Today was a good day for eastern Idaho FT shooters. We had eight shooters, our biggest attendance for a club match, and everyone’s rifle scores were in double digits. Also, we had a new shooter, Gary Pettinger. I remember shooting High Power with Gary long enough ago that my beard wasn’t gray. Gary, however, looks the same. Jim Ohearn came for his second shoot, and has firmly taken the title of “Old School Pumper” (for rifles) from Ash. Gary shoots a Sheridan Blue Streak that is old enough to vote. Both Jim and Gary shot with peep sights.
Ray Carter shot the match with one of George’s Crosman gas guns. The week before the match
Ash and I helped him change the spring in his RWS 52. On the day before the match, the spring guide self destructed. Will he be lured to the Dark Side by CO2? Only the Shadow knows.
We also shot pistol FT. We set up two lanes with 40mm KZs, and no targets past 25 yards and shot these lanes in both the rifle and the pistol match. The iron sight, rifle shooters really loved these two lanes. Gary sank 6 out of 9 targets with his R-7. On the pistol round things were a little harder. George “we don’t need no stinking rules” Gardner put a set of pistol grips on his 18 inch barrel 2240 carbine and shot the match. George keeps talking about shooting the rifle and pistol matches with the same gun by changing the butt stock for a set of pistol grips. George had a scope and he knocked down the most targets. Ash calculated that the pistol round would take 180 pumps on his Crossman 1377. Ash shot the high score for iron sights! Take a look at the other pistols then you can contemplate an American airgun.
This is what happens when you turn 8 raving individualists loose with air guns in Idaho. Each one is an oxymoron waiting to happen.
Rifle, Precharged: