Before...
After...
Attendees
14 brave souls chose to compete today, despite the forecasted winds. 4 chose to shoot rimfires, 3 were shooting slugs, and the remaining 7 were in the pellet class.
Peykan's son, Kayvon. Placed in the top three of pellet class at his first match!!!
First time attendee, Luis, drove over from Albuquerque. He's in the unfortunate situation of really enjoying this game, but living 8-9hrs from Ron's long range/high power matches in Texas, and about 6.5hrs from our Phoenix matches. I was squadded with him today and it was a fun couple hours, laughing together at the ridiculous wind and just enjoying the shared interest of airguns. Luis was good for second place in pellet class today, shooting an impressive score of 23, and being THE ONLY competitor to go 75% on the 4X100 yard shots. He was also the only participant (that completed the match) to get a perfect 4/4 on lane 10, two of those were 100 yard shots. Pretty dang impressive for a first showing at PRGC!
Multiple squads down the main path.
Numerous photos of Peykan and son Kayvon, both because they were in the squad next to mine and the only squad I had time to get a few photos of between shooting and scoring, but they also sent me some photos for the match report that they had taken. Thanks guys.
There were some equipment difficulties, resulting in a few DNS's. Early on, one rimfire squad chose to return to the sight in area and literally regroup, rather than continue on in the official match. After rezeroing their shared gun, they restarted and scored quite well. Ben told me that this rimfire squad (Dan and Kevin) told him they self disqualified themselves because of the rezeroing. I don't blame them for choosing to go that route, would have been wasted ammo otherwise, at least this way they got to enjoy the afternoon, versus just being frustrated.
Weather
As NWS promised.....it was a wee bit windy.
The majority of us were shooting from about 1:45 to 3:45.
The wind speed column is reported as sustained and then gusts by The National Weather Service.
Eyeball averaging that, we were shooting in sustained winds of 22ish, with an average gust speed around 30mph. I circled the highest gust, up to 40mph, but there's also a 37mph gust at 2:51 that we would have all still been shooting in.
It was the worst kind of wind to shoot in. The direction reported above makes it appear fairly consistent in direction, but it was switching between quartering in from about 2-3 o clock, to quartering out from about 4-5 oclock, dropping down to 16-18mph (which felt like nothing compared to 40mph gusts) and then the gust would hit. And sometimes it felt like it was doing all of that while the projectile was between the muzzle and the target. Very inconsistent wind, in speed and direction and intensity. Quite challenging to shoot in, as evidenced by the scores. By looking at general trends of where the targets had taken the most abuse towards the end of the match, it appeared that quartering out winds would lift the projectiles, and the quartering in would push them down. Problem was that it was changing much too fast to get a decent read on anything.
Experiments
This was the debut of Ben's vinyl stickers. He had these custom made, using the same material as vinyl car wrap. The idea was to help shooters see the kill zones, especially towards the end of the match when they were pretty beaten up. I personally felt it helped know where to aim. There were a handful of targets with mystery kill zones, ie the sticker was solid and covering the reducer and the kill zone. It was fun, and a bit unnerving, to not know for sure where the kill zone ended and the reducer began. Shown in the first two photos of the match report, but here is another example of an "after" photo of a mystery kill zone.
And this is what they vinyl stickers looked like on a target with visible kill zone size (non mystery).
Results
Ben did take mercy on us and make the kill zones much larger than we'd typically see at one of these matches. Although it was still a very difficult match. Peykan was the standout, knocking down a very impressive 41/48. Nobody, in any class, was any where near him. Nice shooting Peykan!
Congrats to all the winners, every target that was knocked over was surely earned today.
Slug winners...
Rimfire winners...
Pellet winners....
Post match discussion was about impressions of the vinyl stickers and taking votes about moving the next match to the second Saturday of April instead of the 4th, in an attempt to not double-schedule that weekend, in relation to the Southwest Airgunner's AAFTA style match over in Duncan AZ on the 4th weekend. The April UFT match will most likely be on the second Saturday of the month, instead of the typical fourth Saturday.
Thanks to all the shooters, and to the Phoenix Rod and Gun Club for hosting us, and to those that helped. Scott H was part of the target crew on Friday despite some vehicle troubles, he was willing and able to make it work to be of assistance. Finally, HUGE thanks to Ben for putting on this match. Which leads me to the next point.....
Ben confided in me after the match that this will probably be the last year he hosts these matches. He has been putting them on for 4 years now, and is very grateful for the helping hands throughout that time, but seems to be feeling overwhelmed (my words) with all the water that has gone under the bridge surrounding these matches and the stress of continuing to host them. Not many are aware of all the details, but Ben Spencer is THE reason that long range/high power field target matches are happening across the country now. 4 years ago, prior to his hosting the first match and turning them into a monthly occurrence, the only time and place matches like this took place was the once a year American Field Target event at EBR. Ben's idea of regular long range high power matches made airgunners across the country realize the possibilities. We airgunners, and not only those local to these matches, but also those living elsewhere that are enjoying high power ft matches in their areas, owe Mr. Spencer a huge thank you for lighting the match that started this fire. I'm not trying to make this political but just giving credit where credit is due. Please reach out to Ben and tell him how much you appreciate what he has done for long range high power field target, both locally and on a national level. And if you're local, please consider ways that we can help make his life easier in relation to these matches. My hope is that with a show of deserved appreciation, and perhaps a little of the "many hands make light work" concept, we can change his current attitude enough that he'll change his mind and keep putting on matches for us to enjoy here in Arizona.
After...
Attendees
14 brave souls chose to compete today, despite the forecasted winds. 4 chose to shoot rimfires, 3 were shooting slugs, and the remaining 7 were in the pellet class.
Peykan's son, Kayvon. Placed in the top three of pellet class at his first match!!!
First time attendee, Luis, drove over from Albuquerque. He's in the unfortunate situation of really enjoying this game, but living 8-9hrs from Ron's long range/high power matches in Texas, and about 6.5hrs from our Phoenix matches. I was squadded with him today and it was a fun couple hours, laughing together at the ridiculous wind and just enjoying the shared interest of airguns. Luis was good for second place in pellet class today, shooting an impressive score of 23, and being THE ONLY competitor to go 75% on the 4X100 yard shots. He was also the only participant (that completed the match) to get a perfect 4/4 on lane 10, two of those were 100 yard shots. Pretty dang impressive for a first showing at PRGC!
Multiple squads down the main path.
Numerous photos of Peykan and son Kayvon, both because they were in the squad next to mine and the only squad I had time to get a few photos of between shooting and scoring, but they also sent me some photos for the match report that they had taken. Thanks guys.
There were some equipment difficulties, resulting in a few DNS's. Early on, one rimfire squad chose to return to the sight in area and literally regroup, rather than continue on in the official match. After rezeroing their shared gun, they restarted and scored quite well. Ben told me that this rimfire squad (Dan and Kevin) told him they self disqualified themselves because of the rezeroing. I don't blame them for choosing to go that route, would have been wasted ammo otherwise, at least this way they got to enjoy the afternoon, versus just being frustrated.
Weather
As NWS promised.....it was a wee bit windy.
The majority of us were shooting from about 1:45 to 3:45.
The wind speed column is reported as sustained and then gusts by The National Weather Service.
Eyeball averaging that, we were shooting in sustained winds of 22ish, with an average gust speed around 30mph. I circled the highest gust, up to 40mph, but there's also a 37mph gust at 2:51 that we would have all still been shooting in.
It was the worst kind of wind to shoot in. The direction reported above makes it appear fairly consistent in direction, but it was switching between quartering in from about 2-3 o clock, to quartering out from about 4-5 oclock, dropping down to 16-18mph (which felt like nothing compared to 40mph gusts) and then the gust would hit. And sometimes it felt like it was doing all of that while the projectile was between the muzzle and the target. Very inconsistent wind, in speed and direction and intensity. Quite challenging to shoot in, as evidenced by the scores. By looking at general trends of where the targets had taken the most abuse towards the end of the match, it appeared that quartering out winds would lift the projectiles, and the quartering in would push them down. Problem was that it was changing much too fast to get a decent read on anything.
Experiments
This was the debut of Ben's vinyl stickers. He had these custom made, using the same material as vinyl car wrap. The idea was to help shooters see the kill zones, especially towards the end of the match when they were pretty beaten up. I personally felt it helped know where to aim. There were a handful of targets with mystery kill zones, ie the sticker was solid and covering the reducer and the kill zone. It was fun, and a bit unnerving, to not know for sure where the kill zone ended and the reducer began. Shown in the first two photos of the match report, but here is another example of an "after" photo of a mystery kill zone.
And this is what they vinyl stickers looked like on a target with visible kill zone size (non mystery).
Results
Ben did take mercy on us and make the kill zones much larger than we'd typically see at one of these matches. Although it was still a very difficult match. Peykan was the standout, knocking down a very impressive 41/48. Nobody, in any class, was any where near him. Nice shooting Peykan!
Congrats to all the winners, every target that was knocked over was surely earned today.
Slug winners...
Rimfire winners...
Pellet winners....
Post match discussion was about impressions of the vinyl stickers and taking votes about moving the next match to the second Saturday of April instead of the 4th, in an attempt to not double-schedule that weekend, in relation to the Southwest Airgunner's AAFTA style match over in Duncan AZ on the 4th weekend. The April UFT match will most likely be on the second Saturday of the month, instead of the typical fourth Saturday.
Thanks to all the shooters, and to the Phoenix Rod and Gun Club for hosting us, and to those that helped. Scott H was part of the target crew on Friday despite some vehicle troubles, he was willing and able to make it work to be of assistance. Finally, HUGE thanks to Ben for putting on this match. Which leads me to the next point.....
Ben confided in me after the match that this will probably be the last year he hosts these matches. He has been putting them on for 4 years now, and is very grateful for the helping hands throughout that time, but seems to be feeling overwhelmed (my words) with all the water that has gone under the bridge surrounding these matches and the stress of continuing to host them. Not many are aware of all the details, but Ben Spencer is THE reason that long range/high power field target matches are happening across the country now. 4 years ago, prior to his hosting the first match and turning them into a monthly occurrence, the only time and place matches like this took place was the once a year American Field Target event at EBR. Ben's idea of regular long range high power matches made airgunners across the country realize the possibilities. We airgunners, and not only those local to these matches, but also those living elsewhere that are enjoying high power ft matches in their areas, owe Mr. Spencer a huge thank you for lighting the match that started this fire. I'm not trying to make this political but just giving credit where credit is due. Please reach out to Ben and tell him how much you appreciate what he has done for long range high power field target, both locally and on a national level. And if you're local, please consider ways that we can help make his life easier in relation to these matches. My hope is that with a show of deserved appreciation, and perhaps a little of the "many hands make light work" concept, we can change his current attitude enough that he'll change his mind and keep putting on matches for us to enjoy here in Arizona.
It was great seeing new faces joining us and some traveled great distances to be there!!! That is all because of Ben! I had a great time shooting with friends. I have to apologize to my buddy Kevin for taking us out of the competition as I overlooked the readiness of my CZ457 before the match. We went to a lane that was not occupied and set to getting my scope on target which took a whole box of 22LR. I must have shot some benchrest with it since my last UFT match and had no idea it wasn't ready to compete. Anyway, we got the scope close as we could shooting rocks and stuff and agreed that fun was more important than not having fun so we went with what we had and shot the entire course. It was close but not truly dialed in. Having said that, Kevin shot incredibly good shooting a 32 in only his 2nd UFT match with a rifle that was not truly dialed in. So congrats to Kevin, you are a natural!!!!!
).
