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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I know those two words are outdated and "passé".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. 
Picture
What a "Group Picture" looks like in the times of CoViD-19
Picture
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.
Picture
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.
PictureI 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:

Picture
Sorry! Brian beat me to it, LOL!
Picture
A rather "close shave" ¿huh?
Picture
Two targets on the same tree, so be aware of which target you should be shooting at.
Picture
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:
Picture
In the old days, this used to be the dreaded lane 1, usually the longest shot in the match.
Picture
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.
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A lane where you can appreciate the Light/Shadow setting and the challenges you face.
Picture
The "near" target
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The "Mid" target
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And the "Far" one.
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Ha ha!, Can you find the targets?
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Here is the short one
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Mid and Far are here
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Another lane, this is the last one (10 lanes X 6 shots = 60 shots course)
And here are the targets:
Picture
Picture
Picture
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.
Picture
Picture
We were halfway in taking down the course when we were called to the awards presentation
Picture
Greg Shirhall took 1st in Hunter Piston
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And Pat Shirhall came back for a "bonus"
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Ed Carter placed second in Hunter PCP
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Tom Ryan got First in Hunter PCP
Picture
Leo Gonzales placed First in WFTF Piston
Picture
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
Rick Bassett
10/22/2020 14:16:08

Thank you for posting the pictures and your kind words. You know we try to always put on a good match and we put a lot of time and effort into it. Our course is never just "thrown" together. We put all of our effort into the course and the match so we are weak in some peripheral areas such as having food( we don't) and publishing photos of the event. Thank you so much for a really great representation of what we do at Falls.

Reply
Marty
11/1/2020 19:09:14

Howdy there Hector.....it's Marty of the defunct Silver Streak Sports Mfg. Looks like you are living in the States now? Anyway as always a true gentleman and a great shooter! Hope all is well with you.

Reply
Hector Medina
11/2/2020 09:17:03

Hello Marty!

Yes, I've been living in the US for the last 10 years. Became an American 7 years ago.
We were stationed first in Greenwich, CT, then moved to New Canaan, CT, now we live in Darnestown, MD.
Have two young (4 and 3) children, and my eldest (whom you know), just graduated from his PhD three months ago in Boston.

Where are you these days?
Whatever happened to the Black Widow project?

Lots of things have happened in the last 25 years, LOL!
Anyway drop me a line through my contact page and we can shift from there to EMail.

Keep well and shoot straight!




HM

Reply



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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
    2022 Maryland State Champion WFTF 
    2022 WFTC's Italy Member of TEAM USA 2nd place Springers
    2022 WFTC's Italy
    2nd Place Veteran Springers
    2023 WFTC's South Africa Member TEAM USA 1st place Springers
    2023 WFTC's South Africa
    2nd Place Veteran Springers

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