EBR 23 begins in earnest.
Day 1 of the EBR jamboree, run by Airguns of Arizona, and there’s a lot of practice going on .. sighting-in at 50 and 75 yards; 100 yards for the Big Bore competition on the Friday and a look at the shooting points for the Steel Scramble. Away from the main ranges there is one competition running - Extreme Field Target. Two shots at each of 20 targets, spread across 5 shooting points, all at different distances of course. The knockdown targets (with auto re-set) were anything from 15 to 102 yards away with rifles set at a minimum of 28 ft/lbs to be able to knock them over. All 5 shooting points were under open canopies which helped a lot later in the morning as by 11am temperatures had risen to over 37C (100 Fahrenheit).
The range was open from 7am, so EFT competitors who were given an early slot had cooler conditions. There was a light breeze from over the hills which was pleasant.
Later in the day, this same breeze turned the course into a giant, open air fan oven. By mid afternoon it was a stonking 42C (107F) but at least it was a bone dry heat. Even walking from the main ranges over to the EFT range was a bit of a mission.
Bottled water for everyone was readily available and lots of shade, but nearby was the main tank filling station for the competition. This was inside a cool, air conditioned building. It was surprising how many people needed to visit it for air top ups, even though Todd, the compressor guru, was overhead saying, more than once, “you know, this one really doesn’t need any air.”
Here are some shots of the shooting!
Alan Scoles (Australia) gave the course his best shots. In the meantime, Greg and Jared from AoA kept cool while keeping everyone else in order.
By the end of the day, the competitors had survived a challenging but entertaining course. Todd at the compressor station had kept them all topped up with air and cooled down with air conditioning, so everyone was happy. It was time for cold drinks and hot dinners!
