Almost all of the Dartmoor regulars gathered on a very cold Saturday morning to contest our third league shoot of the year. The wind conditions proved particularly ‘testing’ today, mostly from the east and probably around 12 mph with regular gusts of up to 25 mph. The initial low temperatures compounded the difficulty – I had to come up six clicks to put pellets into the 10 ring. And although it did get a little warmer during the day everybody was experiencing those unpredictable high/low shots in addition to the usual windage variations.Alistair Teague set the bar high in the first detail, recording a brilliant 249:16x which emerged as the best card of the day.Alistair was shooting for the first time off a newly acquired SEB mini-X rest, this change of equipment evidently had a very positive effect – as he went on to win the match overall, with a 737:35X.
Some very consistent scores produced by several shooters suggests that all was well with both technique and equipment, but as usual it was primarily the interpretation of wind conditions which was the deciding factor in determining results. It was noticeable that most competitors were making full use of their 20 minutes as there were very few periods of calm, so ‘waiting out’ the wind was never going to be an option.It was also noticeable that there was a proliferation of ‘drummers’ thrones’ lined up outside the BR range – at least 9 owned among the 16 shooters present. Even my fellow minimalist Andy Holcombe has bought one, despite clinging determinedly to a pair of simple sandbags to support his rifle. But as he says, “you can’t put a price on comfort”.
Please note that in order to qualify for the end of season shootoff you must have shot a minimum of 5 competition shoots at the same club
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