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February Match Report, Monthly Match

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Small bore range / BASF / Phoenix, AZ

Today's crew - front row, l-r; Scott, Ed, Wayne R., Larry, Dave, Van, Wes.  back row, l-r; Mark, Todd, Ben, Stan, Barry, Mike, and Wayne M.  Missing was Jake.

You can see how narrow the range was from the berms on either side.  It created havoc with the wind currents.

Scores.jpeg

What a busy place the range was today.  The range we normally occupy, the pistol silhouette range, was being used by the lever action rifle group for a big shoot.  Lots of people there.  The rest of the facility was being set up for the upcoming Winter Range Cowboy Action shooting competitions coming up in the next weeks.  There were circus-sized tents and canopies being erected all over the parking lot, making navigation a bit tricky.  Finding a place to park was even trickier.

So where did we shoot?  How about P/P bay B, the skinniest range on the property, is where we were assigned to use today.  There was maybe 30 feet from berm to berm.  We had room to set up 6 very tight lanes, with the sight in area overlapping the entire course.  We were snug to say the least.  We ended up shooting through the 6 lanes twice for a 48-shot match.  This worked out quite advantageously, as it focused us into learning what the wind does in tight confines.

The weather today was very accommodating.  Clear blue skies, with only little wisps of clouds here and there.  The temperature was 61° at the beginning and rose to 66° by the time we finished.  With no overhead canopy, the sun felt nice and warm.  The wind was making its presence known; coming from behind basically, from the south and southeast at between 7 and 16 mph, with gusts to 25 mph.  Inside the tight confines of the range, it swirled and created all kinds of interesting moves; one direction at the firing line, and various others downrange.  Fun stuff.  I would love to get permission to set off a smoke grenade just to see what the wind actually does when it swirls downrange.  That would make an interesting educational experiment.We had 14 shooters today, with a new shooter having driven over from San Diego just to shoot in his very first competition with us.  Dave happens to be another piston shooter, so we had 3 of us present today.  Only two shooters in Open PCP class, with the rest of the field shooting in Hunter PCP.

Next month, we are going to try something a little different.  Instead of the morning shoot, we won’t be able to access the pistol silhouette range until 3:00 PM, so we will try an afternoon shoot.  This should give us an opportunity to experience afternoon wind and lighting conditions.  A reminder will be sent out one week prior to the match.

We once again want to thank EVERYONE present for helping to tear down the range afterwards; that took all of about 3 minutes, maybe 4.  Either way, set up and break down are done in minimal time due to everyone pitching in.  Thanks guys!

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Kauffman
Secretary, Airgunners of Arizona, Inc.

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