Good report. Funny story, I shot Extreme FT a year or two ago with some guys that normally shoot NRL-22. Both of them agreed that FT was “kinda like NRL-22 or PRS for old guys”….Here is my post from FB about my experience:
I just got back from the 2024 Pyramyd AIR Cup so here is a little write-up about my experience for anyone that cares to read it!
Firstly, the event was run spectacularly. Every discipline ran smoothly and safely (I shot them all), questions were answered quickly, the staff was super attentive, and it was super organized. Also, I didn't hear a single complaint about bench card scoring this year and it would seem everything was scored very well (mine was perfect with no surprises). Big thanks to Pyramyd Air and their staff, as well as the event sponsors for making it what it was. Great job!
I mentioned I shot all 3 disciplines, so I'll break those down below. If you watch my channel and know me, you probably know that I shoot PRS/NRL pretty decently. However, you may not know this about me - my goal in airgun competition is real simple: Be a well-rounded shooter that can pick up any discipline and be able to shoot it respectably. I don't claim to be an expert in anything (after all it is only my 2nd year competing). I learn a ton at each event and in turn I try to share what I learn with anyone willing to listen.
100 Yard Benchrest:
This is the crown jewel of the competition, so let's put it first. I shot a 220 and a 209 on my qualifying cards. It was enough to put me in finals. Fun fact: for the duration of my pro airgun career, that puts me at a 60% rate for making bench finals. I am not a bench shooter, but as I mentioned I'd like to be able to hang with the good shooters and shoot respectable cards. I usually blow it in finals, and it was no different here. However, I shot much better in finals at PA Cup 2024 than I did in the 2023 finals, and since I only compare myself to myself, this means I've improved and that's the goal. In finals I shot a 213. No idea where that puts me, probably not last, but definitely not in the top ten with the high scores these days. My good friend Dan Carpenter took 4th with a 231 7x, which only a few short years ago would 100% have been a match winning score! Congrats to him and the other GigaChads who top-tenned!
So where do I go from here with bench rest? Well, I'm going to try to get more into it. My FX Airguns Impact M3 definitely gives me an edge as it shoots PERFECTLY and I've never even adjusted the regs from how they came from the factory in early 2023. If I can make finals a lot of the time just winging it then that means I could do much better if I actually put some practice & effort behind it. I'm open to any tips from you pro wind-readers out there!
Anyhow, bench was awesome, super intense, and totally dope to see the homie make some $$ from that 4th place win. Also, High Pressure Pneumatics had FOUR team members make finals, which is a major increase from just ONE (me) last year! Progress is what we're after - so great job, team! Congrats to ALL the other finalists - it is no easy game so making finals alone is huge!
GunSlynger (speed shooting):
I actually made semi finals shooting my FX Airguns Panthera Hunter Compact .22 with only 18 grain pellets! Why shoot such light pellets when you definitely should be shooting heavy pellets with a more powerful gun in those winds? Well, my Panthera Hunter Compact (PHC) .22 is the only gun I have that I can tune low enough for Field Target (20 ft/lbs) - so it was on double duty for both Field Target and GunSlynger! I actually found a tune that works for both sub-20 and also 32fpe for hunting (125 bar on the reg) where I can simply adjust my macro wheel from 4 to 18 to swap power levels for FT and GS. 1 gun can do it all, which is cool, definitely less cargo to truck across the country for the Cup. But what I learned is, I can actually shoot fast pretty decently and getting into semi finals at the last 2 events proves it. Where I totally struggled was at the farther distances shooting such light pellets in the tremendous winds of Marengo, Ohio. Next time I will bring maybe my FX Maverick and shoot the 25.39gr JSB or JTS pellets. Super fun match, the best one to watch for sure, and congrats to all the participants - especially good friend of the channel Ryan Spanagel for his really impressive performance in the Springer division!
Field Target:
This is where I crank my PHC down to 20fpe and do my best. I think I was the only guy shooting a .22 as most prefer .177 for field target. But I don't own any .177 guns so the Lord's caliber it is! I shot the 13.43 grain JSBs. First day I shot a 43, better than last year, so the theme of improvement carried on here. Second day I also shot a 43 (imagine that) but I had started out REALLY good, only missing like 4 shots over the first 8 or 9 lanes. I really respect the Field Target discipline, and believe me, it is HARD! Big ups to the dudes who put in the work to get good at it. I like FT, buuuuuuut....... it's a little too slow for me. Sort of an acquired taste, I suppose, I mean it's fun but it takes like 5-7 hours each day to shoot a grand prix (120 shots, as I understand it, with 60 each day).
On day 2 I may still have had a chance to make the top 10 or 20 with how I was shooting (I think there were like 70 shooters in Hunter PCP class with me), but I absolutely blew it in my last 5 stages, even taking a ZERO in one of them. Oof. My heart just simply wasn't in it at that point. I was ready to just be done. Tired, hot, and sitting for like a half hour+ at some points was just enough to make me lethargic enough to lose my mojo.
I might try some local FT matches to see if it's something I want to pursue, as I've heard the local matches are much shorter/faster - just to see if I end up liking it. Anyway, I ended up at about the exact middle of the pack overall. Can I hang? Sure. Am I good/consistent at it? No. Lol. Thanks to Tyler Patner for telling me about a local club I can try out and also to Lauren Parsons for her insights. If you missed it, she absolutely slayed at Field Target (to nobody's surprise!) so congrats to her for that and also for cleaning out the raffle table! Nice!
So there's my summary. Improvement everywhere, and that is the goal! I hope it was worth reading! Big thanks to all the channel supporters, my teammates at High Pressure Pneumatics and the companies who support me like FX Airguns, Element Optics, Accu-Tac, DonnyFl, Kraford & Lypt, Orcair, Jimmy John's etc.!
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