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DARTMOOR MARKSMEN NEWSLETTER Issue No.3.
Dec. ’05
For any comments or
suggestions for the Newsletter, please contact Gus.
A message from our
Chairman
Hi everyone…. The past few
months have seen some changes in the club. Both the previous
chairman and secretary resigned and made it necessary to elect
new officers. As your new chairman I have plans. I hope, along
with the other officers, to move the club and its facilities
forward, and make life more comfortable for all. A new
clubhouse and an extended zero range are planned, and an extra
5 targets on the HFT course. I must stress that this will not
happen overnight. Some members have already offered their
services. If you have any skills to contribute, or ideas for
the new clubhouse, then please let us know.
Gus and I recently attended the
SWEFTA AGM, where amongst the usual proceedings, a number of
items directly affecting our club were discussed. The item of
real importance being the acceptance of our offer to hold a
Grand Prix meeting for the BFTA. This will be a national
event.
The date is Sunday 6th August 2006,
and will be the largest meet ever to be hosted by us. A great
deal of planning is necessary, and help will be coming from
other clubs in the SW. I hope our own members will become as
involved as possible, to make this day a memorable one. A
sub-committee will be formed… volunteers please..!
Our recent SWEFTA shoot was commented
on as being the most successful and well attended shoot the
region has seen, and I have to sincerely thank all of you who
made it so. This club and its facilities have much to offer in
the future.
As we are now into December may I
take this opportunity to wish you, on behalf of Dartmoor
Marksmen, a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year..!
Dave Golby
What’s on?
Some SWEFTA clubs have arranged 4 shoots
over the winter, mainly FT, but we are hosting one, including
HFT, on Sun. Jan 8th, at DM. The final one is at
Plymouth Privateers, just down the road, on 22nd
Jan
This is the SWEFTA program for 2006. It
would be great to see some newer members get on the circuit.
Ask the “Old Lags” what’s involved
I will put up a list of maps and directions
in the club house
N.B. our round is much earlier this year,
Sun 26th Feb.
5th Feb South Dorset
26th Feb Dartmoor Marksmen
19th Mar North Petherwin
9th Apr Buckley Wood
7th May East Devon
4th June Shebbear
25th June Mendip
23rd July Cornwall
20th Aug South Devon
We will also put on a series of “Fun
Shoots” within the club, details later
We would like to revive the club “Ladder
Competition"
Each member has a peg on the board, and can
challenge another shooter up to two places higher. If they
win, they swap pegs. Some people on the existing ladder
haven’t shot for a while, so it may be time to start again in
the New Year.
Buy your pellets at a discount, and help
the club
We have our first order of JSB Exact 4.52
pellets just in
These pellets are made by the factory which
supply AirArms and Daystate, and are only available by mail
order. They are the “in” pellet at the moment
If you buy 10 tins, the cost is £40, a
saving of £15 over shop prices…!
The club makes £4.50p per 10. Single tins
are £4.50p, still a good saving, but I’d rather shift them 10
at a time. Some people have reserved a box, please remind me
of who you are..!
The next order I place could include 4.51s,
4.53s, or .22. Please ask if you have a special request.
Apology to Rob Taylor..!
Due to a slip of the calculator, I
announced myself as the winner of the “Fun Shoot” series,
(can’t think why..!). In fact, Rob was the worthy winner…!
Around the circuit
Final places for this year are:
FT.. Jon Quelch came 9th
in AA grade, not quite as good as last year, but it’s tough at
the top..!
Martyn Vincent had an excellent
season, he came 3rd in C grade, but got enough
points to go from C to A, missing out B grade. He is so keen
that he shot one round with a borrowed rifle, a few hours
after having an emergency appendix operation..!
In contrast, Gus managed to sneak
from C into B grade by half a point..! (Phew..!!)
HFT… Dave Golby was 4th
in the PCP class, after an exciting shoot-off in the last
round, which he won.
Gus came 7th with his
PCP, and 5th with his springer.
One to watch next year is young Josh
Reid, who got 87.5% on his first shoot..!
(Go on Grandad, give him your EV2..!)
For Sale
Gus’s HFT S400…
New Jan ’05, polished and fettled internals, with floated
trigger sears. Comes with muzzle brake, adjustable butt pad,
trigger shoe, double hard case. (no scope).
A remarkably consistent and accurate rifle, I’m only selling
‘cos I’ve got 4 now..!
£250
01579 363287 or
gwylan@rgus.fsnet.co.uk
Webmaster's note - this email address is inactive as an
anti-spam measure
Importing from the USA
Look at the prices of scopes on American
websites, and you’ll get a shock..! I don’t know why they can
be twice the cost here, perhaps it’s to do with volume of
sales. I’ve imported three Bushnell scopes from
www.arcadian-sales.com It’s just like ordering from a
mail order company in the UK, and the goods take a week or so
to arrive, depending which service you choose. The courier may
charge you VAT, and a customs charge about £12, on delivery,
but sometimes they get through without. (2 out of my 3 did.)
My Bushnell Legend cost me £117 at a time when the price in UK
was £260. Sportsman’s at Paignton are now selling them for
£185ish.
The only downside is lack of UK warranty,
which may put people off.
You would have to send a Bushnell to the
European service centre in Belgium, but that’s not the far
side of the world..!
Tip of the
Month… Are you legal?
From time to
time, it’s a good idea to put your rifle over a chronograph to
make sure its below the 12ftlb limit (6ftlb for pistols).
There is a
club chrono available, or I always have mine in the car, and
I’d be glad to help.
The best way
is to fire 10 or so shots, find the average velocity, then do
the following calculation:
Energy (ftlbs)
=
Velocity
(fps) x Velocity x Weight of pellet (grains)
450240
eg. I use AA
Fields, 8.44 grains in my S400, which averages 770fps.
E = 770 x
770 x 8.44 = 11.11 ftlbs.
450240
Another use
for the chrono is to find the “sweet spot” of an
unregulated PCP. When a rifle has just been filled, the
pressure in the reservoir is at its maximum, so the valve is
open for a shorter time. This means the first few shots are
slightly under powered, but climb to a plateau of steady
velocities within a few fps of each other.
As the
pressure starts to fall, so does the velocity, giving rise to
a drop in the power curve. This can be very useful. If I fill
my S400 to 150bar, not the max 190, I know I have 50 shots
with a variation of less than 10fps.
Sad anoraks
like me enter the data into Excel, and do all sorts of
statistical calculations…. Don’t help me shoot straight
though…!
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