well together.
The addition of a leather cheek-rest was VERY useful to accomplish a uniform eye placement in relation to the scope. The stock itself is ambidextrous, but now the gun is right-handed.

The Nautilus sidewheel provides plenty of spacing between the 48 and 50 meters (53 and 55 yards) markers, and when set to the short ranges, the whole thing has a flat top profile that fits into many cases. In the upper photo it is set at max range (50 meters/55 yards).

A few detailed pictures:

The loading port is not completely obstructed and allows plenty of room to put the pellet into.
I put a "secret sunshade" in the scope and it was quite effective cutting off the glare of shooting towards the east in the morning without adding undue length to the scope and obstructing the loading port.

Viewed from the rear, you can see that there is a definite spacing between the 48 and 50 m markers, and it is not hard to repeat the rangings IF there is sufficient reflected light (and we will go into that a bit later, when we discuss the North Carolina Classic -NCC 2021- ).

It is also a mil-mil scope, meaning that the reticle (First Focal Plane), is in mrads, and the turrets are in 1/10ths of a mrad, so coordinating the "trip to Zero" is remarkably easy.

It does have a 16X mark, so our "Hunter" Division friends can use it at their ease.
I used it at 24X. A bit under the 29X that I normally use my SIGHTRON at, but the glass is clear enough that I didn't feel challenged by the lower magnification.

Last, but not least, a windicator worthy of the husband of a fierce knitter.
;-)

A truly simple rifle/scope combination. No hamster, no inclinometer, no level, no "custom stock".
Simple sporter stock capable of fitting-in VERY well around a camp-fire.

The system shoots well the Baracuda FT. And I had tested the trajectory several times at DIFTA's sighting-in range Monday night shoots. Finding it remarkably consistent from week to week.

So, on Wednesday, before the NCC-2021, I was at my range, putting numbers in the sidewheel and seeing if all the data was more or less consistent.
To do that I shot some groups with the same pellet (BFT), but in three different modes: Lubed with baked Pledge, lubed with T-9 and Naked, results were "interesting":

There are 10 shots in each group, and as you can see, from the zero distance there is a clear grouping ability for the baked Pledge pellets that becomes even more obvious by the 50 meters mark.

Each bold square is an inch, and each small square is a ¼ ", so, the group at the 50 m mark with baked Pledge measures less than ¾" high X 1½" wide O-O so, with better wind reading and more practice it IS now an FT "system".

It is also interesting that the SAME pellet, at the SAME MV, does exhibit a different POI at 50 m depending on whether the pellet is lubed or not.
So, we went with baked Pledge lubed pellets.

Thursday morning saw me pack and by 15:00 hrs, I was on the road to Roanoke Rapids.

I was somewhat worried that there would be problems refueling, as the "hacking" attack on the Eastern oil pipeline had shut down fuel deliveries for 5 days already. Luckily, it seems that Diesels are privileged:

Driving our little Golf TDI to shoots has become a tradition, it is a capable and comfortable vehicle and, when properly driven, it yields more than "decent" mileage door to door:

Checked in at the hotel and prepared for next morning.

Early next morning, I whooshed by Wendy's take out and went directly to the range.
Last year, the navigation had taken me to the wrong spot on Jack Swamp Road, so I had saved the entrance location and this year, there was no problem finding it.
Of course, this year they HAD put up a large red banner. ;-)

Got to the range and met all the friends, checked in, signed the waiver, and proceeded to the line of fire.

In the foreground, from left: Tom Holland, Chas DiCapua, and Leo Gonzales

In the foreground: Mike Dugas and Phil Hepler

Three Hunter Piston Champions, from front to rear: Paul Manktelow, Greg Shirhall and Eric Brewer

To my surprise, I found the rifle VERY close to zero, a few clicks to the left, but nothing major.

Shot about 100 pellets that day, at different distances and under different wind conditions and in all aspects, the PP Calc data seemed to be good, so, called it a day, we went together for dinner at Logan's and next morning we met again.
After checking zero and just warming up, we were squadded and sent to the "White Course".
This course is challenging in several fronts:
On one side, it is a wind tunnel. The gas line clearing clearly collects and bounces around all the stray currents. Some cuttings allow certain cross winds to flow and when they do, even a small cross-wind meeting an almost solid wall of trees, rises and swirls and creates challenging conditions.

Last time (2018 Nationals) we had shot this same place, we were shooting from the sun into the shade. This time, shots were longer and we were shooting from the shade into the dappled shade of the tree borderline, or far into the shade. So, very challenging light conditions.
Add to that the wind that kicked in with gusts of up to 20 kph (12½ mph) and you have indeed a challenging shoot.

Picture courtesy of Leo Gonzales

By the end of the day, I was happy to have gotten some really long and challenging shots.

In my cards, ranges are in meters and the small dots by the "0" indicates the suspected POI

As usual, the diagnostic is that we can all use a bit more practice, specially when we are trying to shoot a sporter gun with no aids.
And that we can use more real match practice, shooting a lane out of order, and timing out were not smart moves!
We can chuck that to CoViD! LOL!

By the end of the day, the score was not bad:

Don't pay attention to the rifle, pellet and scope stats, they were not changed on this card, though I had corrected the club's data base when I arrived.

After the Subway lunch, we chatted a little, and we agreed to repeat Logan's for dinner.
Next morning we met, checked our zeroes, and I found the gun shooting just a bit to the right, took mental note and decided to shoot as it was.
I was fairly confident that the more calm day and the woods course wouldn't be as challenging as the open wind-tunnel course.
Till I saw the targets.
All targets painted in blue.
In here we have to say that THAGC is a strongly-WFTF leaning club. Shots are long and they adhere to the basic concepts of shooting by target number, using the standard colors designated by WFTF, lane markers that inform the shooters of where they are, what they are shooting at, and keeping timers on track.
We DID shoot twice at each target, as is the custom in the USA.
So, BLUE they were!

Picture courtesy of Leo Gonzales

Even with the telefoto lens and the contrast reading capabilities of a CCD sensor, it is hard to see the pellet impacts.
On top, the real life experience was that of a much darker setting, the camera images tend to enhance the brightness and reduce the contrast/balance.
As the day wore on, I did realize that my ranging was not as good as in a brightly lit setting, and I started ranging two and three times at different objects and textures, so as to check the numbers.
This is one aspect where a larger scope would have performed better, perhaps at the expense of the ease of handling of the "smallish system"

Ranging several times eats the time up, and so timing out and rushing shots is not out of the question.
I also had a peculiar "failure" where the cocking lever opened, something I did not experience again, but that I think I will address anyway with a magnet to reinforce the holding of the lever in the "battery" position.

Leo and Nathan had also had a rough time. Nathan was breaking out a custom stock made by him from a laminated blank. Purple! Not my cup of tea, and nothing could have made our rifles farther away from each other, LOL!
But they are good shooters and they were more consistent than I was.

Of the four WFTF piston shooters, three were shooting LGU's, so that gives you an idea of the level of competition.
The courses were World Class courses in their style, presentation and challenges.
It was a pleasure and a privilege to shoot those courses, so thanks go to the designers: Ketih Knoblauch for the White Course and Chris Corey for the Blue course.

When MOST of the shooting was done, and all the scores were in, I asked Chris C. how I could help, and he very graciously allowed me to set the shoot-off lanes.

As WFTF rules call for, the lanes were IDENTICAL as far as distances and KZ's sizes, ranges were paced out roughly, then measured with a tape, distances and KZ's were checked against WFTF rules, and targets were checked with an official target checker with the recommended three hits to the paddle (low, medium and high in the KZ). Greg, Nathan, Phil and other friends pitched in and they were ready in a jiffy.

And then shooting started:

Lauren Parsons and Matt Stark shooting off the 3rd place of WFTF PCP

Lauren and Matt both hit the near and far targets from the sitting position, when advancing to the kneeling position, Matt hit hit his target while Lauren didn't, and so Matt took the 3rd place.

Paul Cray and Gerald Long, shooting out the 1st and 2nd places WFTF PCP

Gerald hit his target while Paul didn't and so Gerald took the First place.

Brian Van Lieuw and Chas DiCapua shooting off the First place of Open PCP

Both hit their sitting shots and when progressing to kneeling, Brian Van Lieuw hit his targets while Chas missed one and so, Brian took the First place.

With the shootoffs done, we all proceeded to the awards ceremony.

In Hunter Pistol, Brian Van Lieuw placed 3rd

Paul Porch placed 2nd in Hunter Pistol, but being one of the MD's he relinquished his place to Brian, so that Brian placed officially in second place

Joe Garland placed 3rd in Hunter Pistol

Eric Brewer placed First in Hunter Pistol

Tom Holland placed 3rd in Limited Pistol

Chris Corey placed 2nd in Limited Pistol

Nathan Thomas placed First in Limited Pistol

Joe Garland placed 3rd in Open PCP

Chas DiCapua placed 2nd in Open PCP

Brian Van Lieuw took First in Open PCP

Eric Brewer took 3rd in Hunter Piston

Josh Winslow took 2nd place in Hunter Piston with a great second day performance.

Paul Manktelow took 1st in Hunter Piston

Bill Day took 3rd in Hunter PCP

Cary Hymel took 2nd in Hunter PCP

Phil Hepler took First in Hunter PCP

Nathan Thomas took 2nd in WFTF Piston

Leo Gonzales took First in WFTF Piston

Matt Stark took 3rd in WFTF PCP

Paul Cray took 2nd in WFTF PCP

Gerald Long took First in WFTF PCP

All the Champions

All in all it was a great experience.
I am happy with the result and I THINK I will continue to shoot "Simple FT".
Without the complications of extra large scopes, shooting jackets, slings, hamsters, etc. I enjoy more the outings.
I will also continue with the development of the 430L, it is a great platform that can easily compete with other underlevers.
¿Perhaps we can convince DIANA to bring out a 430L "M Improved"?

Next time you have the chance to go to an FT shoot, GO. You really will enjoy yourself!

Keep well and shoot straight!

HM

12 Comments

FTRPA's 10/18/2020.- Some pictures

10/21/2020

3 Comments

With CoViD upending most of our lives, it was good to go to the venue of some of the best laid matches in the USA.

FTRPA matches are not "hard" per se, they try not to exceed the 28 T rating at the average level, so it's not a "Highly Technical Match". They are neither all long shots, nor all tiny kill zones. Each extreme favours a division/class.

What FTRPA's matches have is balance and charm.

I know those two words are outdated and "passé". But so am I. And I am glad to accept it, LOL! To ME, Honour is still a value. And gauging people for what they ARE more than by what they HAVE is a good standard.

In our modern world of "Extreme-whatever you care to do", and over-aggressive competition/consumption, we have lost some of the values of the 20th Century.
Values that derived from one tough recession, two VERY hard fought wars (some really good historians would say that it was one single war with a long armistice in the middle), and decades of re-building countries, economies and lives.

Coming back to the FT shoot: thanks need to go to the FTRPA Club and the Archery group that allows us, crazy airgunners, to take over the range for a weekend (between setup and shoot). Without mutual tolerance and cooperation many things in this life are almost impossible.

So, having said all that, I hereby salute FTRPA's team (Rick Bassett, Larry Bowne and Jim Wilcox), they are gentlemen after my own heart.

What a "Group Picture" looks like in the times of CoViD-19

In this "New Normal", the shooters' meeting does not only include the usual gun-shooting safety points, but also a review of the CDC guidelines.

FTRPA is one of the few clubs that truly attracts and keeps new shooters. In this occasion we had two new shooters that performed very creditably, so I hope they will continue to attend.

I was squadded with Brian Van Liew (Match High score). I enjoy shooting with him because we are both rather technically oriented guys.

Let's get into detailed views of the targets:

Sorry! Brian beat me to it, LOL!

A rather "close shave" ¿huh?

Two targets on the same tree, so be aware of which target you should be shooting at.

At the end of the wooded alley, a long shot to a target in a tree that is near to the lake. Want to guess the wind direction there? Hint: it depends on the time of day.

Let's look now at another lane:

In the old days, this used to be the dreaded lane 1, usually the longest shot in the match.

Beyond the two "Pistol Only" targets the three rifle targets are out there. But as you can see, the KZ's are not small, so they are very "doable" targets.

A lane where you can appreciate the Light/Shadow setting and the challenges you face.

The "near" target

The "Mid" target

And the "Far" one.

Ha ha!, Can you find the targets?

Here is the short one

Mid and Far are here

Another lane, this is the last one (10 lanes X 6 shots = 60 shots course)

And here are the targets:

The experiment this time was to leave the rifle in the car overnight, hoping that a "cold start" would be better than taking a room-temperature rifle out into the cold, and then seeing the POI's change as the rifle cooled down and then stabilized.
I did have time on the sighting in range to try to get everything up to "running" status, but after seeing the POI's change as it started from cold, I think it is not a good idea.
By the time, the gun was again at "operating conditions" most of the Match had gone and it was only at the last two lanes (lane 10 and 1 for us) that I really began connecting.
Ah, well, one more experience.

We were halfway in taking down the course when we were called to the awards presentation

Greg Shirhall took 1st in Hunter Piston

And Pat Shirhall came back for a "bonus"

Ed Carter placed second in Hunter PCP

Tom Ryan got First in Hunter PCP

Leo Gonzales placed First in WFTF Piston

And Mike Harris placed First in WFTF PCP

The results bear out what I was saying at the beginning:

Top scores were pretty close in all classes and divisions. THAT is what makes a "Balanced" match, where all the challenges in FT are balanced and offered to all shooters of all Divisions and Classes.

And so, after finishing the taking out of the course, I drove home having spent a beautiful day outdoors, with friends, having fun; and THAT is what FT is all about.

Keep well and shoot straight!

HM

3 Comments

The 2020 N. Carolina State Championship.- An Educational Experience

10/13/2020

4 Comments

I usually wait for the "official" report to come out, but since CoViD 19 has driven everything into a "limbo" (and not precisely of the dancing kind), there is precious little information about results, classes , equipment, etc.
In fact, there have been precious little matches going on.
SOME clubs, like Rochester Brooks, or Connecticut Airgunners never lost pace, except for the absolute lock-down phases, but others, like DIFTA, have been forced by range rulings to only re-open the season fairly recently, when "Stage 2" of the opening up had been achieved.
All this to say that few shooters have kept pace with activity, training, or match participation.

When the news came that the North Carolina State Match was going to be held at Will & Ginger Piatt's place at Ennice (right at the heart of the Blue Ridge Parkway), I told my wife and we decided to make a road trip out of it. It would not be the dream road trip we had imagined in 2015, but now we would have a lot more company, LOL!

Besides, my niece is now in the last stages of her driving practice, she'll be taking her final in-car exam soon, so what better opportunity to have her drive the highway and night time requirements?

We set out on Friday and arrived late night, as we got stuck in traffic in two spots.

After a good night's sleep, I was packed and ready to go! Everything I needed was in the range bag, and with the appropriate rain gear (remember 2015? LOL!)

As is often the case, when you are best prepared, things are not too bad, or at least they do not LOOK too bad!

After an early morning breakfast (we were staying in Elkin, about 45 mins from the range), we got there on time, I got setup and started the process of shooting some pellets downrange to see how he trajectory had changed (notice it is NOT a question -if the trajectory had changed-, that is a given when you go from 500 FASL to 2825 FASL), as my MV had probably gone down from 780 to about 745 fps.
It didn't occur to me to check a chrono, I thought there would be a chrono station, but there wasn't. Should have checked. Now I am dying of curiosity! LOL!
As the match developed and as the rain came and went, it was obvious there was something not quite right. Inexplicable misses, POI changing all over the place . . . not the usual quirky behaviour of a springer, more like a schizophrenia.

But, never argue with reality.

I had been testing reverting to the DIANA OEM style of bedding for my 54 and it was clearly not as stable as the CCA designed one. At home in the backyard, it had proven accurate, but once different inclinations and positions where thrown in, the POI changes proved too much for the OEM bedding.
Anyway, I have reverted to my own design and hopefully, this will cure some of that.

The Match, as all matches sponsored by THAGC, was a hard one. 40 T would barely start to describe the deviousness of the MD, LOL!
But still, if you do not shoot hard matches you never learn anything worthwhile, so after all was said and done, we did have a ball, we learned a lot, and I think we will convert those learnings into experiences.

Rain gear performed like it should, pellets performed as they should. The gunsmith . . . hmm so-so. And the shooter did its best to keep a stiff upper lip and go through lane after lane of complete surprises.

Apologies are in order on the quality of the pictures, but I had taken my waterproof camera and it is not as good a camera as the normal one. So that, added to my limited skills as photographer, will make you think that the things were rougher than they really were.
Now, Let's see some pictures!

Will Piatt delivered a succinct and precise shooters meeting:

There was a wooded section, an open section, and transitional lanes. This lane is peculiar because the lane is in the open, but the wooded section is right next to it, so any wind will "bounce" and create very interesting challenges to the WFTF shooter

Targets are to the left of the picture.

Here is a close-up view of the targets, radically different positioning, the upper target wide open in the wind, the lower target more sheltered from direct wind, but subject to eddies and swirls.

Another example of the MD's crooked mind ;-) :

Shooting from the dark, sheltered, woods into the open is one of the more challenging shots, you have no information of what is happening out there!

A close up of the targets reveals how different the distances really were. As you can imagine, the slope of the land also creates an interesting challenge.

And there were several of these. LOL!

Out in the open, wind gusts of up to 15 mph moved the shooters, let alone the pellets. See how the water ripples in the pond at the back and notice how there is a tranquil area to the right of the pond, while the left side is rippling. This gives you an idea how the wind "rolls".

Most of the shots were long shots, and under these conditions, you can imagine what the wind was doing when it came over the trees on the left.

A close up of the targets reveals how different the shots were.

Bet you cannot find the targets!

But,. there they are! Or, are they? the blocks on the right are NOT one of the targets.

Even what seemed to be a wide open, long lane

Posed severe difficulty when taking into account the target color, the very dark background, the "flying" location, and the dark day.

By the end of the day, my score of 35 exceeded the 50% and bettered my performance of 5 years ago by a full 10 percentage points, LOL!

High score was something like 63/68, so that gives you an idea that the course was designed more with the 20 ft-lbs PCP shooter in mind.
It would be interesting to see the difficulty rating of the course.

In true FT fashion, and in the tradition of all "Southern Belles", Ginger Piatt served us a bountiful dinner with Shepherds' Pie, home baked rolls and an absolutely fantastic "Eclair pie".

My family arrived in time for desert (you can bet the 3 and 4 year olds were happy about that, LOL!

What happens with children, when one is paying attention to the camera, the other is distracted, and by the time the older starts to pay attention, the youngest gets distracted, LOL!

Brian Van Lieuw took first in Open PCP

Gary Palinkas took second in Open PCP

Gerald Long took First in WFTF PCP

Lukas Richter took Second in WFTF PCP

Miguel Sanchez too First in Hunter PCP

Amon Piatt took Second in Hunter PCP

Phil Hepler took 3rd in Hunter PCP (and by the way, designed and made the awards!)

A very Happy Piston shooter!

I love shooting with the THAGC crowd, they challenge you and they feed you well. LOL!

Hopefully, we'll meet again along some lanes.

Keep well and shoot straight!

HM

4 Comments

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Hector Medina

2012 US National WFTF Spring Piston Champion
2012 WFTF Spring Piston Grand Prix Winner
2013 World's WFTF Spring Piston 7th place
2014 Texas State WFTF Piston Champion
2014 World's WFTF Spring Piston 5th place.
2015 Maine State Champion WFTF Piston
2015 Massachusetts State Champion WFTF Piston
2015 New York State Champion WFTF Piston
2015 US National WFTF Piston 2nd Place
2016 Canadian WFTF Piston Champion
2016 Pyramyd Air Cup WFTF Piston 1st Place
2017 US Nationals Open Piston 3rd Place
2018 WFTC's Member of Team USA Champion Springers
2018 WFTC's 4th place Veteran Springer
2020 Puerto Rico GP Piston First Place
2020 NC State Championships 1st Place Piston

Hector's Airgun Blog