It was a warm and bright Saturday morning. Filled with enthusiasm, we set up
the match and headed for the sight-in range where there was a chronograph. We hadn’t
had a chronograph at our matches before this year. Ash Covey chronographed his Daystate
at just over 900 fps. Of course I had to tell him that my Air Arms S400 clocked
in at 924. Ash allowed that with my 10.5 grain Crosman Premiers my gun might be
over 20 foot pounds. Judgmental choruses went up and down the firing line. There
was talk of willful and flagrant violation of the 20 foot pound rule. Within moments
the rule was elevated to the cornerstone of Airgun Field Target in the United States.
Why it is every time you get close fracturing a rule, it instantly becomes the cornerstone
of your sport? I didn’t have a calculator to defend my rifle’s honor, but over the
years its velocity hadn’t wavered even though there were many opportunities for
the adjustment to be bumped or turned. I hadn’t checked it lately. Had something
moved without my realizing it?
At a water break, George said that I had better bear down because he had only missed
two targets in his first 18 shots. I was down 5 at that point, but George had some
tough lanes coming up, and I did indeed bear down. By the end I had shot a 45/54
and George had shot a 44/54. But, that was not the end.
The first thing after the match George wanted to discuss was a broken retrieval
chain on one of the targets, but he let the subject drop when I told him that it
was broken by a low shot from Ray, my lane partner. Then Ash announced that he was
certain that with CPHs my gun had to be well over 20, a number that quickly increased
to 23 by the time we went to our after match lunch.
At the restaurant, accusing eyes roamed the lunch table. My pellets had unfairly
bored holes in the wind, toppled fully grown sage brush and smashed hapless field
targets. George went on that his Theoben was only 11.5 foot pounds. With his best
Joan of Arc look of martyrdom, George concluded “And YOU are the club president!”
“Come on guys, this isn’t Watergate” I said. But, in the back of my mind there was
doubt. I hadn’t checked the velocity in over a year, and 924 did seem a little higher
than I remembered. Perhaps the adjuster had been disturbed. There was a chance that
I was wrong and my airgun would be dishonored.
“When I get home I will look this up on the web and see just how far over Ron is,”
announced Ash.
“Just E-mail me the results,” George said to Ash. I thought I heard a diabolical
tone in his voice. Ash and George could have spent half the match cooking up their
story. I was beginning to suspect a Daystate/Theoben conspiracy.
When I protested about being convicted in my absence, Ash flashed out his cell phone
like it was Excalibur itself. “I can go on line from here!” he said. He punched
in numbers, and said, “It’s working”. He was drawing out the last moments of drama.
“Oh, I stand corrected.” Ash’s voice dropped an octave. He passed the phone to George
who read, “19. 9108”. My Air Arms S400 was vindicated.
The power adjuster in my Air Arms 400 is a brilliant piece of work. It was set just
below 20 foot pounds in July 2005 and it is still holding its adjustment as well
as keeping me out of hot water.
We had a new shooter, Ray Carter, who came as a spectator in March. This month he
came to participate. In one month Ray, who is new to air rifles, bought a used RWS
52 from Pomona Air guns. He mounted a scope and showed up sighted-in and with trajectory
information for FTS pellets. Ray’s score is not the whole story. A majority of his
shots were face plate hits close enough to the KZ that, with practice, will soon
be hits.
Scores
Piston
George Gardner, Theoben Evolution, Bushnell 6-18, JSB (L), 44/54.
Ray Carter, RWS 52, BSA 3-12X, FTS, 4/54
Precharged
Ron Gill, AA S400ERB, Lepers 8-32X, CPH, 45/54
Ash Covey, Daystate X2, 44Mag 6-20, JSB (H), 33/54