The 2024 TEXtreme Extreme Field Target (EFT) match was held on June 1 and 2 at “Ranchito Robinson” in Clifton, central Texas – that’s 20 Miles North West of Waco, TX. This Grand Prix was the third match in Season Three of the Extreme Field Target National Series. You can check out the Match Two report in this previous HAM post.
Participants in EFT Grand Prix events receive points by attending. They also receive a maximum of six points that can be earned in these matches. These points will be added to their EFT score at the Extreme Benchrest Competition (EBR) to be held in Phoenix, AZ in October 2024. The top combined score wins the EFT National Championship title, in addition to whatever awards are available for EBR EFT.
Read on as 2024 TEXtreme Extreme Field Target Match Director Ron Robinson tells us the story in his own inimitable style. Take it away Ron…
No Way A Wash Out!
No doubt paranoid meteorologists suppressed attendance with omnipresent doom-and-gloom forecasts for high possibilities of rain virtually every hour of every day for several weeks before and throughout the three-day TEXtreme leg of the 2024 Extreme Field Target Grand Prix competition weekend. Nevertheless the turnout equalled TEXtreme Airgun Sports attendance record of twenty-eight competitors from all around Texas and six other States.
That we experienced nary a single drop of precipitation during any of the three matches lends some credibility to my refusal to cancel or postpone this Airguns Of Arizona Extreme Field Target Grand Prix event. And as anyone unfortunate enough to know me understands well, I need whatever credibility I can get!
Below, Luis Granillo and his wife Kathy.
Not to suggest pre-match rains didn’t transform the shooting lanes into an obstacle course of mud-holes and treacherous footing. Nor wasn’t the stifling heat/humidity index also challenging enough.
Little doubt all the shooters will agree that the sticky-on-multiple-levels event will go in their memory banks as, in a word, “EPIC”. I’ll not elaborate on the many other verbal ‘descriptors’ muttered throughout the weekend; let alone how often!
That several much younger competitors admitted their exhaustion lends poignant perspective to the septuagenarian match director’s bedraggled physical and mental states after not only slogging through the three-day obstacle courses of shooting competitions and cat herding, but doing so after three weeks of similarly-‘taxing’ venue, shooting-lanes, and targets preparation WORK.
Here’s hoping all that sweat equity built character; because as anyone unfortunate enough to know me also understands all too well, I need all the character-building I can get!
Am I already repeating myself?
Prizes, Prizes…
The weekend could be described as redefining the term ‘target-RICH$$$ environment’. With a prize list of over $4500 on the line… Correction – on the muddy, slimey, sticky, gooey, nasty firing-lines, some of the best airgun competitors in the United States worked plenty hard for the plentiful bounty. But none harder than the super-human that captured the lion’s share!
On a less materialistic/capitalistic note, every competitor that completed both rifle matches earned one 2024 EFT Grand Prix point unless they had already contested a 2024 Grand Prix. Those who had, earned one-half Grand Prix point.
Besides the most valuable prizes detailed further below, the pistol and rifle competition victors received Pistol Champion or Rifle Champion-engraved gongs and TEXtreme pellet-tin sets, and Match Winner hat-pins.
Top-three podium placers in both competitions received custom pellet pouches, and sets of three TEXtreme pellet tins engraved with their respective places (2024 TEXtreme Grand Prix Champion, Second or Third Place). Fourth and Fifth Places in the rifle competition received sets of three 2024 TEXtreme Grand Prix-engraved pellet tins.
Now on to the more ‘lucrative’ prizes…
Pistol Match Placing
Derrick Wall won all three weekend matches! His 57/60 Friday pistol match score was one point enough better than the nine-pistoleros field to capture not only the Rifle Champion-engraved gong and pellet tins, custom pellet pouch and hat-pin mentioned above, but also the Pistol Match Winner $350 Airguns Of Arizona gift certificate.
Derrick used an Athon Talos-scoped .20 caliber Broclock Commander P shooting 13.73 grain JSB pellets 803 FPS for the win. Oh, I misspelled Brocock? Not really, considering he cleaned everybody’s CLOCK with it!
Caleb Dickinson was close behind DW with a 56/60 to capture aforementioned pellet tins, pellet pouch, and the Pistol Second Place $250 AoA gift certificate.
Caleb shot a .177 Brocock Pathfinder and Rangermaster pellets at 820 FPS. Not wanting to over-complicate outlining his equipment choices, his scope deserves a sentence all its own… devoid of any other descriptors. Athlon Helos BTR Gen2 6-24X56mm. Told you!
Billy Davison’s 54/60 got him a pellet pouch, pellet-tin set, and the Third Place $150 AOA gift certificate.
In using yet another Athlon-scoped Brocock to capture the last podium place, BD further confirmed the wisdom of both choices. His 6-24X56 Athlon Heras scoped .177 Brocock Pathfinder shot 13.73 JSB pellets 896 FPS.
By the way and for what it’s worth, the next four highest-placed pistol competitors also used BroCLOCKs!
That seven out of the eight pistoleros used BRK/Brococks, and half the field used Athlon optics, suggests Airguns Of Arizona knows ‘a little something’ about competition airguns and optics. Again by the way, and also for what it’s worth Y’all, they sell both brands.
GOOD SHOW, PISTOLEROS!
2024 TEXtreme EFT Rifle Match Results
Derrick Wall went on to also post the highest scores in both rifle matches; shooting a perfect 60/60 in Saturday’s uncharacteristically light-winded match, and a near-perfect 59/60 in Sunday’s characteristically-gusty match.
That’s Derrick below…
DW used an Athlon Cronus scoped .30 caliber Kalibrgun Cricket 2 Tac, shooting 56 grain Zan pellets 890 FPS in his utterly-dominant rifle competition victory.
For those super-human, 119/120 aggregate efforts, Derrick captured $1000 in Airguns Of Arizona Rifle Champion CASH, an $899 Athlon Heras SPR 15-60X56 rifle scope, the Rifle Champion-engraved gong and TEXtreme pellet tins, a custom pellet pouch, a Match Winner hat pin, three 2024 Extreme Field Target Grand Prix points, and the Extreme Field Target NATIONAL RECORD scores for both 60 and 120 shot matches. Phew!
UTTERLY PHENOMENAL SHOOTING, Derrick! The guy is a shooting machine. Correction – a shooting Humanoid. They’re smaller than Humans.
Reigning Extreme Field Target National Champion Caleb Dickinson came second in both rifle matches with a 55 on Saturday and 53 on Sunday. His 108/120 aggregate was good for the Second Place Rifle bounty – $500 in Airguns Of Arizona Second Place CASH, a $250 Airguns Of Arizona Second Place gift certificate, a custom pellet pouch, Second Place-engraved TEXtreme pellet tins, and two 2024 EFT Grand Prix points. Great shooting, Champ!
CD’s .25 caliber Brocock Ghost wore a Sightron S8 scope, firing 33.9 grain AEA pellets 940 FPS.
Paul Bracaglia shot a 55 on Saturday and 51 on Sunday for a 106/120 aggregate rifle score. Pablo’s fine effort was good for $250 in Airguns Of Arizona Third Place CASH, a $250 Third Place AoA gift certificate, a pellet pouch, Third Place-engraved TEXtreme pellet tins, and one 2024 EFT Grand Prix point. Fine shooting, Pablo!
Pablo shot 56 grain pellets in his Riton-scoped .30 caliber Cricket.
Brian Stafford captured Fourth Place in the rifle competition virtue of excellent consistency in both rifle matches; 53/60 on Saturday and 52/60 on Sunday, for an excellent 105/120 aggregate. Brian came away with the $250 Airguns Of Arizona Fourth Place gift certificate, and $150 in Airguns Of Arizona Fourth Place CASH for his efforts. Excellent shooting, Brian.
Brian shot .25 caliber MKII pellets in his FX Impact M3 wearing an NF NX8 scope.
David Turner also exhibited excellent consistency in the rifle competition to capture the Fifth Place podium position. His 51/60, 50/60, and 101/120 aggregate got David the $150 Airguns Of Arizona Fifth Place gift certificate, and $100 in Airguns Of Arizona Fifth Place CASH. Good Shooting, DT.
David’s RAW HM1000 is topped with a 30X Tract scope, and produces 940 FPS with 33.95 grain pellets.
| Day One | Day Two | Total Score | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Derrick Wall | 60 | 59 | 119 |
| Caleb Dickenson | 55 | 53 | 108 |
| Paul Bracaglia | 55 | 51 | 106 |
| Brian Stafford | 53 | 52 | 105 |
| David Turner | 51 | 50 | 101 |
Thanks To All Our Sponsors
Have I mentioned plentiful bounty? Yes? Okay; how about bounty aplenty?
Although our schwag-bags were small, good things often come in small packages. Star of the Schwag-Bags show were Patch Worm bore cleaning kits provided by my buddy Joe Peacock. ‘PelletGage Jerry’ Cupples provided PelletGage notebooks schwag.
TEXtreme Airgun Sports donated sets of three TEXtreme-engraved golden (colored) pellet tins. Jim Martin donated Trailers Plus Sales ballpoint pens. Caleb Dickenson provided ear-plugs (to avoid hearing-damage litigation resulting from his rifles muzzle report), and Airguns Of Arizona provided AoA stickers.
That’s a lotta neat stuff in little schwag bags. Many thanks to all schwag contributors!
I can’t thank Airguns Of Arizona ENOUGH for their most generous and ongoing sponsorship from TEXtreme get-go. In this case (alone) AoA stepped up with over $3000 in cash and gift certificates. THANK YOU, AIRGUNS OF ARIZONA!!!
For the second year in a row sponsoring the TEXtreme leg of the annual Extreme Field Target Grand Prix series, Athlon Optics stepped up with the generous donation of an Athlon Heras SPR 15-60X56 rifle scope; an outstanding Field Target specific scope. MANY THANKS, ATHLON!
Friends, please support the generous sponsors that support your airgunning passion. Without their support these excellent airgun events would be much less; if existing at all.
I’ll close by thanking everyone that helped in so many ways to make the weekend a success, including everyone that contested the TEXtreme leg of the 2024 Airguns Of Arizona Extreme Field Target Grand Prix national competition series.
Maggyy and I had a ball, and hope you all enjoyed yourselves despite ‘less than ideal’ shooting conditions. We love you all.
Happy shooting, Ron and Maggyy.
Thanks Ron! And congratulations to all who participated in the 2024 TEXtreme Extreme Field Target or supported it!
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