If your gonna shoot FT - be prepared for it. ( I made a fool of myself today ) (( oh - and "drug dealers" @FT events too . . . lol!! ))

. . . I've shot - I don't know, maybe 5 FT events in my life locally with a group in the Binghamton, NY area (BCSA). This was the first one I've shot this year. I do it purely for fun - I'm not "serious" about it and as such haven't invested in a dedicated FT rig - and I totally brought the WRONG one with me today. ( lol . . . ) While I'm not into FT or serious about it as mentioned - I DO have some pride and - well - expect MUCH better of my shooting than what was painfully on display today. I do a lot of shooting around farms - pesting for local farmers. I like / prefer shorter bullpups and own a few. I have a little Taipan standard .177 with a 4-14 scope on it that has seen action around some of the farms that I shoot at. I didn't have a sidewheel for it, but did have one kicking around that came with one of my other guns scopes. I managed to clobber-ass / jury rig that wheel onto it and then this past Wed / Thurs quick ranged it / marked it up out in the back yard. I thought I might practice some Friday too (yesterday) after work but other stuff came up and I wasn't able to. So . . . this morning I made my way out to the club and took my place on the line and . . . . actually started out pretty good. About midway through - lane 5 or 6 - I started tanking. Big time. I couldn't hit the side of a barn - *very frustrating*. Needless to say I couldn't get to lane #10 fast enough to just get this over with. I told the match director that heart surgery I had last November was less painful than this was proving to be . . . :confused: {sigh}

Back to basics -- I have an old M-Rod (gen 2) that pretty much just sits and collect dust - it's a .177 with a LW barrel and a huma reg in it. The thing is a laser and I just put it back together, got it sending 10.3's at an average of 898 fps over a 60 shot string ( 60 is a full FT match as many of you will already know ). I found an old scope that was also sitting lonely and unused. It's an old Aztec emerald 5-25 or something like that. Why don't I use it on any of my current guns? It's MOA (I prefer MIL), its SFP (I prefer FFP's) and it doesn't have an illuminated reticle. But that reticle in that scope . . . I LOVE that reticle. Always have. So . . . thats my dedicated FT rig now. Hopefully next time will be better than today was.

"Drug dealer" @the event you ask? ( lol ) One of the guys was WAY cool and super nice enough to let me try / shoot his Daystate Redwolf. *HOLY CRAP* - you ever shoot one of those things??!! ( I'm sure many of you have ) I had not. Seen 'em before. I've seen Ferrari's before too. Haven't been offered a chance to drive one yet though. The Redwolf . . . holy mackeral. That's a Ferrari of an airgun. Drug dealer. See? ( "Here . . . have a sample of this. Oh - you like?! AOA has them . . . " ) :ROFLMAO:
 
@jdanvers - Thank you for the honest update! It is so helpful to hear about others having tough days shooting. YouTube makes it seem like anybody can pick up an air rifle and start hitting sparrows at 200 yards. In reality, it is not that easy. Give us an update on how you do in your next match with your MRod. I have a F&T model and really like it, but can't get it to like 10.3g pellets. It only likes JSB 13.43 MRDs.
 
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Never be embarrassed
when trying a new shooting sport. We all had to start somewhere. My first Service rifle shoot, I was a bit clueless, but all the shooters were super helpful, and it was a lot of fun.
That has always been my experience with every shooting discipline.

Fellow shooters are always willing to let you use their gear and help out. One of the reasons I love shooting sports, its the people who do it.
 
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And the person who gave you the sample “drugs”, uh....try the Red Wolf, was me.

You seemed to be struggling those last few lanes and your rifle sounded as if it was done for the day, so I offered to let you finish up with my Red Wolf. And after you quickly got used to the different feel and trigger, the targets began falling down. The “drug”, oops, rifle, obviously agreed with you.
Thank you sir!! That surely is an extraordinary gun! ;-)
 
Yesterday though still a good and wholesome day at the range, i did say to myself that it was probably for the best that 50 yard benchrest / any distance benchrest do not exist in Denmark, CUZ it is clear i need to more than get my act together to be competitive.

Field Target too do not exist here, which is also good as the barn door have to be up close if i was to shoot one off hand, this old guy will need propping up in all ways possible.
I have not shot any daystate rifle,,,,, but i have driven a Italian sports car from that particular brand, even if it was a used one, and NOT one of the very popular models.
 
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Yep it just takes one thing being off to mess up your day in FT.

I've been at this sport for 20+ years and am usually prepared. But this year I'm distracted by residing my house, building decks, weeding like crazy because of all the rain we've gotten, trimming trees, etc.
I've also been short a few scopes so had been switching them back and forth on some of my guns. Ha, I put the extra high rings on my FT rig for some offhand practice at my friends place and had forgot I did that, "normally I use medium height rings but they were on another rifle", this of course royally messed up my dope which I discovered at the sight in range but to late figure out what was wrong fast enough. So I had to borrow some else's gun. Not the best day for me, LOL???!!!
 
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not only did you get to shoot that rifle IT was Airgunshooters rifle . you know it was tuned spot on .
Oh you have no idea ... ( or maybe you do ). Mouse click trigger, cocking it, super, super smooth. And dead accurate. @Solo1 also let me try his - another Daystate and I was able to put that target down too.
 
So the question is, did you order a new rifle yet? 🤔😀
... I've gotta stay married. ( lol ) We'll see how the next one goes - it HAS to go better than the last one did. I've literally been doing nothing other than shooting / testing / trying out different scopes / etc with my m-rod and getting it setup for the next meet. I've still got a few ranges left to mark up but ... its coming. I've actually spent more time on this one so far than I did with the Taipan and the next match isn't for a few weeks yet. ( lol ) ... I was sooooo not prepared.

I've discovered an annoying thing about ranging (getting razor sharp focus) and tri-focal lenses in my glasses. One *really* has to be aware and repeatedly look through the scope THE SAME WAY every time. ( my perceived focus on target changes depending on if I look through the top of my lens or the middle ... ) I put taller rings on the scope hoping to compensate for this some ... I'm just going to have to deal with it.

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@Franklink - I don't know what was going on. I was just extremely frustrating and the longer it went on from lane to lane, the further down I got on myself. I haven't touched it since Saturday after the FT meet - I chucked it in the car and, well - it's still in there. It's one of my farm / barn guns. I typically have a little Vector Veyron 4-16 on it which is a little short and lightweight (great) little scope. I put a different scope on it that I was able to jury rig a sidewheel onto, changed the tune on it a little bit . . . . and then didn't spend near enough time with it preparing for FT. I'm not going to make any excuses - I sucked. I'm going to re-set it up for the farms - put the bipod back on, put that little scope back on and re-tune it for the heavier 13.43 monster's that it likes ( and are also to hot for FT @22 ft/lbs ) and call it a day. It's a GREAT little gun in it's element where I use it the most - walking around shooting off of sticks, using a little sandbag and shooting off of fence posts, rails, tractors, etc ... or a lot of times off the bipod and the roof / hood of my car. I range and click when at the farms too as opposed to using holdover for FT.