Intro:
After visiting my first match in the Fall at at Tarheel Airgun Club, I picked up my first FT rifle in February, and found time to finally get to a match today at Piedmont Airgunners Association. (Blessed to have 3 FT clubs fairly close)
I joined FT to become a better shot and it is going to be work. It is a lot of work!!! More work than I have put into any other shooting I’ve done. I chose open so I could start my FT journey at 20ft lbs and use the scope I like, so that it would help my enjoyment and hopefully keep me interested.
I shared some on my Thomas when I got it around February. (Decided to jump in head first and take the rifle out of the equation.) Spent a while getting dope right and ranging right, and just haven’t had time to get to a match. Just shooting around in the back yard here and there. When my son’s plans were cancelled last night, I made plans to go to my first match this morning. Might as well jump in!
Actual match notes if you came for that:
I had a great time. The weather was mid 80’s and there wasn’t much of any wind, so that helped the first attempt. I shot Open class, and scored a 34 (of 60) on what everyone was telling me is a tough course. Lots of elevation changes, covered woods, uneven ground, but it never felt hard. I felt really comfortable, like I could clear most lanes (at least I felt that way). I went into it thinking “If I throw out the standing and kneeling lanes, my best hope is for a 52. If I can hit 70% or so the first time, that is around 35. Let’s aim for that.” I just about got there, and the great thing is I think I could have easily done better (we all do), so I feel great about that. And I got 1 standing and 1 kneeling. Pure luck!! But I’ll take it!!!
Started off my day with hit/hit. Heck yeah!! Missed the next 2, and was disappointed in myself. I haven’t practiced any large inclines or declines at all. I tried to adjust for the incline on the first shot in lane 2 and blew it, realizing that it didn’t affect things as much as I was afraid it might. Then just straight pulled the next shot. Then proceeded to get 3/4 in 4 of the next 5 lanes. I felt amazing about my start…
Then came standing. I have only barely practiced this, even though I have heard many say to “practice standing and kneeling the most. That is where matches are won and lost.” As I just started, I have focused more on the other 52 shots and getting set up. 1st shot… HIT!!! Hot dog!!!! Missed next 3, without ever feeling comfortable. I stole one there.
Totally blew 1 lane shortly after that that I think maybe got messed up when I accidentally moved my power wheel and had to move it back. I don’t think I shot any with it out of place, but maybe that change messed up the next 2-3 shots. Either that or, I topped off the gun right before that as well and those were the first shots. I’ve never noticed any issue with that on the Thomas before though. The shots on that lane were just crazy off, so something happened, but not really sure what happened.
Kneeling came shortly there after, and it felt more uncomfortable than standing. I felt like just firing 4 shots in the dirt honestly. Somehow hit the 4th one, so SCORE!! Stole another.
Not really sure what happened in the middle, but 4 out of the middle 5 lanes just didn’t go my way. I missed a few that I thought were money, had a couple just bad shots (not steady), and misranged/misadjusted for range on a couple shots.
After a 1 out of 4 lane that didn’t seem bad at all but just blew them, I thought I was on the last lane, and buckled down. Told myself you got this, enough with the bad shots and closed with 4/4… except I had 1 more lane! Still hit 3/4 (last 3 hits) on the the final lane to close up with 7/8 and felt great about that.
I found that the dope is important, and I’m glad I spent so much time, trial and error, and different attempts at range tape to get where I feel good about it. I didn’t feel like I had many bad reads expect maybe one lane. So I feel like that prep was well spent.
Final thoughts:
Getting up and down for 3-4 hours is a workout!!
Practice/practice/practice standing and kneeling!!!
I had a lot of fun and I really want to think everyone who made me feel welcome and chatted with me. It was a great time, and I will definitely be back! Artie was a great coach today. Philip/Linda and Ray and Vince shot nearby, so I got to chat with them a little and they were super nice as well.
Thanks to all the FT contributors who offer so much here. It helped me out a lot.
I didn’t take many good pics, but I’m sure Philip will have plenty of pictures and video out there.
