March 2024 Piston State Championship report

Airgunners of Arizona

Field Target Club

Hunter Piston 3rd place - Scott Hopta

Larry

Hunter Piston 2nd place - Terry Markham

We also had a shoot-off for 2nd and 3rd place in Hunter class. Terry and Scott faced off against each other……..and tied. So, the targets were repositioned, and they did it again…..barely! These guys are good!

As you can see, piston shooting is far from dead, and we are going to continue promoting it with this type of shooting format. Think of this resurgence as “Back to the Future”…..where have I heard that before?

Mark

David

We do have to thank the likes of Brad Troyer, and Johnny Piston (Jonathan Reyes), and Scott Hull, and Eric Brewer, and Cameron Kernt, and a host of others, over the years, for not giving up on this fun-to-shoot power plant. The pre-charged guns have their place, but you cannot deny the sheer joy…….and, at times, frustration, with shooting a springer. It brings a smile to your face!

And as I sit here typing this report…..on St. Patrick’s Day…..and while sipping a Guinness…..it puts a smile on my face! I had a good time yesterday!! It was a lot of fun.

Gotta thank Wayne, Paul, Terry, Bill, Tony, Loren, Mark, and Larry for setting the course, checking and leveling targets, and getting everything in order IN THE RAIN! It came down heavy at times, but we got it done.

Also, have to thank everyone present for helping to tear down the course after the match. That took no time at all.

And we also have to thank Dennis Banez’s wife for taking all the pictures……all 159 of them, along with a short video of the roof of the canopy, and one dead camera battery……LOL! You gave us a LOT of material to sort through to get the best shots. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Kauffman

Secretary, Airgunners of Arizona, Inc.

Loren

Hunter Piston 1st place & State Champion - Tony Pellegrino

Bobby

Open Piston 2nd place - Mark Kauffman

Airgunners of Arizona hosted the first annual “Spring Fling in the Desert” spring piston state championship at Ben Avery shooting range in Phoenix. This year it was a one-day affair to see if the concept of a separate piston shoot would gain traction. With 16 piston shooters competing, it certainly has taken root. Next year, we will have a two-day match, but in April instead of March.

Although it rained, sometimes heavily, on Friday while we setting the course and getting everything ready, Saturday dawned with beautiful blue skies, lots of big, puffy cumulus clouds, cool temps, and pesky winds. The temps ranged from 55° at the beginning of the match up to 59° by the end of the match, with the humidity averaging in the mid-50% range.

The wind prodded us from the east, then SE, moving around to the south, then doing a fishtail from the southeast to southwest at between 5 and 8 mph. It wasn’t so bad towards the center of the range, but the area around the first two lanes, next to the west range berm, was tricky with some swirling effects and buffeting off of the berm. There were only 2 shooters who did not experience misses from those two lanes. Amazing what a bit of wind can do to a pellet in flight.

We set 13 lanes with 2 targets per lane. With 2 shots at each target, that made for a 52-shot match. On one lane we had a designated standing target and a designated kneeling target. The Troyer factor, including wind, was 33.55. Not overly hard, but challenging enough. And not one single cold lane!

We had a good mix of shooters competing today as well. 4 competitors in Open Piston class, 3 WFTF piston shooters, with two of them coming from California. We had 9 Hunter Piston shooters, and also two token PCP shooters. Next year, it will be strictly a piston match, as more of these folks are learning how much fun it is to shoot a sproinger instead of a puffer gun.

As I heard from one shooter with a newly acquired piston gun, “I never knew these were THAT ACCURATE!”

Oh, and speaking of puffer guns, the club is also going to be hosting the PCP state championships at Mormon Lake in September. This should satisfy everyone’s itch to shoot; piston shooting in the spring, at lower (1200 foot) elevations that do not mess with a springer’s internals, and then shooting pre-charged guns in the fall, up in the beautiful pines of northern Arizona at 7200-foot elevation. With a lot of folks having both rifle types, there is no more having to make a choice. You can shoot both!

Here are the scores and equipment stats;