Field Target is an arms race.

[Iowa Airgunner]

I was recovering from an injury and found shooting my air gun in the garage fun. So I bought a “good” gun and scope . 300 dollsrs to me was a fortune. And I shot about 100-150 shots a day. Filling a five gallon bucket with lead from my trap. Needless to say I got pretty good with that gun . And Mike at flying dragon helped my tune it. Then I discovered field target. I can hit a quarter every time at 25 yards. Let me try that field target thing .
The rest is history .

 

[Nofilters]

well as much as this might be true... you will never, ever, get the diverse group of FT shooters to buy the same platforms! They are way too into self expression; and that's ok.

I wasn’t talking about having people buy the exact same gun. I was talking about a concept when I was really young. We used to go rent motorcycles or go karts so you could have were guns were all the same people rented them when they paid for their event. that would be the only way that you’re gonna get rid of the equipment race because you have egos that wanna spend more than the next guy or wanna have the nicest stuff. This would also be a more accurate measure of bragging rights based on practice time,shooting skills, not on Wallet.

 

[Franklink]

I was recovering from an injury and found shooting my air gun in the garage fun. So I bought a “good” gun and scope . 300 dollsrs to me was a fortune. And I shot about 100-150 shots a day. Filling a five gallon bucket with lead from my trap. Needless to say I got pretty good with that gun . And Mike at flying dragon helped my tune it. Then I discovered field target. I can hit a quarter every time at 25 yards. Let me try that field target thing .
The rest is history .

Your TX200, AA500, and HFT500 are a bit up the scale from your Flying Dragon Xisico days.

 

[Iowa Airgunner]

Your TX200, AA500, and HFT500 are a bit up the scale from your Flying Dragon Xisico days.

I still shoot them. And when my XS46U shoots a group that is the 3/8 inch at 30 yards the TX will go 1/4 inch. The difference is negligible but there is a difference. The HFT-500 from 30 yards and that’s as far as I have shot it so far is just one pellet size hole. So 2000 -1000 -300. There all right there. But better is better. Take it off the bag and your on your own. I don’t care how much it cost.

 

[Nofilters]

Just show up and shoot and drag somebody with you so they can enjoy it too

 

[thane]

... and we haven't even began to discuss surgeries and LEGAL medications for that extra edge...

 

[Franklink]

... and we haven't even began to discuss surgeries and LEGAL medications for that extra edge...

Lol, I considered responding this way to the comment about age. With age comes.....beta blockers. Just one example of a medication that is banned at various levels and in various organizations....some of them even the shooting sports.

 

[Franklink]

Lol, I considered responding this way to the comment about age. With age comes.....beta blockers. Just one example of a medication that is banned at various levels and in various organizations....some of them even the shooting sports.

As for surgeries....

This one was fun, both times I've had it done. Trying to stop the disease progression of my keratoconus, and thereby my vision loss.


But I'm sure we've all got various medical conditions and past procedures and artificial joints and valves and etc. Just another part of the game. And life for that matter.

 

[Motorhead]

Thank goodness I was blessed with a very low heart rate hovering low / mid 50's when relaxed. That in itself is a HUGE advantage I'm thinking

 

[Franklink]

Thank goodness I was blessed with a very low heart rate hovering low / mid 50's when relaxed. That in itself is a HUGE advantage I'm thinking

For sure Scott. I think a mandatory ten jumping jacks from you before you address every lane should level the playing field.
(Kidding of course).

 

[thane]

A pair of obscenely expensive sclera lens softened the keratoconus for me. Corrected my vision to 20/15, bonus I don't have to blink anymore.

Looking to offload a couple vertebrae so I can do the deadman shooting position like the cool kids do.

 

[Franklink]

A pair of obscenely expensive sclera lens softened the keratoconus for me. Corrected my vision to 20/15, bonus I don't have to blink anymore.

Looking to offload a couple vertebrae so I can do the deadman shooting position like the cool kids do.

Same here with the scleral lens Thane. I get about 18 months out of a pair. With the cost of the lenses and the fitting fees....yep, insanely expensive is an accurate assessment.

Had the corneal crosslinking procedure done twice. The first was the epithelial layer "on" method, and was part of a failed clinical trial. Disease continued to process, vision continued to degrade. Then went back and got the epithelial layer "off" version a few years later, accomplished by alcohol straight on the eyeball, and manual debridement thereafter. Most pain I've ever been in in my life for a full week, inescapable pain. No relief from any and all efforts.

All said and done, and with my super pricy scleral lenses in, I'm 20/25 from one eye and 20/30 from the other. Best they could do. Without the lenses = legally blind.

 

[Bramezy]

iMO Money spent is Not relevant for almost all shooters except? The top 3% ? You can’t buy accuracy before your skills develop to a certain point, and only practice and experience and learning to read the winds will take you to a podium.
@Franklink

when I first discovered field target, perhaps 3 years ago, I didn’t know the difference between a 12 fpe ft gun or a 20 fpe ft gun. I knew nothing about scopes past mounting one and zeroing it.
I had owned Sheridan pumpers, Gamos and Beeman break barrels. But PCPs were new to me and I bought my first one thinking I could pump it up with a floor pump… and take out the coyotes plaguing my neighborhood. I’m still laughing at my naive self.
Field Target, however, totally intrigued me. As such, with plenty of disposable income I began to acquire some of the finest airguns available thinking that I could be a great shooter! Boy oh boy was I wrong!! So I figured I better up my game and buy some of the finest scopes available, certainly that would make me a great shooter
nope…. I even tried mixing and matching various combinations of scopes and airguns thinking that just the right combination was the answer… haha…
obiviously I needed to tune my airguns.
nope - I still sucked.
but being a stubborn lug, and still having enough money to be more stupid, I didn’t give up and began to watch and listen to some really good shooters, and slowly it became apparent (sink in) that I actually needed to practice if I wanted to improve; alas there were no field target facilities anywhere close so I began to buy my own targets and set up a course in my backyard to practice whenever I could.
Wowza-my KZ scores actually started to improve, regardless of whether I was shooting a Crosman with a Hawke or my Redwolf with a Sightron, or my Steyr’s or my Brococks or my FWB’s or my Alan Zasadny specials or my USFT mac1 or even my Thomas, well you get the idea… in the end I discovered that if I would just stick with one gun and one scope I improved In significant and measurable ways, and Much quicker!!
So in retrospect, only the skills that come with practice and knowing your equipment intimately will truly elevate your game… mind you, I still suck… but just not as bad, and I’m having a great time doing it And I’ve had a great time laughing at myself along the way. Perhaps when I can consistently hit 90% of those tough shots I might be able to tell the difference in my Redwolf score when compared to my Crosman HFT score, meanwhile the arms race against myself continues as I am truly my most significant competitor!

While I agree 100%, practice makes perfect, its still true that you can buy accuracy. Theres a large difference in a cheap base gun that holds a 1.5" group at 55yds vs a Thomas and Redwolfs that hold 1/4" groups. The room for error is much larger!! If your dope is off or range is off a bit, you have way more wiggle room in a more accurate gun than not. Arms Race for sure. Want to get better, get a more accurate gun AND practice but really, the only practicing is offhand. Now WFTF is a different story with wind and nothing can really replace practicing in the wind to gather data for that but the rest is the same.
How many times can you sit down and shoot a 1/4" target at 30yds with different guns? Get the important info as accurate as you can and go from there. Thats where I see people lose the most, bad data.

 

[cavedweller]

Same here with the scleral lens Thane. I get about 18 months out of a pair. With the cost of the lenses and the fitting fees....yep, insanely expensive is an accurate assessment.

Had the corneal crosslinking procedure done twice. The first was the epithelial layer "on" method, and was part of a failed clinical trial. Disease continued to process, vision continued to degrade. Then went back and got the epithelial layer "off" version a few years later, accomplished by alcohol straight on the eyeball, and manual debridement thereafter. Most pain I've ever been in in my life for a full week, inescapable pain. No relief from any and all efforts.

All said and done, and with my super pricy scleral lenses in, I'm 20/25 from one eye and 20/30 from the other. Best they could do. Without the lenses = legally blind.

Well damn

 

[PowderBurnt]

I stopped drinking coffee and my blood pressure is finally under control. That'll help keep me more steady on the sticks.

My new Trigger Stick is what's gonna help win next time, too

 

[BSJ]

Yep I said it, and not for the first time.

Some sure seem to get heated up about that statement. Others are pragmatic enough to accept reality.

When guys are running "bb guns" that cost north of $8-10k, there's not much of an argument against it being an arms race.

When I say "arms race" I'm talking about the perpetual creep that results in ever bigger side wheels, more expensive scopes and guns, more complicated bipods, and generally more gadgetry for the classes where that's allowed, etc.

The arms race is a result of a combination of factors. First of those is that in any competition that is similarly equipment-dependent, you'll see the same thing. Competitors will spend big to acquire what they feel is the most competitive equipment. Another is the demographic....field target competitors are primarily a collection of well-to-do geezers, and many of those are retired, with the time and money to be silly about how they spend that time and money. Another is psychology...if I just buy THAT gun or THAT scope then I'll be at the top in future matches. In that sense, the arms race is as much a personal battle as it is a side-quest competition with the rest of the field. Furthermore, and another part of the psychology, is that it's simply fun to try out new guns and scopes. And who's going to buy a lower quality gun or scope than what they already have? So of course that feeds into the process of continually spending more and more and the average price of a rig in any given ft competition creeping up and up and up over the years. In that sense, some of the arms race is the over-used adage of, "you get what you pay for."

All of that is fine and dandy, and it's simply the reality of the field target game.

The negative aspect of the arms race is those rare times when a newcomer is at their first match and we have to tell them the price of the borrowed rig they're fondling. It's hard for them to envision themselves being part of the collection of field target competitors since they haven't mentally worked their way up to the great financial heights incrementally like most of us have. I say that from personal experience when I was new, and from the exact same facial expression I see when I introduce someone to field target.

As for the inevitable, "it's the indian, not the arrow" straw man logic rebuttals that are sure to come.....There is very certainly a price threshold that must be crossed to get into "competitive" territory. Yeah yeah, "so and so won with an entry level _______________ back in 20XX." Those cases are rare, and speak much to the skill of that individual competitor. In the main example I see used, that guy is now shooting a $3-4K scope/gun combo, NOT the entry level rig that he did well with that year. For most of us mere mortals, quality equipment ($$$) must be invested in if a guy has any intentions of being competitive, then of course comes practice to complete the rest of the winning equation. Hence my earlier statement about how equipment-dependent field target is.

And there you have the arms race.

(And with that, let the online battle commence).

People were saying the exact same thing, (And I mean nearly verbatim!), back in 1999 when I got in FT.

Really. That's the one constant in FT.

ALL subsequent arguments for and against are virtually identical as well.

It is what FT is. Except it or get bored with it and move on.

I moved on...

I check back in every once in a while just to see if it's any different. It ain't

 

[Motorhead]

So for all you lets call ... Finger pointers of this ongoing one sided debate.
If your getting out shot by others with high dollar rigs ? Your not as good a shot as you think you are and need to find a way in accepting this.
As it is a know fact that if you have the skill you certainly don't need top shelf equipment to shoot well.
* What you need is practice and guidance / tottering from those who do possess the greater skill set. You may just learn a thing or two and change your feeling on this arms race nonsense.

If one chooses to purchase top shelf gear it is of there free choosing !!! It absolutely is no guarantee they will shoot any better, but will look & feel much better trying
If you are a great marksman, score well and fortunate enough to have good gear .. That's outstanding ! Great gear & you don't (* Read line 4 ) or don't sweat it .. Have fun with what ya brung

 

[cavedweller]

So for all you lets call ... Finger pointers of this ongoing one sided debate.
If your getting out shot by others with high dollar rigs ? Your not as good a shot as you think you are and need to find a way in accepting this.
As it is a know fact that if you have the skill you certainly don't need top shelf equipment to shoot well.
* What you need is practice and guidance / tottering from those who do possess the greater skill set. You may just learn a thing or two and change your feeling on this arms race nonsense.

If one chooses to purchase top shelf gear it is of there free choosing !!! It absolutely is no guarantee they will shoot any better, but will look & feel much better trying
If you are a great marksman, score well and fortunate enough to have good gear .. That's outstanding ! Great gear & you don't (* Read line 4 ) or don't sweat it .. Have fun with what ya brung

 

[cavedweller]

What you're talking about happens at some matches. What I call "the camping matches" are what hooked me into airguns.
Two clubs/groups in my general area put on camping matches, and the camping nature of them isn't actually part of the formal club, just happens on the same weekend. Rex J and his Southwest Airgunners put on a plinking/silhouettes/field target weekend a couple times a year. These used to take place up high in the Mtns south of Luna, NM, but they have now moved to the riverbottom near Duncan, AZ.
The other club is the Airguns of Arizona group. They have an AAFTA match on the third Saturday of each month out in the national Forest South of Flagstaff Arizona, not quite to Mormon Lake.

At these matches the Friday evening silhouette match and the Saturday morning FT match are pretty serious competition....but the down-time shooting of match heads, and steel spinners and Red Ryder's and CO2 pistols and 10m silhouettes and dualing trees, and shooting paintballs, etc. are just as much or more fun than the actual competitions. All this informal shooting is rarely repeated for every match. Sometimes it's popping paint ball's. Sometimes steel spinner and bell targets and biathalon targets are the plinking fun. Sometimes we'll hang bell targets out to 100 yards and plink away on them. Sometimes it turns into a dare/challenge to see who can hit what from offhand. All said and done....FUN.

They are ALL fun games - the only competitor lives in our head when we compare ourselves to other player.

 

[cavedweller]

Same here with the scleral lens Thane. I get about 18 months out of a pair. With the cost of the lenses and the fitting fees....yep, insanely expensive is an accurate assessment.

Had the corneal crosslinking procedure done twice. The first was the epithelial layer "on" method, and was part of a failed clinical trial. Disease continued to process, vision continued to degrade. Then went back and got the epithelial layer "off" version a few years later, accomplished by alcohol straight on the eyeball, and manual debridement thereafter. Most pain I've ever been in in my life for a full week, inescapable pain. No relief from any and all efforts.

All said and done, and with my super pricy scleral lenses in, I'm 20/25 from one eye and 20/30 from the other. Best they could do. Without the lenses = legally blind.

So I’ve made a summary choice in my head:
field target is indeed a race but it’s based on:
the starting line of youth with health on your side but no experience and little time to practice
the finish line is old age with more time, more experience, more money for better equipment; but it is greatly offset by a diminishing physical ability.
somewhere in the “middle” there is a sweet spot where health, time, money, and equipment all come together and we reach an elusive podium version of our best Hft self.