Rex and the gang held another match on Tom's Gila river-bottom property this past weekend.
These events aren't just a field target match, but rather a 12fpe and under pistol silhouette match, and a 20fpe and under rifle silhouette match, and camping, and hanging out, AND a first class field target match.
Thepistol silhouette match uses AAFTA-legal field target pistols and positions, with teeny tiny little silhouettes at 15, 20, 25, and 30 yards, for a total possible score of 40 points. This event was on Friday afternoon, and 8 shooters chose to participate in this one.
Here are the top three pistol silhouette scorers....
And how those 8 shooters fared...
Rex J 38/40
Steve Q 37/40
Franz D 35/40
John W 33/40
Kent G 32/40
Steve H 29/40
Andrew W 24/40
Larry F 21/40
And a pistol silhouette action shot..
The rifle silhouette match uses AAFTA-legal rifles and positions, with 1/5 scale silhouettes at 50, 60, 70, and 80 yards. Again, total possible score of 40 points. This event happened just after dark on Friday evening, and 11 shooters were part of this event. I received reports that the wind was quite challenging during this match, all directions and very sporadic. They hung ribbons at each target distance and sometimes the ribbon at two or three distances would be straight out and one or two would be hanging straight down. Makes a guy scratch their head for sure.
Here are the top 4 rifle rifle silhouette scorers....
And how those 8 shooters fared...
Rex J 37/40
Kent G 36/40
Crystal G 36/40
Andrew W 35/40
Steve Q 24/40
John W 32/40
Franz D 28/40
Sam W 26/40
Steve H 25/40
Larry F 25/40
Tom H 23/40
And a rifle silhouette action shot...
The main event is the 60 shot field target match on Saturday morning. For conditions during this match I received the following report: "The wind was brisk with periods of gusts and lulls, Some extreme up and down shots. Quite a few in full shadow." There were also some spring time gobblers shaking the place up with their looking-for-love calls, and even walking through camp. I was sent the kill zone sizes and distances and arrived at an overall Troyer factor of 35.8, without accounting for the targets in the deep shadows of the river bottom, nor for the steep up and down angles, nor for the wind. I imagine if this was a formal GP, we'd be looking at a much higher Troyer after applying those difficulty factors. Typical for a Southwest Airgunners ft match, NOT easy. For perspective, the lowest T of all 30 targets was a 29.3, and it was a 3/8" kz at 11 yards. The highest Troyer was a 41, a 1" kz at 41 yards. For those unfamiliar with the Troyer factor, it's as simple as the distance divided by the kill zone size, with some additional difficulty factors applied. This course, being a 60 shot match with an average T of a 35.8....would be comparable to trying to shoot 60 times at a 1" kill zone at 36 yards, without missing. Or a 1/2" kill zone at 18 yards, again for 60 shots without missing. Or, for a third comparison, 60 shots at a 1 and 5/8" kz at 52 yards. And these are organic conditions, wind blowing, sitting on a stool, etc. Nobody is parked at a concrete bench with a 20+ pound rig supported by the table in these matches, no siree.
So, 14 shooters in the ft match.
Here are the top 5 scores...
And how those 14 shooters fared... (all but John were in the Hunter class)
Rex J 59/60
Gary W 57/60
Kent G 53/60
Andrew W 52/60
Crystal G 48/60
Steve Q 48/60
Franz D 44/60
Larry F 44/60
John W 43/60 (Open)
Shane T 41/60
Andrew S 40/60
Sam W 37/60
Tom H 35/60
Chance H 16/60
There were 3 scorecards with "new" noted on them. I think that was Rex's method of designating those shooters as first-timers. And if that's the case, some recognition needs to go towards Gary W, because his said "new" and he shot a very impressive 57/60. Even more so for being his first time shooting an FT match. Also want to point out Andrew....he tracked down an HW in .20 somewhere and he's climbing the scorecard higher and higher each match. He's gonna be at the top giving the leaders some serious competition here real soon. And with my favorite caliber too. And of course way to go Rex, you won all three events!!! Impressive shooting right there.
Much thanks to Rex and Steve and Larry and whoever else showed up early to get the course set up. And we can't express enough gratitude to property owner Tom H for hosting us. Amazing field target venue, lots of shade from which to shoot, and fun place to camp and hang out for a match. On top of welcoming us onto his property, Tom even feeds us breakfast! Thank you Tom!!!
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