We competed for the one day and are back.
Elena did well, six strings of ten with scores in the 90's for all of them, no misses. She was squadded with a gentleman from Brazil name Helio, who was very knowledgeable and helped her learn a lot about wind and mirage. There was very little of the former, and considerable of the latter with temps running in the high 60's to mid-70's. The weather was clear and pleasant. Everyone was helpful and supportive, and their general assessment is that she should get more involved in this sport because she has a good aptitude for it.
My own experiment didn't go so well; my physical condition is no longer up for prone shooting. By about the 8th round of the first string, it was quite clear that I wasn't up to the task. I ran out of breath and decided to finish the stage and retire from the following two. I think it was the wisest thing I did all day; I didn't need to burden the match operation by forcing myself to continue and creating a medical emergency. The lesson is that prone shooting is not for me anymore, and I will be redirecting my attention toward bench supported shooting. None of this is bad news; I just need to do things a bit differently from now on. Meanwhile, I continued to do scoring for my squadded shooting partner.
As it happened, I was able to observe a match, which I could never have done in the past, being wrapped up in the actual competition. Watching wind flags and trace, then scoping the pit scoring allowed me to learn some useful information about winds and bullet performance. What winds we had were from 6 o'clock mostly with some fishtailing at 7 and 8 o'clock as the day wore on. There was a direct correlation between 6 o'clock varying wind strength and vertical on the target, as well as 7 and 8 o'clock crosswind and 3 o'clock POI deflection. From about Noon onward, the winds become slightly stronger and directions got more varied., but direction remained between 6 and 8 o'clock.
The rifles, a Savage 11VT .223 (24", 1:9") and a Stag Model 6 Super Varminter (24", 1:8") performed flawlessly, and served both Elena and myself well. The load (HDY 75gr HPBT-Match, new Win brass no prep, CCI BR-4, and 24.4gr Varget, 24.6gr is listed by Hodgdon as max for this bullet weight) preformed very predictably and shot tight for both guns. Pressure signs are moderate, with some primer flattening and moderate cratering, while primer edges are still showing some roundness. I may do some minor tweaking of the charge weight, but the 2.255" OAL will not be altered. The Stag used a Satern single shot magazine follower (modified by me with a front edge bevel) to comply with F T/R rules, and performed without incident.
All in all, my future will not hold any more prone competitions, which should allow me to concentrate more directly on helping Elena with her shooting activities. I'm thinking this should be great fun for both.
Greg
Topic: Feb 2017 SW LR Nationals at Ben Avery (Read 2759 times)
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