On the drive to the match, it was clear and about 25º.  The temperature did not change much, but the wind sure did.  On the outdoor section of the match, the wind chill was about 5º and the blowing snow sometimes obscured the target.  We had 9 targets and 18 shots outdoors, which was more than enough for most shooters.  On a 44 yard target, with a direct cross breeze, the pellets from my SS/ld at 910 ft/sec, were moving 4-6 inches.  Bill, shooting the heavy .22 pellets faired the best and nailed that 44 yarder twice.

                Indoors, there were four fun/skill activities.  The first was a moving ceramic bird that you had three shots to hit.  If you hit it on the first shot, you scored 30 points, second shot 20 points, …   Everyone made the bird disappear on the first attempt. 

                The second challenge was the rotating wheel with nine pieces of chalk sticking out.  The chalk would appear above a wall and travel across with about .5” showing above the wall at its apex.  Shooters had nine shots to see how many they could turn to dust.  I have always liked this event and managed to dust all nine.  Maybe using chalk all day as a teacher gives me an edge.

                 Shooting fish in a barrel was the next event.  It is a paper target where the white bull gets smaller as you shoot lower in the barrel and the points increase accordingly.  There were three fish per line, starting at 5 pts each, 10, 20, 30 and 40 for the bottom line.  Most tried the bottom three lines, as you could only shoot each fish once and had nine shots.  Dennis and I were close on this one as he touched the edge on two targets, while I missed one 40 pointer.

                The final feat was to put ten shots inside ten .375” circles without breaking the line.  Inside scored 100 and the points went down as you broke the different rings.  Bill and Andrew did a great job with their larger .22 pellets, but I was able to keep all those little pellets inside the center ring.

                At the end, Hans had a small Christmas tree decorated with a variety of toy cap firing guns and we chose in order of finish.  At the top, he had one of his brass and wood-stocked TX200s, which I was fortunate enough to choose.  We also completed our gift exchange and everyone went home with two treasured and a belly full of pizza.

                As usual, hats off to Hans for a fun day and some challenging events.  We hibernate now until the first match of spring.  Merry Christmas to everyone and have a Happy New Year.

 

Tim MacSweyn

Shooter	Gun	Scope	Pellet	FT /18×10	Bird /30	Chalk /9×10	Fish /270	BR /10×100	Total /1570
1) Tim MacSweyn	Ld/SS #4	Bushnell 36	CP 10.5	100	30	90	230	1000	1450
2) Bill Horodecky	AA 400 .22	Bushnell 6-18	Kodiak	120	30	60	160	900	1270
2) Andrew Horodecky	AA 400 .22	Bushnell 6-18	Kodiak	110	30	80	150	900	1270
4) George Harde	TX200	Bushnell 8-32	FTTrophy	80	30	60	180	750	1100
5) Bert Habicher	AA 300	Simmons 6.5-20	Baracuda	100	30	20	130	800	1080
6) Dennis Eden	AA NJC100	Nightforce	Baracuda	70	30	40	210	725	1075
7) Mike Ferrara	NJR100	Leup. 18-40	Baracuda	110	30	80	80	750	1050
8) Will Kwan	TX200HC	Burris 8-32	Baracuda	30	30	60	90	410	620
9) Hans Bormann	AA410	Bushnell 8-32	Baracuda	DNF	30	30	30	380	470