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Results Xtreme Field Target Jan 2022 Match Report

Some fun background info/discussion can be found here if interested: https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/xtreme-field-target-january-22nd-phoenix-rod-gun-club/?referrer=1

Mike B (Centercut) and Peykan both shared photos they took so between the three of us, we've got lots of good imagery this month. With all those photos, I decided to present it chronologically, as if anyone reading had been there at the match. 

Pre match meeting under the sun shade...

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Van had some screen printed shirts on one of the benches, nothing official or formal, he was just playing around with designs. I like them both. I didn't hear as much, but I'd suspect something like this might be available as part of the upcoming XFT Grand Prix (don't hold me to that, just making assumptions on my part). 

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After match meeting/lane assignments we made it out to the course. Shooters pull strings (ROPES) on their first lane. 

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Me and Kent started on lane 6 (deer was a 1.75 inch kz @ 40 yards and the fish was a 2.75 inch kz at 75 yards, my car key fob next to the kz on the fish for perspective).

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I was right next to the Killer Troyer lane (see the link provided at the beginning of this report). and we had some fun checking out that tiny little KZ. 

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Bricker held a .30 pellet in the KZ from behind to show how little clearance there was to squeeze (past tense = squoze google it Barb, it's a thing) that pellet through there.

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From there hot line was called and the pellets (mostly, couple rimfire guys and one slugger) started flying. The following were taken during the heat of the match. 

Barry

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Ben

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Mike B

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Chris, lone slugger

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Me (I tried out a new hold this month, similar to how I shoot these Vets from a bench, arms kinda crossed under the gun. I can't quite seem to get as stable from sticks as I can from my Open class position in regular FT so I've been experimenting. I like the left hand coming around and supporting the gun right at the bottom of the shoulder pad and the bottom of the grip sitting in the crook of my left arm. But I'm glad Peykan took this one, it's making me re-asess where I place the sticks, seems like further out to the end of the gun would help with stability, gonna have to give it a try). 

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Eric shooting Ben's RW 

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Kent shooting his souped up Marauder (MRDs at around 40fpe he tells me)

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Andrew shooting Kent's Wolverine

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Peykan (always smiling)

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Sandy (again, got her in the background while her squadmates were shooting). 

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Steve M shooting an orange (pellets = apples)

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Barb

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I think this is Tony

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Wes with his new Red Wolf HP

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Tried to get everybody but if I missed you it was not intentional, but rather you were probably shooting at the opposite end of me, or were shooting while I was resetting targets for Kent. 

The weather was great. Forecast called for 15-20mph winds but I don't think they ever got that bad. Clear blue skies, perfect temps for long sleeves or shorts even. 

And here are the results. 25 shooters. Sign up sheet only had 23 but I'm counting 25 different score cards. I think this is our most shooters at a monthly match. The ever-popular pellet class had the most participants. 

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Ties broken by longest streaks. 

Rimfire winners (Steve M, Mike S, Dan L)

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Pellet winners (Tony and Barb and Peykan) 



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Tony and Barb showing off some of that Airguns of Arizona prize money.

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And Carl F won the $50 gift certificate for JDs Custom Design for longest streak of pellet shooter NOT "in the money."

I want to point a couple things out here at the end of the report.

  • Those dang San Diego shooters kicked some A and took names (Barb and Tony are working on getting moved here to AZ and I suspect we're going to be seeing more of their pictures in future match reports, and likely not just XFT match reports. Good shooting you two!
  • Those dang Team Centercut shooters ALSO kicked some A and took names. 
  • Wes shot a new Redwolf HP today. I think this was his second XFT match. And if nobody noticed in the equipment list, it's a .177!!!! Very impressive to shoot so well with a .177. Ben and I considered shooting some small bore airguns today (Ben a .177 and me a .20) but I wimped out when it came down to it and Ben shared a gun so didn't want to do that to Eric), but Wes showed up and demonstrated that a high power/heavy .177 going fast, with a proficient trigger puller, can be competitive. Good shooting!
  • Andrew moved WAY up the leader board from the last match. Huge improvement, and with a borrowed gun. Good shooting!
  • Terri from Oklahoma came and shot, I believe, her first match. She more than held her own, out shooting some of us that are there at almost every monthly match. Great shooting!

Thank you for Ben and his set-up and tear-down crews. Lots of behind-the-scenes work. Most of us don't see it happening but truly do recognize and appreciate your efforts. We had a very enjoyable Saturday on the backs of your labor. Thank you!

Finally, much thanks to this months sponsors, Airguns of Arizona, JDs Custom Design, and Phoenix Rod and Gun Club. Your contributions are, as always, greatly appreciated. 

(PM me or contact Ben Spencer, Match Director for any information requests or questions. You'll notice there were shared guns and spectators. We'll let you share a gun and/or just come and watch to see what it's all about and to get a feel for how much interest you'd have before actually buying a gun. Cool thing about going that route is the buy once cry once phenomenon, you can "try" out a gun before you decide what to buy). 




 
Cole

Great write up....This shoot was a blast and Terri was so excited to be able to shoot it and she did damn good for a first timer....(Must be all the hunting she does in Oklahoma )

Thanks to everybody that helped get this match together and for all the help and guidance Barbara and I have received while participating....If it wasn't for the shooters at EFT sharing their knowledge and friendship we wouldn't be having as much fun as we are.

Thanks again!!!!

Tony P. and yes the boss lady too 5 power 😂
 
One of the competitors thought it would be interesting to see a breakdown of how each caliber/pellet performed on the longer range targets. There are 7 targets at 75 yards or greater. Lane # and yardage are listed in each column. So this micro analysis is out of a potential 14 (2 shots at each of the 7 targets past 74 yards). 

And here it is:

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The font is pretty small on that so same info, different view:

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In theory, I have all the images of past score cards so I COULD go back and do a meta analysis of all the past XFT matches The problem with looking at it this way and trying to draw conclusions about what caliber or pellet is best for long range is the influence the shooter has on the outcome. A shooter experiencing equipment issues might have hit 1/14 of the long range shots. The issue there is that the moderator flew off the end of the gun on his first lane, or the scope died on the way to the match or, they opened a new tin of pellets that morning (and it's an absolute junk tin), etc. etc. etc. not that the particular pellet/caliber he/she was shooting that day doesn't perform as well as the others. 

I think about the only safe conclusion we can make from the above is that the rimfires have a clear and distinct advantage over the airguns. They're really not even playing the same game. Bringing a rimfire to an XFT match is more than just bringing a gun to the proverbial gun fight, it's more like bringing an Abrams tank (relative to the difficulty level of shooting pellets). 

There was also some interest expressed about seeing how each caliber fared on the Killer Troyer lane. I'll see if I can get some time with those numbers and post that too. We can kinda test Centercut's theory that the smaller calibers are an advantage over the .30s when it comes to slipping the pellet through the tiny kz (although same argument I made above about the shooter influence muddying the waters applies here too).
 
Thanks Cole, I like to see the stats. They can't be biased, they don't make up stories, they just... ARE. 

Although I would say that if you looked at the top pellets shooters compared to the top rimfire shooters at 75+ yards, there really isn't much difference. Top 4 pellets shot 39, top 4 rimfire shot 40. Statistically inconsequential.

Also, hard to say regarding high BC pellets, but the 34 grain .25 cal. pellets performed best by far. Just don't know if it was also the shooter and the gun in combination with the better BC pellets, or... I think its a combination of shooter skill, consistently accurate gun, preparation, and high pellet BC. Oh, and practice,... yeah, lots of practice!!!
 
Yeah, you can see who's getting that long range practice in on the pellet side (Tony, Barb, Bobbie, and Ben). 

Dan (rimfire) told me his dope was off on the long shots. Just one shooter having something like that going on can really skew the results and keep us from being able to make a conclusive statement. 

Yes, agree, even with their limitations, the #s are fun to analyze. 
 
Here's the stats for the Killer T lane.

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The only 4/4s I'm seeing are Steve M and Tony P. There are a couple of 3/4s in there.

Personally I couldn't see the KZs with my 20x SWFA. In the past I've occasionally thought I maybe couldn't see the mirage as well as a 24x clearer image scope, but this was the first time I've felt at a distinct disadvantage by having a budget scope on my long range rig.

(edit: my proof-reader caught a mistake. Carl F was X 0 0 0 for a total of 1/4 on the Killer T lane. So that makes the total 39 out of 100, or 39%. Sorry guys. Good catch Mike B). 
 
You and Barb were on fire!!! 4/4 and 3/4 = that's solid shooting.

Thanks for the stats, Cole. What scope, if any other, are you going to use now Cole?

Good morning Steve.

The equipment list shows that I was using a Midas Tac but that scope is on my other Vet (don't know what I was thinking, but likely a copy and paste error from my saved file of everybody's equipment lists, I try to be lazy on these match reports but it bites me in the accuracy dept sometimes). My .22 Long has had a 20x SWFA on it since I got the gun. And the 20x SWFA is what I was using this past Sat. 

I'm considering another Midas Tac for the Long. Dan's got a surplus Riton I might take a look through. I'd also like to take a peek through a Blackhound. I'll likely end up with another Midas Tac though. 

And I shot the killer lane pretty early, I think only 4 people shot it before I did. Just too murky of an image, coupled with my eyesight, made it impossible to determine the edges of the kill zone from the previous hits. Cant hit what ya can't see I guess. Really wouldn't have made much of a difference though, even if I'd have gotten all 4 on that lane I was still nowhere near Barb and Tony's exceptional performances. 
 
You and Barb were on fire!!! 4/4 and 3/4 = that's solid shooting.

Thanks for the stats, Cole. What scope, if any other, are you going to use now Cole?

Good morning Steve.

The equipment list shows that I was using a Midas Tac but that scope is on my other Vet (don't know what I was thinking, but likely a copy and paste error from my saved file of everybody's equipment lists, I try to be lazy on these match reports but it bites me in the accuracy dept sometimes). My .22 Long has had a 20x SWFA on it since I got the gun. And the 20x SWFA is what I was using this past Sat. 

I'm considering another Midas Tac for the Long. Dan's got a surplus Riton I might take a look through. I'd also like to take a peek through a Blackhound. I'll likely end up with another Midas Tac though. 

And I shot the killer lane pretty early, I think only 4 people shot it before I did. Just too murky of an image, coupled with my eyesight, made it impossible to determine the edges of the kill zone from the previous hits. Cant hit what ya can't see I guess. Really wouldn't have made much of a difference though, even if I'd have gotten all 4 on that lane I was still nowhere near Barb and Tony's exceptional performances.

I haven't seen a Blackhound yet so I'd be curious about the IQ on them.

Riton might be pretty good.

Hard to beat a Midas TAC.

I really like my Midas TAC 5-25 but I think it'd be too heavy on a Vet because it has a 34mm tube.