PA_AirHead
HAM Marksman
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This weekend found my Impact M3 and I seated at bench 6 on day 1 of a two day 9 card weekend. The gun was ready, but was I? It’s been nearly a year since I was seated at any bench. Let’s see how it goes.
“Ready on the left? Ready on the right? Shooters, you have 20 minutes to complete this card. You may begin……Now.
Watching the flags, swatting the sweat flies off my neck. A single shot tray lends to a rhythm I am familiar with. I can’t help thinking that if I ran a magazine, I’d be much better prepared for that ever elusive break in the ever changing currents, otherwise known as WIND
. The wind at Salem, NY is, well… Different I guess. I wouldn’t really claim to understand it any better than the wind in Hawley, PA. I’m not a wind reader. I mean I know it goes left to right and right to left. It comes at your face and blows at your back and sometimes it seems, it does all of it at once. I watch the flags and do my best to gauge it. I’m still very new at this game. I’ve grown to love it though in only a few competitions. It’s one of the few things in life that I smile while it drives me crazy. Rule 1, have fun. I refuse to get to out of sorts over it. I wanna shoot a 250, but it’s quite possible that I won’t for a very long time if ever. Close, but that only counts in…..
Card one finished up at a 243 7X’s not to shabby.
Card one did not start off so smooth however. Talk about knocking off the rust. Yup, posting my human mistakes. Not hiding anything. Look at target 23. Double punched. I shot that thinking it was a sighter. DOGHT!!!
. Hey it’s close enough to “plug out”, I can save this one. Well I barely saved it. “Ok settle the hell down you ding dong”, I tell myself. The rest is self explanatory.
Card two went smooth. 244 8X’s. I’ve got nothing to complain about here. Rust was shaken and knocked off and I just rolled with it. Finding my groove.
Card 3 and final for the day still not bad. 236 5X’s. Nothing really to report other than I tend to fade. I think my tendency to pay attention to the other shooter’s rhythms distracts me. “Am I running out of time? Are they done already? Should I hurry up? There’s the time call, “you have 10 minutes remaining”. then I hear the others begin shooting again. “Oh, they just took a break”. Maybe I should do that as well. I’m my own worst obstacle. Finishing the day with an aggregate score of 723/750 is very satisfying. There was only 3 of us shooting today so it was good enough for second place. Tomorrow would pan out much differently.
Day 2 and 6 cards ahead of me, or I should say each of us. Today there was 6 of us on the line. Today would pan out very differently for my individual scores. There’s one card in particular that I will reference.
Card 3, final score of 184 4X’s. I’m not particularly concerned with X count. They’re an added delight for me but not crucial to feeling good on my performance. The 184 however does have an impact (no pun intended) on my mindset. I laughed it off in the end, while also learning a valuable lesson on scoring in the N50 arena.
These two bulls tell me I missed and will score the minimum possible, WRONG!!. In N50 the scoring plug would obviously fall outside the line, therefore I could have shot these two targets again for a chance at gaining 10 points, not losing 10 points. Not to mention another target I could have shot and one I forgot to even shoot. LOL, considering I left 40 points on the line, the rest of the card isn’t terrible. Oh well, I won’t forget that little rule ever again. The rest of my days cards were as follows…. 237 6X’s, 233 3X’s, 231 4 X’s, 219 2X’s, and 235 5 X’s. Out of the six of us shooting I’d guess I placed 3rd or 4th.
Shooting next to Todd Banks a world champion is an honor. I learn what I can from him. He’s focused, he curses the wind like anyone else lol. This weekend he pulled out at least one 250 and at least another card of 249. He is also shooting an M3 in .30 caliber.
The RTI Mora .25 sitting quietly at the end has shot EXTREMELY well. On this day I believe Pete pulled out a 250 18X’s!!! He’s such a nice and very modest easy going guy. Nothing to prove and a joy to shoot with. Ken to my left, shoots very consistently with his ‘ol school Benjamin Marauder .22. John and Jim to my left as well, both very nice gentleman. Jim on a Maverick and John slinging the only .177 this weekend. I don’t know what gun he was shooting. In the end we all had fun. Even with my crappy card, I was still smiling. Like I said lessons learned.
If you up for a N50 competition in beautiful farm country of upstate NY, give a look at the Salem Pistol and Rifle Club. No membership required to partake in the fun. Just show up, pay the lite fee and have a good time. Easy Peasy.
King of the range currently. Pete and the Mora are very Impressive. Not taking anything away from anyone else, just stating a personal opinion. Well done RTI, well done.
“Ready on the left? Ready on the right? Shooters, you have 20 minutes to complete this card. You may begin……Now.
Watching the flags, swatting the sweat flies off my neck. A single shot tray lends to a rhythm I am familiar with. I can’t help thinking that if I ran a magazine, I’d be much better prepared for that ever elusive break in the ever changing currents, otherwise known as WIND
. The wind at Salem, NY is, well… Different I guess. I wouldn’t really claim to understand it any better than the wind in Hawley, PA. I’m not a wind reader. I mean I know it goes left to right and right to left. It comes at your face and blows at your back and sometimes it seems, it does all of it at once. I watch the flags and do my best to gauge it. I’m still very new at this game. I’ve grown to love it though in only a few competitions. It’s one of the few things in life that I smile while it drives me crazy. Rule 1, have fun. I refuse to get to out of sorts over it. I wanna shoot a 250, but it’s quite possible that I won’t for a very long time if ever. Close, but that only counts in…..Card one finished up at a 243 7X’s not to shabby.
Card one did not start off so smooth however. Talk about knocking off the rust. Yup, posting my human mistakes. Not hiding anything. Look at target 23. Double punched. I shot that thinking it was a sighter. DOGHT!!!
. Hey it’s close enough to “plug out”, I can save this one. Well I barely saved it. “Ok settle the hell down you ding dong”, I tell myself. The rest is self explanatory.Card two went smooth. 244 8X’s. I’ve got nothing to complain about here. Rust was shaken and knocked off and I just rolled with it. Finding my groove.
Card 3 and final for the day still not bad. 236 5X’s. Nothing really to report other than I tend to fade. I think my tendency to pay attention to the other shooter’s rhythms distracts me. “Am I running out of time? Are they done already? Should I hurry up? There’s the time call, “you have 10 minutes remaining”. then I hear the others begin shooting again. “Oh, they just took a break”. Maybe I should do that as well. I’m my own worst obstacle. Finishing the day with an aggregate score of 723/750 is very satisfying. There was only 3 of us shooting today so it was good enough for second place. Tomorrow would pan out much differently.
Day 2 and 6 cards ahead of me, or I should say each of us. Today there was 6 of us on the line. Today would pan out very differently for my individual scores. There’s one card in particular that I will reference.
Card 3, final score of 184 4X’s. I’m not particularly concerned with X count. They’re an added delight for me but not crucial to feeling good on my performance. The 184 however does have an impact (no pun intended) on my mindset. I laughed it off in the end, while also learning a valuable lesson on scoring in the N50 arena.
These two bulls tell me I missed and will score the minimum possible, WRONG!!
. In N50 the scoring plug would obviously fall outside the line, therefore I could have shot these two targets again for a chance at gaining 10 points, not losing 10 points. Not to mention another target I could have shot and one I forgot to even shoot. LOL, considering I left 40 points on the line, the rest of the card isn’t terrible. Oh well, I won’t forget that little rule ever again. The rest of my days cards were as follows…. 237 6X’s, 233 3X’s, 231 4 X’s, 219 2X’s, and 235 5 X’s. Out of the six of us shooting I’d guess I placed 3rd or 4th.Shooting next to Todd Banks a world champion is an honor. I learn what I can from him. He’s focused, he curses the wind like anyone else lol. This weekend he pulled out at least one 250 and at least another card of 249. He is also shooting an M3 in .30 caliber.
The RTI Mora .25 sitting quietly at the end has shot EXTREMELY well. On this day I believe Pete pulled out a 250 18X’s!!! He’s such a nice and very modest easy going guy. Nothing to prove and a joy to shoot with. Ken to my left, shoots very consistently with his ‘ol school Benjamin Marauder .22. John and Jim to my left as well, both very nice gentleman. Jim on a Maverick and John slinging the only .177 this weekend. I don’t know what gun he was shooting. In the end we all had fun. Even with my crappy card, I was still smiling. Like I said lessons learned.
If you up for a N50 competition in beautiful farm country of upstate NY, give a look at the Salem Pistol and Rifle Club. No membership required to partake in the fun. Just show up, pay the lite fee and have a good time. Easy Peasy.
King of the range currently. Pete and the Mora are very Impressive. Not taking anything away from anyone else, just stating a personal opinion. Well done RTI, well done.
