Much to my surprise, there was a new FT Shooter on the course but a familiar face from the past. Tim B. is a club member that I met at our very first Air Rifle Bench Rest Match where he shot a sweet shooting RX2(.22) that he brought along for a go at FT. Its always a great feeling to see shooters in general, maybe even a bit more when they are checking out FT as the shooting sport! 

The weather was supposed to be in the 90s today and for some of us, this match represented an outcome based on what happened at Angeles the other month. For myself, after seeing how much fun Ron E. had shooting International Class with Tim McMurray, I told Ron that Id shoot IC with him at that next Diablo FT Match to mix things up and give him some support/competition as he trains for the Nationals. Lonnie S. decided that he was ready to step up to AA Class at Diablo. Unfortunately, for both of us, neither had practiced since Angeles! Work, family, general goofing around, etc. has kept us from practicing so we were both going into this event to have fun and at hopefully hit a few paddles! Guy O.s LG110FT experienced a POI shift in the Angeles heat, would he experience déjà vu today or did he fix it? Regardless of what happened at Angeles, all in attendance of this match were here to have some fun shooting FT! 

Shortly after setting up the course, the line was called Hot and we could start sighting in and warming up: 





After warming up a bit, Greg T. called the Shooters Meeting so we could get paired up and get the match started. I was paired up with Ron E. on lane 3, no surprise there, as we were the only 2 shooting International Class. Ron was shooting an Air Arms EV2 MKII and I had my trusty Steyr LG110 FT. We both had some equipment/shooter concerns at hand. Ron had his trigger adjusted sweetly but it walked off on him the other day so he had to get it back to where he liked it. I on the other hand hadnt shot this rifle in months and it was off a bench with sand bags at that! To put it mildly, I had concerns running through my mindwere my clicks still dialed in, would I get lost on the clicks and could I shoot without straps at 12fpe?!?! My confidence wasnt very high, about as high as a dime is thick but I figured Id have some fun and help support Rons IC efforts with some company! Today represented Rons 2nd match at Diablo shooting IC and he was trying a new variation of his shooting stance to see how it worked so he could dial in his technique. 

Ron E.: 



Tony I.: 



I was first to Step up to the plate on lane 3 and was nervous like a teenager on Prom Night! Ive been shooting the past 2 years exclusively with straps at 20fpe and now I gotta go cold turkey at sub 12fpe! My mind is racing thinking Im either gonna hit the ground running or crash and burn big time, gotta relax and put it in perspective. FT is for Fun not a paycheck, youre doing this for your FT brother Ron dude and to have some fun, mixing up the gun and class a bit to hopefully learn a thing or two and get that taste of shooting the game as they do in the rest of the world that youve been wanting to try for over a year. 

Surprisingly, the unstrapped shooting position wasnt bad at all, stabilization was just a few more cleansing breaths and position adjustments to get all the shakes and wobbles to where they normally are with straps and my normal insanely adjustable and rock solid on the knee USFT #49. Now that I can see my target at 50x without wobbling all around it, I ranged and clicked for the yardage and quietly asked/prayed please let the clicks be right!!! Breaking the sears on the Steyr is always a joy and this shot was even sweeter as lead met paddle and the target dropped, talking about a big ole cleansing breath and sigh of relief! After cleaning the lane, Ron was up to bat. I tell ya, I dont think anyone at our club practices as much he does and watching him set up and shoot gives a view of a very methodical and disciplined approach, cleaning the lane like clockwork. 

As we move along the course were having a good ole time with our fancy bb guns, hitting a few, missing a few and talking airguns! More of that is happening on the course as the match proceeds 

In Springer Class, 2 of the big dogs are paired up on the field of honor for another day of friendly competition. Paul B. and Jonathon R. are dueling it out with their Jan Kraner tuned HW97K and Helder S./Kevin Y. tuned TX200 MKIII rifles, respectively. At the last match, Paul B. earned Class Honors with his first place win. Paul had been counseling Jonathon to get a good FT scope so that he could start clicking instead of using holdover in his game. 

He saw the potential of the new springer shooter and being the super nice guy that he is, was trying to get Jonathon up to speed and realizing his potential. Well Jonathon took his advice and got the same scope Paul was using, a Bushnell 4200 8 32 x 40AO! A good matchup was turning into a great one on this fine day at Diablo. 

Jonathon R.: 



Paul B.: 



Another Big Fish in our Lil Pond thats known for being able to shoot one of them fancy sproingers is Kevin Y. who was paired up with Riz M. Today was going to be a field test of shooting equipment for both of these guys. Kevin brought Bessie along, an HW97 that makes just about every one that shoots her say Ill take it!!! or Id rather have that over any TX200!!! Unfortunately Bessies been temperamental lately and shooting a bit light at 10fpe over the chrony, as such trajectory and scope clicks are off but its the tool of choice for todays match. An FT match just wouldn't be normal if Kevin didn't have equipment issues and the need to make adjustments on the fly, lol! Riz M. had his new Steyr LG110FT(FAC) to prove out, untested at FT but a tack driving tool for sure! 

Kevin Y.: 



Riz M.: 



New to FT shooter Tim B. was paired up with 2 veteran FT shooters Greg T. and Eric K. Greg is on of the Co-founders of FT at Diablo Rod and Gun Club and Eric K. is one of the airgunners that shoots multiple disciplines. Tim was shooting his RX2(.22) which has a really nice trigger job(all RX2s should be set up that nicely out of the box!). Greg had his Walther LG300 FT Dominator back in action as it was sidelined at the last match. Eric K., one of our regular HFT shooter, was testing the waters again with his R7(.17) and holdover. His benchmark for shooting HFT with an R7 on our course is shooting 20. He figures if he can score 20 points, its a good day and I gotta agree. One of these days Im gonna try it as well just to see if I can hit any targets shooting that way! 

Tim B. chose to shoot most of the match prone!: 



Greg T.: 



Eric K.: 



As Ron and I make our way along the course, we were pretty much running neck and neck and having fun with the targets. 



 

 

As we approached the farthest lanes, we are literally tied up. Just trading hits and misses. I demonstrated my signature FT move of being off by a rotation for not just the first shot on a target but a 2nd confirmation shot as well, lol before determining that I was truly off by a whole rotation!!! Ron was expressing concerns that Id pull away from him. I had to let him know the truth, since he is new at the club, he doesnt know my Achilles heel at Diablo, lol. I let him know that youre probably gonna pull ahead now, historically I come apart on Lanes 1 & 2 at the other end of the course and thats at 20fpe with straps, thigh pod, adjustable knee riser, etc., so all bets are off with me shooting naked at sub 12fpe, lol!!! 

Elsewhere in PCP Class was the father daughter team of Helder S. and Bianca S.. Unfortunately Bianca got sick and had to stop shooting. Luckily grandma was there to hang out with Bianca in the cool club house and stay out of the heat. Dad ended up squadding up with Eric K. for the duration of the match. 

Helder S.: 

 

Over in AA Class veteran shooting extraordinaire Guy O. was paired up with Lonnie S. who was finally giving a go at AA class. Lonnies a veteran shooter and bud of mine that Ive been bugging all year to come swim in the deep end of the pool to jeer him on like good buds do!!! Guy had a significant POI shift at the match in Angeles last month so today would be a test of whether he was able to remedy the problem in the increasing heat of the match. Lonnie on the other hand went into this match cold like I did with no practice since Angeles. Not an ideal situation for jumping into AA class but he decided to roll with it as I did in IC. 

Guy O., tell me that smile doesnt look like hes having a good ole time shooting FT at Diablo combined with a bit of oh man this rifle is scary accurate?!?!: 

 

Lonnie S.: 

 

As morning turned to mid day the heat was on the rise, competition and temperature wise! During my many breaks to get more water bottles, I bumped into Eric K. snacking and started thinking, man thats good thinking to bring some sustenance for during the match.: 

 

I also bumped into Lonnie S. and asked him about AA Class and I think the look of shock explains it all, lol!!! : 

 

Gotta love those freshly painted red AA Targets with the itty bitty killzones/Grey Reducers, I think Lonnie might be having nightmares over these red targets!!!: 

 

As Im sitting on Lane 1, staring at the first target up on the wall at about 25 yards, Im thinking ok Mr. Owl, ya gonna play nicely today or not, is it gonna be me or you?!?! 

 

First shot flew true as can be and he sprung backwards, there is hope yet! Shot number two however missed the mark and bounced violently off the faceplate, lol, what a reality check! 

The far lanes were providing a bit of challenge for us to put it mildy and my day ended with watching 2 shots that did not make the buzzard fall back on Lane 2.: 

 

At the end of the day the scores were as follows: 

 

On a side note, the day was definitely filled with some unusual fashion statements in the pursuit of performance amidst heated competition, lol 

It was heating up pretty good and Jonathon R. forgot to bring a hat so he made one!!!: 

 

I, on the other hand, have wanted to shoot with a jacket lately but the thought of wearing my Creedmore Jacket gave instant thoughts of heat stroke, dehydration and general discomfort! So I thought about it and decided to wear one of my old motorcycle jackets designed for the heat with a mesh fabric that has huge holes in the weave pattern all sorts of padding to dampen movement or impact as the case may be!: 

 

Notice Paul B. throwing his hands up in shock and disgust like hes thinking Whats this game come to, cant a guy just show up with a rifle, pellets, and normal clothes like jeans and a t-shirt versus dressing up like a shooter that just got off a rice rocket wearing a pirates patch over his eye?!?! 

As an fyi, the jacket worked very well indeed, damn the fashion police!!! 

After the match we did the usual bbq, plinking and griping about the match and faulty targets costing us points, lol!!! Some pretty amazing shooting was at hand now that it was for fun and off the record of scorecards, lol. 

Jonathon R. whom had issues shooting that Buzzard @ 51 yards during the match from a seated FT position took on someones challenge to try it off hand with his TX and he hit it 3 times in a row off hand!!! At that point, everyone was telling him put the gun down, put it back in its case and end your shooting day on that note!!! 

Ron E., whom had issues with the Owl and Buzzard during the match decided to have a second go at them. He shot each of them approximately 10 times in a row! Kind of funny how when ya shoot for fun its a lot easier to hit stuff, lolI really enjoyed the post match activities of plinking, barbequing, and talking. 

It was amazing, I kind of had a déjà vu moment while sharing a bag of chips with the guys. It reminded me of the days of youth, hanging out with buds shooting our airguns. We were truly on top of the world with our Daisy 880s, Crosman 760s, Daisy 1200s, etc., a few bags of chips, and a couple of six packs of sodas using the empty cans for targets and talking about how cool it would be to own a Benjamin/Sheridan or one of those high quality European Beeman rifles that you just have to cock once kind of funny how the more things change, the more things stay the same, it was a fine day indeed with friends and family!