The Whanganui Pistol Club had set up 12 stages or courses of fire for the weekend with eight stages on Saturday and four stages on Sunday.
They have been running this competition for a long time and I would hate to think how many times I have gone up there to compete.
My club had a good group travel up and we were shooting a lot of different divisions, which are based on the style of pistols used and what we have added to them in the way of sights or compensators. These can be as serious as you want, some are all out for the win while others knowing they can’t win the overall title, go for their grade wins. Or if you are over 50, 60 or 70 then there are age groups, not that the competitions change just more noise from the joints when we bend and try to run. As it is a family sport, there are a few that have to bring their dad’s along to keep an eye on them. I wouldn’t want to name anyone (Ryan and Rachel) but it was good to see that Paul did a good job!
The Whanganui Pistol Club has a very good set up, nice green grass all over the place which is a pleasant change from my club which is all crushed rock and as hard as hell. They do have a little problem with iron-sand that is everywhere, and that stuff sticks to everything, especially the magnets some of us have as mag pouches. This can also be a problem after we drop mags during the reload, because unlike most movie guns ours do run dry.
Being consistent is all important at these competitions. Some of that comes from the competitor and some on the gear they use, which to be fair is the competitor’s problem as it is our job to make sure everything runs smooth. By that I mean the firearm works perfectly, it doesn’t jam or miss fire in anyway, which in a lot of cases can be an ammunition issue.
The weather was great and it all ran like clockwork, as the stages were set up so that they would run without a hitch. Not a single penalty target to be seen which was good because I have a habit of getting a few, which can cost me a lot of points as has happened in the past.
All up a good shoot and a great weekend was had by all. Thanks Whanganui Pistol Club.
