What is Field Target

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Scott Allen and Chris Berry are hardcore Field Target shooters and organizers in North Carolina.  They are both awesome contributors to the sport of Field Target in the USA.  In continuing their efforts to help build and grow the sport, they have started a Field Target Podcast.  Scott and Chris have interviewed a number of great shooters on many different entertaining topics.  I had the opportunity to be interviewed for the show recently and thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with Scott during the interview.

If you have a few minutes, check out the Podcast here:

Episode 13 – Interview with Harold Rushton (Part 1)

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Stay tuned for Part 2 in the coming days!

Thanks for visiting my web site.

Harold Rushton

portugal-31Well, the World Field Target Championship match is over and in the books now.  Jack Harris won the PCP title, Aleksas Jaunius won the Piston title and once again, Ana Pereria won the Ladies title.   That’s the way thportugal-3ings shook out in the end, but getting there was oh so fun!

The World Championships were held this year in Lisbon, Portugal.   If you have never visited Portugal, I would highly recommend putting it on your list of places to see.  Lisbon is a port city in Portugal with beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean.  While in Lisbon, we visited sites such as the Belem Castle, Jeronimos Monastery, Sao Jorge Castle and the list goes on.

We also had the limited opportunity to taste the local Pasteis de Belem, which is a tasty treat that can only be enjoyed from the original ancient recipe from the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.   These are pastries made with a very light and crunchy shell and an egg white custard center.  It’s a treat that has to be experienced as the taste, sound and flavor is simply amazing.

portugal-35portugal-36Now that you have a taste of Lisbon, so to speak, on to the match.  My wife and I arrived somewhat early.  That’s when we did most of our site seeing.  The match organizers started signing everyone in on Tuesday before the match started on Thursday.  This allowed competitors the opportunity to spend two days on the sight in range checking equipment, working out issues and generally testing equipment.

portugal-12The organizers did a great job securing the Jamor National Training Center to host the match.  This location allowed an area for sight in of rifles, a mobile food vendor with tables re-fueling competitors, a large tent for air refills, gun related vendors and general socializing.   The facility also included a large building which was utilized by the event organizers to sign in competitors and work as a base of operations for the match director and associates.  Overall, the facility was top notch with plenty of potential for the job at hand.

img_1375The courses were located away from the sight in area, behind the building housing the organizers.   The area was secure and only open during match hours.  It allowed the match director and marshals to set up a course that, in reality housed three courses.  In so doing, when a competitor started on the Black Course Lane 1, he was adjacent to Yellow Course Lane 1 and then Red Course Lane 1 and so on.    With this set up, the courses were interwoven and kept conditions between courses very equal.   The courses basically had three distinct areas.

In the first area, the undergrowth and foliage was cut away leaving a very wind prone area with wicked openings to funnel the wind in all directions.   The second area forced the competitors to shoot up a steep hill placing everyone in an uncomfortable position which cost many points during the match.  The last area was a steep downhill area.  This forced competitors to deal with challenges exactly the opposite of the uphill area.  It also fostered sneaky winds that unexpectedly cost points as well.  portugal-42

I thought the courses were expertly set to avoid having any two consecutive shots having the same wind effects.  For example, a competitor could sit down and locate the first target on a lane far to the left and at an extreme angle.  The second target would then be placed to the right at a differing angle creating a different wind effect which the shooter had to quickly figure out.   This made things very tricky and difficult from one shot to the other.  This was all compounded on day one and three because of heavy winds that moved into the area.   On day two we were both blessed and cursed with little to no wind.   It was a blessing from the perspective of having a break from the winds that so generously moved our pellets many inches before reaching the target.  However, it was a curse as the sun baked us and the heat was more intense throughout the day.
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Once I arrived and signed in on Tuesday, I was eager to check out my rifle after our long trip from the USA to Portugal.  One never knows what treatment a rifle has endured at the hands of an airline, so I’m always apprehensive until I get air in my rifle and put a few shots down range.  This time was no exception.  I took my Steyr LG110 and Leupold Competition 35x combination to Portugal for the match.  Fortunately, once I filled her up with air, everything seemed good.  The rifle was holding air and nothing was visibly damaged from the trip over.   I found a location to take a few seated shots and bingo, she was on the money!  I found quickly that the winds on the sight in range were tricky and pushing my pellets several inches to one side or the other at 55 yards.  However, based on what I was seeing of the tree limbs blowing around, this was not unexpected.   I also knew this was a sign of things to come on the course during the match.  So, I spent some time trying to estimate what the winds would do with my pellets, just so I could get a feel of what to expect during the days to come on the course.img_1164

Although shooting is supposed to be the “main” purpose of attending the World Field Target Championship match, I think socializing is the real reason we are all so eager to attend these matches.   Portugal was no different than years past.  I was very happy to see old friends and catch up before, during and after sight in.   It’s really hard to describe just how much fun these matches are and especially the time we spend with friends after hours.  It’s really like a big family that extends around the world and we all get together for a yearly reunion at the WFTF match.  And, that’s a pretty cool experience!  (more to come, soon!)

This is the first segment of articles relating to the 2016 World Field Target Championship match in Lisbon, Portugal.  I’ll be adding more details about our trip in the coming days.  So, check in soon to read more about the match, the shooters, equipment and gadgets used this season.

Thanks for reading!

Harold Rushton
U.S. Field Target


We just returned to the States from Lisbon, Portugal, the site of the 2016 World Field Target Championship match.  All I can say to describe what an incredible experience is… WOW!!  It was a fantastic match, highlighted by beautiful views, fantastic hospitality of a wonderful country and loads of fun events in between.

I’ve put together a short overview video of my trip to include some of the countryside, match highlights and cool pics of my USA Team-mates.  I look forward to giving you guys a full report with a ton of photographs in the coming days.  Until then, enjoy the video below!

Harold Rushton

 

 


Well folks, it’s time to get out the old field target rifle and dust it off for the 2016 season.  Hopefully some of you have kept reasonably proficient over the winter.  Some of us, well… not so much I suspect.

I’ve already shot a couple of Spring field target matches here in the Southern part of the USA.  Our weather has been nice lately so I’ve had a hankering to fling a few pellets.  Last weekend we shot the Cajun Spring Classic Field Target Match and boy was it a load of fun!  Just getting back into the sport after a long winter is a real treat.

Since we are just getting things back on track for the season, I thought I’d share a short motivational trailer (movie) I made a few weeks ago.  Maybe it will inspire some of you to get your plans together for the season and start planning which matches you’ll be shooting.

 

I wish you all the best of luck this season!  I also look forward to seeing you at a match somewhere soon.

Harold Rushton

 

The 2016 Cajun Field Target Spring Classic match was held this past weekend.  It ended up being a battle of competitors vs. the Swamp!

Check out this short video preview of the match.  More to come in the full match report!

 

 

 


Tyler3With the field target season fast approaching in the USA, we need to start thinking about which matches to enter.  One of my all time favorites is the Cajun Classic match held in Baton Rouge.  This will be the 25th Annual match for the Cajuns and you don’t want to miss it!

The match will be held March 11-13, 2016.  Friday is traditionally designated as a sight in day.  We all get together and enjoy the company of one another, shoot and shoot some more!  The main field target event starts on Saturday with a 60 shot match and then the final 60 shot match on Sunday winds up the event.  There are usually other side events like a pistol FT match.  Check the Cajun web site for more on this event.

Bayou Airgun Club / Cajun Spring Classic Match

I look forward to seeing you all this season.

Happy shooting!

Harold Rushton

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Field Target is a highly competitive sport that is shot with high quality air rifles.  The sport is popular all across the World.  Here we will show you what we’ve learned as competitive shooters and hopefully steer you in the right direction if you are just getting started.  Check back often for more from U.S. Field Target!

Here’s a good video about Field Target.  Take a look!

First you might ask, what is a field target?  Well, it is usually a metal target with a faceplate shaped like an animal.  The target faceplate has a hole in it that the shooter must shoot through.  The pellet travels through that hole and strikes a paddle mechanism at the rear of the target causing the target to then fall flat.  Easy enough, right?   Well, that all depends.


 

 

Here’s an example of some typical field targets that one might see on a field target course.

 

 

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Gamo Field Targets are very economical at around $25 each.  Click on the image below to learn more about these targets or buy your very own!

Gamo Squirrel Field Target w/4 Kill-Zone Reducers

 

In field target, we typically shoot foremost from the seated position.  We find it to be the most stable and comfortable position.   We do shoot some forced position shots from the offhand and kneeling positions as well.  Those lanes are designated by the match director before the match starts as such.

Here’s a typical field target seated position.

Field Target 1

Now, here’s the fun part!  What type of air rifles do we use.  Well, it depends.  In the USA we have basically two types of rifles and several divisions available for shooters to choose from.  The first and most common type of rifle is a PCP (pre-charged pneumatic).  This type of rifle is typically charged from a scuba tank to about 3000 psi and can shoot many shots before a refill.  The next type of rifle is a spring piston rifle.  These utilize the power obtained from a strong internal spring that is cocked back storing energy until you release the trigger causing the gun to fire.   You can read more about the divisions that are available in the USA at our national governing web site http://www.aafta.org.

This is my Steyr LG110 field target rifle.  It is a PCP rifle, set up for World Field Target rules.

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When I started out, I used an Air Arms TX200 in the Spring Piston Division.  Those are still very high quality spring piston airguns and are a load of fun to use for field target.   As a matter of fact, many regional and national championships have been won with an Air Arms TX200.

This is what an Air Arms TX200 Spring Piston rifle looks like.  Click on the image below to learn more about this airgun or to buy one of your very own!

Air Arms TX200 MkIII air rifle

What about a scope for that new rifle?  Well, that is an subject in and of itself that can take a lot of time to discuss.  But, basically, you have a lot of options these days.  There are many great brands out there to choose from.  For airgun field target you will likely need a scope with an adjustable objective.  That allows you to focus on the target and precisely determine the range from your gun to the target.  Then you can input the appropriate number of clicks based on a predesignated ballistic chart.  (Again, another subject in and of itself that we will discuss in another article)

A very successful airgun scope is the Bushnell Elite 8-32x.  Click on the image below to learn more about this scope and buy one of your very own!

Bushnell Elite 8-32x40 AO Rifle Scope, Multi-X Reticle, 1/4 MOA, 1" Tube, 2" Sunshade

 

Another great scope for your spring piston field target airgun is the Bushnell Elite 6-24.  Learn more about it by clicking on the image below or buy your own here!

Bushnell Elite 6-24x40 AO Rifle Scope, Multi-X Reticle, 1/8 MOA, 1" Tube, 2" Sunshade

I know this has been a very brief overview of field target, so please do more research if you are new to the sport.  It is a fantastic way to enjoy the sport of shooting.  It is also a great sport for family and friends of all ages.   Best of luck if you are just getting started.  Of course, do not hesitate to email anytime if I can be of assistance to you!

Harold Rushton