December 2024 Postal Match

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments!



Above is the target for the December Postal Match.  Go to Targetz.com, page 4, item #10046.
Shot at 25 yards offhand, unless you are like me and need help, in which case if you're 70+ years of age or have a disability, sitting at a table with elbow rest is ok.
One ball in each of the four corner quadrants without touching the heavy black lines, and half ball rule applies....possible 4 x 5 = 20 points
One ball inside the heavy black lines but not touching for 5 points,
And one ball touching the black dot in the centre,for another 5 points...total possible 30 points.
Submit up to 5 targets.
Good luck!!

[taterbug]

hmm...  If I read this correctly, we are supposed to NOT shoot to the same point with each shot? 

Heck, I do that all the time!

Nice!

[foresterdj]

The way I waver around offhand, I can just aim dead center 6 times and probably ace this one😃

[Daryl]

That being the 'case', one will have to hit your point of aim, then.

[Justin Urbantas]

That sounds fun. I'll play this month when we get the warm front next week.  We had -28 temps last week.

[Maven]

I'll have to wait until my range reopens because of deer season.  However, I already have my excuses ready!  Looks like an interesting target, Taylor.

[foresterdj]

Targets printed, deer season over (sadly I remain deerless), temps this week in 20s to 30s F, so I will get out after Christmas to get reacquainted with my squirrel rifle by shooting this target. 

[foresterdj]

OK, somebody else needs to put in a target, because neither of these deserve to win by default.

Weather not as nice as hoped. 32 degrees, light mist, good breeze at my back. Kind of a damp cold. Targets would have stuck to the wet target board without staples and pealed off in soggy bits.

This was my squirrel rifle a.k.a. Clementine, .36 shooting 40 gr FFFg, .020 neatsfoot lubed patch a .350 RB. Used 4F prime. After a few shots I had to start wiping the black mud out of the pan or it would soak the prime of the new load.

I labeled the targets for where the shot was supposed to go, with the score.

Target 1, a 15 out of 30.



Target 2, a 10 out of 30

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

foresterdj:  thank you for submitting targets, and pls. feel free to add to your collection.  I score that first target 25/30.  You scored a 5 with your first shot even though you were aiming at the left hand upper quadrant and missed.  the ball still struck the inner cross without touching a border, and the shot aimed at the centre touches the dot for a 5.  Even so, I think you know you can improve on this one.

[foresterdj]

But I have no ball in the upper left, so zero there. Upper right, lower left and lower right all in their box, 5 each. I suppose the one that was supposed to be in the black dot, but just knicks it (certainly not a half ball inside, though that was not specified in the rules) could be counted as the center plus/not dot for a 5. The one that was supposed to be in the lower arm of the plus is clearly a zero since it is all heavy black line, which is outlawed. So, a 20 out of 30 would be generous, and only possible if you ignore where the shots were supposed to go.

If weather improves, I may try again. But someone else should enter and win because if I win as the only entry the target game will stay the same for another month.

[foresterdj]

I guess rules do say touching the black dot, so maybe an accidental 25 after all.

[Daryl]

I think you are correct in that it scores 20/30 according to the rules I read.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

"Upon video review", I have re-evaluated that first target, and score it as a 20/30!  At first I did not take into consideration that you have two balls in the cross area, one is good and the other touches the black line.  So those balls cancel each other...you are only allowed 6 shots at the target.  So you have 4 scoring 5 points = 20!!
Sorry for the false hope.

[foresterdj]

I agree, target 1 at 20 out of 30. There are only 6 shots on the target, unfortunately not where intended.

Two days left, certainly someone can submit a better target for us to look at.

[foresterdj]

Only a few hours left this month, but there is still time and an easy target to beat.

[JBJ]

Finally, a little time free from the Christmas doings. It was a wonderful Christmas with the family and I am reminded of just how blessed I am. One of the blessings is my friend Marc who again took the old man to the range and acted as my coach and younger legs. Thanks, Marc! It was a strange day with the sun to the left of the target and my eyes just didn't want to fully cooperate with the program. The upper left quadrant just about got away from me. At any rate, it is what it is. Twenty-five yards elbows on the table per Taylor's direction. I am hoping like foresterdj that there will be some more last minute submissions. I realize that December is a tough month for everybody, but we need to have some discussions about gettting more shooters to participate. Hoping that all of you folks have a wonderful New Year. Take care and God bless all of you.

J.B.

[ed lundquist]

Here are my targets from today.







A think three 20s and a 25.  50 cal. Flint, 490 ball, 75 grains 2f, .021 patch with Dawn and water lube. I had a great time closing out the year with a bit of noise. These were shot from elbow rest at 25 yards.  Sorry they are sideways, I'm a bit sideways.  A better year is wished to all!  Just reread the rules and realized I did not shoot a 6th ball, no worries it was a great day anyway.

[bob in the woods]

 Happy New Year's eve to all ! This was an especially tough Fall. The weather was so weird, [ minus 20 to plus 10 and back again ! ]  Rain , snow and just nasty all around The hunting was terrible. Ducks and geese were almost non existent , and deer season was a bust for most here that I know. The deer are just into the rut now, and still 90% nocturnal.
Living as we do, I depend on hunting for a lot of our meat, so spent literally day upon days in the woods, neglecting all the other various chores that we do to prepare for winter. I finally got a nice deer on the very last day of archery season, having struck out during the regular gun and muzzleloader seasons. I really wanted to shoot the last couple of targets but ....priorities rule . Today was a firewood day, and plus 10 C !!! It drops to minus 15 over the next day or so .
I would really love the chance to shoot this last target, and Dec being as busy as it is , I suspect others would jump at the chance too. Perhaps we can get another crack at it ??    Please ?    

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I have scored the last couple of submissions as follows:

jbj:  30/30  very nicely done.

ed lunquist:  15/30, 20/30, 15/30, and 15/30

For the inside cross and the four corner quads, the ball cannot touch the heavy black lines.

Currently, at 4:28 pm New Year's Eve, JBJ leads with a perfect score 30/30.

It's a little disheartening to sponsor a match and have only 3 participants out of 100's of subscribers.  Thanks to all those who gave it a shot.  I'd like to see this target again too, so I could participate.

[Daryl]

I'll second that suggestion for this one to happen again.
Good shooting guys - JB - you appear to be the winner. It's dark now on the left coast, so, unless any more subscribers???
I'll have a beer in your honour. Anyone else feel the need for this honour? LOL

[ed lundquist]

Good shooting!  I would like to shoot this again as well. Happy New Year all!

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I'm a little late, but I declare JBJ to be the winner of the lightly contested December Postal Match with a perfect score of 30/30.  Thanks everyone who participated and submitted targets.  The temperature here has dropped to -24 C, so I'll have to wait for a bit for the weather to improve.  New Year's Day was -15 C here and five of us went out to the range and shot the trail.  We got as far as target # 14 where a huge spruce has fallen across our trail making it difficult to go further.  Still, it was an enjoyable outing with some fine shooting.