We arrived at the range early today, just as it was starting to get light at 7:00 am.  Wayne, Larry, Scott #1, and Scott #2 rolled in at the same time to help set up today’s course.  Ten lanes of 2 targets each, along with the sight in range, was complete by 7:25 am.  Great job and thanks, guys, for jumping right in and getting it done.  Sorta like an Indy pit crew; a well oiled machine.

We were here at that hour in order to make sure everything was ready to go prior to 8:00 am, for an announced start time of 9:00 am today.   We did this to try to help another group, but this did not work out.  Oh, well, we tried.  With the 9:00 am start time, and with 8 shooters on hand today, we assigned one shooter per lane and were finished shooting and all equipment collected by 11:00 am.  This was followed by 5 of us reconvening at Wild Horse West for some really juicy burgers!

Even with 8 shooters, we still contested 5 classes; Open PCP, Open Piston, WFTF, Hunter PCP and Hunter Piston.  The Troyer factor for today was calculated at 29.12 without wind.  With the wind, it calc’d at 35.16.  We had a good mix of targets with a low of 24T and a high of 44T.  Something for everyone.

During set up, it was quite windy, and the skies quickly became clear and bright.  Temps were only in the low 40’s and warmed to 53 degrees by the end of the match.  The wind did diminish somewhat to about 3 – 5 mph, from the forecast 5 – 10 mph, but it seemed to come from all points on the compass, and swirled.  This is not unusual for this venue and caused an inordinate number of splits, nudging the pellets this way and that.

We even had a new shooter today.  Frank lives nearby and decided to come out and give this game a try.  Sadly to say, he only scored a 1, but that was on one of his off-hand shots.  He now knows what is needed and we’re sure he will do much better next time.  Also joining us were Bill from Lake Havasu City, and Pat, from Las Vegas.  The trip seemed to be worthwhile for both as each of them shot 39/40!


Here are the scores and equipment stats;

Airgunners of Arizona Match Report

Saturday, February 27, 2021 - BASF smallbore range - Phoenix, AZ

One thing noted during sight in was the appearance of a rather healthy male coyote.  He materialized on the far eastern end of the impact berm, looked across the range at us at the other end of the range, then plopped down on top of the berm to soak up some warmth from the sun.  Yours truly pulled out the camera and tried to zoom in to get a picture for the report, but as soon as he came into focus on the zoon lens, the camera screen flashed at me stating the batteries needed recharging.  Aaarrgghh!  Needless to say, no pictures to accompany the report today.  Sorry.  Currently, the camera in on the charger as I write this.  Not sure if this is from the cold or what, but these things happen.

Next months match will be March 27 and we will be back on the rifle silhouette range, and back to a 10:00 am start time.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Kauffman

Secretary, Airgunners of Arizona, Inc.


Field Target Club