Area shooters airing it out
Sunday July 30, 2000
By Andy
Hansroth
SUNDAY GAZETTE-MAIL
The bull's-eye on the steel target measures just one-inch. At 30 yards, it doesn't appear very big - even when looking through a 24-power scope.
But the rifle's accurate. And when area shooter David Goldfarb squeezes the trigger, the target falls - another dead center bull's-eye.
The sport Goldfarb and three colleagues have been practicing a lot lately is called field target. It's something like metallic silhouette, except that it's shot with a scoped air rifle.
Small steel targets have tiny holes in them. You have to shoot through the holes to knock the targets down. In competition, it's shot like a 3-D archery tournament - in the woods with the targets scattered over a variety of unmarked distances.
The sport was developed in England 20 years ago, due in part to the outright ban of most firearms. It only recently was imported to the U.S., where the World Competition is being held next month.
"David and I will travel to the U.S. and World Championships at St. Paul, Minn., at the end of August,'' said Rick McAllister. "There will be 200 shooters there with competitors from Germany, Italy, England, Sweden, Ireland and Scotland. Norway hosted it last year. It's the biggest event of the year for this sport.
"It's such a unique sport, sort of like a falling plates or silhouette-type match combined with airguns,'' he said.
What makes the game difficult are the football-like trajectories of the .177-caliber pellets and shooting without a solid rest. Most shots are taken sitting down, but a few are taken from the off-hand standing position. A standard match consists of shooting 30 targets twice each with a perfect score being a 60.
Target openings range from a quarter-inch up to about 1 1/2 inches, and the targets are set at distances from 10 to 55 yards.
"You have to shoot through the opening and hit the paddle behind the target in a woodsy environment,'' McAllister said. "It can be very dark and hard to pick out a target and place a .177-caliber pellet through an opening that small.''
But some shooters are good enough to do it consistently. The local shooters say perfect scores of 60 are shot occasionally. McAllister placed second at a match in Maryland a few weeks ago that had 28 shooters. He tied another shooter with a score of 54 for second place.
"I was squadded with a shooter who finished second in the nation last year,'' he said, adding that part of the sport's appeal is its low noise and low recoil.
"It's fun and it's quiet,'' said Chris Holstein, who's been a competitive shooter in a number of other shooting sports, such as high-powered rifle. "The hardest thing for me was learning to determine the distances.''
Shooters use the adjustable objectives to focus in on a target and estimate range. Rangefinders are not allowed.
The local shooters, who also include Dr. Joe Matusic, are applying for a grant from the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
They're hoping to use any money they receive to buy guns and targets so a youth shooting program might be developed in the Charleston area.
The group is also in the process of developing a new range with the South Charleston Fraternal Order of Police. The range would incorporate both 3-D archery and field target shooting.
It's located off Rock Lake Drive about 6 miles out of town.
"We would very much like to start a youth airgun program at the FOP range, particularly if we get the grant and can keep some guns on hand for the kids to use,'' McAllister said.
The rifles used in competition are very accurate. Holstein can clean a bank of 9mm empties at 50 yards with his airgun, which shoots a 71/2-grain pellet at approximately 900 feet per second.
This year, the group has shot in six matches and there are nine more scheduled. The season runs April through December.
"We've already traveled to Oak Ridge, Tenn. [twice]; Indianapolis, Ind.; Youngstown, Ohio; and Damascus, Md. [twice],'' said McAllister.
"We're hoping to host future matches at the FOP range and we'd really like for the public to come out and take a look at this sport.''
Anyone who might be interested in trying this outdoors air-rifle sport can get in touch with one of the local competitors via e-mail. David Goldfarb can be reached at dgoldwv@hotmail.com and McAllister can be reached at msfta@.att.net.
To contact Andy Hansroth, use e-mail or call 348-5113.