Fermoy Open, 25-10-09

First thing to say, while it might be far away (at the moment), it's a fabulous range.

Lovely lawns, proper brick clubhouse with ladies and gents toilets, hot and cold running water and a lot of different ranges for several different disciplines.

We had to leave here early to get down there for a reasonable hour, so it was on the road around 8 or so and down there for 11, after getting some epic breakfast rolls in the town. And yes, they do deserve a special mention :D

We got started with the shooting on our own little private range around 12 or so, with Pete, Aisling and Dave taking the first slots. Myself and Conor took the second lot.

Myself and Conor in position for our first detail.

My full position, complete with new jacket. Perfect fit :)

While we were beginning our details, on the other range, people started to finish up... The phrase, "bloody students" may have been uttered once or twice, but all in good fun :D

There were no wind flags put out, which is probably just as well as I may have been tempted to look at them once or twice. Ignoring the wind seemed to work very well, any shots out I can put down to myself. The first card was pretty spot on, a few points off but nothing huge. The second one was where problems arose. I got down slightly wrong which caused a lot of pain in my left arm which I stupidly chose to ignore. That probably cost me a good ten points. The end of that card after a reset and the third one were pretty good as well though, leaving a final score of 579. So, room for improvement, but it's more of a consistency thing which is easy to work on. Roll on 590!

Photos courtesy of Aisling Miller, DURC's current smallbore photographer :)

Training, DRC 18-10-09

So DURC finally sorted some outdoor training sessions and the venue is DRC in Wicklow. It's something that we've been talking about for some time and really needed to get going. Very few of us have ever had the opportunity to train outdoors and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

We arrived around half ten or so, after a very amusing conversation at the top of Dave's road about how he wasn't allowed in to grab the targets due to some race thing... The day for once up there was nice and calm with overcast skies so there were no light changes. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, training is probably the better place to experience these things.

I wasn't sure until I was shooting whether or not to do some 3p practice. I decided in the end, once I was banging in the inner tens in prone, to move on and do standing and kneeling. Despite being my first time hefting the .22 into a standing position for the first time in over a year, it went OK. a score of 80 and 81, without sighting in wasn't too bad. The group mostly held the 8 ring, which is awful, but better than I have ever done. My progress in air rifle is standing to me now :)

As for the kneeling I seem to have hit upon an excellent position by chance! After an initial set up few shots the rest were grouped very tightly! The only thing I have to say about it is that the kneeling button hole in the jacket doesn't seem to work... It kept popping open, to the point where I just left it for the last five shots. Interestingly, the group shifted down and to the right when this happened.

All in all, it was a good day, followed up by some clay shooting for kicks in Courtlough. All signs are pointing to me having a good day tomorrow in Fermoy Rifle and Pistol Club in the People's Republic :)

BTW, I was going to put up pictures, but the card isn't that impressive at all. I'll try to get some from tomorrow and put them up instead. Laters!

Training

Well it's about time that the new jacket got a proper running in - and it will tomorrow. DURC is travelling to DRC for some smallbore training. I'll be bringing up the full 3p kit as well so we'll see how that's gonna pan out.

I've some plans made for the coming year, which are starting to fall a little more into place. This weekend will tell a lot about how likely these plans are to come to fruition.

It's not all work tomorrow though, we're also taking a trip to Courtlough for some clay shooting as a wind down. I should get some pictures up of the day, all going well. I'll also have some more information on how the jacket and position is going.

Roll on Munich!

Flats

No, not of the singing type, though that's not so cool either. More of the bicycle tire type which has been keeping me off the road for some time now while I try to get spares.

I first thought that it was just crap tires (well, the back one is worn almost thin and they were 35mm wide) but even with nice new Gatorskins and tubes (28mm, huge difference!) I still lost out and had two new flat tubes :(

As a final solution before sending it to the LBS I've got some new rim tape to try now, so we'll see how I get on with that. The cycling I did on the Gators before the tubes popped was excellent, changed the bike from a slow sluggish creature to a fast responsive one that I'm aching to try up in Wicklow again.

Check your rim tape and tire pressure!

DURC training, 12-10-2009

Training in prone is something that I've never really gotten the hang of. I tend to just get down and bang down some shots and see if I can spot anything that's going wrong. Today was no different :D

I took out the new jacket to give it a proper go in the prone position after I made some adjustments last week to my overall position and how things felt. It had already helped to sort out a few problems of my pulse bouncing the rifle and pain in my wrist.

Due to a fortunate position coming up for PhD funding, it's looking like I will be able to finance buying a rifle, not to mention training at the Munich international range in Garching. Nothing totally confirmed as of yet, but it's on the cards.

So, I have been looking at different rifles, number one of which is the Feinwerkbau 2700, or the light version of it. I'm also looking at the new Anschutz Precise, which is an excellent looking stock. Anyway, I took the chance to use a club-mates FWB today and see what it felt like. Aside from a terrible buttplate it feels really nice. The balance is amazing and the stock is so nicely rounded and thin that it sits in the hand very comfortably.

After a quick set up, the following group of, I think, 12 shots was produced;

Aside from the barrel warming shot on the left and the two nines, I'm very happy with this group, especially for a very brief set up with a dodgy buttplate.

On the other hand, my trusty Anschutz 1600 series didn't fail to respond to that with this 10 shot group;

Again, the low shot was the barrel warmer, the 9 shots above are grouped nicely though, especially for a 30 year old barrel and action. Increasing my cant has also helped quite a bit, so Anschutz are coming back up the list...

End result; the new jacket is amazing, well worth the money. Now I just need to translate that into scores and medals in matches and we're well sorted. Selection matches are welcome...

WTSC Airgun open, 11-10-2009

The WTSC open saw my competitive return to air rifle shooting. It was my first match in seven months, with just a small bit of training. With my new custom jacket I was feeling good about it though.

Despite being out on my own there I made the most of getting there and getting set up. Wilkinstown has always been my best range, my P.B. is held there. Today however was not to be a good one. A bit of a shaky start on the sighters and getting into the match I couldn't get comfortable in the position at all; it just didn't feel right and was far more wobbly than I've been used to since donning the new jacket.

So the first 30 shots were a write off, I dropped around 45 points in those, which is horrendous, considering I don't like dropping that in a match full stop.

Taking a quick break I went into the second half determined to pull something out. I stood up straight, and that was it. One of the most basic and silly mistakes that I've been making for years and I made it again. I'd been pushing my hips out in front of me which sinks my lower back and makes everything wobble with lack of support.

Finally, salvation was at hand for the match, as shot 31 of the match will show

It did pick up from there, which was very good. Final three strings came in at a 94, 93 and 89. The 89 is off form, but I was wrecked and couldn't see very well as due to standing up for longer than I had in the previous seven months...

Anyway, poor start to my comeback, but it's all uphill from here on out. In the positive sense, not the cycling sense. If I can keep the points dropped in my last half to 20, plus or minus a flier or two, then the first half should be no problem. 560 here we come!

Edmonstown Road, 3/10/09

Cycling up Edmonsntown road is the challenge I've set myself. The first time I tried it I had just built up some leg strength from cycling to work so I said I'd give it a lash.

Getting out there in July was tough. I was barely able to make it to the M50, never mind up the hill after it. 20 grueling minutes later after spinning in my bottom gear and panting I lost too much speed and the front wheel just turned. End of climb.

However, the way back down was the most fun I'd ever had on a bike. So much fun in fact that I turned around at the bottom and attempted the climb again, getting almost as far this time. Unfortunately, work kept me away from this one for a while so I settled for Howth and getting to Glencree.

Last weekend I tried again. Equipped with a clean drivechain, well indexed gears and, most importantly, correct tire pressure I gave it another go. This time was different. Getting there was easy, starting off was no problem. Standing every few minutes to keep up the speed to 15 km/hr, which is my target on long (for me) climb I was making good progress. Passing my finish point from the last time I though I was sorted, but alas not. I got dizzy and felt a bit too sick to carry on so I bonked and left it. Again, heading down was so much fun. I don't think I pedaled between there and Rathmines.

So, I still have no managed this climb, but I will be getting a nice new road bike in the near future and some proper pedals so we'll give that a go. Descending in the drops as opposed to the flat of a hybrid is gonna be fun :)