The 2016 Crosman All American Field Target Championship

The other possible title I thought was "Back to FT School", LOL!

Truth is that I learned a lot in the Crosman shoot, but perhaps it would be best if we make a little bit of history:
The CAAFTC (for short) is the successor to an event that was started many years ago by Broome County Sportsmen Association, it started as a Regional event hosted near Binghamton and then, under the sponsorship of Crosman Corporation, moved the Corporation's facilities, to then move once more to a proper range in Rochester Brooks Gun Club.

From a one day Marathon event (60 shots in the morning and 60 shots in the afternoon), it changed to a two day and now a three day event, a veritable SchützenFest of airguns.
If you are really curious, read the two prior entries about this Match: 

http://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/the-2014-nerftcs

http://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/the-all-american-field-target-championship 
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With the current entry of Crosman into the Big Bore and Air propelled Arrows (ApA) market, it is not a long stretch of the imagination if in the future there is included an event for each of those.

This year, the overall festivities included the Pyramyd Air run "Gunslynger", the Crosman run "Quigley Bucket Challenge" and an excellently run Grand Prix Field Target Match run by Rochester Brooks Gun Club FT section.

In a way, at least to me, what is best about this event is that it showcases what the industry, major retailers and shooters can do when they team up and work together.

Of course, kudos go to Sean McDaniel, Eric Brewer and Doug Rogers, who put lots of hours and great efforts into creating the two completely different courses that challenged FT'ers of all ages, powerplants, and origins. Also to Mark DeBoard, Chip Hunicutt, and the Crosman Girls, of course, who handled all the registration/scorecards/bags of goodies duties with aplomb and a beaming smile; AND, of course, thanks should also go to Tyler Patner and Kirsten Coss from Pyramyd Air for their awesome support of the sport.

I had to concentrate on the FT section of the event, the Lisbon World's are approaching fast and with a baby at home, it is not easy to get anything done, so any opportunity to shoot and learn new things is highly welcomed.

We travelled on Thursday to sleep over in Rochester/Henrietta and get to the range early Friday.

The first thing after sleeping, of course, was to put together the gun that had come disassembled since we had a planned Canada trip and it is always easier to cross borders if the rifles are broken down.

I had also planned on buying another 54 in Canada, so the Double Gun Case came in very handy, it went in with an empty space and came out completely full. :-)

All components extracted from the case and laid out to initiate the assembly.

All part adjusted to their marks and ready to go!

At some reasonable hour we arrived to the range only to find winds in the 10-12 mph with gusts of 17-25 mph range.
In the past, I have often found that windy sight-in ranges (like the one in Long Island's ESCAA) tell shooters little about how their guns are doing, but I tend to forget those experiences and that is what happened.
I fired up the app, started shooting spinners just to get all components settled and to working temperature, and when I started shooting for range/app info, things did not make ANY sense.

As my wife says: "When everything else fails, go back to basics". And so, after a frustrating and disinforming range session, I mused the problem overnight.
Next morning, at the range, with much less wind, (but still quite a lot by USA's FT standards), things began to shape up and make sense. Not a lot, but SOME sense. The difference between making some sense and a LOT of sense would prove my undoing later in the day.

I was paired up with expert  spring gunner Manuel Morales. And we were expecting a Canadian guy (Brian Milne who is a good friend), but he never arrived, so we decided to start as a two man squad.

Right off the bat, there were targets that were completely invisible from the usual FT position for most people. I often have that problem because I shoot very low to the ground with a very "open" position. But this time, the MD had specifically stated in the opening Shooter's Meeting that not all targets were designed to be seen from low positions, so we went along.

Photo taken from the kneeling position.

Right behind us came Greg Sauve, and in a some lanes, the shooting-room was . . . shall we say "scarce"? But all was in good fun.

I started a little bit put off because the far target on lane 29 (where we started) was completely hidden, even in my kneeling position, and a 55 yard target is not an offhand target even with FS KZ, however, with wind conditions changing little from what the early morning had been (and winds were in the region of 4 to 12 mph coming and going in all directions), targets were falling and I was cleaning, or close to cleaning, lanes.

I got some shots which made me proud, like the far one on lane 5.
But lane 11 proved tough for me (as for many others) and lanes 19, 23 and 27 which were not that hard proved atrocious.

Definitely something was amiss (apart from the arithmetic! LOL!)

Still, the line was fun, full of friends, banter, conversation and photo-ops

The photographer photographing the cameraman is photographed.

If Greg Sauve was coming right behind us, we were just behind Mike Harris and Art Deuel

Another peculiarity of the Crosman shoot is the occasional cold line to retrieve a camera that was set in front of the firing line:

Ah, well, tomorrow would be another day, another course, and hopefully, better results.

Next day early in the morning, I took advantage of a lull in the winds (which would last all day, anyway) and recalibrated my trajectory and re-zeroed my gun.

The "Woods" course is a GREAT addition to the RBGC's FT program.

For the second day, the top shooters: Ray Apelles, Manuel Morales and Jerry LaRocca would be squadded together, then Nathan Thomas, John Wolkiewicz, and Matt Brackett​ would shoot together and Leo Gonzales and myself would shoot in the third squad.

In the background, Manuel Morales takes aim, Jerry LaRocca observes and Ray Apelles is hidden by the tree. In the foreground, Matt Brackett is looking for his target, John Wolkiewicz observes.

Manuel Morales displaying excellent form on an inclined target.

Matt Brackett steadies for a shot.

From left: John Wolkiewicz, Matt Brackett, Jerry La Rocca, Ray Apelles and Nathan Thomas

Art Deuel, woodworker extraordinaire, takes aim with his Walther LGU in the Unlimited Class.

Leo Gonzales talks with Larry Bowne while Craig Evans observes Art take his shot. Hans Apelles is keeping score. In the background, Leo Duran watches the proceedings intently.

I did better the second day, but not good enough and, apart from places 1-3 we all ended tied up at around 97-98, so it was a really close race.

Ah, well, next year we'll try again!

As Matt Brackett pointed out, it is the first time that a cadre of spring-piston shooters comes together and scores at the 80% level.

It was an honor and privilege to be part of this event.

If you have not tried the "Crosman Shoot" as it is affectionately known, you really need to set the time aside and go. You will never forget the experience.

Thanks again to Crosman for the great coolers they gave away, for their unstinting support of FT, and to Pyramyd Air for the great event.

Keep well and shoot straight!






​HM