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Arizona State Spring Piston championship - sponsored by Airgunners of Arizona

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Mark.in.AZ

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Jul 31, 2015
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Arizona, United States
2024 Arizona State Spring Piston Field Target
ChampionshipFirst annual Spring Fling in the desert
March 16, 2024 – Ben Avery Shooting Facility, Phoenix, AZ

Location: Ben Avery Shooting Facility – Pistol Silhouette Range 4044 West Black Canyon Blvd. - Phoenix, AZ 85086

Piston Match will be a one-day competition and will consist of at least 52 shots. Sight in 8:00 am, 9:45 am mandatory shooters meeting, 10:00 am match start. AAFTArules will govern. Sight in available on Friday afternoon after course is finished being set, and open until 5:00 pm.

Match Awards will be presented on Saturday as soon after the match as possible. Medals will be awarded 1st through 3rd for Open Piston, WFTF Piston, and Hunter Piston. A state champion medal (AZ resident) will be awarded for each class. There will be no consolidation of classes.

Match fee is $35.00. Preregistration is requested. Make checks payable toAirgunners of Arizona, and mail to Airgunners of Arizona, 2256 CO Bar Trail, Flagstaff, AZ 86005, or payment can be made on day of match with registration form completed and emailed to Larry Piercy at [email protected].

Lodging is available at 25+ motels/hotels/B&B within 5 miles of the range. Theseare clustered in the area of Happy Valley Road and I-17 in Phoenix. Please refer to Google Maps for specific lodging locations and directions to each. All major chains are represented.

For more information email or call Match Director, Larry Piercy, at 480.466.2546 or [email protected] with specific questions

View attachment 2024 state Piston championship registration.pdf
 
Mark.in.AZ said:
2024 Arizona State Spring Piston Field Target
ChampionshipFirst annual Spring Fling in the desert
March 16, 2024 – Ben Avery Shooting Facility, Phoenix, AZ

Location: Ben Avery Shooting Facility – Pistol Silhouette Range 4044 West Black Canyon Blvd. - Phoenix, AZ 85086

Piston Match will be a one-day competition and will consist of at least 52 shots. Sight in 8:00 am, 9:45 am mandatory shooters meeting, 10:00 am match start. AAFTArules will govern. Sight in available on Friday afternoon after course is finished being set, and open until 5:00 pm.

Match Awards will be presented on Saturday as soon after the match as possible. Medals will be awarded 1st through 3rd for Open Piston, WFTF Piston, and Hunter Piston. A state champion medal (AZ resident) will be awarded for each class. There will be no consolidation of classes.

Match fee is $35.00. Preregistration is requested. Make checks payable toAirgunners of Arizona, and mail to Airgunners of Arizona, 2256 CO Bar Trail, Flagstaff, AZ 86005, or payment can be made on day of match with registration form completed and emailed to Larry Piercy at [email protected].

Lodging is available at 25+ motels/hotels/B&B within 5 miles of the range. Theseare clustered in the area of Happy Valley Road and I-17 in Phoenix. Please refer to Google Maps for specific lodging locations and directions to each. All major chains are represented.

For more information email or call Match Director, Larry Piercy, at 480.466.2546 or [email protected] with specific questions

View attachment 431344
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Looks like we will have a pretty good turnout for the piston state shoot. we continue to get registrations coming in.

The local crew is pulling their springers out and getting them ready to go. the excitement is building, so that is a good thing.
 
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pesty3782 said:
I plan on being there!!!!!! Can't wait, should be a fun time watching/hearing all these old guys grunt as we try and cock the rifles a million times 😂😂😂😂

Tony P.
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Wayne has a springer now and is getting it sighted in. Mike has already jumped on the bandwagon, so he has something to look forward to as he gets healthy again.
The excitement is growing.
 
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Franklink said:
I broke one out this morning....been too long. I was humbled pretty quickly.
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After abandoning springers entirely for about a decade something possessed me to pay a buddy too much for an FWB 124 about 1-1/2 years ago; one of my favorite springers of all time. By the time I'd paid too much, bought a Maccari kit, botched the installation, paid Dave Slade to install it, and shipping both ways, I'm into it for about $700! :oops:🤬😭

But rather than learn my lesson, of course shortly thereafter I bought a clean Diana 38. Didn't botch that kit installation, and it shoots great. Might even try it in an FT match.

Then that lead to a slightly used .22 R-9 that proved to have consistency issues; so I botched another (Vortek) kit installation. Dave has it now. 😂😭

Then, a new HW77K!:oops:o_O SOMEBODY STOP ME!

Hey, nobody's ever accused me of being particularly bright.🤤🥴

Nevertheless, think I've come up with a few good quotes about springers. The following may not be verbatim quotes, considering some of which I made decades ago, but are accurate paraphrasals.

"Spring-piston rifles are among the hardest guns of all to master to any degree of fine accuracy; spring-piston pistols magnitudes harder." (Not including recoilless springers, of course)

"I've not only not mastered it (fine accuracy with a spring-piston pistol), but never seen it done."

"Bizarre as is the firing behavior of any recoiling spring-piston pistol, the Walther LP53 takes that bizarre to a whole 'nother level!"

"Spring-piston pistol plinking sessions start innocently enough at ten yards. But as distances increase with each plink, the challenge grows exponentially more difficult. By the time ranges reach 20-25 yards the session either ends, or a more appropriate weapon comes out (like a Co2 or PCP pistol); whereupon the plinks return to 30-40 yards with iron sights, 50-60 with optics."

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"The P-1 is indeed a magnum of an air pistol (in the 1980s); at least to anyone who has never shot a .22 Crosman Model 150 or 112."

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"The P-1 is a good small game pistol if you can hit 'em. The P-2 is a good silhouette pistol because you can hit 'em."

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"Upon tripping a spring-piston trigger, the resultant firing-cycle is a violent mechanical chain of events that take place before the pellet exits the barrel. In the rifles, said violent mechanical chain of events takes place almost IN YOUR FACE."

"Fine springers possess accuracy potentials similar to fine PCPs; however very few human hands are capable of approaching those potentials."

"Mounting a Walther 55 Tyrolean reminds me of laying my cheek on a soft, firm thigh."

And a new quote I just came up with-

"Airgunners are a pretty strange bunch, but spring-piston airgunners make them look almost sane."

WAIT! 😲

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LOL.......Ron, no one EVER accused you of being a man of few words! But thank you for your comments.

Cole, I am glad that it caused you to pull out a springer and launch some lead. It is challenging and satisfying at the same time.....and loads of fun. I hope you can join us. Sign up can be done at the match, so no worries there. And it is only one day this year. So far things look good for future follow-ups. We already have folks signed up in open, hunter, and wftf piston classes.

Thanks to everyone for the comments and support. I know that Cole and I have taken more than our fair share of grief about shooting springers, and then been told, "when are you going to shoot a real gun?" Well, if I remember correctly, springers are what started this whole airgun thing. It can be compared to driving a car with either an automatic transmission, or a stick shift. Something quite satisfying running a vehicle through the gears. Same goes with shooting a piston gun.

Hope all of you could join us and show the world that springers aren't dead.
 
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Mark.in.AZ said:
Hope all of you could join us and show the world that springers aren't dead.
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Every time I think an affliction I caught a half-century ago is dead, it pops up again.🥵 Thankfully it isn't fatal, but sure had debilitating effects on my love-life.🤬

Yes; of course I'm talking about springers! What did you think I was talking about?:unsure:

.
 
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AirNGasman said:
Every time I think an affliction I caught a half-century ago is dead, it pops up again.🥵 Thankfully it isn't fatal, but sure had debilitating effects on my love-life.🤬

Yes; of course I'm talking about springers! What did you think I was talking about?:unsure:

.
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Hahahahahaha.......! Had an affect on your love life? I thought you slept with your springers all around you...LOL!

No, springers have not died, nor gone away. I am having more fun shooting my piston guns and the affection for my condition has become infectious around our club.

In addition to shooting our monthly matches, we also shoot a weekly TRAC match; Tuesday Retired Airgun Challenge, every Tuesday. We get anywhere from 10 to 15 shooters every week! It was suggested and then decided to have the 4th Tuesday as pistol/piston Tuesday, so guys could shoot those powerplants as well.

What started as a way to allow our winter visitors additional opportunities to shoot this past 4 years, or so, has turned into a year-round activity. Beats the dickens out of us old farts sitting around the pot-bellied stove and swapping lies at the corner hardware store, to getting out and having fun. We go through serious withdrawal symtoms when the range is shut down on us for a week or so.

Besides, where else can you go shooting, then grab a 1/2 lb burger, chips, and a soda, all for under $25? This is airgun.......and as it turns out......springer heaven.
 
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I just had another little springer session. Funny that my phone just autocorrected "springer" for "anger." And that's also an accurate description. More humble pie.

Shooting a springer is a perishable skill, and what little I had PERISHED in the time that I've been away from springers.

What's the break down in piston these days Mark? I'm guessing Larry P and you are the Open class guys, with Jake WFTF. Are the rest of the potentials Hunter class?
 
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We have a few in open and WFTF, with most wanting to shoot Hunter class.

Could never figure out why more folks prefer to shoot hunter rather than open class. So long as my knees hold out, and I continue to lose weight, I will keep shooting open class. Losing weight will take the pressure off my knees, as I am not interested in having anyone cut on them or settle for knee replacements. I have another 10 - 12 lbs to get down to 220.

Why don't you come down and join us? you would have a great time.
 
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Franklink said:
my phone just autocorrected "springer" for "anger." And that's also an accurate description.
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🤣 Awesome!

I couldn't even hazard a guess how many times I've muttered "Damned spell-check!"🤬

Come to think of it, nor how many times I've muttered "Damned springer(s)!":oops:

Seems like the olderer I get, the morer things I find to cuss. And the morer opportunities to cuss 'em!

Guess I'll know I'm dead when I stop cussin'...

Dang it.

Wait! :oops:

.
 
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Mark.in.AZ said:
Why don't you come down and join us? you would have a great time.
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I'm sure I would Mark.

Looking like I'll be down there on Friday anyway. I'm considering staying that night to make the piston match on Sat morning. And that's why I dusted off the springer.

As has been noted here a couple times, springers are the epitome of frustration. The only more true statement regarding them is that POWERFUL springers are of the devil. After my last big hoorah with them a few years ago I sold off the more powerful ones and am left with a 5.5fpe FWB300, a 6fpe FWB300s, and a 8.6fpe HW50s. I've shot matches with the 10m guns before and had a laugh as I watched cool little round marks appear on the more distant paddles through the scope.....and having those paddles stay perfectly vertical. So that leaves me the 8.6fpe Weirhauch. Which is a mighty accurate springer and has a better potential of tripping the target mechanism than its 10m German cousins in my gun room. BUT that 8.6fpe is still underpowered and tough if there's any wind.

So current thought process is to try to figure out how to shoot a springer again in the next week, and watch the weather forecast for Ben Avery next Sat morning. If the practice AND forecast are favorable, I sure might be part of the piston-only state ft match. Because, again, a springer only match is a super cool concept.
 
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Cole, if it makes you feel any better, my TX is only doing 10.5 fpe.
Yes the wind is everything.
It sure would be good to shoot with you again. I am still working on strengthening my knees so I might be able to shoot once in a while at Mormon Lake. I really like that place.....when it is not raining. LOL

give it some serious thought. We are only doing it one day this year to see if gains traction. If it does, next year, and every year thereafter, we want to continue doing this, but for 2 days. Scott Hull came up with a great idea when he proposed it in the past. I was amazed at how many piston shooters there were in attendance at his shoot, and was glad that I attended. Besides, we are working on BASF to develop something so we are not shooting "on a parking lot". Everything takes time, and all the T's need to be crossed and I's dotted, but in the long run......
 
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Mark.in.AZ said:
Cole, if it makes you feel any better, my TX is only doing 10.5 fpe.
Yes the wind is everything.
It sure would be good to shoot with you again. I am still working on strengthening my knees so I might be able to shoot once in a while at Mormon Lake. I really like that place.....when it is not raining. LOL

give it some serious thought. We are only doing it one day this year to see if gains traction. If it does, next year, and every year thereafter, we want to continue doing this, but for 2 days. Scott Hull came up with a great idea when he proposed it in the past. I was amazed at how many piston shooters there were in attendance at his shoot, and was glad that I attended. Besides, we are working on BASF to develop something so we are not shooting "on a parking lot". Everything takes time, and all the T's need to be crossed and I's dotted, but in the long run......
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I've seen the scores you've been getting at Ben Avery with that 10.5fpe springer.....I feel like I'm getting pool sharked here.

As for the Ben Avery/Mormon Lake situation....given the complications of shooting springers at high elevation, I can get on board with having a springer match at Ben Avery more than I can with changing the general state ft match from Mormon to Ben Avery.

And yes, something other than a parking lot would be preferable, even for a springer only match.
 
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Today was a very fun shoot and I beat Tony T and won my 5 bucks back I lost at the Sonoran Classic😁 Sure was a lot of laughing and joking going on down the line....A mixture of PCP and Springers....Those of us shooting Springers are getting ready for Saturday which should be a fun time....Now it's time to grab some Advil 😎

Tony P.
 
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