Wild River Air Rifle - USARB Report - Indoor Match

M

MHOPKINS

Guest
Wild River Air Rifle - USARB Report
January 11, 2012
This was probably our indoor match with the biggest X counts yet. Good shooting, all. Special thanks go to Carol for the homemade soup today. After match activity was devoted to fine tuning Carol’s Steyr for the next match. Still have to find those ‘special’, no miss .22 pellets.

Shooter Ser. Class Equipment Tgt. 1 Tgt. 2 Tgt. 3 Total
Ron Silveira W HV Feinwerkbau P70FT 250 18x 250 20x 250 11x 750 49x
Mike Hopkins W HV Feinwerkbau P70FT 248 13x 250 18x 250 12x 748 43x
Tom Santos W HV Feinwerkbau P70FT 249 11x 249 11x 250 18x 748 40x
Chris Lovitt W HV Feinwerkbau P70FT 248 8x 24917x 248 10x 745 35x
Oliver Gudmundson W HV Feinwerkbau P70FT 248 12x 248 11x 247 6x 743 29x
Wayne Burns W HV USFT #6 .177cal. 246 6x 241 9x 248 15x 735 30x
Carol Givens W HV Steyr LG110HP .22cal. DNF DNF DNF DNF


Next tournament will be Indoors, January 25, beginning at 9:30 am.
Mike Hopkins, Match Director
 
See Pete...

If I only went to matches to win.. I wouldn't go! Especially when you go to a club with some of the top shooters in the World!.. Nope, winning is nice, but being with really great people is what it's about for me. These folks are not only great shooters, with great equipment, but some of the nicest folks you'd ever want to meet.

I drive up 50 miles each way, almost every other Wed., which is their regularly scheduled matches... and some times some of them come down to my range to shoot BR and Field Target on Sat. & Sun... I'm pulling them into field target like they (and LD.. We both drive 800 miles each way to shoot together when we can, and I don't win down there either, well maybe once), but they both pulled me into bench rest from field target about a year ago. All these very kind folks have been helping me learn the BR game and perfect my equipment/pellets etc.. They all want me to do better, even if I might win someday.. which to me is one of the greatest things about this sport.. nope, winning for me is a slim chance, I know.. but I can hope:) and meanwhile.. enjoy the ride..

Wacky Wayne Burns,
Match Director,
Ashland Air Rifle Range
 
Wow, Them P70's are TOTALLY DIALED! The work Ron an Mike have put in on finding the right pellets seems to have begun to really pay off! Good shooting you guys! I know there have been lots an lots of 250 cards fired, but I haven't seen a 750 in awhile. BTW, is that 25M or 25yds?
 
Great scores

Mike,
Thanks for the Wild River report. Those P-70's are sure shooting great!

I have been making headway on my Steyr this week.Will email you, Ron and Carol on what I have found.

LD unless they expanded the 50 foot indoor range at Wild River this past month. They shoot indoors at 50 ft.

Paul
 
Paul and LD,

The indoor range at Wild River is 25 yards... If they really crammed up against the far wall, they could get 25 meters I think.. It's a rim fire indoor range with room for about 12 lanes I'd guess.

Wacky Wayne
 
Wayne and LD,
I should know better. I was thinking about JD indoor range (NWA-BR at CCR&P) that is 50 feet. My mistake.
The clubs not even in the same state.

Sorry

Paul
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Paul,

For SURE these are not the sort of guys that would fail to mention such a short range as 50 feet right in the title.
 
Hi Paul,
We tried dialing down the power on Carol's Steyr. She's still not excited yet. Chris was able to shoot a 247 before reducing the velocity but Carol's desire is to rank among the top P70's. Still experimenting with pellet weights. May need to free float the barrel next. I'm not sure Carol wouldn't jump at the chance for a P70 if one happened to become available. We do have 1 shooter with a P70 that hasn't shot with us for a couple of years. He keeps his gun for his 2 grandkids to use at his home. Carol offered him 2 new, scoped air rifles plus cash for his P70. No deal. Back to the Steyr. Crossman Premiers are the worst of about 6 different brands/weights. RS comes the closest so far. I'll give you the magic key if we find it. Of course it will be for a .22 caliber.
mike
 
My Steyr

Mike,
I put a LW .20 cal barrel on my Steyr that shot pretty good on my USFT. My .177 factory Steyr barrel would lead up with less than 15 shots. Both barrels hit the front support at the same place. I opened up the support big time and still was hitting. I then shimed the barrel to center the front support. Not sure what barrel I will end up with. Might even try my Benchmark barrel on it.

Paul
 
Wayne Burns said:
See Pete...

If I only went to matches to win.. I wouldn't go! Especially when you go to a club with some of the top shooters in the World!.. Nope, winning is nice, but being with really great people is what it's about for me. These folks are not only great shooters, with great equipment, but some of the nicest folks you'd ever want to meet.

I drive up 50 miles each way, almost every other Wed., which is their regularly scheduled matches... and some times some of them come down to my range to shoot BR and Field Target on Sat. & Sun... I'm pulling them into field target like they (and LD.. We both drive 800 miles each way to shoot together when we can, and I don't win down there either, well maybe once), but they both pulled me into bench rest from field target about a year ago. All these very kind folks have been helping me learn the BR game and perfect my equipment/pellets etc.. They all want me to do better, even if I might win someday.. which to me is one of the greatest things about this sport.. nope, winning for me is a slim chance, I know.. but I can hope:) and meanwhile.. enjoy the ride..

Wacky Wayne Burns,
Match Director,
Ashland Air Rifle Range
Click to expand...

How many years have you been shooting?

Shooting, to me, is a mean to an end. I don't particularly like shooting rifles. I only shoot them to compete and if I am going to compete, I want to win, if I can. I like the mechanical part of keeping rifles shooting but shooting them isn't something I find pleasurable. I have attended 1 Air Rifle Benchrest match. I drove 5 hours each way to do it. I didn't win it and was disapointed. I didn't really expect to win because I knew the rifle I have was not up to winning against some of the rifles that were there. I went to experience the event so I can relate to what you are saying but if I could have won it, I would have. I won't be driving very far to compete again until I have a rifle capable of winning a match. I'm waiting for my tax refund :)
 
Last edited:
Pete,

Well, my new friend.. to meet your goals, I guess you noticed the rifles listed above that are shooting a lot of 250s indoors at 25 yards, (and I've seen those guys shoot outdoor 250s too).. I think for HV & LV class, if you can find a used one, (cause you can't buy them new anymore), you need an FWB P70 FT.. then, winning is all in your hands.

Hey, I just got an idea... if you come out here to Grants Pass, and beg, borrow, buy or steal all the FWB P70s these guys are shooting, then, maybe I could beat them with my US FTs.. and you can win out there in Maine. Win Win... what do ya say?..

.. but when it's time for the next championships.. you have to stay home:) .. making room for the less fortunate of course..

Wacky Wayne
 
Wayne Burns said:
Pete,

Well, my new friend.. to meet your goals, I guess you noticed the rifles listed above that are shooting a lot of 250s indoors at 25 yards, (and I've seen those guys shoot outdoor 250s too).. I think for HV & LV class, if you can find a used one, (cause you can't buy them new anymore), you need an FWB P70 FT.. then, winning is all in your hands.

Hey, I just got an idea... if you come out here to Grants Pass, and beg, borrow, buy or steal all the FWB P70s these guys are shooting, then, maybe I could beat them with my US FTs.. and you can win out there in Maine. Win Win... what do ya say?..

.. but when it's time for the next championships.. you have to stay home:) .. making room for the less fortunate of course..

Wacky Wayne
Click to expand...

You might learn someday Wayne, if you live long enough. I've been at this around 20 years. I've been through the futility you are embracing. Go for it my man with my blessing but having done all of that, I don't want to and won't. If you think this makes you Righteous in some way then go there with my blessings. At some point, if you ever have a very accurate rifle, you will never be satisfied with anything else. That's the one thing that most of the veteran of Benchrest have in common, accurate rifles. We may have been born at night but it wasn't last night.

I am seeing a few Benchrest Air Rifles in the works and they will grow in numbers rappidly. Serious competitors will have rifles capable of winning in the sanctioned events. I am only interested in Sanctioned events. This is where the sport will go, not modified production rifles. It will take a little time but the direction is clear to me, after having spent two decades in the trenches.

Now, Wacky Wayne, you can try to make a fool of me with this if you like. I have very broad shoulders and as I said, not last night.

Pete
 
Last edited:
Steyr .22

ModelA said:
Mike,
I put a LW .20 cal barrel on my Steyr that shot pretty good on my USFT. My .177 factory Steyr barrel would lead up with less than 15 shots. Both barrels hit the front support at the same place. I opened up the support big time and still was hitting. I then shimed the barrel to center the front support. Not sure what barrel I will end up with. Might even try my Benchmark barrel on it.

Paul
Click to expand...

Paul,
The first cleaning of the .22 barrel was almost black. The follow up cleanings after another 100 rounds were pretty respectable, A second patch was almost clean. We don't lube pellets so the barrel may show more color than others. Truthfully, I may run a dry patch through my P70 every couple of months and do not use a liquid cleaner at all. I made that mistake once in the MIDDLE of a match. Paid the price on the score. Hopefully this Wednesday we'll give some Baracuda match a tryout. My P70 does NOT like 4.52 .177s but don't know if the Steyr is sensitive to head sizes. Have you experimented with different sizes? I like that for the next step. A new LW barrel is also on the burner.
Thanks for the info
Mike
 
Pete Wass said:
You might learn someday Wayne, if you live long enough. I've been at this around 20 years. I've been through the futility you are embracing. Go for it my man with my blessing but having done all of that, I don't want to and won't. If you think this makes you Righteous in some way then go there with my blessings. At some point, if you ever have a very accurate rifle, you will never be satisfied with anything else. That's the one thing that most of the veteran of Benchrest have in common, accurate rifles. We may have been born at night but it wasn't last night.

I am seeing a few Benchrest Air Rifles in the works and they will grow in numbers rappidly. Serious competitors will have rifles capable of winning in the sanctioned events. I am only interested in Sanctioned events. This is where the sport will go, not modified production rifles. It will take a little time but the direction is clear to me, after having spent two decades in the trenches.

Now, Wacky Wayne, you can try to make a fool of me with this if you like. I have very broad shoulders and as I said, not last night.

Pete
Click to expand...

Pete,

Please don't misunderstand my comments.. I'm in no way trying to "make a fool of you".. Nothing could be farther from my intentions!

We were just talking about the different types of people we might get interested in joining the air gun bench rest game... You are an example of the folks who come in with experience with Rim fire or center fire bench rest, and of course your expectations will be different from someone like myself who is totally new to air guns and bench rest.. I started air gun field target in 2008, and again, never won a major match, (came close, but no cigar as yet), but really have fun shooting with the folks I've met and the bull sessions around the campfire at night. I only started BR about a year ago now.

I was only making the point that not all the new shooters come in with your perspective, and we shouldn't design our classes only around your type on new shooter. A new shooter like you will get the best air gun you can find, and start right out in HV or LV class.. others might want to make a much smaller investment until they see if they like the game, people they shoot with, and have the time to invest in making their rig shoot better.... If the answer is no to the last issue, but they are liking the people and game as is, then maybe, they'll be happy in a class like the production class we are trying out...

...or maybe they would fit better into the "Sporter" class LD shoots at his place now... Price isn't a limiting factor, but you have to have a sporter style rig and shoot off bags only, supporting the rear of the gun with your hand between the rear bag... testing, testing and more testing to find what might bring in and keep folks shooting air gun bench rest.

Serious, and not so serious shooters both, should find a place to join in.. in my humble un-experienced opinion.. one type is not better than the other, just different... both can have fun joining in.. I hope.
But think about it.. if everyone only came to win, and didn't come back if they thought they could not win... then not many would come to the matches..

..you winners need folks like me to beat up on:).. be happy we have fun in other ways besides winning... or who would be there to win over?

Really, I'm sorry to offend you in any way... I'm just debating with you about the types of folks who might join our sport, and how to keep them coming back. No way am I thinking your way of looking at it is bad, just different than mine.. all is good.

Wacky Wayne
Ashland Air Rifle Range
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top