Extreme Benchrest 75 vs 100 yards

What is the impact on moving the 75 yard targets back to 100 yards?

The extreme benchrest match is held over three days. On the first two days each shooter fires 
25 shots at 75 yards. On the third day the top 10 from each day shoots 25 more shots at 100 yards, but on the same target that was used at 75. Those targets look small at 75, but they really look little at 100! The "difference" is the best score at 75 less the 100 yard score.

Scores dropt 10 to 15 % for a range increase of 33%. 

Final standing	1st 75 Yard	2nd 75 Yard	100 Yards	difference	%
1	233	236	217	19	8%
2	235	237	211	26	11%
3	231	222	208	23	10%
4	227	225	202	25	11%
5	227	230	198	32	14%
6	224	228	197	31	14%
7	221	217	194	27	12%
8	214	223	193	30	13%
9	228	226	192	36	16%
10	220	233	188	35	15%

Extreme Benchrest,Cast Bullet Match

A hit with a .45 cal air rifle

Introduced in 2015 as a paper target match, the cast bullet match was expanded into a two format competition by adding a second contest called the Steel Challenge fired on reactive targets at distances announced just before the shooters came to the firing line. This doubled the shooting but it also more than doubled the challenge and for the onlookers, more than doubled the fun.

Range Officer explains the SR-1 targets

The Benchrest portion, fired on Saturday, was 2 sighting shots and 20 record shots at 200 yards. The target was the NRA SR-1, and the time limit was 35 minutes. In 2015 I saw hits just barely score at 3:00 blown on winds that might have moved a .30 caliber 169 boat tail

bullet from a ten to an eight.

Last year’s Benchrest portion was retained for 2016. The Steel Challenge was added. This match was shot at reactive flash targets at 82 yards and at 190 yards. These targets consist of a round steel target underneath two large rectangles one white and one red. The two rectangles are set so the white rectangle obscures the red. When the target is hit the assembly rocks back and the red is visible. Each shooter has a scorekeeper assigned. Red flash equals a hit. Targets looked to be 4 inches at 82 yards and 8 inches at 190.

Targets at 82 and 190 yards

Competitors shoot 24 shots with two sighting shots in 35 minutes. Hits on the close targets count 5 points. Hits of the far targets count 10. However, you must score 12 hits on the close before going to the far. Add in that the distances were not announced until just before the

match, and this becomes a unique challenge in what is an already unique shooting match.

A hit at 190 yards

The winner was determined by the combined score for the two days. Kip Perow’s score of 309 was broken down into 169 for the Benchrest and 140 for the Steel Challenge. He had to score 60 (12X5) to go one to the long range targets. So he had eight hits (140-60=80) at 190 yards. He had to have an accurate rifle and the skill to hit at that range. He also had to know its trajectory to get his point of aim. A truly outstanding feat of air arms.

Ron Blueflax Airguns

Extreme Benchreat winner

Ted Bier
Winner 100 yard Extreme Benchrest final

Extreme Benchrest, final match

Thunder heads in the afternoon during the 75 yard match
Extreme Benchrest in Mesa, Arizona

Over the years the biggest change is in the signature 75 yard Extreme Benchrest match. It has to be “Extreme”. Phrases like almost pretty good just don’t cut it. This match started as a 25 shot match at 10 meter pistol targets. Relays were scheduled for the near freezing morning into the windy afternoon. The right relay meant a good score. At Green Valley the wind blew out of 7 and 8 o'clock, and as the day wnet on your hits wandered off toward 1 and 2 o'clock, and your score went with them.

The solution at Mesa is to shoot two 75 yard matches over two days. One day the relays are in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Shooters with top aggregate scores in both the Sportsman and Pro Classes then shoot a final 100 yard match on the same size targets that were used at 75. Not only is this more fair, it puts the extreme back into Extreme Benchrest. It provides an exciting conclusion to four days of shooting.

Today is that day.

Ron, Blueflax Airguns

Extreme Benchrest Friday

Ol' Gator and a Coyote, Dave too

Dave AKA I Like Irons

Last turkey down, and 4 rams to go

Extreme Benchrest, American Field Target

At EBR this Thursday we shot American FT, Targets were over twice the size of conventional field targets and made form 1/4 inch steel. Air rifles were over 28 fpe. ranges were 15 to 100 yards. Distances to each target were posted at the firin point. op scores were in the rge of 24-25 hits. scores have not been posted yet.

This target was about 18 inches tall

These were the target distances for one lane.
Arimo Dave dropt the 87 yard target with a shot from a 48 FPE Daystate.

Ol' Gator gonna get ya!

Ron, Blueflax Airguns

Extreme Breakfast

Early morning breakfast in Mesa Arizona.

Arimo Dave and I drove down to Arizona, ad today is the first day of Extreme Benchrest. I am an early riser and we sacked out at 8 PM. Soooo I am up and waiting for the sunrise at 5:00 AM.

The sun comes up over the Superstition Mountains and lights up the sky before the smog sets in. Best time of the day in the Phoenix area.  

I’ll shoot the Career 707 in the American FT event. The .22 Armada just barely made 27 FPE and 28 was the recommended minimum to trip the heavy targets. The Career came in at 47 FPE and shot well from cross sticks. It is the gun to use.

We looked at some of the heavy field targets at Airguns of Arizona yesterday. They are made from ¼ inch plate and are good for powerful airguns and .22 long rifle. We will shot them with Air rifles out to 100 yards, and the kill zones I saw looked kinda small. No doubt they will look kinda smaller through the scope. It is a 40 shot match (5 lanes with 4 targets and 2 shots per target). That’s just enough to humble the shooters.

Field target in the United States uses ⅛ inch steel for the faces and is limited to a maximum energy of 20 FPE. Today there will be two classes. .22 caliber and up to 50 FPE, and an unlimited class. Also, the range is increased from 55 yards to 100.

There will be a cast bullet match and it too will push the limits of airgunning. 20 shots at paper targets at 200 yards today, and 24 shots at steel at ranges out to beyond 200.

It ought to be a great day

Ron, Blueflax Airguns

Flagstaff, Arizona

Sunrise in Flagstaff just before the sun broke the horizon the sky was the color of golden brown biscuits.

Welcome to AZ.

Spent a lot of atime preparing for the AFT at the expense of the speed shoot. Specifically working the bolt and reloading. But no matter. “Beeing there” is the most important thing. Today we get to Phoenix and go to AOA for pellets. Yes, some of us are a little short.

We spent a lot of time talking about cast bullet shooting, and what kind of gun and bullet would the best. Best for whom is a good question. I have shot cast bullets since I was 14. The most airgun like was Sa 148 gr .30 cal and 1000. That’s over 300 foot pounds and sounds like a stretch for an air rifle. We shall see

Things to look at at Extreme are the cast bullet match and American Feld Target.

Ron, Blueflax Airguns

Blueflax Airguns Magazine 3 Gun Shooting

The first issue of my magazine is on sale at blurb.com.
http://www.blurb.com/b/7341789-blueflax-airguns-3-gun-shootingThis issue covers 3 Gun Shooting. Future issues will cover airguns as well as firearms. 

http://www.blurb.com/b/7341789-blueflax-airguns-3-gun-shooting

American Field Target at Extreme Benchrest

Extreme Benchrest is one month away, and I am signed up for American Field Target.

American Field Targets at the 2015 Extreme Benchrest

Oh yes, I remember checking that box. Now what did that mean?

American Field Target is the field target for more powerful rifles that the twenty foot pounds (ft/lbs) recommended by the American Airgun Field Target Association (AAFTA).

The air rifles are more powerful. The targets are bigger. The ranges are longer, up to 100 yards at ERB. The rifles are divided into two groups .25 to .35 up to 150 ft/lbs and .22 up to 50 ft/lbs. The minimum power in both classes is 28 ft/lbs. Targets are set between 15 and 100 yards.

I am signed up for the .22 class. I have two .22s, an Armada, and a Career 707, but which one? With one month to go it is time for a shoot off. I haven’t shot the Career since 2013.

Today I shot the Career and was glad to see that it held pressure and needed only 2 minutes of windage to be zeroed on the 50 yard target. I shot Baracuda Match pellets. Best five shot group was 1.1 inches. At the same range I shot six ⅕ scale chickens with 8 shots. I knew that this gun would shoot possibles in our 50 yard sporting rifle matches, but that target has a 1.6 inch ten ring. Today’s shooting was better than I expected.

How will the armada do? I have been shooting it with iron sights lately. So they must come off and be replaced by a scope.

Ron

Airforce target sight

After  shooting the Benjamin Armada with MBUS (MAGPUL back up sights) for about a year. I decided it was time to take my “irons” to next level. Why? Because I am not good changing elevation with the front sight. Especially when I am in prone and confined by a shooting coat and a sling.

Now the scene dissolves to firing line. I am struggling to raise my 50 yard sight in group from the bottom edge to the center of the black when I learned that match time waits for no man.

“Is the line ready”

“Not ready on 3”!

“YOU are not READY. How can this possibly be, SHOOTER NUMBER THREE ”?

“Please forgive me, Mr. Range Officer, Sir.  I am just a poor air gunner who doesn't know up from down. WAHHHHHHH”!

You get the idea.

After 40 years of changing elevation on the rear sight, the front sight with its reverse movement (raise the front sight to lower the impact), and finding that the little elvaton tool  was in my gun bag behind the firing line was more than I wanted to put up with. Don’t get me wrong, the MBUS sights are great. They held a 50 yard zero no matter how many times I folded them up and down, and the rear has the flip up small aperture that target shooters love, but on that day they weren't helping.

I tried holding a little higher. The front post disappeared into the black target and I sent a lot of shots too high to score.

The Armada has a long Picatinny rail that is just right for mounting the MBUS. To get windage and elevation I needed a new rear sight and at the same time replace that front post with an aperture. There are sight sets for  AR-15 “space guns” (used in national match competition), but a set with mounting brackets are on the south side of $500.

Sights in my budget fit on a receiver grooved for tip off mounts, and as far as I could find, there aren't any adapters from Picatinny to tip off. Sunk again.

Looking further, I found a sight set from Airforce that could be attached using a Weaver compatible scope mount. On my .22 Armada I found that the front mount had to be between 0.10” and 0.15” lower to get a zero at 50 yards.

SIG MCX air rifle

Friday getting to PANSAL

After fixing a busted pipe in my barn and the five hour drive to Ontario, I was pooped! 

The drive didn’t seem so long with all the familiar landscape and P. D.James to fill in the blank spaces. I drove thru a hale storm with lightning that looked like a cloud of dust coming at me. On the highway everyone pulled over and sat out the worst ten minutes. Then one at a time and slowly we got going.

Did it storm in Pocatello?

The motel in nice, and right next to the freeway. I didn’t hear it and slept all night.

I got loaded up and after things dry out I’ll go to the campsite. That hale storm was near to the PANSAL site.

Ron

Is the MCX air rifle a true semiautomatic?

At our monthly indoor shoot everyone who shot the SIG liked it. The ability to have a shot on demand every time the trigger was pulled was a new airgun experience. The rifles they brought all required some kind of a loading procedure. Even though their 10 meter rifles could put shot after shot through the same pellet size hole, of each shooter enthusiasm was evident.

Is the MCX a true semiautomatic? It seems like a combination of trigger movement and gas pressure that advances the belt  and cocks the hammer. So it is not like a semiautomatic firearm where energy from the shot does the loading and the cocking.  However, it does not feel exactly like a double action revolver where everything is keyed to the trigger’s movement.

The recommended trigger pull is one that starts with the trigger all the way forward and then returns it to the forward position after the shot is fired. The chamber that is lined up with the barrel is not the one that’s empty after the shot is fired. If the trigger stroke is interrupted then the next shot is from the next pellet in the belt leaving a saved round in the belt as it moves around.

The gun jammed twice in 4 magazines (120 shots). Each time the trigger was locked, the magazine would not come out, and the charging handle would retract but there was no felt resistance. These jams were cleared with a cleaning rod. The rod’s tip found the front of the pellet just far enough forward into the barrel to jam the gun, and pushed it back into the belt. Once again, a cleaning rod proved useful accessory for the MCX.

We each shot a magazine and a lot of that was spent getting familiar with the rifle. Several pellets were tried and our groups were about the same. Our target was an international air pistol set at 10 meters.  Ashe’s 30 shot group is shown below. We all had flyers, and I think they were related to loading the belt. With some practice loading the belt and the trigger, this gun ought to shoot inside the nine ring at ten meters.