Field Target Club

TRAC match – May 11, 2021

‘Tis a good day.  Traffic was reasonably light as I had gotten an early start in order to be able to visit with an old friend at the National Cemetery of Arizona, then made it to BASF by just before 0800.  As I was pulling in, so was Wayne, and as such, we were able to collect the needed supplies and head to the rifle silhouette range to set up 6 lanes / 2 targets per/ shoot thru twice / 48 shot match.  Our targets were anywhere from 13 yards out to 52 yards and today the KZ and distance was documented while we shot.  It calc’d to a 30.09 Troyer without the wind figured in.

The wind today was rather behaved at 5 – 8 mph and came from the ESE around to the south, shifting back and forth thru that arc, and no gusts.  The skies were clear blue and cloudless, but bright.  Temps ranged from 77 degrees at 8:00 and rose to about 90 degrees when we finished and put everything away at 1130.

With Larry out of town on business with the AOA van, and Gene having to work today (at least we know where our tax $$ are going), and Barry probably recuperating from the weekend, we had 5 shooters on hand to do our Tuesday battles with the hoard of steel critters.  With the targets having been freshly painted, we noticed the pellet impacts ranging from 12:00 around to 9:00 due to wind direction.  Tremendous help when determining where to hold for wind.

Old man Mike (actually a year younger than yours truly) shot 46/48 with his Thomas, and probably was caught when his two errant pellets floated high and long when the wind came from 6:00 o’clock.

Wayne shot 40/48 shooting his Brocock Sniper.

Mark was right behind Wayne with 39/48 and shooting his TX200 springer dinger (as Mike likes to call it).

Scott shot 35/48 with his recent Brocock Sniper acquisition.

Joe shot 18/48 and was having ranging difficulties today.  Could’ve been the bright sunshine, but he seems to think he bumped his scope somehow.

It was a good day with one shooter per lane, and as such, moved along briskly.  We did have a visit by one of the BASF volunteer staff members, with spotting scope in hand.  Apparently, he was looking for the distant targets around the 400 to 500 yard berms…..no idea why.  We have come to the conclusion that we were being checked on to make sure we were keeping socially distanced.   BASF still has to answer to someone above them, so they do spot checks to make sure the user groups still follow Covid protocols.  No big deal, and we give them nothing to find fault with, so life goes on.  Collectively, we cannot wait for this $%&# to get back to a sense of normalcy.  In the meantime, we just continue to shoot pellets and have fun doing so.

Oh, and the burgers tasted especially good today.  Just another one of those little things that makes you smile and count your blessings.

Next Tuesday, we are back on the Pistol silhouette range.  Whatever…….at least we are able to shoot.  If you have the time, come on out and join us for some relaxing fun.

Take care, be safe, stay healthy…….and practice, practice, practice.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Kauffman
Secretary, Airgunners of Arizona, Inc.