July 23
July 23rd marked the 5th match of the SVFTC 2023 Field Target season shot at the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center in Ione, California.
Twenty-two shooters were in attendance on this typical warm July day. Earlier in the week the match daytime high was predicted to reach 107 degrees and consideration was given to shortening the course from the normal 60 shots to 40 shots so as not to cause us oldsters heat stress but, as is often the case, forecasters missed the mark (in our favor this time) and the day started off at a pleasant 68 degrees with a predicted high of 100 degrees so a 60 shot course was set. It was 98 degrees by 1:00 pm when things were wrapping up..... quite tolerable under the barn-sized recreational vehicle-style aluminum cover over the shooters.
According to the internet the breeze in Ione on Sunday was around 3 mph at the start of the match peaking at around 8 mph mid match and dropping back to 5 mph by match end, however, the American flag was noticed standing out in fully display from the flag pole near the club house at times so maybe we had gusts to a bit more. While the breeze was nothing out of the ordinary apparently the course may have been as scores were generally lower than normal and one experienced shooter commented that "a good course" (i.e., challenging) was set. Blame that on novice course-setters Chris K and Marty G who took the reigns while Match Director Scott S was away, extending his Oregon vacation following the Oregon State Grand Prix held in Ashland the weekend before. Fred B acted as match director for Sunday.
Sunday's match saw the return of a few shooter we haven't seen in a bit and the absence of a few who attended the Oregon match the weekend before.
New-to-SVFTC this season were shooters Weiye, Grant S and Cameron W. Cameron W made a strong showing and took 3rd place in Hunter PCP.
Lonnie S, always the gentleman and consummate WFTF PCP performer, had high match score with 54. Cameron K. was high score in the challenging WFTF Piston class with 47 and Chris K. had high score in Hunter PCP with 51. Marty G, who was one of the first two to arrive and take gear out of the on-site gear box, load it into vehicles, take it out to the range and set up the course let nothing slow him down, finishing only two shots off the lead in Hunter PCP for second place.
Only one shooter demonstrated questionable judgment at Sunday's match. Martin O'Connor, FT match director at Diablo Rod and Gun Club in Concord, decided to bring his PCP pistol to the rifle match. Kind of like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Mr. O' placed 1st, 2nd and "only" in the pistol category with more than 50% of his targets knocked down.
Plenty of help was present to set up and tear down the course and lots of folks demonstrated their artistic talents with paint and brush in hand to spruce up faceplates and paddles after the match. Not everyone colored inside the lines but that's okay because we're just gonna shoot all that paint off at the next match anyway, loll.
July scores .. XX/60
WFTF Piston
Cameron K 47 - winner
Mark W 30
WFTF PCP
Lonnie S 54 - winner and HIGH MATCH SCORE
Son Lu 42
Chang H 37
HUNTER PCP
Chris K 51 - winner
Marty G 49
Cameron W 47
Erik S 44
Bill R 42
Kevin H 42
Bill C 41
Fred B 38
Dane 36
John D. 36
Tak 34
Larry 33
Grant S 31
Sam R 29
Weiye 25
John Z 14 - winging it without the benefit of a dope card and holdover data
PCP Pistol
Martin O'Connor 31 - winner
Looking forward to seeing everyone next month for the August SVFTC match.
Posted by Chris K for Scott Schneider, SVFTC Match Director
Slide show of the match