September FT Match, Swap Meet and Potluck

  Wow! What a day this was. We had a rifle FT match, a potluck BBQ, a swap meet, and a Pistol Field Target match to boot. And ....it was an excellent turn out in all 4 activities.

The swap meet tables were completely full in no time at all. We had to move the non-gun items inside and onto the clubhouse tables to make room for all the airguns and handle the overflow from the swap tables. There was lots of bartering and trading going on before and after the Rifle match as well as throughout the day. Several deals were struck and I saw a couple people leaving with more than they could comfortable carry.





The BBQ potluck was a huge success. We had pulled pork sanwiches, burgers from the grill, potato salad, pasta salad, fresh fruit, chips, cookies, pita and humus, sodas, ginger ale, cheesescake, and more. Big, BIG, and BIGGER thanks to all who brought the yummies!!

Also many, many, thanks to our membership for pitching in and making our event run smoothly and safely. The morning crew that showed up for setting up and the post match take down efforts have been stellar. Also a big thanks to Diablo Rod and Gun club for sponsoring our club. We couldn't have such an enjoyable event like we do without your participation and contribution.



On to the shooting:

We had a total of 20 shooters on the scoreboard this month and the previously dubbed "2011, the year of the Springer" tagline reigns on here at Diablo FT. The piston class was once again the most heavily competed class for the day. But not by much. With the growing interest in Hunter class and the number of Precharged shooters attending the match this month the rans are filling in and evening out nicely.

The forecast was "hot with a chance of Hotter" and that it was. At 98 degrees by mid-afternoon the coolers were emptying quickly but that didnt stop our shooters from pouring on the marksmanship and sending the metal quarry to its doom. I'm pretty confident this was the highest overall scored match of the season.

You can take a look at our match photos and Kevin Y's silly new hat here... lol!!

http://photos.diablofieldtarget.org/GalleryFilmstrip.aspx?gallery=1147178&mid=26446337&mt=Photo


On the scoreboard:

Great marksmanship by everyone. Several shooters achieved new personal bests.

The Hunter-FT shooters have been turning in some impessive numbers this season. In this months match, Jim R. and Jim C. both earned there Expert Pins (90%) Richard A. earned his Sharpshooters pin (80%). With 2 matches to go for the season it will be a tight race this year in HFT.

In piston,... Son L. earned his Sharpshooters pin (80%). Rizalde M. earned his 90% Expert pin. Both are going to give 2010 piston leader Paul B. a run for his money for the 2011 standings.

In Precharged, ... Guy O. was one shot away from cleaning the course. John L. continues to shoot his strongest scoring season ever and is now the clubs leader in PCP division. Kevin Y. shot the course offhand in practice for the Western Regionals & Nationals and bedazzled everyone with a 41/48. Jim W. is a new shooter with us and in his second official match he earned his 90%Expert pin.

Hunter FT

Jim R. 45 (90% Experts pin).....woohooo!
Jim C. 43 (90% Experts pin)... wooohooo!
Richard A. 40 (80% Sharpshooters pin)... woohoo!
Lonnie S. 34
Matt L. 31
George M. 20

Spring Piston

Rizalde M. 43 (90% Experts pin) ...wooohooo!
Paul B. 41
Son L. 41 (80% sharpshooter pin)....wooohooo!
Doug B. 37
Erik K. 30
Eric C. 27
Dennis W. 18
Ed P. 15

Pre-charged Pneumatic

Guy O. 47
John L. 43
Jim W. 43 (90% Expert pin)... wooohooo
Kevin Y. 41
Roger C. 31
Doug T. 21

Along with the strong turn out for the rifle match, We also had our first serious turn out for the Pistol Field target match. A total of 6 shooters played the game. Match Director Kevin Yee and myself put our Diabolical minds together to set up an interesting and challenging 20 shot course with postion choices forced by terrain and obstacles rather than designation. On lane 1 we had to shoot over the top of a barrel at one target and could comfortably shoot the other seated. On lane 3 our squirrel target was set so you had to decide to shoot offhand or squeeze the pellet through two posts from a seated postion. Big fun!! I thought I could sneak that pellet through the middle but ...doh!! Not happening. I put both shots in the post and left that target with a big "0"





Rizalde M. took the Pistol Match with an impressive display of pistoleering. However the competetition was not all that far behind. With the exception of my less than stellar performance, it was actually a pretty tight contest with only one point dividing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th positions from each other. That's some good pistol shooting there fellas!

Rizalde M. 18/20
Kevin Y. 16
Jim R. 15
Richard A. 14
Jim C. 12
Lonnie S. 8


Lonnie Smith
Associate Match Director DFTC