Extreme Benchrest Speed Shoot

I first fired the Speed Silhouette match in 2012 at Green Valley. Sixteen 1/5 scale metallic silhouette targets are set out at 20, 30, 40, and 50 yards. The object is to knock them down in the least time. Each compotator I given three runs. One to get the feel of the match and two for record. Your better time is our score. At Green Valley the distances were 5 yards further and the times were kept by scorekeepers with stopwatches. The ranges have been shortened to fit the range at Reo Salado, and the time keeping is electronic. The range reduction is no big deal but the electronic timing eliminated what I thought was the biggest difficulty in the match.

This is not a match for extreme power. My Field Target rifle is a .177 and it has just under 20 foot pounds of muzzle energy. Those 10.5 grain pellets will take down a 1/5 scale ram with authority. They can drift in the desert winds so I have switched to a 30 foot pound .22 for this year.

This is a match of extreme speed. I remember in 2012 the winning time was 1 minute 5 seconds. It would have been under a minute, but he missed a turkey and had to fire 17 shots. By the way, that time was single loading each pellet.

In 2012 I shot extremely bad and didn’t knock down all the targets in the maximum time allowed. I received no times, but I was hooked.  We have shot he seed Silhouette match in Pocatello every summer since 2012 and count it as one of our most fun matches.

Last year they added an Open Class that allows the use of magazines. Single loading I can just brake two minutes. This year I will be shooting a magazine fed rifle.

I have to thank the Crossman Corporation for that rifle. It is a .22 Armada, and while I wanted it for its ability to mount sights on the picatinny rail and the mortice for the magazine is too narrow for my fumble fingers to load signally, it does just fine. Right now I am using the Armada to compare the stock barrel it came with to a Jim Gaska hammer forged barrel. The new barrel shoots just fine too. Take a look at the picture at the top of the post.  

The magazines I am using are stock. On Blueflax Airguns, I like to write about stock equipment. The stock barrel is fine enough for the sped shoot, but I plan to shoot the Armada in the 25 meter Benchrest too

Ron

Is Field Target Hunting?

No. Let me how you why.

Blueflax Airguns has been covering FT matches at the Idaho Field Target Club since 20010. In our last FT match this rabbit was set up at ten yards. It has a 3/8 inch Kill Zone. This target was hit five times and missed four times. Making it the one of the two most missed targets in the match. The other target was at thirty six yards. Take a look at the misses on the reducer. In the field target the rabbit t was “killed” only fifty five percent of the time. It looks to me that these 9 shots represent a 100 percent kill if the target was a real rabbit where almost any shot on the reducer would have meant more rabbit with dumplings.

Do 3/8 inch KZs have a place in FT matches? Of course they do. Small Kill Zones at close range require the shooter to have a complete understanding of his rifles trajectory. The work that goes into that understanding should earn that airguners a reward come match time. Also, those very small KZs are hard to hit and every match needs a few hard shots to separate the very good shooters from the good ones.

No, FT is not hunting, but it is a lot of fun.

Ron