Open Pistol

The Open Pistol ball is rolling - Steve L has kicked us off. 

Alex C wasn't having that though and promptly pipped him by a point.  With open sights too. 

Bri continues to make excuses and we're all wondering where The Usual Suspects are.

Stef is in the process of getting a Walther LPM-1 pistol and, until it arrives, has been loaned Russ's Izzy for practice.  I've had a sneak preview of his practice cards and it looks like there's a new gunslinger in town.

Last year's Primo Pistolero, Steve P, has slapped a red dot onto his Gamo Compact and had a go.  Two handed is not his forte so a more traditional stance was adopted for a 14.

18 seems a popular number with both Alex and Steve P with matching 2nd round scores.  At the time of writing (23/5/20) and of the two of them, Alex is better two handed while Steve is (perhaps predictably?) outshooting him with one hand in the Target comp.

And, to everyone's surprise, Bri has managed to shoot at a target.  The less said about an underwhelming 15 with a lasered up HW40 the better though.

Continuing the themes of HW pistols and outshooting Bri, Steve L remains a contender with a 2nd round 17 while Alex posts an 18.

Oh dear - the months of no shooting are beginning to tell...  In an attempt to better his previous 15, Bri swapped the laser for a pistol scope on his HW40.

It didn't go well.

Putting down the Weihrauch for his FWB 80, the practice groups were at least on the page and a couple of shots even went in the right place.  Encouraged and optimistic about this, an official card was taped up and duly shot at.

The resulting 11 was proof that an Aberdonian should always reject optimism and never be hopeful - no good will come from it.

Alex has lengthened his lead in this three horse race with a 4th round 17. The Steves will have to up their games to catch and overtake him.

And seeing as he's just hit his stride with a final round 19 (highest individual score yet,) the Steves will need an average of 19 per remaining round to beat him.

Can it be done?  Time will tell. 

And time has told us that Steve L hasn't been keeping up with his practice, a 15 and two 11's means that it's all down to Mr P to topple Alex from the top spot.

Due to underwhelming demand, the competition has now been extended past the initial trial of five rounds.  There's no clear outline yet of how this will work because my furloughed brain is turning to mush but get your scores in and we'll think of something eventually.

In the meantime, Bri, who had effectively removed himself from the running with an 11, took a whaddahell approach and tried a different tack.  Or Taco Grip, as it's known.  Found during an internet surf, it's a technique where you fit a rifle scope to a pistol and effectively use your non-trigger hand to hold the scope. 

So, does bolting a 4x32 onto an HW40 work?

Errr... not in Bri's hands it doesn't - 10/20.  Rumour has it he's going to use a gat for the next round.

Steve L fared better with a 16 in his ninth round.  Definitely in a league of his own but that's mainly due to being the only shooter to go past Round 5.

Alex C is out of the gates in this second bout of pistol mischief with a very strong 19.  In what has effectively become a two horse race, he's already looking like a safe bet.

And that's been reinforced with an 18.

Another 19 from Alex is starting to make the other runners look a bit lame - a one horse race?

Trying another different approach, Bri broke out the FWB 80 and shot without the benefit of optical assistance.  His 14 was a step in the right direction after the last couple of disasterous rounds but still disappointing.

                                           30/8/20

Target Pistol

Stef G is the first shooter in our target pistol competition.  While his Walther LPM-1 leisurely strolls along the scenic route from Germany to here, Russ has loaned him his Baikal Izzy to tide him over and scratch that 10m itch.  His two cards submitted so far match and excede the scores put in by Steve L and Alex C shooting two handed and with red dot sights.

When normality returns and we can shoot at Denwood again, I think the Pistol League could be in for a shake-up.

Stoof picked up a "semi recoilless" Webley Typhoon and had a go.  A powerful garden plinker capable of accuracy above it's price point as shown by Stoof's practice cards on the Forum, something went slightly wrong with an 11 as the result.  Too much practice perhaps?  I reckon he'll improve on that in future rounds. 

Interesting to see that Stoof's better with a rifle but Stef can outshoot him with a pistol.

And that continues to be the case as Stef gets to grips with his new Walther.  Still in the adjustment phase between the Izzy and the LPM-1, he turned in a 16, three more than Stoof's 13 with a decidedly less specialised Webley Typhoon.  Kudos to both you gents for having a go at this demanding style of shooting.

And after a bit of trigger tweaking, Stef has racked up our first 20 in a pistol comp.  Bearing in mind that's he's only had the gun for a week that's pretty impressive.

Alex C had an extra big bowl of porridge for breakfast.  Unfortunately, he had a few doughnuts as well as his first round 14 with an HW75 shows. 

Submitting a couple of quick catch up cards, Stoof is getting nearer to  Stef's scores and, while Stef has built up an impressive lead, it looks like the real competition to watch will be between Alex and Stoof unless more Pistoleros take part.

And, in an attempt at world domination by the House of G, Stef's son Tommaso has thrown his sombrero into the ring.  His two catch up cards (10 & 14) with the Walther LPM-1 show an upward trajectory so Alex and Stoof better'd keep a lookout over their shoulders.

Stef has just submitted his fifth round card.  A respectable 17 gives him a very credible total of 87/100.

However, the Old Guard (in the shape of Steve P,) is not taking this sitting down.  Wielding his LPM-1 (they're getting to be as common as muck these days,) he started off his campaign with a very strong 19.

And Stoof shot a final round 16 for an overall 73.  Second place at present but will that last?  Not if Alex has anything to do with it - his 2nd round 17 means he's catching up. 

As is Steve P.  The newly acquired Schrodinger's Sister in her first shoot in this competition racked up a pretty damn good 19 and Alex continues to put in solid scores with a 3rd round 15 and a 4th round 16. 

It's been a while since he last shot but Alex took a deep breath, entered the Garage of Accuracy and continued his upward trajectory with a personal best 17 for his 5th round card - enough to overtake Stoof for 2nd place. 

30/6/20

Going Postal usually means that someone is about to go nuts or off the deep end.  The reason for going postal is usually trivial.  It also means that a person on psychiatric meds is off their pills. 

Yep, that covers us then.

If we can't shoot at Denwood or Waulkmill, then how about a Postal Pistol Competition to keep us sane and focused?

Some rules -

Get a sheet of A4 paper or similar, a 10p coin and a marker pen. 

Draw 10 circles like the above example.  Colour them in for better visibility if you like. 

One shot per circle.

Two points for a hole cleanly inside the circle.

One point if you touch the line.

Zero for a miss.

To be done in the comfort of your house/garage/garden/loft/etc.

Standing and unsupported (with an exception to the unsupported bit for Russ if he promises to be rubbish.)

Any calibre.

Range to be in the region of 6m.  We're not going to go all Car Park Attendant on it but don't take the mick and shoot at 3m or less.  Neither are we insisting that targets are signed and witnessed before shooting so we'll trust you to play fair.

Let's have two classes - Target and Open. 

Target is one handed and open sights.

Open is Anything Goes - Scopes, Red Dots, Lasers, two handed grip, etc.

No carbine stocks.

Once you've taken your 10 shots, write your name, date, gun used and the word "Target" or "Open" as appropriate on the target and take a pic.  Include the pistol if you can. 

Then either post it on the GARC Forum Postal Comp page

https://garc.freeforums.net/thread/107/garc-postal-pistol-rifle-competitions

or email it to Bri  - garcweb@outlook.com.