Southwest Airgunners FT and silhouette match in Duncan, AZ on Nov 3/4 of 2023 + Match Report

The Southwest Airgunners held one of their trademark airgun weekends, with a silhouette match on Friday and a field target match on Saturday.

I was unable to attend but was sent a mountain of photos from Larry F and Rex J so I'll post a bunch, and let the photos mostly tell the story. This will require a couple of posts to get all the info up and to be able to include that many photos.

• First post will be the silhoutte match on Friday evening.
• Second post will be about the field target course and setup.
• Third post will cover the ft match and include ft results.

Southwest Airgunners silhouette matches consist of 4 banks of 1/5 scale targets. Typically we place them at either 40, 50, 60, 70 yards, or at 50, 60, 70, 80 yards. There is an extra chicken at each distance. Three shooters can shoot a course of fire at the same time, each shooter's animals are color coded (only shoot the blue ones if you're blue that round). Shooters shoot through twice, for a total possible score of 40. And the kicker....use your sub 20fpe field target gun from any FT position. If you're equipped for a field target match, you're equipped for a Southwest Airgunners silhouette match. It's a hoot!

There were 9 competitors for silhouettes. Here are most of them.

And Kent G took the win with a nearly perfect 39/40. Congrats Kent!

After silhouettes the shooters were treated to some of Norman's dutch oven cobbler.

The Course
The bed of this pickup looks like a lot of work to me....

And some of the lane markers showing what shooters are dealing with when they sit down...

I thought these two photos were interesting, different times of day, capturing the variation in light. Same lane.

As anybody that has shot field target knows, that variation in light, whether shooting from the light into the dark, or vice versa, REALLY makes ranging targets by focus a serious challenge. But part of the game, and the challenge is the fun.

The overall Troyer for the course worked out to a 34.3, "expert" level. That 34.3 is calculated with just the kill zoneand distance, ie without wind or targets in dark shadows factored in. Rex guessed that 60% of the targets were placed in deep shadow.....The highest Troyer factor targets were the 1/2" kz at 20 yards and the 3/4" kz at 30 yards, both on lane 2, and both Troyers of 40.

Tom's property is really a great venue for a ft match. It allows for target placement in varying lighting, as well as elevated targets, and targets placed lower than the lane marker, and finally, the targets are in multiple cardinal directions to aid in keeping shooters guessing about the prevailing winds. It is a challenging place for matches, and a thoroughly enjoyable one as well. An interesting course is one of the hallmarks of what I personally view as the very essence of field target.

Field Target Match on Saturday Morning
One of the photos I was sent was of a digital thermometer showing the max and min, I presume of the 24hr period. Max was 79 degrees and min was 24 degrees. That's a chilly night. I know of one camper that slept on a cot in the open air..... !

Norman treated everybody to dutch oven breakfast. That guy sure likes to feed people, good think he's an exceptional cook.
(Steve Q in photo, not Norman).

They told me that even at sight in, it had only warmed up to 31 degrees. Ben looks a bit chilly here.

Here are some photos from during the match.
Couple squads visible here.

Barry and Keldon

Ben and Kent, must have warmed up some by this time...

Mark and Larry

Mark consulting a dope sheet. One of few Open Piston class shooters still hanging on, Mark typically holds his own against the PCPs. I suspect the wide temp shifts of the 24hr period imparted some gremlins into his equipment.

I'm not sure I recognize this shooter, but I do recognize the gun. Looks like it was loaned out to this new shooter. Typical of field target, come to a match and we'll stick a gun in your hand to shoot with.

Another couple shooters I don't recognize, and what I believe is another ft gun on loan for the match.

These next two are Steve Q and yet another shooter I don't recognize, also sharing Steve's gun. Steve is tough to beat. I dunno if that bavarian cream filling bucket is his good luck charm or what, but if that bucket is at a match, you know you better bring your A game.

Match director Rex. Another tough one to beat.

Father and son squad here. They shot in the freestyle class, I think only because they're using a laser rangefinder. Everything else looks Hunter class legal to me. Andrew beat his dad and I'd bet that will make for some fun father/son rivalry at future matches.

And finally, the score and equipment lists. A total of 16 shooters. Great turnout!

And photos of most of the shooters, with a trade out for the camera operator.

Thanks to all the help in setting up and tearing down the course. I know at least Larry and Rex were there for set-up, but suspect many others lent a hand. That's how it usually goes at a Southwest Airgunner match.

Thanks to Tom for sharing his property with us. Looks like he spent some time on the tractor and bushhog and also seems like he tore out some of the old fence, all to help us enjoy the match more. All of that is much appreciated.

Thanks to Rex and Larry for all the photos above.

And thanks to Norman for manning those dutch ovens. I've enjoyed a couple of his dutch oven meals and they're pretty dang delicious.

Sounds like Rex is planning on the next Southwest Airgunner match being right here on Tom's property and it will take place in April. Any and all are not only invited but will be welcomed like an old friend. And we've got guns to let newcomers try and/or to share/lend to shoot the match if that's a concern.

See ya in April!

I just want to add that this was one of the better attended Southwest Airgunner matches. Rex started the "club" a few years ago. He wanted to have a place for airgun enthusiasts to compete in Eastern AZ and Western NM because there simply weren't any such events in the general area. His "club" doesn't require membership dues, nor is it officially part of AAFTA, although our matches are just like any other AAFTA match held across the country. Rex personally footed the bill, acquiring some of the targets that the Airgunners of Arizona FT club was phasing out. He improved the targets and got them functioning reliably again, and he's constantly adding more. He and his wife Calista are also responsible for the intricate faceplate painting. If you look closely, the targets are each an actual species instead of simply an animal. I marveled at the Abert's Tree Squirrel targets. It is much more fun to look at an Abert's tree squirrel in the scope, than the generic outline of a single colored "squirrel" target.

For the first two years we held summer matches in May, June and July in the national forest about 15 miles south of Luna, NM (we call it the Aspen Mtn site). His first Duncan, AZ match was held this past April, second one this weekend. The current tentative plan is a spring and a fall match at Duncan, and June and July matches up at the Aspen Mtn site.

I just want to publicly thank Rex for creating this opportunity for us, and continually putting in the hard work required to keep it going. I enjoy his matches more than any others I attend.