Waterloo Field Target Club Written by Tim MacSweyn
There was plenty of sunshine on a couple of fairly typical August days in Southern Ontario. The temperature ranged from the mid to upper 80s and the wind increased with the heat. We had an even dozen shooters show up for the match, including 3 American shooters who fit in quickly and very well.
We headed out to the lanes at 11:00 Am on Saturday and many shooters were shooting clean or very close to it. The Red Course on Saturday was the easier of the two days. The scores showed this, as Billy shot clean on the day, Brian and Dennis dropped one and a total of 6 shooters dropped 4 or less. There was one windy lane out in a field that accounted for many of the missed shots. The hit percent on the day was over 85%.
After the Red Course on Saturday, we stuffed ourselves with Pizza and then headed to the Range for our Buffalo hunt. The target was a silhouette of a Buffalo and we were shown the Plexiglas scoring mask before we shot. We had to remember where the 10 spot of about 1” diameter was and try to put the pellets in that spot. The best five of 8 shots counted. The wind was variable and very unpredictable. It could blow your shot left or right, up or down. Mike Ferrara shot a 47/50 in the first round of 3 shooters to set a very high standard. George Harde with his TX tied him, but Brian nipped him by one point to win the Buffalo Hunt. He took home a Combro Chronograph in a wood box that was custom made by Hans Bormann.
On Sunday it did not take long on the White to see it was going to be a tougher day. There were small kill zones at close range, small KZs at medium range and full KZs at long range on windy lanes. The hit percentage fell to just under 75%. The wind, the small kill zones and mental errors affected everyone, but they affected Brian the least. He made very few mental errors and played the wind well. He dropped only 4 shots on the day to come up with an impressive two-day total of 113/118 to win the match. He chose the cannon that Hans made by hand out of brass. This was an impressive prize and the smile on Brian’s face showed it. Dennis dropped only 5 on the day, the last one was his own .25” KZ target, to drop him out of a tie with Brian. He finished in second with a 112/118 and chose a Hans-made brass and wood TX200 that was mounted on a plaque. Billy had some trouble with some of the targets and dropped 7 on the day to finish with a 111/118 to take third and one of Hans’ custom made flip-up/flip down targets. The remainder of the shooters went up in order to choose their prize and all came away with something for their efforts. George Hamilton donated some prizes to the table and many thanks to him for his prizes and for his promotion of our Championships in US over the last few years.
This was one of the most closely contested championship matches we have had. The American shooters added a new dimension to the match and gave George Hamilton some company from home. There were quite a few lanes where the terrain dictated a sitting shot and the leaning shots from the standing position proved more difficult than many expected. I didn’t shoot as well as I wanted to, but came away with the satisfaction that I had participated in a great match, enjoyed good company and made some new friends. I can’t ask for more than that.
Shooter |
Gun | Scope | Pellet | Red Course /58 | White Course /60 | Total /118 |
Hit % |
| 1)Brian Johnson | Pro Target | BSA 10-50 | CP 10.5 | 57 | 56 | 113 | 95.76 |
| 2) Dennis Eden | Ld/SS | BSA 10-50 | CP 10.5 | 57 | 55 | 112 | 94.92 |
| 3) Billy Lo Meli | ZM Steyr | BSA 10-50 | CP 10.5 | 58 | 53 | 111 | 94.07 |
| 4) Tim MacSweyn | Ld/SS | Bushnell 36 | CP 10.5 | 55 | 53 | 108 | 91.53 |
| 5) Robert Barton | ZM Steyr | Bushnell 8-32 | CP 10.5 | 56 | 48 | 104 | 88.14 |
| 6) Mike Ferrara | NJR100 | Leup. 18-40 | Baracuda | 50 | 50 | *100 | 84.76 |
| 7) Bert Habicher | AA s300 | Simm. 6.5-20 | Baracuda | 48 | 52 | *100 | 84.76 |
| 8) George Harde | TX200 | Bushnell 8-32 | FTTrophy | 50 | 46 | 96 | 81.36 |
| 9) Danny Reginato | AA s300 | B&L 6-24 | Air arms | 40 | 44 | 84 | 71.19 |
| 10) Hans Bormann | Pro target | Leup. 18-40 | Baracuda | 45 | 31 | 76 | 64.41 |
| 11) George Hamilton | NJR | Nightforce FT | CP 10.5 | 54 | 3 DNF | 57 | 74 shots 77.03 |
| 12) Will Kwan | TX200HC | Buris 8-32 | Baracuda | 19 | 17 | 36 | 30.51 |
Bert conceded to Mike