Match Report AOA EXTREME BENCHREST AND FIELD TARGET Ashland Oregon May 15th and 16th 2021
First off, Thanks to our sponsor Air Guns of Arizona, and my AirGun Oregon team, Randy Ebersole, Jacob Sumner, Eric McCormick, Chris Lovitt and my sister Laurie for feeding us lunch both Saturday and Sunday.
It was a little iffy whether or not we would complete the facilities before match day. We had to work a lot of overtime to get er done… but we did and the competitors and board of the Ashland Gun Club who allowed us to have that area to setup on, were all very pleased with our efforts. It’s going to be a great place for future events as well. We will soon add 4 more covered benches and EBR target holder/pellet traps. The “wailing wall” combined picnic area was also a great success. Folks could cry or brag about their targets while they ate their lunchJ The “push pin magnets” idea I had worked really well to hold the targets during the match and on the wailing wall.
We had 18 competitors attend from; Utah, AZ, S. Ca, N. Ca, Portland Or and locally. We had high temps in the 80s, clear and partly cloudy skies along with mild morning winds that switched direction about 11am from SE to NW and became very gusty and changed direction & velocity constantly up to 8mph. The wind would change right before you took your shot. One must watch the flags with one eye as you broke your shot or pay the price.
About half of the competitors took advantage of the practice day on Friday, while the other half arrived late Friday or Saturday morning with very little time to get their rigs dialed in. The scores showed for the most part, that the Friday crowd made a good decisionJ
Only 5 of the 18 competitors shot the 100fpe class and it looks like the highest power air rifle was 78fpe and the lowest was 33fpe. 3 competitors shot a .30 cal rifle,6 shot a .25 cal, 1 shot .177 cal 16.2gr, the balance shot .22 cal with either 18 gr., 25.4 or 33.4 grain.
From the scoreboard and equipment used, next time I think I will set the class break at 45fpe to have a better chance of getting even numbers in each class. The .22 cal 25 grain at about 50-60fpe grabbed most of the top scores. Really, it looks like we don’t even need two classes. The highest overall combined score of 520, was shot by Steve Montgomery in the 60fpe class, with his Thomas high power rig with .22 cal 25.4 grain at 48fpe. The second highest score of 516, from both classes, was shot by Gabe Valenzuela in the 100fpe class. He used an FX Impact with .30 cal 44 grain at 72fpe. The 3rd highest overall score of 492, was shot by Mike Bricker, who shot in 100fpe class, even though his .25 cal Delta Wolf was shooting the 33.4 grain JSBs at 58fpe. The highest possible score in the combined is 80 in the EFT and 500 for the two EBR cards, so 580 was the highest possible.
Also interesting, the 4th highest overall score of 465 was shot by Jim Cyran with a Daystate MCT and .22 cal, 18.1 grain at 34fpe.
For me, and a lot of us, two highlights of the weekend stand out. There was a shoot off for 2nd place in the EFT event between Jim Zigler and Scott Schneider that went 3 rounds and they were still tied! And, I was told, the 100 yard bench rest target shot by Gabe Valenzuela with his .30 cal FX Impact was a new record high of 229/250. That was really well done considering the tricky winds we were shooting in.
Jim and Scott both shot a 65/80 in the 60fpe EFT event, so we had them shoot 3 shots each on the hardest lane on the EFT course.. a 7/8” at 36 yards and a 1-9/16” at 60 yards. They both got 6/6. So, we moved the 7/8” target out to about 50 yards and they both again got it 3/3. So, we moved the 7/8” target out to 65 yards. They both got it 2/3. After that, they just agreed to split the 2nd and 3rd place money. That’s 11/12 on some very, very hard targets in very, very tricky winds. On top of that, Jim was shooting a borrowed USFT LD had just built, for the first time.. And got his numbers late Friday night, And Scott was shooting a JSAR .177 cal. at 33fpe he built himself. That was some of the most impressive shooting I’ve seen in my 18 years of hosting matches.
Saturday, I started the EFT match at 10am instead of 9am, to allow the late arrivers a little time on the site in line, since we would be able to get the EBR match done in 3 relays instead of 4. Jim Cyran shot the highest EFT score of the day in both classes with a 36/40 with his 34fpe Daystate MCT and .22 cal. 18.1 grain. Jim Z. shot a 35/40, Randy Ebersole and Fred Biergiel shot 33/40, Scott S. a 32/40 and Steve M a 31/40. In the 100fpe class I shot a 34/40, Mike Bricker a 33/40 and Gabe V. a 30/40.
Saturday’s 75 yard EBR was won by Steve Montgomery with a 234/250. Steve was using his Thomas HPX .22 cal with the JSB redesigned 25.4 gr at 48fpe. Steve also took 2nd in the 100 yard EBR with a 219/250. Newcomer, Kevin Stoughton also shot a great card with a 231/250
Sunday morning was the 2nd round of the EFT event. Winds were a little stronger than Saturday, even though we started an hour earlier… not a good sign for the afternoon 100 yard EBR eventJ We added an offhand lane for Sunday, a 3” at 42 and 59 yards. High score of the day and winner of the 60fpe EFT class was Steve M. with a 36/40 and 67/80 total.
The One Gun Combined 60fpe class was won by Steve Montgomery 520/580, 2nd was Jim Cyran with 465/580, and 3rd was Randy Ebersole with a 459/580. The 100fpe class was won by Gabe Valenzuela with a 516/580, Mike Bricker 2nd with a 492/580 and I took 3rd with 449/580.
Mike Bricker won the 100fpe EFT class with a 65/80, I was 2nd with a 64/80, and Gabe V 3rd with a 61/80. In the 60fpe class, Steve M was 1st with 67/80, Scott S. & Jim Z. tied for 2nd with 65/80, & 1 behind, Randy Ebersole 3rd with 64/80.
Here is the rest of the scores below:
Not sorted by Class- 60fpe and 100fpe classes combined Score Totals
Competitor Air Rifle Scope Caliber Pellet FPE EFT EBR Combined
Steve Montgomery Thomas HPX March 5-42x56 .22 25.4 48 67/80 453 520/580
Gabe Valenzuela FX Impact Vortex 6-24 .30 44 72 61/80 455 516/580
Mike Bricker Delta Wolf Athlon Midas .25 33.4 58 65/80 427 492/580
Jim Cyran Daystate MCT S&B PMII .22 18.1 34 61/80 404 465/580
Randy Ebersole Krale Pro 500 8-32x56 Athlon .25 25.4 38 64/80 395 459/580
Jacob Sumner Krale Pro 500 8-34x56 Aeon .25 25.4 39 51/80 403 454/580
Jim Ziegler USFT LD 10-50 Sightron .22 25.4 50 65/80 385 450/580
Wayne Burns JSAR 10-50 Falcon X .30 44 78 64/80 385 449/580
Fred Biergiel RAW 1000X Hawke 8-40 .22 25.4 47 59/80 379 438/580
Dave Wilson FX Impact Vortex Razor .30 44 74 25/80 395 420/580
Larry Durham USFT LD 6- 24 S&B .22 25.4 52 56/80 359 415/580
Kevin Stoughton Raw HM 1000X Vortex Eagle .22 33 40 NA 415 415/500
Chris Lovitt Krale Pro 500 Nikko 10-50 .22 25.4 34 38/80 370 406/580
Scott Schneider JSAR Optisan .177 16.2 33 65/80 326 391/580
Alex Stoughton JR FX Maverick Athlon 10-40 .25 33.95 40 NA 389 389/500
Carl Prensse Pulsar Bushnell Forge .25 25.4 40 NA 380 380/500
Eric McCormick FX Impact MII 10-50 Falcon .25 25.4 48 38/80 323 357/580
Carlos Iglesias Uragan Hawke 8-32 .22 25.4 48 38/80 186 224/580
Carlos had to leave early and didn’t shoot the 100 yard EBR card.
Again thanks so much to Robert and AOA and my AirGun Oregon team. Job well done!!
Respectfully submitted,
Wayne Burns,
Match Director
AirGun Oregon
Sleeper yes ... lol
