Extreme Benchrest 10-3-15

Extreme Benchrest 10-3-15

Mest, Arizona

On the Edge of Airgunning

Today Dave and I shot 25 and 75 yard benchrest and Dave shot 10 M pistol. Between relays we had a chance to go to the range whee the cast bullet shooters were practicing. We saw some things that take airgunning to another step.

Compressor guru Todd stands next to two extra large American field targets.

First was a target. Folks in Arizona are looking to adapt field target to the more powerful guns that have come along in the last few years. To do this they are building targets that are way more robust. Targets that are capable of standing up to 150 FPE guns. These targets would be placed between 30 and 100 yards. This would open the sport up to .22 long rifles, which we think is a  good idea to attract new shooters. Obviously, there would be some safety considerations. there are now a lot of rifles that shoot harder than the 20 foot pounds limit for FT and this could be their game.

I talked to Doug Noble who shoots a .25 cast bullet rifle. His rifle is a modified Airforce Condor that shoots a 60 gr bullet at just over 900 fps. This bullet has been the go to cast bullet for the 25-20 for over a century. Doug says that with a well regulated air source he can shoot 4 inch groups at 200 yards.

Lastly there were two airgunners from Virginia that brought .30 caliber rifles that ran of helium and shot 200 gr bullets at over 900 fps. The bullets were a special spitzer with two widely spaced driving bands. These rifles cracked like a centerfire. A lot of development work has gone into these rifles, but a silencer would be nice.

Sunday will be the finals in the speed shoot and the 75 yard BR, as well as the cast bullet match.

Ron