After yesterday's deluge, and 400 shooters had trampled the course, it was quagmire.
We Americans would have charted some cartloads of pea-pebbles for the shooting boxes. To the Europeans, sitting in mud is almost a hobby in itself.
Because I had been relegated to the "runt of the litter" (and rightly so, LOL!), I was shooting again in the morning and my squadmates had changed.
I would be shooting with a girl from England, Hellen; and a young man from the Ukranian team, Oleksander.
After exchanging pleasantries, we sat down to shoot. It was interesting to see a 6' tall guy take the pretzel position:
We Americans would have charted some cartloads of pea-pebbles for the shooting boxes. To the Europeans, sitting in mud is almost a hobby in itself.
Because I had been relegated to the "runt of the litter" (and rightly so, LOL!), I was shooting again in the morning and my squadmates had changed.
I would be shooting with a girl from England, Hellen; and a young man from the Ukranian team, Oleksander.
After exchanging pleasantries, we sat down to shoot. It was interesting to see a 6' tall guy take the pretzel position:
,
Do note his right knee tucking in the stock.
And the position of the stock's forearm riser at a compound angle.
Peculiar stocks these FT specific stocks.
I had taken a few shots in the sighting in range and I felt confident that I finally had found my zero. Based on the misses of yesterday and the info given by the sighting-in range, I settled on a course of action and decided to follow it.
We started on lane 2, and I hit targets 3,4,5,6, and 7, then missed target 8, hit 9 and missed 10.
Not bad because I was seeing my misses and most were because I was overestimating the wind. I was not trusting the App.
Then it was time to change "decade" and we went on to lane 6, missed target 11, but hit 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16, which was good because they were kneelers:
Do note his right knee tucking in the stock.
And the position of the stock's forearm riser at a compound angle.
Peculiar stocks these FT specific stocks.
I had taken a few shots in the sighting in range and I felt confident that I finally had found my zero. Based on the misses of yesterday and the info given by the sighting-in range, I settled on a course of action and decided to follow it.
We started on lane 2, and I hit targets 3,4,5,6, and 7, then missed target 8, hit 9 and missed 10.
Not bad because I was seeing my misses and most were because I was overestimating the wind. I was not trusting the App.
Then it was time to change "decade" and we went on to lane 6, missed target 11, but hit 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16, which was good because they were kneelers:
then hit 17, missed 18, but hit 19 and 20.
I was very happy with how the gun was shooting and how the pellets were flying into the KZ.
We changed decades and I missed 21, but hit 22, 23 ,and 24.
I was "right chuffed with myself" because lane 12 was out in an open "cul de sac" of trees and the wind was swirling about.
I was very happy with how the gun was shooting and how the pellets were flying into the KZ.
We changed decades and I missed 21, but hit 22, 23 ,and 24.
I was "right chuffed with myself" because lane 12 was out in an open "cul de sac" of trees and the wind was swirling about.
Missed 25, but then hit 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30
27 and 28 were a little peculiar because they seemed to be real far:
27 and 28 were a little peculiar because they seemed to be real far:
and then we changed decade.
Hit targets 31, 32, 33, and then disaster struck.
Gun would not cock.
As much as I tried, took the gun out of the stock, checked for loose parts then augmented the trigger tension, in the hope that something had oxidized with the rain, and a little more force in the release of the springer would return the gun to operational status again.
Nothing worked.
And so ,with a VERY heavy heart, I had to abandon the competition.
With 23 hits out of 29 shots actually taken, I could have ended with a 40.
BUT the stars simply did not align and I had to abandon the competition.
I still kept score for my squadmates and we had a jolly good time of it, but deep down, I felt real sad.
Anyway, a bad day at the range still beats the best day at the office, and I was glad to be out here in good company, enjoying the outdoors.
Hit targets 31, 32, 33, and then disaster struck.
Gun would not cock.
As much as I tried, took the gun out of the stock, checked for loose parts then augmented the trigger tension, in the hope that something had oxidized with the rain, and a little more force in the release of the springer would return the gun to operational status again.
Nothing worked.
And so ,with a VERY heavy heart, I had to abandon the competition.
With 23 hits out of 29 shots actually taken, I could have ended with a 40.
BUT the stars simply did not align and I had to abandon the competition.
I still kept score for my squadmates and we had a jolly good time of it, but deep down, I felt real sad.
Anyway, a bad day at the range still beats the best day at the office, and I was glad to be out here in good company, enjoying the outdoors.
And so, the match ended for me with very low results.
I'll have to get home, disassemble the gun and take a good deep look at what we can do to make the whole thing much more reliable and much more resistant to the elements.
A friend once said that in an airgun match anything that could go wrong WOULD go wrong.
I think there is an important life lesson in that.
Keep well and shoot straight!
HM
I'll have to get home, disassemble the gun and take a good deep look at what we can do to make the whole thing much more reliable and much more resistant to the elements.
A friend once said that in an airgun match anything that could go wrong WOULD go wrong.
I think there is an important life lesson in that.
Keep well and shoot straight!
HM
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