Call me Ahab

posted by Caleb on May 10

Went and shot this month’s E-Postal Match on Saturday.  I took two of my favorite .45 caliber guns; my ‘58 Remington that I converted to .45 Colt and my 1937 Brazilian Contract Smith & Wesson in .45 ACP.

This is our first international e-postal match, hosted by a French shooter.   The rules were a total of 10 shots on two different pieces of paper - the first paper had five really small bullseyes, and the 2nd paper had a bowling pin with a triangular shaped target zone.  The bullseye targets were scored by their number, and the scoring for the pin was a shot in the red triangle was worth 10, hits to the body of the pin were worth 5, and a hit to the head of the pin was worth one.  Maximum match score is 100 points.

But that’s enough talking from me, so why don’t we laisse les objectifs a parler.

First off, I shot the ‘58 Remington at the bullseye target.  5 shots at 25 feet, total target score of 46.  Click the picture for fullsize.

2nd Target - the “Bowling pin”.  I shot this one clean for a target score of 50.

So with the ‘58 Remington, which I shot in the Centerfire Iron Sight Class (Class 3), I scored a 96 out of a possible 100.  Not too shabby.

Next up I shot the 1937 Brazilian Contract Smith and Wesson in .45 ACP, also at a distance of 25 feet.  The first target I shot a 45 out of a possible 50.

The 2nd target, the bowling pin, I dropped a shot into the body of the pin which gave me a 45 out of a possible 50 on this target.

My total score with the ‘37 Brazilian S&W was a 90 out of 100 - also entered into the Centerfire Iron Sight category.

All in all, not a bad day at the range.  I was a little dissapointed because I wanted to shoot both of the “bowling pin” targets clean, but I shouldn’t get too greedy.  I did have fun with this match, it was just the right amount of challenge coupled with fun.  Plus, it reminded me that there’s another pin shoot coming up this month that I need to buy some ammo for.

I had a lot of fun with this match - can’t wait for next month’s!

posted by Caleb on May 7

The E-Postal Matches are back!  After my hiatus from shooting while I was in Las Vegas, I got back into the swing of things with an actual pin shooting match a couple of weekends ago, and then just yesterday I got the email that the latest and also first ever internationally hosted E-Postal match was up!

The match breaks down as follows: 5 shots on the first target for a max score of 50, plus 5 shots on the second target with a max target score of 50 points, for a total combined “cold max” of 100 points.

Go to the link above to print out the target papers for the match - those are some small bullseyes on that first target.  The second I saw that, I realized that this was not going to be an easy match, and starting thinking about what guns I wanted to run it with.  I’ll probably end up using a pair of different .45 revolvers, hoping that I can get lucky and have that big bullet cut the target in the right spot.

I’ll be shooting the match this weekend, so check back for a score report and update.

posted by Caleb on Oct 14

Here are the overall results for September’s E-Postal Match, Safari. Because there were some classes that I didn’t receive any entries in, I’m just going to post a table with the total scores here - but I’ll make some special distinctions beneath the table.

First off - I’m surprised no one (not even me) cold-maxed the rifle target, especially since a couple of people had all fives on one of their rifle targets, but then didn’t five-out the second target.

The highest rifle score goes to JimmyB of the Conservative UAW Guy, nice shooting. The highest score on the pistol targets goes to uh…me. Mostly, I just got lucky - I was having a good day with the P22.

Class 7 was the most popular class (optic rifle, centerfire iron), and the overall winner of that category was Manfred, one of our readers from across the pond. You need to be able to read French, or have a translation program for their blog.

Class 3 was our second most popular class, which was optic rifle and iron sight rimfire pistol. I won that one, with second place going to Smokejunkee, who had some nice shooting on the rifle targets.

All in all, good shooting guys. I’d like to do some more combo matches in the winter; something that involves more than one gun…maybe a shotgun/pistol match.

posted by Caleb on Oct 8

I’m compiling the match results, I’ll have them up tomorrow.  Good shooting, everyone.

posted by Caleb on Oct 1

There is still time to get your entries in for the Sept E-Postal match, I’m taking entries until 11pm on this upcoming Sunday!

SHOOOOT

posted by Caleb on Sep 20

The deadline for entries for the September E-Postal Match: Safari has been extended through Sunday October 7th at 10pm.  Please have all entries emailed to me by that time.

Remember, it’s 2 rifle targets (10 shot total) and two of the “5 rhino” pistol targets (20 shots total) for a total of 30 shots.

Go shoot!

posted by Caleb on Sep 9

Just an update on the match, I did a test shoot on the target this weekend, and at 50 feet the bullseye on that big rhino is suddenly a lot harder to hit.  It would be a piece of cake from a bench rest, but since this is offhand it really required a lot of patience on my part.

Secondly, at 25 feet, the bullseye on those 5 rhino targets are damn near invisible.  I had the most success with my .45s, because the big bullet cuts a huge hole in the paper.

Go shoot!  I want some entries already!  Email them to me at admiralahab (at) gmail (dot) com.

posted by Caleb on Sep 7

I wanted to clear up some confusion on the E-Postal Match for this month.

Targets

Shoot two of the targets that have one rhino.  Each piece of paper (1 rhino per paper) gets 5 rounds from your .22 rifle, for a total of ten rounds from the rifle.

Shoot two of the targets with five rhinos.  Each piece of paper (5 rhinos per paper) gets ten shots - shoot each rhino twice.  Your total shots with the handgun should be 20 shots.

Guns

You need a .22 rimfire rifle for stage one, and pistol in any caliber for stage two.  You can also shoot the same gun with different entries.  For example, I can use my Ruger 10/22 as my rifle, and then pair it my Ruger GP100, my Walther P22, or my ‘58 Remington.  That would be three different entries.  The caveat is that if you want to use the same rifle multiple times, you have to shoot new targets for every entry.  So you can’t just shoot one set of targets and call that your “rifle entry”; for every entry you have to shoot a complete set of targets.

I think that covers all the questions I received.

Now go shoot!

posted by Caleb on Sep 5

E-Postal Update: The deadline for entries has been extended to 10pm Eastern Time, Sunday October 7th.

Ah, fall. As the air slowly turns crisp and cool (although not in Indiana wtf 92 degrees?), my thoughts slowly turn to my ever present dream of visiting Africa, taking in the majesty of its unspoilt plains, wide open spaces; and of course taking the time to blow some of its wildlife directly into the arms of God.

With that in mind, I present September’s E-Postal Match, aptly titled “Safari”. This match will require both a .22 rifle and a pistol (centerfire or rimfire), and there are two stages to the match.

Stage 1

Rhino Target

Print two of the above targets, and place them side-by-side at 20 yards or 50 feet, whichever is available. With a .22 caliber rifle (.22 Short, LR, or Magnum - no centerfire .22s) fire five shots at the left target, and then five shots at the right target, for a total of ten shots with the rifle. All shots must be fired from the standing position, no use of rests, supports, or slings allowed.

Stage 2

Rhino Target 2

Print two of the above targets and place them side by side at 10 yards or 25 feet, whichever is available. With a rimfire or centerfire pistol, fire two shots at each bullseye (two per rhino). That should give you a total of ten shots per paper, with a grand total of 20 shots with a handgun. All shots are to be fired from whichever standing position you find most comfortable, one hand, two hand, just no rests allowed.

Edit for clarity: When firing at the pistol target, it doesn’t matter which order you fire your shots in. Just make sure it’s two per rhino at all ten rhinos on both sheets.

Recap

The course totals ten shots with a .22 rimfire rifle, fired from a standing position; 20 shots fired offhand with a pistol. Course total is 30 shots.

Scoring

The red dot in the center of the target will be scored as a 5, the white ring (and middle red line) will be scored as a 4, the outermost white area (and outer red ring) are scored as a 3. Shots that hit the paper but not inside the rings are scored as a zero. The maximum score for this event is 150 points. In the event of a tie, the highest score on the rifle target will be used to break the tie.

Classes

Since this match mandates the use of a rimfire rifle for all entries, the classes are slightly different.

Class One - Rifle w/optics, rimfire pistol w/optics.

Class Two - Rifle no optics, rimfire pistol w/optics

Class Three - Rifle w/optics, rimfire pistol no optics.

Class Four - Rifle no optics, rimfire pistol no optics.

Class Five - Rifle w/optics, centerfire pistol w/optics

Class Six - Rifle no optics, centerfire pistol w/optics.

Class Seven - Rifle w/optics, centerfire no optics.

Class Eight - Rifle no optics, centerfire no optics.

A total of eight class for you get to get your gun on.

Email all entries to me at admiralahab (at) gmail (dot) com before Sunday, October 7th at 5pm. Include “E-Postal Match: Safari” as the subject line of the email.

Happy shooting!

posted by Caleb on Aug 6

Carnaby Fudge has the E-Postal match for August up! It’s called Point Shooting, and I’ll give you a hint what the central theme is. If you guessed “point shooting” then you win an E-Cookie. Of course, I don’t have any cookies, so don’t worry about it.

I, for one, am going to suck at this match. I don’t really shoot “without” the sights, so forcing myself to not acquire even a flash sight picture while blazing away at the target is going to prove to be a challenge.

I’m relatively excited about this match, as it looks like another month of forcing myself to shoot outside of my comfort zone.
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