Pinnacle Mtn.: So, Just How Good is Mr. Dan Brown?

[Dave Shattuck]

You should have been there to see what Dan Brown did. It was amazing! Granted, we were shooting in some of the best conditions I’ve ever seen in my 17 years of shooting at Pinnacle. But just the same, Dan was unbelievable!

We were shooting under a full cloud cover, and thank God for that because if the sun had ever poked through we would have all been blinded by it reflecting back at us off of that fresh snow cover, which only continued to build while we shot. The wind, or better said, breeze was about as good as I’ve ever seen at Pinnacle as it was only puffing around in the 1 to 5 MPH range throughout the match, but still had some interesting little switches going on. As for the temperature, that was hovering on either side of 20° making it fell damn cold whenever that breeze brought it straight down the range and into our faces, which turned out to be most of the time. And, what about our figures? Well, they were so cold you couldn’t feel them most of the time. Have you ever tried to handle a .177 caliber pellet, let alone pulling a ±2 oz trigger, when you have no feeling in your hands?

Over the past couple of weeks Dan had decided to switch away from his .22 caliber barrel on his Indy in favor of a .177 as he felt he’d do better with the added speed over the increased mass, which proved to be an excellent decision on his part. Now, keep in mind that Dan is shooting the FX Independence, which means he’s shooting a pumper so after each and ever shot he has to pick it up off the rest, give it a couple or three pumps to recharge it, then reposition and settle it back down on target before taking the next shot.

As stated above, the day was a bit on the chilly side, but we lucked out as originally “they” had been calling for quite a snowfall. All week long it had been looking like our match would never happen, but, instead we awoke to only a dusting with another 2” to 3” coming in over the course of the day. There were 4 of us in all who came out with 3 trying to qualify.

So, just how good was Dan? See for yourself:


Dan Brown:
FX Independence, .177 cal., CP Heavy pellets @ 900 ft/sec = 19 ft/lbs.
TARGET #1 = 245-3X
TARGET #2 = 246-8X
TARGET #3 = 246-14X
3-TARGET AGG. = 737-25X

Dave Shattuck
Theoben MFR, .177 cal., JSB Heavies @ 850 ft/sec = 16.5 ft/lbs
TARGET #1 = 238-5X
TARGET #2 = 238-5X
TARGET #3 = 239-3X
3-TARGET AGG = 715-13X

Paul Bendix
Theoben Rapid, .20 cal., JSB @ 800 ft/sec = 19 ft/lbs
TARGET #1 = 225-4X
TARGET #2 = 232-8X
TARGET #3 = 223-1X
3-TARGET AGG = 680-9X

Daniel Finney
Benjamin Marauda, .22 cal., 18.1 grn. JSB @ 812 ft/sec = 26.5 ft/lbs
TARGET #1 = 237-5X
TARGET #2 = 237-7X
TARGET #3 = 236-3X
3-TARGET AGG = 710-15X

Our next qualifying at Pinnacle Mtn. won’t be until February 26th. Anybody wanting to come should watch this page for further details.

And Todd, Dan gave you 3 targets in the 240's, and my closest only missed due to a switch which cost me 4 points on Target #2.

Dave Shattuck

 

[Paul Bendix]

David,
Thanks for running the airgun shoots at Pinnacle Mountain. I was surprised how warm it was even with the 18-20 degree at the range. Will bring a mirage tube for the next shoot. With the snow it was tough seeing the holes.

Great shooting Dan and David.
Daniel you did as well outside as indoors at Holbrook.

Picture of Dan pumping.

Picture of the Range

See you next month.

Paul

 

[21grains]

Nice Shootin Dan under 20flb Way to go Daniel Your Marauder-BSA is better outside , Dave&Paul them two Dann'ys are young can take Cold that Us old timers can't.....Franky

 

[Joe Friedrich]

Great pics, and nice shooting gents. That's cold Paul, when does the weather there, start to improve?


Joe

 

[DanB]

Nice Shootin Dan under 20flb Way to go Daniel Your Marauder-BSA is better outside , Dave&Paul them two Dann'ys are young can take Cold that Us old timers can't.....Franky

Thanks. We turned the power up on Daniel's marauder to about 27 fpe. It shoots much better than at the lower outputs.
Dan

 

[Dave Shattuck]

Joe,

What, ±20° doesn't just make you want to fly out and join us?

I'm hoping we can make it to above 30 degrees for our match in late March. The problem then will be that the range could go under water anytime between then and the end of May depending on how much snow flies between now and then. And, when I say under water, Saturday I was showing Dan and Daniel the high-water mark left from our last flooding which had put over eight feet of water across the range, over the bench tops, the range road in coming in, the town road (and guard rails). Everything. But, let's not go there unless it becomes a concern when the time comes. We'll have enough to deal with for our February match between the potential snowfall, and cold temperatures, especially if the typical Pinnacle winds return for that match.

Dave